AMD allowed us today to release all the information it provided on the new Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 3 mobile processors, which feature the new “Zen 4c” cores, today. These processors are destined for light notebooks, offering the same “horsepower” at smaller footprints. The newly released CPUs featuring Zen4C cores are the Ryzen 5 7545U and the Ryzen 3 7440U, which are AMD’s first hybrid processors since they use a mix of Zen4 and Zen4c cores. The Zen4 cores are clocked higher, so the Windows scheduler sets them as the preferred ones for heavy workloads.
With the new processors, the “Phoenix 2” monolithic silicon debuted, featuring 2x Zen 4 + 4x Zen 4c cores along with a Radeon 740M iGPU. This is a budget version of the Phoenix die used in AMD’s original Ryzen 7000 mobile chips, allowing AMD to replace some Zen4 cores with the smaller Zen4c ones. To restrict the die size, the Phoenix 2 has fewer GPU CUs, and it loses the Ryzen AI NPU.
You should keep in mind that the Zen4c cores have nothing to do with Intel’s E-type (efficiency) cores. Zen4c features identical IPC (single-thread performance) to Zen4, the same instruction set, and supports SMT, or two threads per core. The only difference, as I stated above, is the lower clocks since they operate at lower core voltages.
Compared to Zen 4 cores, the Zen 4c ones occupy notably less space.
The tables above show the two core types’ main technical specs. As you can see, all the main specs are the same! But in the Zen4c, they are packed in a smaller package.
The Ryzen 7040U series had these members before the release of the Zen4c cores.
Two new members are now introduced: the Ryzen 5 7545U, which has a new naming scheme, and the Ryzen 3 7440U, which keeps the same model number, although it uses a new type of cores.
| Table | C/T | Core Types | Freq. (MHz) | Boost Freq. (MHz) | Ryzen AI | iGPU | iGPU CUs | L3 | TDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryzen 7 7840U | 8/16 | 8x Zen 4 | 3300 | 5100 | Y | Radeon 780M | 12 | 16 | 15-30W |
| Ryzen 5 7640U | 6/12 | 6x Zen 4 | 3500 | 4900 | Y | Radeon 760M | 8 | 16 | 15-30W |
| Ryzen 5 7540U | 6/12 | 6x Zen 4 | 3200 | 4900 | N | Radeon 740M | 4 | 16 | 15-30W |
| Ryzen 5 7545U | 6/12 | 2 x Zen 4 4 x Zen 4c |
3200 | 4900 | N | Radeon 740M | 4 | 16 | 15-30W |
| Ryzen 3 7440U (Zen4 version) | 4/8 | 4x Zen 4 | 3000 | 4700 | N | Radeon 740M | 4 | 8 | 15-30W |
| Ryzen 3 7440U | 4/8 | 1 x Zen 4 3 x Zen 4c |
3000 | 4700 | N | Radeon 740M | 4 | 8 | 15-30W |
In the table above, the new Ryzen 7040U series processors are highlighted in bold.
This is the first time AMD has mixed two core types in its processors. Should we expect something similar to its desktop CPUs, the mainstream and mid-level ones? Who knows? Only time will tell. The smaller Zen4c cores sacrifice some speed to save die space. We cannot yet see the performance difference this will have since there is no solid info on the attained speeds of the Zen4c cores.
Products featuring the new AMD cores will soon roll out, with one already on the market: the ASUS Rog Ally handheld with the Ryzen Z1. There is no information on when we will see the Ryzen 5 7545U and Ryzen 3 7440U on the market.
In the gallery below, you will find the entire press deck regarding the Zen4c cores and the new processors.
