Discussion AMD SoC Halo series GPU discussion

[MS_AT]

Text generation seems sadly slow

More or less as expected given the theoretical BW, but I would expect 10-15% more should be possible to achieve, to be close to 80% of theoretical BW.

It will be also better with recent Qwen MOE models, where you can get 20 tk/s from ddr5 2ch at 6000MT/s on CPU, with Q6.

 

[mmaenpaa]

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we finally got numbers and Halo is good in a 14" laptop. Sidenote - The 275HX is just sad of a product.


That being said HP screwed up big time in the battery life test. Battery life sucks, esp video playback.

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Has anybody seen a review of HP ZBook G1a with *only* 1920*1200 panel? I assume battery life would be much better than with OLED. 2.8K OLED panel is not necessary in my (customer's) use case.

 

[mmaenpaa]

Regarding halo memory allocation, is it dynamic or preallocated in bios?

I am looking for a halo laptop for customer who uses Archicad. For example if we choose 64GB model does GPU "take" 16GB and 48GB is left for OS part? Archicad runs fine on discrete 8GB consumer cards (both AMD & NVIDIA).

 

[coercitiv]

Has anybody seen a review of HP ZBook G1a with *only* 1920*1200 panel? I assume battery life would be much better than with OLED. 2.8K OLED panel is not necessary in my (customer's) use case.

While OLEDs will diminish laptop battery life somewhat, the impact of this choice would be minor relative to the base numbers. The very low video playback numbers in the review above suggest a platform power management issue or a driver issue. We know Stric Halo can do much better based on reviews of the Asus Flow Z13.

To give you a sense of scale, here's a 120Hz hi-res OLED equipped laptop that still boasts 10 hours of web surfing and 19 hours of video playback.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/A-1-100-nit-OLED-and-AMD-Zen-5-in-a-creator-s-laptop-The-Lenovo-IdeaPad-Pro-5-14-G10-review.997910.0.html

 

[techjunkie123]

Has anybody seen a review of HP ZBook G1a with *only* 1920*1200 panel? I assume battery life would be much better than with OLED. 2.8K OLED panel is not necessary in my (customer's) use case.

Notebook check has one of the elitebook x g1a which has strix point instead of halo but is otherwise identical.

 

[Joe NYC]

Regarding halo memory allocation, is it dynamic or preallocated in bios?

I am looking for a halo laptop for customer who uses Archicad. For example if we choose 64GB model does GPU "take" 16GB and 48GB is left for OS part? Archicad runs fine on discrete 8GB consumer cards (both AMD & NVIDIA).

I think Windows handles this automatically. You don't have to set the graphics memory to a high amount, such as 16GB. You can just leave it as default (~128 MB) and windows will allocate what it needs.

It may be different in running AI models on it, where you probably have to allocate the memory manually.

 

[poke01]

I think Windows handles this automatically. You don't have to set the graphics memory to a high amount, such as 16GB. You can just leave it as default (~128 MB) and windows will allocate what it needs.

Unfortunately windows doesn’t do this automatically.

 

[Joe NYC]

Unfortunately windows doesn’t do this automatically.

There is something called Dynamic Video Memory Technology (DVMT)

 

[igor_kavinski]

Unfortunately windows doesn’t do this automatically.

Not Windows but I think it is the GPU driver that handles it. At least on the 5825U laptop I tested, the GPU was able to allocate up to 8GB out of available 16GB RAM and it was dynamic.

 

[coercitiv]

I am looking for a halo laptop for customer who uses Archicad. For example if we choose 64GB model does GPU "take" 16GB and 48GB is left for OS part? Archicad runs fine on discrete 8GB consumer cards (both AMD & NVIDIA).

You can set the minimum and variable amounts in the AMD driver app. Don't know if this is a brand new option for Halo or applies to all newer APUs, my old 5600U laptop does not have this option in Adrenaline (can be configured in UEFI though).



In your particular case you can either set dedicated memory to 4GB (this might be the default) and allow dynamic allocation of another 4GB, or you can set 8GB dedicated from the start.

 

[mmaenpaa]

I will soon find out, I just ordered one.

HP ZBook Ultra G1a Mobile Workstation - AMD Ryzen AI Max+ - 395 / jopa 5.1 GHz - Win 11 Pro - Radeon 8060S - 64 Gt RAM - 2 Tt SSD NVMe, TLC - 14" OLED touch 2880 x 1800 (2.8K) @ 120 Hz - Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth

Actually, there's a very good review of G1a, especially relevant for architects.

Review: HP ZBook Ultra G1a / AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro

Review: HP ZBook Ultra G1a with AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro processor represents a genuine shift in the landscape for 14-inch mobile workstations

aecmag.com

Only downside is Twinmotion Pathh Tracing (Twinmotion crashes on review when enabled). That has been weak point for Radeon from the beginning.

