Last month, AMD introduced the Ryzen AI Halo Developer Platform based on the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor, delivering up to 126 TOPS, and pre-orders are now available for $3,999.99 at MicroCenter (US only, in-store pickup).
The computer ships with 128GB LPDDR5x memory and a 2TB NVMe SSD. It offers 10GbE and WiFi 7 networking, HDMI 2.1 and USB-C DisplayPort video output, and a few extra USB-C ports
Ryzen AI Halo developer kit specifications:
- SoC – AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395
- CPU – 16 cores, 32 threads, “Zen 5” Architecture clocked up to 5.1 GHz
- GPU – AMD Radeon 8060S Integrated Graphics with 40 CUs, RDNA 3.5 architecture
- NPU – AMD XDNA™ 2 NPU
- TDP – 120W
- Process – TSMC 4nm FinFET
- Memory – 128GB LPDDR5x up to 8,000 MT/s speed, 256GB/s bandwidth
- Storage – 2TB M.2 SSD
- Video Output
- HDMI 2.1b
- DisplayPort via USB-C port
- Networking
- 10GbE RJ45 port
- WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
- USB
- 3x USB-C ports, including one with DP Alt mode support
- 1x USB-C for power input
- Misc – Power button
- Power Supply – USB PD via USB-C port
- Dimensions – 150 x 150 x 45.4 mm
- Weight – 1.2 kg
The system can run Windows 11 or Linux to run AI workloads, and the company points to the AI Developer Program and “AMD AI Playbooks” to easily get started with step-by-step guides to run AI workloads on AMD hardware, from inference to fine-tuning. However, everything in the AI Playbooks is shown as coming soon, and we should expect the documentation to be ready once the development platform ships.
The 126 TOPS (INT8) Ryzen AI Halo Developer Platform appears to mainly compete against the 1,000 TOPS (FP4) NVIDIA DGX Spark introduced last year. Both are designed for local AI workloads, and AMD shared a few (advantageous) benchmark results where they pitted the two platforms against each other for a range of AI models: GLM 7.4 Flash-30B-A3B, GPT-OSS-120B, Qwen 3.5-122B-A10B, and Qwen 3.6-35B-A3B.
The AMD AI computer delivers 4% to 14% extra performance in these specific benchmarks. The company also highlights support for both Windows and Linux operating systems, better token/sec/dollar metrics, and the presence of a 50 TOPS NPU, not that it matters that much.
For some reason, the company also compared the AMD Ryzen AI Halo to the Apple M4 Pro, and it’s 3.3 to 7.3 times faster on a range of workloads.
It’s unclear why AMD decided to launch its own Developer Platform, since several of its customers already provide Ryzen AI Max+ 395 systems with similar specs and a slightly lower price point on Amazon and AliExpress. For instance, the GMKtec EVO-X2 with 128GB LPDDR5, 2TB NVMe SSD, four display outputs, and 2.5GbE (no 10GbE) and WiFi 7 goes for $3,299.99.
A more powerful model based on the 133 TOPS AMD Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495 processor, and paired with 192GB of memory, is also planned. More details can be found on the product page.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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