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
Except mean some sort of exclusion - I like you sister, except for here huge buck teeth.Accept mean to allow or to acquiesce...
Your teachers have dropped the ball with you horribly. Maybe one of those Word a Day calendars.
Qasar - Monday, April 13, 2020 - link
wow.. yet more insults, the must be all you have left.cgeorgescu - Friday, April 10, 2020 - link
The thing is that the very few 8-core Intel mobile CPUs cost about $600 each and, at 45W, they are slower than this CPU at 35W.Check on YouTube, there are plenty of comparisons of this AMD CPU with Intel's greatest at 45W and even a few pushed to 90W.
Zingam - Saturday, April 11, 2020 - link
I don't care about battery life. I have a power cord but I care very much about performance, noise, heat and portability.eva02langley - Sunday, April 12, 2020 - link
I care about battery life, especially since I want a laptop I can use for office work that is not going to die on me after 3-4 hours.Deicidium369 - Sunday, April 12, 2020 - link
My now almost 6 month old Dell 13 2-in-1 with Ice Lake gets 11 to 12 hours of real use - previous 2 year old Dell 13 2-in-1s that the Ice Lakes replaced were 7-8 hours at most. Battery life was the number one consideration for upgrading - but it's also noticeably much faster.redtail3 - Thursday, May 14, 2020 - link
Oh stop it you dumb f&ck. You are clearly a paid intel shill with so much persistence."Your" battery claims mean nothing. Post the screenshots or a video link.
philehidiot - Thursday, April 9, 2020 - link
I was really sceptical about the lack of a webcam. I think for the cost it's a simple addition. Then I remembered that I've had several laptops with webcams and I've just covered them up and never used them. Not once. When I have wanted to do anything requiring my face I've used my phone. Anyone I know who uses a webcam for business wants something far better than the integrated ones and so buys a decent standalone one.I wonder if this is a decision driven by use data from Windows 10 telemetry?
wr3zzz - Thursday, April 9, 2020 - link
I Skype video on Android most of the time but Windows Hello is very nice and there are times I need the webcam because I am using the phone for tethering. Not having a webcam nowadays is a pretty weird decision, especially in a gaming notebook.RollingCamel - Thursday, April 9, 2020 - link
You can use DroidCam to operate your Android phone or IP Cam as a webcam.