AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX gets ridiculous on PassMark by brushing aside the Intel Core i9-13980HX and squaring off against the i9-13900KS instead

We already knew what a beast the Dragon Range AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX APU is, after testing it extensively against rivals such as the Raptor Lake Intel Core i9-13980HX and i9-13950HX. Now the Zen 4 processor has appeared on the PassMark benchmark database, with three samples offering astounding results but with a high margin for error. The laptop processor, with a RDNA2-based AMD Radeon 610M iGPU, managed a single-thread test score of 4,405 and a CPU Mark multi-test suite score of 61,985. The website records the Ryzen 9 7945HX with a maximum TDP of 55 W, but the 16-core, 32-thread part is configurable up to 75 W.

Despite having a higher boost clock of 5.6 GHz (Ryzen 9 7945HX: 5.4 GHz), the Intel Core i9-13980HX is left behind in single-thread testing. Its score of 4,398 is close to that of the Dragon Range chip from Team Red, but this is a processor with a maximum turbo power of a whopping 157 W (although PassMark records a maximum of 55 W here). While the AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX only commands a miniscule +0.16% advantage in the single-thread face-off, it rolls out a huge +26.6% lead over the Raptor Lake processor in CPU Mark (61,985 vs. 48,954). In fact, the Zen 4 APU is so powerful, it can be compared to a modern Intel desktop processor – the new i9-13900KS no less.

There have been plenty of instances of laptop processors overtaking mainstream or previous-generation desktop parts, but this is Dragon Range mobile vs. Raptor Lake desktop. Unsurprisingly, the Intel Core i9-13900KS with its top clock rate of up to 6.0 GHz and potential for 253 W TDP (recorded at 125 W on PassMark) can take a reasonable lead over the Ryzen 9 7945HX in single-thread testing: 4,809 vs. 4,405 or +9.17%. However, this Zen 4 mobile APU can still outscore a desktop i7-13700K in this particular discipline, and it is even more of a competitor in the CPU Mark test suite.

The AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX’s grandstanding score of 61,985 in the multi-test puts it within touching distance of the 24-core Intel desktop processor. With a score of 62,166, the power-hungry desktop i9-13900KS is only +0.29% ahead of a much more efficient mobile processor. There might be some who complain of comparing a mobile chip with a desktop part, but AMD has churned out such a formidable unit with the Ryzen 9 7945HX that it only seems fair right now. It’s also worth remembering that this mighty laptop class processor comes with 64 MB of L3 cache.  

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