ECS unveils laptops with AMD Krackan and Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chips ahead of CES
Most PC makers are waiting until next week to unveil new computers powered by some of the chips that are set to launch during CES 2025. But ECS jumped the gun a bit by introducing three new laptops ahead of CES, including one model powered by an “AMD Krackan” processor.
The ECS UP42KP is a 14 inch notebook sporting one of AMD’s new chips that are expected to be a slightly cheaper alternative to Strix Point. Meanwhile the upcoming ECS UP42PW and ECS UP52PW are 14 and 15.3 inch laptops that will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus processors.
ECS UP42KP
ECS doesn’t typically sell laptops directly to consumers, but the company operates as an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and designs and builds models that may be sold by different companies under their own brand names. So you probably won’t ever actually see laptops with those model numbers in stores, but you may see some very similar systems from other companies.
Possibly the most interesting model in the ECS press release is the ECS UP42KP, since it’s powered by a processor that AMD hasn’t officially introduced yet. While there have been a number of leaks giving us an idea of what to expect, I’m inclined to trust the information ECS provides more than leaks from unknown sources.
With that in mind, ECS says the processor in its new AMD-powered laptop has “8 Zen 5(c) CPU cores, RDNA 3.5 integrated graphics, and NPU capabilities exceeding 40 TOPS.” The processor has a TDP range of 15 to 54 watts, supports DDR5-5600 memory, and 16 PCIe lanes, and ECS says it’s “targeted at the mainstream mid-range market.”
In other words, it has similar CPU and graphics architecture to the Ryzen AI 300 series “Strix Point” chips that launched in 2024, but it may have only Zen 5c cores instead of a mix of Zen 5 and Zen 5c, and the NPU may be less powerful than the ones used in Strix Point chips. Rumor has it that AMD Krackan chips will also have fewer GPU compute units, but ECS doesn’t have anything to say about that.
Some other features of this 14 inch notebook include a full HD display, USB4 and HDMI 2.1 ports, an IR camera with support for Windows Hello-compatible face recognition and a privacy shutter, support for WiFi 6, and a backlit keyboard.
ECS UP52PW
The Qualcomm-powered ECS UP42PW and UP52PW are expected to feature 8-core Snapdragon X Plus chips with 30MB of cache and 45 TOPS NPUs, so they’ll probably be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X1P-42-100 processor.
Other features include FHD IPS LCD displays, LPDDR5 memory, and USB4 ports, among other things. The two laptops are said to have “a unified design,” even though one model has a larger display than the other.
ECS plans to show off all three laptops, along with the company’s latest motherboards and mini PCs during CES next week. Of particular interest in the mini PC space is a new ECS Liva One A620 which appears to be an AMD alternative to the Intel-compatible Liva One H610 that’s been available for the past few years.
ECS Liva One A620
The new A620 has an AMD AM5 socket with support for Ryzen 7000/8000/9000 series desktop processors, up to 128GB of DDR5 memory, an M.2 slot for storage, and support for up to three displays thanks to HDMI, DisplayPort, and VGA ports.
press release
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Brad Linder
