AMD Ryzen 9000G Desktop APUs May Be on teh Horizon as Kraken Support Emerges in BIOS Updates
Breaking: Support for AMD’s “Kraken Point” APUs has begun appearing in BIOS updates for motherboards, signaling a potential upcoming release of Ryzen 9000G series desktop processors. The revelation, first noted by HXL on X (formerly Twitter), suggests AMD is preparing to bring its latest APU architecture to the AM5 platform.
These new APUs, based on the Krackan and Krackan Point chips released this January, are expected to offer improved CPU performance thanks to Zen 5 cores.Though, graphics performance may not see a significant leap. The Krackan Point chip, used in the ryzen AI 7 350, features eight cores (four Zen 5, four Zen 5c) and a GPU with 512 shaders (8 CU) of the RDNA 3.5 architecture - comparable to the Ryzen 7 8700G.
AMD’s APU lineup is currently divided between the Strix Point and Krackan Point architectures. Strix Point, a twelve-core version, remains exclusive to mobile platforms. Krackan Point’s integrated GPU offers less graphical power than Strix Point,which can have 768 or 1024 shaders. A weaker “Krackan 2” chip is also in production for lower-end models, perhaps featuring between 128-256 shaders and four to six cores.
Processors based on these SoCs for AM5 are anticipated to mirror the ryzen 3 8300G, Ryzen 5 8500G, Ryzen 5 8600G, and Ryzen 7 8700G, but with the benefit of newer Zen 5 CPU cores. An eight-core Ryzen 7 9700G, however, is not expected to surpass the 8700G in graphics performance due to its 512 shader GPU.
While a firm release date remains unknown, current indicators suggest a launch is not imminent. Based on past release cycles, these desktop APUs could arrive in the first quarter of 2026 – roughly two years after the Ryzen 8000G series.
Sources: VideoCardz, HXL
