- AMD's Ryzen AI Max 395+ will be used in GMKtec's upcoming mini-PC
- It's reportedly launching in May
- China's pre-order pricing indicates a $2,000 price point for US consumers
It's safe to say that chips from the likes of Intel and AMD are once again in the spotlight, considering their integrated graphics gaming performance capabilities amid a messy GPU market - and now, one of Team Red's strongest processors ever will finally be available in a mini-PC.
As VideoCardz reported, GMKtec could launch a new mini-PC, the EVO-X2, in May, powered by AMD's Ryzen AI Max 395+ APU. This comes from VideoCardz's insight into pre-order details: pre-orders are already live in China, with pricing confirmed at 14,999 RMB, which roughly converts to around $2,000 (without tariffs!) / £1,599 / AU$3,400 - and pre-orders for US and EU buyers are reportedly set for April 15.
This is the listing for the highest tier configuration, which includes 128GB of RAM and 2TB of storage space - so it's got a lot to offer for tiny PC lovers.
While its price is certainly hefty, it's worth noting that the Ryzen AI Max 395+ processor using the Radeon 8060S iGPU is an absolute powerhouse, especially for gamers. ETA Prime on YouTube has previously showcased its performance in games like Cyberpunk 2077 - on the ultra graphics preset in 1440p (with upscaling), there's a near-consistent 60fps, which isn't possible for some desktop GPUs.
It's all possible thanks to the APU's 16 cores and 32 threads, along with a seriously impressive 40 cores on the Radeon 8060S integrated GPU. It's also a significant step in the direction of discrete GPUs becoming obsolete: although that may still be a long way away considering the presence of high-end GPUs like the RTX 5080 or RTX 5090, it's a promising start.
The system shown in the video (available above) using the APU is a prototype, so aspects like cooling, power consumption, and chassis dimensions are yet to be finalized - we'll have to wait and see its real-world performance ceiling.
Fortunately, mini PCs like this offer gamers a way into the PC gaming ecosystem, supposedly at the same price (in fact, even less with the current inflated GPU prices) as Nvidia's RTX 5090 would cost with its $1,999 / £1,939 / AU$4,039 price - and that’s for a whole system, not just a graphics card. However, the issue of tariffs could see the purported $2,000 price of the GMKtec EVO-X2 skyrocket soon.
Systems powered by AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ chips aren't safe from inflation and tariffs either...
As of now, no PC hardware (including game consoles) is safe from tariffs: we've already seen Nintendo pause pre-orders for its Switch 2 in the US due to uncertainty from tariffs, including retailers selling AMD and Nvidia partner cards, and I fully expect the same to apply to APU-powered systems.
If the $2,000 price point is legitimate, then we could easily see a price point upwards of $3,000 in the US with the tariffs currently in place - or even worse, no availability whatsoever. It's an indication of how uncertain the PC gaming space is at the moment, and it's probably one of the worst possible times for sanctions to come into effect.
Nvidia, in particular, is facing difficulties with its new RTX 5000 series GPU lineup, with driver problems, missing ROPs, and limited availability at the forefront of it all. With inflation set to hike even more, it'll likely place PC gamers like me further away from the temptation of buying any of the Blackwell GPUs.
There aren't any Ryzen AI Max+ APUs used in handheld gaming PCs just yet, but if there was any chance of that happening any time soon, you can probably forget about it for now. My only hope is that this present debacle doesn't last too long...
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