AMD Ryzen 5 240 socket: FP8

What the Ryzen 5 240 is

The Ryzen 5 240 is the 45 W six-core of the Ryzen 200 laptop lineup, built on the Hawk Point refresh of the Zen 4 architecture. Six full-size Zen 4 cores with simultaneous multithreading give 12 threads at a notably high 4.3 GHz base clock, with boost speeds up to 5.0 GHz on lightly threaded work. Cache totals 6 MB of L2 plus 16 MB of L3. The chip is built on TSMC 4 nm as a single monolithic die of 178 square millimeters, and its default TDP of 45 W sits inside a 35 to 54 W configurable range that laptop makers set per design.

Graphics come from 8 RDNA 3 compute units as Radeon 760M at up to 2600 MHz. That size handles creation side tasks, video work and light games at modest settings, and it leans on fast dual-channel memory for its best results. The XDNA NPU reaches up to 16 TOPS for background blur, transcription and other sustained inference at low power. The high base clock is the defining trait here: unlike efficiency-first chips that idle low and sprint briefly, this chip holds high frequencies under steady multi-threaded loads when cooling allows.

Against the Ryzen 5 230 below it, the 240 keeps the same core count, cache and graphics but raises the base clock from 3.5 to 4.3 GHz and the default TDP from 28 to 45 W. Buyers who compile code, render short videos or run long analyses will feel the steadier throughput. AMD announced the Ryzen 200 series at CES in January 2025 and lists February 18, 2025 as the launch date for this SKU, with performance-oriented mainstream laptops carrying it.

Socket and motherboard compatibility

The chip solders into FP8, the 25 × 40 mm BGA that carries recent AMD mobile generations, so it cannot be removed or swapped after manufacture. Buyers choose a complete laptop with fixed processor, memory and cooling, and service means board replacement. There is no socket lever, no retention bracket and no secondhand upgrade market for the processor itself. The LGA, PGA and BGA: CPU package types explained guide explains how soldered packages differ from socketed ones.

Performance mainstream laptops are the natural home for this APU, where a thicker chassis and stronger fans justify the 45 W default. Firmware and drivers come from the laptop maker, so the support page for the exact laptop model is the reference that matters. Designs that add a discrete GPU use the PCIe lanes for it, while designs without one lean entirely on the Radeon 760M and therefore benefit most from fast LPDDR5X memory.

Memory, PCIe and cooling

Systems pair the 240 with DDR5 SODIMM modules or soldered LPDDR5X, over two channels. DDR5-5600 is the fastest socketed speed AMD lists for the platform, while soldered LPDDR5X reaches 7500 MT/s for extra graphics bandwidth. DDR5 configurations scale to 96 GB and LPDDR configurations to 64 GB. Eight graphics compute units reward fast dual-channel memory, so a matched pair of modules gives the best result in games and photo work. Soldered memory sizes freeze at purchase, so buyers should choose capacity with the full life of the machine in mind.

Expansion comes from 20 usable PCIe Gen4 lanes for NVMe storage, discrete graphics and add-on devices, plus two native USB4 ports from the SoC for docking stations, fast external drives and extra displays. The integrated graphics drives up to four monitors, which suits desk setups with a laptop dock. Lane splits are fixed per board, so check the laptop specification sheet before assuming a second fast SSD slot.

Cooling spans 35 to 54 W around the 45 W default and belongs to the laptop maker, with heat pipes and fans drawn for the configured TDP of each model. The high base clock only shows its strength in chassis that can sustain it, so thin machines give up part of the advantage. The maximum operating temperature is 100 degrees C, and sustained loads settle where the cooling design allows. Reviews of the exact laptop model show what performance to expect over long sessions.

Upgrade paths

Soldered laptop silicon cannot be upgraded, so buyers pick the core count, graphics size and memory at purchase and judge used machines on battery health, memory size and panel quality. The 240 suits buyers who want six fast cores with a high sustained clock for development, creation and heavy multitasking in a laptop that stays plugged in most of the day. Buyers who travel constantly may prefer the 28 W Ryzen 5 230, which trades sustained speed for cooler running and longer battery life.

The main step up from here is the 8-core Ryzen 7 class, which adds two cores and a larger Radeon 780M GPU for creation work that scales with threads. Since the processor itself can never move between machines, compare complete laptops on display quality, keyboard, ports, battery and service options. A used machine with this chip is judged on cooling condition and SSD health as much as on the specification sheet.