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 ESTLow Power Performance
Truth be told, I didn’t go into this review with low power testing in mind. These sorts of laptops, while capable of driving high performance on the go, are essentially expected to be connected to the power socket when performance is needed. Even the best ultraportables struggle for battery life when everything is whirring at full tilt. Nonetheless, after my own experiences of 3 hours of gaming on power with a Matebook X Pro and a high screen brightness, it is a genuine use case.
For these tests, the settings and software are the same as normal, but the only change is that the power cable has been removed and the power setting in Windows has been moved to ‘Best Battery Life’. We’re still in the Recommended Power Plan and not the Battery Saver Plan. What this does is force the OS and system to manage its power appropriately between CPU and GPU. In these circumstances being able to distribute the power where it is needed most can be a very critical factor in getting a project finished, or having a game that is playable.
Our tests here, due to time, are the following:
- Civilization 6, 1080p MSAA 8x, AI Test (On Battery, Battery Saver)
- Borderlands 3, 1080p Medium (On Battery, Battery Saver)
- Counter Strike Source, 1080p Max (On Battery, Battery Saver)
So previously Intel had a very slight advantage in AI turn time here, but as we move to a power limited scenario, AMD takes a more substantial lead – over 10%.
Where we had a small 5% win for AMD in the full power scenario, the gap is a bit bigger percentage wise for AMD in the low power scenario. It is still under 30 FPS, which is probably unplayable for BL3.
Now CSS is a little odd. When I’m in Battery Saver mode but plugged in, I get the full power FPS value. But the minute I take it out, on the Razer Blade, something goes a bit mental and we end up being limited to 60 FPS. V-Sync is disabled in every setting I think of, and yet there doesn’t seem to be a way of getting off of 60 FPS.
Ultimately in every scenario, in a few small tests, where Intel might have been ahead on wall power, AMD pulls ahead on limited power.
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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.