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日本AMD Ryzen 7 4800H vs Intel Core i9-9980HK – this coffee is still strong [Updated]
The AMD Ryzen 7 4800H is probably faster than most of the current-gen Intel CPUs. In our previous comparisons (based on leaked results) we saw that 4800H is faster when compared to i9-9880H, i7-1065G7, and i7-9750H. Even the ULV AMD Ryzen 7 4800U is faster than i7-1065G7 (both have a 15W TDP).
Nowadays, there are so many dark clouds above Intel’s lands. The Redmond company still has what to offer against the 4800H – and that is the Core i9-9980HK. The later is based on the Coffee Lake HR architecture and it is manufactured in 14nm++ process (yes, the future Intel CPUs will use 14nm+++ process – so many pluses, let’s hope that it’ll be for good).
The i9-9980HK looks like a decent and faster competitor but we will see that in the next comparative graphs.
Everything was calm and quiet for about a month but hey, a new AMD 4800H Cinebench score has emerged (a leaked result that was posted on Weibo) and it looks like the Intel’s current CPU champion (i9-9980HK) is in danger. In our previous comparison between those two, the still unreleased AMD CPU beat i9-9980HK with a small margin which was impressive.
The official launch of the upcoming Zen 2 mobile processor is really close and (perhaps) AMD will bring Intel to their knees with that kind of computing power. It looks like the 4800H will be faster than anything excluding the still unreleased mobile Ryzen 9 processor.
Quick Specs
This time it looks like AMD is in a bit of trouble. The i9-9980HK is still a behemoth of a CPU. Both processors have an equal count of cores and threads. The 4800H has a higher base clock than Intel’s one – 2.90GHz to 2.40GHz. The i9-9980HK has a whooping 5 GHz boost clock while 4800H’s boost is “just” 4.2 GHz. The Intel contender shows its muscles with 16MB cache size while 4800H is equipped with 8MB cache. As always, thanks to the fast and efficient LPDDR4X memory, the Zen 2-based CPU has an advantage with its max supported memory frequencies – DDR4-3200MHz; LPDDR4-4266MHz to DDR4-2666, LPDDR3-2133 for Intel.
When we look at the TDP levels we can spot (again) that Intel is very shy with both TDP up and TDP down values. Maybe this Intel CPU is too power-hungry when it’s stressed hard (or the Redmond company just wants to keep this info for themselves?). Speaking of loads, the 5GHz boost applies to only one core if the processor temperature is under 50°C. Intel calls this method “Thermal Velocity Boost” – an additional +100MHz (from 4.9GHz to 5GHz) for one core when the CPU is well-cooled. That means this boost will be available when the i9-9980HK isn’t under heavy load, something like Web browsing or document editing. In those situations the CPU clock isn’t that important – can you spot a difference between 4.9GHz and 5GHz on one core while using Google Chrome?
Enough talk, let’s check the graphs.
More detailed specs here – AMD Ryzen 7 4800H / Core i9-9880HK
Specs table:
| AMD Ryzen 7 4800H | Intel Core i9-9980HK | |
|---|---|---|
| Cores / Threads | 8 / 16 | 8 / 16 |
| Base / Max frequency | 2.90 – 4.20 GHz | 2.40 – 5.00 GHz |
| Cache | 8 MB L3 Cache | 16 MB L3 Cache |
| TDP / up / down | 45W / 54W / 35W | 45W / – / – |
| Memory support | DDR4-3200MHz; LPDDR4-4266MHz | DDR4-2666, LPDDR3-2133 |
CPU Benchmarks
This time the AMD 4800H is 14% faster than its Intel competitor (before this update the difference was just 4% / 1712 Cinebench score). Now, this is a serious gap and we are curious to see what Intel has to offer with their (another) Coffee Lake refresh chips based on the 14nm+++ tech process.
GPU Benchmarks
Who cares about the iGPU performance of i9-9980HK? Actually we do because Vega 7 is so much faster than UHD 630. Not to mention that there is another test showing that the RX Vega 7 is close to the performance of NVIDIA GeForce MX250 (18W).
| AMD RX Vega 7 | Intel UHD 630 | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3DMark Firestrike | 5068 | 1203 | 312% |
Verdict
Of course, as soon as we get our hands on the new Ryzen CPUs, we’ll update this article with results from our own lab.
We are surprised in a good way – the 4800H is just a notch faster than i9-9980HK. If this gap remains valid after the launch of 4800H then Intel will be in trouble because their current CPU champion will fall. CPU-wise, both processors are fast. We have to see which one has an advantage in specific workloads like photo and video editing, data compression, or maybe Intel will have the upper hand in games thanks to its IPC and high clock frequencies? Who knows, but we really want those new Zen 2 processors as fast as possible.
The question is who will offer less heat dissipation? A 45W TDP is a challenge for a lot of manufacturers when they design cooling solutions for their notebooks. Soon, we all will know the answer. At least for now, the 4800H is the better choice thanks to its great iGPU – the AMD RX Vega 7. It’s a powerful integrated graphics card that probably will be faster than a lot of low-end and maybe on par with some mid-end dedicated GPUs. While the i9-9980HK is always equipped with a dedicated graphics solution that takes spaces and adds weight.
We are so impatient to test the new laptops configured with the Zen 2 mobile processors but we all have to wait a bit more for them. At least for now, the leaked results are promising and AMD is on a rise thanks to Ryzen. The 4800H will be a mighty CPU – it’s so powerful on paper and the leaked results are showing that we can enjoy that kind of power soon in our homes or offices. As we mentioned, another cool thing is the AMD iGPU – the RX Vega 7 looks like a powerful thing that can dethrone the Intel Iris Plus 7 easily and it can offer a-la MX250 kind of performance. So, you can have a great CPU alongside decent iGPU without a dedicated graphics solution – that will save you money.
For sure Intel will try to bring a faster version of the i9-9980HK on the market with (probably) higher frequencies that will lead to better performance. But will this be enough for at least equal performance to 4800H? Nobody knows, we can only hope that there will be a good “fight” between the two companies and maybe that will bring the end prices of the CPUs on a lower level.
When you expect the initial laptops with the abovementioned CPU in Bulgaria?
H-series APUs are often paired with discrete GPUs, so the Ryzen superiority in iGPU doesn’t really matter. The iGPU matters more in the U-series APUs.
The coffee is also very HOT