Windows 11 vs. Ubuntu Linux Performance On The AMD Ryzen AI Max PRO 390 "Strix Halo"
Across 112 benchmarks carried out under both Windows 11 and Ubuntu 25.04 on this HP ZBook Ultra G1a powered by the AMD Ryzen AI Max PRO 390 12-core SoC with Radeon 8050S Graphics, Ubuntu 25.04 was faster in 66% of the benchmarks. For the wins that Microsoft Windows did enjoy, it typically involved a subset of the graphics benchmarks.
On a geometric mean basis, Ubuntu 25.04 was around 13% faster than the OEM install of Microsoft Windows 11 Pro that shipped on the HP ZBook Ultra G1a laptop.
👁 Ubuntu Linux on the Ryzen AI MAX PRO 390
Keep in mind Ubuntu 25.04 was used just for being the most common desktop/laptop Linux distribution but switching to other Linux distributions like CachyOS and Clear Linux can provide bigger performance wins on AMD Strix Halo as shown in prior testing.
For those looking at the Strix Halo powered HP ZBook Ultra G1a laptops for mobile workstations for heavy creator workloads and more, Linux can provide some compelling performance advantages. The one downside for the ZBook Ultra G1a is the web camera support not yet being upstreamed - more on that within the ZBook Ultra G1a review and something that will hopefully all be taken care of later in the year.
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