Windows 11 Task Manager to Support AI-blocks NPU in AMD Ryzen 8040 Processors

The upcoming update of the Windows 11 operating system ‘Task Manager’ will now support AI-blocks NPU in AMD Ryzen 8040 processors. This support is already implemented for Intel Meteor Lake processors.

The Inception of AI Co-processors

The first generation of AI co-processors (Neural Processing Unit, NPU) based on XDNA architecture were introduced as part of the Ryzen 7040 mobile processors (Phoenix). A few months later, Intel unveiled similar NPUs in its Core Ultra mobile processors (Meteor Lake). The API DirectML as a part of the Windows 11 operating system recently gained native support for NPU chips in the Core Ultra. While AMD has already released the Ryzen 8000G desktop hybrid processors that are also equipped with NPUs, the Windows 11 DirectML still lacks support for these chip NPUs.

Task Manager Support for Ryzen 8040 and Intel Meteor Lake

The AI co-processors (NPU) in Intel Meteor Lake chips are already supported by the task manager monitoring feature. AMD company’s official blog states that similar support can be expected for AMD’s Ryzen 8040 processors in the future.

Demand For AI Monitoring Tools

AMD’s blog states: “As AI-supported PCs become more popular, the need for system monitoring tools to track the operation of new Neural Processing Units (NPUs), available in some models of Ryzen 8040 mobile chips, is growing. A neural processor unit, also known as an embedded AI engine, can extend the autonomy of the system by offloading AI tasks that would otherwise be performed on the CPU or GPU. AMD is working with Microsoft to implement Microsoft’s computational driver model (MCDM) infrastructure in Ryzen 8040 mobile processors with AMD NPU support. MCDM is a derivative of Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) designed for computational devices without a GPU, such as NPUs. MCDM allows NPUs to use the existing GPU device management infrastructure, including scheduling, power management, memory management, and performance debugging using tools like Task Manager. The MCDM serves as a fundamental layer that ensures smooth AI workload operations on NPU devices.”

Real-Time Application Behavior Monitoring

The ability to monitor application behavior in real-time will be particularly useful for laptop owners, as users will be able to control the launch of specific tasks and adjust energy settings to increase the device’s autonomous operation time.

Support Expansion for Ryzen 8000G and Ryzen 7040

Unfortunately, AMD did not clarify whether there are plans to extend the support of the Windows 11 Task Manager to the Ryzen 8000G and 7040 processors. As mentioned earlier, both series of chips also come equipped with NPUs based on the first-generation XDNA architecture.