this post was submitted on 19 May 2026
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Even compared to having two entirely separate memory controllers, one for the CPU and one for the GPU?
I would assume the total area is larger for the separate CPU+GPU die when compared a single unified chip, sure. But the cost per millimeter doesn't necessarily scale linearly either (larger chip, lower yields), so it might be cheaper to buy CPU+GPU rather than the unified chip even though the total area is larger.
For reference, TechPowerUp lists:
RX 7600M: 204 mm² @ TSMC 6 nm
Strix Halo: 308 mm² @ TSMC 4 nm
Not sure what kind of area one could expect for the CPU alone (without the integrated GPU) for this kind of process
Oh right, I forgot about that part.
I guess you could look up specs for a desktop Ryzen CPU that doesn't have integrated graphics. Not sure which is the right one to pick, but I checked a few Zen 4 AM5 chips and they were all 71 mm^2^ @ TSMC 5 nm.
BTW, what actually is "Strix Halo" anyway? I'm confused about whether it's what they're calling all the latest-generation APUs, or just the high-end ones, or Asus co-branding, or what.
Are there not any lesser APUs (with smaller die size and higher yields) that aren't "Strix Halo" but still have a similar architecture and decent gaming performance?
Strix Halo is the "high-end" ones (and currently the latest), in terms of gaming they are closer to previous gen discrete laptop GPU (hence they use the naming scheme Radeon 8XXX series).
There are smaller ones as well, the one that is "mid-tier" is Strix Point, which has the Radeon 800M series GPU, i.e. closer to what one had in previous generations of integrated GPUs.
In terms of gaming performance, you can compare using Notebookcheck, as an example; Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 on low preset at 1080P:
So, there's a pretty big leap going from Strix Point (mid tier) to Strix Halo (high-end)
Holy shit, no kidding! I guess maybe that's the reason Valve didn't go that way: they wanted to put their product right in the middle of that graphics gap. Also, even that first one apparently has 12 CPU cores, so the whole balance between CPU and GPU performance is just off.
Still though, if we're talking custom, it would've been cool if Valve could've had them build something equivalent to a "Ryzen AI 7" or "Ryzen AI 5", but still with Radeon 8050S or 8060S graphics.