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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Tams80 - Thursday, April 9, 2020 - link
It's still not as handy as having a webcam just there, at a decent height and angle with no stands/tripods, etc. to worry about. And of course no Windows Hello.RollingCamel - Thursday, April 9, 2020 - link
That's for sure.Hardware Geek - Friday, April 10, 2020 - link
I'm with you on the webcam. I've done the exact same thing and never used mine. The first think I do is put tape over it. No webcam is a plus for me personally.Namisecond - Monday, April 13, 2020 - link
Dogma meets reality.I had the same moment, when I bought my last laptop. I thought I needed massive computing power and the ability to game triple-A titles on the go. But then I remembered how I actually used my computer. A lot of note-taking, media consumption, web-browsing. For all the times I actually had to do any "heavy lifting" on the laptop, It was more likely I'd save it for when I got to a desktop or workstation with a big screen. What does this have to do with web cams? I've never had to use the ones that came with my laptops, but I see others who do. I'd like for my laptop to have the capability, but rationally speaking, I don't need it. It shouldn't be a deal-breaker for me.
R3MF - Thursday, April 9, 2020 - link
Would love to see a cheaper model with:No dGPU
R9 4900H
16GB+512GB
1080p 120hz screen
same battery
joaolx - Thursday, April 9, 2020 - link
Would also love for something similar although not necessarily this model. I have no need for one on a laptop but would love to have one of these new chips . My dream machine right now would be:No dGPU
Any of the 8 Core/16 thread options - 4900H/HS or 4800H/HS or 4800U
32GB + 1TB
Any decent 1080p or higher display really, indifferent on higher refresh
Similar battery life - if even better with the 4800U it'd be my choice
twotwotwo - Thursday, April 9, 2020 - link
Speculation, but sounds likely you'll get exactly what you're asking for when the 4800U-based thin-and-lights come out.R3MF - Thursday, April 9, 2020 - link
If they're set to 25w with cooling to match then yes.neblogai - Thursday, April 9, 2020 - link
~same for me: H(/HS), 16GB of LPDDR4, in a 13-14" ultraportable with bright screen.mocseg - Friday, April 10, 2020 - link
Lenovo Yoga slim.