 

[marees]

There is absolutely zero TECHNICAL issues in putting the Strix Halo into a typical gaming handheld

It is PURELY a cost issue

the Future of Gaming — Lisa Su​

Check this statement by Lisa Su



And also note the large physical size of the ROG XBOX Ally handheld

I tested Xbox’s powerful — and heavy — new handheld​

Asus and Xbox’s new handheld weighs 1.58 pounds, and it’s noticeable

by Maddy Myers
Jun 9, 2025, 10:53 PM GMT+5:30

the ROG Xbox Ally X was the heaviest one I’d ever held. It will be the heaviest handheld on the market, once it reaches all of us this holiday season. (I did talk to an Asus representative at the Xbox event and told him my concerns about its weight, but I fully recognize it’s probably too late for them to change it. Let it be known that I tried, though.)

What’s interesting about this is that it might not actually bother that many other people who aren’t me. This is a pretty subjective problem, and I would say it’s somewhat gendered as well. There were lots of other reporters at this event with me, the majority of them men. I overheard many of them praising the way the Xbox handheld felt in their hands — “just like an Xbox controller.” I can’t disagree there; it’s the right shape and absolutely does feel comfortable in terms of size and layout. But I wonder: Did any of those guys notice the weight? Or is that just a problem for somebody of my stature?

The thing is, people of my stature do actually also play video games. And I play a heck of a lot of them in handheld format; I’d say about 50% of the time I’m on a big screen, the other 50% in handheld. I’m still in LA at Summer Game Fest right now, but the first thing I’m going to do when I get home tomorrow night is open my Switch 2 box and play Mario Kart World — probably in handheld mode. And even though the Switch 2 is heavier than its predecessor, I bet I’m going to feel pretty relieved by how light it feels compared to the Xbox handheld I tried out yesterday.

I tested Xbox’s powerful — and heavy — new handheld

I played Gears of War: Reloaded on the Rog Xbox Ally X, and I couldn’t help but notice how heavy the device felt in my hands

www.polygon.com

 

[Panino Manino]

Seems like Xbox went the 3DO way.

 

[poke01]

Hopefully we'll see shipments of Framework Strix Halo soon. Maybe end of July.

Framework looks to be shipping the most

 

[lucasworais]

For those who were dreaming about a Halo handheld:

https://videocardz.com/newz/gpds-gaming-handheld-with-ryzen-ai-max-395-strix-halo-spotted-on-geekbench

GPD G1618-05 - Geekbench

Benchmark results for a GPD G1618-05 with an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor.

browser.geekbench.com

 

[LightningZ71]

...AMD, you know you want to make a single CCD Strix Halo with a fully enabled iGPU and call it the Z2Ultra...

 

[ToTTenTranz]

...AMD, you know you want to make a single CCD Strix Halo with a fully enabled iGPU and call it the Z2Ultra...

I know I want to buy this yesterday.


Just don't pair it with a tiny 7" LCD screen.

 

[Mopetar]

I know I want to buy this yesterday.


Just don't pair it with a tiny 7" LCD screen.

At a certain point is ceases to be a handheld and turns into a laptop.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

At a certain point is ceases to be a handheld and turns into a laptop.

If a handheld becomes too large for you, then you can simply like.. not buy it.


In the meanwhile, I'm happily rocking one of these:



And it's freakin' awesome.

 

[Mopetar]

If a handheld becomes too large for you, then you can simply like.. not buy it.


In the meanwhile, I'm happily rocking one of these:

View attachment 127258

And it's freakin' awesome.

Why not get a laptop with an even bigger screen, a more powerful GPU, and better battery life and use a wireless controller that's more comfortable and easy to hold?

If you like it, more power to you, but I fail to see the appeal.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

Why not get a laptop with an even bigger screen, a more powerful GPU, and better battery life and use a wireless controller that's more comfortable and easy to hold?

I've taken my Legion Go to bed, to the toilet, to a RyanAir plane with tiny seats, to the living room couch while keeping company to family watching TV, to work trips where I already need to take my work laptop, just to think of a few examples.

I wouldn't take a gaming laptop to any of these places. The level of mobility is completely different, especially with the LGo that you can just take out the gamepads and the thing turns into a 9" tablet plus 2 small volumes that can fit anywhere.

 

[igor_kavinski]

to the toilet

There goes its resale value!

 

[igor_kavinski]

View attachment 127258

You got Thor's handheld, now work those muscles out so you don't look scrawny holding that

 

[igor_kavinski]

The level of mobility is completely different, especially with the LGo that you can just take out the gamepads and the thing turns into a 9" tablet plus 2 small volumes that can fit anywhere.

I would consider it seriously if it had wheels, followed me around, had retractable automatic height adjustment, understood voice commands and talked back to me.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

There goes its resale value!

I'm never selling this!*

Spoiler

* until a decent Strix Halo handheld comes along.