AMD’s Mobile Revival: Redefining the Notebook Business with the Ryzen 9 4900HS (A Review)
by Dr. Ian Cutress on April 9, 2020 9:00 AM ESTCPU Benchmarks
Comparison of these two CPUs is going to be interesting. Both laptops being tested excel in different ways:
ASUS Zephyrus G14 vs Razer Blade 15 | ||
ASUS Zephyrus G14 |
AnandTech | Razer Blade 15-inch |
Ryzen 9 4900HS | CPU | Core i7-9750H |
8 / 16 | Cores / Threads | 6 / 12 |
1400 MHz | Idle Frequency | 1100 MHz |
3000 MHz | Base Frequency | 2600 MHz |
4300 MHz | Rated 1T Turbo | 4500 MHz |
4500 MHz | Measured 1T Turbo | 4200 MHz |
35 W | TDP Listed | 45 W |
- | TDP Measured | 35 W |
- | PL2 Listed | 60 W |
- | PL2 Measured | 45 W |
16 GB DDR4-3200 22-22-22 1T |
DRAM | 16 GB DDR4-2666 19-19-19 2T |
The ASUS device has more cores, and by the looks of our testing, actually turbos to a higher frequency, regardless of the sticker on the box. We’ve already shown that AMD’s Zen 2 can have comparable if not better IPC than Intel’s Coffee Lake refresh, so add that to the more cores, should put every test in AMD’s camp.
What should benefit Intel here is the on-box TDP, of 45 W, compared to the AMD 35 W. When we fired up our usual program for monitoring Intel frequencies, it showed that there is a hard coded BIOS boost up to 60 W, which we thought should give some extra power. However, when the system was actually set to a workload, the peak turbo power was only 45 W, which the system was able to keep for 10-15 seconds. Then it sat back at 35 W, which makes it in line with AMD. This is odd performance from the Intel CPU, however we assume at this level that Razer has made the decisions in order to fit within the thermal profile of the Blade 15 chassis.
If Intel has a lower frequency, fewer cores, and a lower frequency, all for the same power envelope as AMD, then it looks like a slam dunk for AMD.
It is. These systems are built with productivity in mind, and even with benchmarks that are bursty like PCMark, AMD takes the win.
I also took some time to run the Civ 6 AI benchmarks, which performs 10 turns of a late game and averages the turn time. Intel won this test, but I performed it again with the power unplugged and on battery saver mode in Windows. The results were reversed:
This led me to do some more tests without power connected. I’ve separated these out into a different page, combining some CPU and some GPU data.
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Silma - Wednesday, May 6, 2020 - link
Correct me if I'm wrong, but unfortunately none of the AMD laptops are compatible with Thunderbolt 3.Very sad for musicians wanting to connect a TB3 audio interface.
mobutu - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
Nice machine, some thoughts:-instead of that big chin they should have fitted an 16:10 1920x1200 screen
-those exterior leds (AniMe Matrix) are atrocious, it's a very very good thing that they are optional
-not having a (shitty anyway) webcam is a BIG PLUS
-anyone buying it should buy it with maxxed out RAM (32GB DDR4 3200MHz)
-the SSD inside can be replace with a faster/better one
-I don't see it mentioned in the review, but you can buy it with a 14" Non-glare WQHD 2560x1440@60Hz IPS 100% sRGB Pantone Validated adaptive sync optional screen
SyCoREAPER - Monday, June 28, 2021 - link
Jesus the comment section is cringe. Came to look for some additional insight and see a bunch of children defending multi-billion dollar companies who owe them nothing and act like they are their masia. Would be nice if it wasn't crapped up by the same 2 Intel shills. Now I have to skip over every other comment to read anything relevant.Its been a year, have your gotten over it yet?