AMD Ryzen AI Max 400 — first x86 chip to run a 300B model locally
TL;DR
AMD's new Ryzen AI Max PRO 400 (Gorgon Halo) bumps unified memory from 128GB to 192GB, up to 160GB dynamically assignable as VRAM. First x86 chip to run 300B+ parameter LLMs locally.
AMD formally announced the Ryzen AI Max PRO 400 series (codename Gorgon Halo). Headline upgrade: unified memory ceiling raised from last gen's 128GB to 192GB, of which up to 160GB can be dynamically assigned as VRAM — last gen had 96GB max.
Three SKUs. Flagship Max+ PRO 495: 16 cores, 32 threads, max boost 5.2 GHz. Plus PRO 490 and PRO 485. Architecture: Zen 5 + RDNA 3.5 + XDNA 2 NPU, mainly bumping memory capacity and slight clock improvements — not a new architecture.
Why 192GB matters. AMD says this is the first x86 chip able to run 300B+ parameter LLMs locally, no cloud compute or multi-GPU needed. For AI developers, local large-model inference saves API costs — AMD claims ~$750/month cloud cost savings per machine.
But there's a catch. Systems ship Q3 2026 through ASUS, HP, Lenovo, exact dates TBD. Global memory supply is currently tight — Digital Trends notes Apple has pulled some high-memory Mac Studio configurations due to the memory crisis. Whether the 192GB version can scale production remains uncertain. Currently confirmed: Ryzen AI Halo with last gen's Max+ 395, preorder opens June, starting at $3,999.
via Tom's Hardware
Three SKUs. Flagship Max+ PRO 495: 16 cores, 32 threads, max boost 5.2 GHz. Plus PRO 490 and PRO 485. Architecture: Zen 5 + RDNA 3.5 + XDNA 2 NPU, mainly bumping memory capacity and slight clock improvements — not a new architecture.
Why 192GB matters. AMD says this is the first x86 chip able to run 300B+ parameter LLMs locally, no cloud compute or multi-GPU needed. For AI developers, local large-model inference saves API costs — AMD claims ~$750/month cloud cost savings per machine.
But there's a catch. Systems ship Q3 2026 through ASUS, HP, Lenovo, exact dates TBD. Global memory supply is currently tight — Digital Trends notes Apple has pulled some high-memory Mac Studio configurations due to the memory crisis. Whether the 192GB version can scale production remains uncertain. Currently confirmed: Ryzen AI Halo with last gen's Max+ 395, preorder opens June, starting at $3,999.
via Tom's Hardware
