AMD Introduces Ryzen 8000 HX Series for Gaming Laptops, Offering Cost-Effective Performance Without Zen 5
With consumer budgets under pressure, AMD’s introduction of the Ryzen 8000 HX mobile processor series could not be better timed. Targeted at gaming laptops and high-performance notebooks, these new chips arrive as a more affordable alternative to the premium Ryzen 9000 HX lineup. Known internally as the “Dragon Range Refresh,” the Ryzen 8000 HX series continues to leverage the Zen 4 architecture and delivers performance enhancements without crossing into next-generation Zen 5 territory, keeping costs in check while still offering gamers capable mobile hardware.
The Ryzen 8000 HX family is essentially an updated version of the Ryzen 7000 HX lineup released in early 2023, and it maintains many of the same technical foundations—including support for up to 16 cores and 32 threads, along with compatibility for TDP ranges from 45W to 75W (defaulting at 55W). Like its predecessor, the series is built on TSMC’s 5nm process and lacks support for AMD’s newer NPUs and AI acceleration features found in the Ryzen 9000 HX lineup. Notably, one clear change is the removal of the six-core Ryzen 5 7645HX in favor of the new eight-core Ryzen 7 8745HX, positioning the refreshed lineup as slightly more performance-focused even within a conservative thermal envelope.
While the core architecture remains Zen 4, AMD has refined the 8000 HX series with firmware improvements and adjusted clock speeds. According to AMD, the 8000 HX chips are optimized to be paired with the latest discrete GPUs, providing OEMs and gamers with new options to build high-performance systems without committing to the higher costs of flagship processors. The chips also support DDR5 SODIMM memory and offer 28 PCIe 5.0 lanes for fast connectivity and storage options—an essential feature for high-end gaming and creative workstations.
Integrated graphics are still present via the RDNA 2-based Ryzen 610M GPU included in chips like the Ryzen 9 8945HX. However, with only two graphics cores, this iGPU is not suitable for gaming and is primarily included to support basic display needs. For any serious gaming use case, OEMs will need to pair the Ryzen 8000 HX processors with discrete graphics solutions. In summary, AMD’s new refresh provides a middle ground between legacy and next-gen features, offering gamers a new range of performance-focused laptops at a more wallet-friendly tier.
