[Comparison] Intel Core i3-1215U vs AMD Ryzen 3 5300U – AMD doesn’t give up

LaptopMedia.com Comparisons [Comparison] Intel Core i3-1215U vs AMD Ryzen 3 5300U - AMD doesn't give up

From: Severin Kolakov 03 June 2022 / 06:53 | 0

The Alder Lake U-series is supposed to be the most efficient Intel CPUs, but from our little experience with them, we haven’t been impressed so far. Today, however, we will be evaluating the performance of the new Core i3-1215U, which is a 6-core/8-thread CPU.

If those numbers look weird to you, it’s because Intel’s new Efficiency cores don’t support Hyperthreading, leading to some strange specs sheets. Going against it is a proven combatant in the CPU space, which has saved many budget laptops from poor performance. The Ryzen 3 5300Um despite using the older Zen 2 architecture, is a pretty powerful chip. Will it, however, have enough gas in the tank to strike a blow to Alder Lake’s dominance.

Today, we compare the Intel Core i3-1215U against the AMD Ryzen 3 5300U.

You can take a look at our Top Laptop CPU Ranking, where we showcase the best and the newest laptop processors.

You can find more information about both CPUs here: Intel Core i3-1215U / AMD Ryzen 3 5300U

Specs table

	Intel Core i3-1215U	AMD Ryzen 3 5300U
Architecture	Alder Lake-U	Zen 2
Cores / Threads	6/8	4/8
Clock Speeds – Base/Boost	0.90 – 4.40GHz	2.60 – 3.80GHz
Cache	10MB	6MB
Lithography	10nm	7nm
TDP	15W	15W
Memory type	DDR5-4800, LPDDR5-5200 DDR4–3200MHz LPDDR4x–4266MHz	DDR4-3200MHz, LPDDR4x-3733MHz
Integrated GPU	Intel UHD Graphics (Alder Lake, 64EU)	AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (R4000/5000, 15W)

CPU benchmarks

The Ryzen 3, which uses a nearly 3-year-old architecture, manages to win out against the Core i3 CPU, scoring 38% higher in Cinebench 20 and being 0.6 seconds quicker in Photoshop.

3D Rendering

Results are from the Cinebench R23 CPU test (the higher the score, the better)

Intel Core i3-1215U Acer Aspire 5

4037

AMD Ryzen 3 5300U Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 3

5582

GPU benchmarks

Moving into the iGPU tests, we see the Intel pull ahead, thanks to the newer Xe-HPG architecture, resulting in leads of 26% in 3DMark Fire Strike, and 31% in Unigine Superposition.

3DMark Time Spy (G)

The results are from 3DMark Time Spy (Graphics). Higher is better.

Intel UHD Graphics (Alder Lake, 64EU) Acer Aspire 5

1049

AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (R4000/5000, 15W) Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 3

801

3DMark Fire Strike (G)

Results are from 3DMark Fire Strike (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)

Intel UHD Graphics (Alder Lake, 64EU) Acer Aspire 5

3378

AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (R4000/5000, 15W) Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 3

2685

3DMark Wild Life Extreme

The results are from 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Unlimited. Higher is better.

Intel UHD Graphics (Alder Lake, 64EU) Acer Aspire 5

2404

Unigine Superposition

Results are from the Unigine Superposition benchmark (higher the score, the better)

Intel UHD Graphics (Alder Lake, 64EU) Acer Aspire 5

668

AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (R4000/5000, 15W) Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 3

510

Gaming tests

cs-go-benchmarks

CS:GO	HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)	HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings)	HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings)
Intel UHD Graphics (Alder Lake, 64EU) – Core i3-1215U	129 fps (+12%)	93 fps (+43%)	55 fps (+25%)
AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000, 15W) – Ryzen 3 5300U	110 fps	65 fps	44 fps

DOTA 2	HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)	HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings)	HD 1080p, High (Check settings)
Intel UHD Graphics (Alder Lake, 64EU) – Core i3-1215U	136 fps (+24%)	84 fps (+27%)	44 fps (+26%)
AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000, 15W) – Ryzen 3 5300U	110 fps	66 fps	35 fps

Conclusion

The Ryzen 3 5300U has the raw computational performance to stand ahead of the Core i3-1215U in CPU-intensive tasks. However, the newer iGPU inside the Core i3 is quite a bit better, scoring better in both the synthetic GPU benchmarks as well as the gaming tests. This win gives us a very optimistic view of newer Ryzen chips, as, despite Intel dominating the high-end field and the H-series CPUs, AMD can absolutely dominate in the ULV-space, with the new RDNA 2 iGPUs solidifying its performance even further.