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 ESTGPU Benchmarks
Graphics is going to be a bit more challenging than the CPU tests. Games that test both the CPU and the GPU to the limits are going to find different tradeoffs with each of these systems.
The ASUS Zephyrus G14 is smaller and more thermally limited. It doesn’t have an AMD GPU, so it can’t take advantage of AMD’s new features like SmartShift that can manage power between the CPU and GPU. It technically has the stronger CPU, and while the graphics card is the same, ASUS has the Max-Q version of the RTX 2060, which is optimized for power and efficiency, and exhibits lower clocks. Technically the base frequency of this configuration is higher, at 975 MHz, the turbo is lower at 1185 MHz, and the GDDR6 memory is a lot lower at 1375 MHz (11Gbps/pin).
The Razer Blade 15 has the bigger chassis, and we assume is built for a larger overall TDP. While it has the ‘weaker’ CPU of the two, with fewer cores and lower frequency, it is paired with a full-fat GTX 2060 graphics card. We looked at the data for this card, and it exhibits a lower 960 MHz base frequency, it has the higher 1200 MHz turbo, 1750 MHz memory, and has a direct PCIe 3.0 x16 connection with the processor, while the ASUS system is only an x8.
For our tests, I’ve taken an older test (CS:Source), a couple of modern tests (Civ 6, FFXV) and a new test in Borderlands 3. We used the following settings:
- Final Fantasy, 1080p Fullscreen, Standard Quality
- Borderlands 3, 1080p, Medium Pre-Set
- Civilization 6, 1080p Maximum Preset No MSAA / 1K Occlusion Textures
- Civilization 6, 1080p Maximum Preset 8x MSAA / 2K Occlusion Textures
- Counter Strike Source, 1080p Maximum
In Final Fantasy, the results were around 10% different, favoring the AMD system.
Borderlands 3 was actually fairly close, with less than 5% between them, but still favoring AMD. I did notice that we were fairly close to the cutoff here between being CPU limited and GPU limited.
Civilization 6 is well known for constantly updating and being optimized, and here it seems the more powerful GPU wins out by a large 10 FPS margin.
However, if we add in some more compute and detail, we move to a more GPU limited scenario where the results are essentially equal.
Counter Strike is an odd one, given how old the game is. Here the game favors the Intel machine, with a ~10% advantage.
Like in the CPU tests, I did some of these gaming tests with the power cord removed and on battery saver mode. Results were interesting, to say the least, and can be found on the next page.
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Deicidium369 - Monday, April 13, 2020 - link
The C920 is nice unit - next to impossible to find at the moment - bought mine a while back - a C920S - which has the privacy shutter.Deicidium369 - Monday, April 13, 2020 - link
It is most definitely progress, without a doubt.lightsout565 - Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - link
Battery life is incredible. I really wish Asus had an option to lock the display to 60Hz if the dGPU was off like you mention Razer does. Or even better lock the display to 60Hz if the dGPU is off *AND* on battery power. The latter of the two seems like the best solution. It's too bad we aren't seeing more OEMs put these in higher end laptops. This along with new Nvidia Max-Q tech seems to be the perfect recipe for thin and light 13-14" laptop designs that the 45w H chips could never quite deliver on.x86koala - Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - link
Excellent performance!Felfazeebo - Wednesday, April 15, 2020 - link
Should you expect a performance hit if you were to add another stick with 3200mhz instead? I was planning on adding a 16gb 3200mhz stick in the hopes of running 24gb all in 3200mhz. I'm curious to know if it will even run at the right speed, and whether it will be as fast, or very close to the stock 16gb at 3200.Qasar - Wednesday, April 15, 2020 - link
i think this was address in the articleGreenReaper - Monday, April 20, 2020 - link
By the look of it, it could, but it maybe won't by default. You would might well have to re-program the module (if you can find a way to do that, it may involve a hardware hack) or else wait in hope for ASUS to offer an update enabling XMP.I think there should have been more pushing on the manufacturer of this point, as many are likely to install aftermarket memory sooner or later.
carcakes - Wednesday, April 22, 2020 - link
If the infinite fabric version for Ryzen Mobile 4000 series is newer than the previous one how much will it impact performance?carcakes - Wednesday, April 22, 2020 - link
'The 2nd Gen Infinity Architecture will allow for 4-8 Way GPU connectivity in a singular node'mi1400 - Saturday, April 25, 2020 - link
I dont know why this and similar processors are not packaged in decent streamlined chassis like Lisa Su is holding to introduce this cpu. Dear ASUS, MSI stop making chassis(s) for drag-queens, most of us are descend corporate employees who dont want to flash/swing their "assets" out and about. Current day programming/cloud/vms/containers demands are making people like me desperate for such processors BUT in decent/sleek/non-intrusive chassis designs and you are holding us back. I understand heat dissipation and other factors may push u for this but it is still not the excuse. Lenovo etc are making mobile workstation which are slimmer and less flashy than asus one above. Take few pages from phone designs like Samsung Note, Xperia Z Ultra.. world has changed .. dont remain stuck in mid-late 2000s. Just phone Lisa Su where she got that chassis.