Intel Core i9-13980HX and Core i9-13900HX end AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX's short-lived reign over PassMark's performance charts

We recently got a chance to take the Intel Core i9-13950HX for our spin in our in-depth reviews. The Raptor Lake HX processor lived up to its hype and carried forward Raptor Lake's power-hungry legacy by guzzling as much as 220 Watts of power at peak loads. While we're yet to test its immediate neighbours, the Core i9-13980HX and Core i9-13900HX, their PassMark scores have shown up online.

Veteran leaker @9550Pro spotted the Core i9-13980HX and Core i9-13900HX sitting on top of PassMark's charts, with overall scores of 54,483 and 51,739, effectively ending the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX's short-lived reign. While their 24 cores undoubtedly have a part to play in the Raptor Lake processors' victory, they also trump the reigning champion in single-core performance with scores of 4,496 for the Core i9-13980HX and 4,375 for the Core i9-13900HX.

That said, it isn't all bad news for AMD fans. The flagship 16-core Ryzen 9 7945HX will undoubtedly do much better than its 12-core sibling. Whether or not it can outperform the Core i9-13980HX remains to be seen. However, it should sit between the two Raptor Lake behemoths, if not at the top of the chart. Then again, PassMark is just one benchmark, and it is best to wait until others before drawing judgement.

Alienware is one of the first OEMs to launch laptops running both Dragon Range and Raptor Lake-HX processors, but, unfortunately, the former will only hit shelves sometime in Q2 2023. The Alienware m18 should be an ideal test ground as it packs top-of-the-line hardware, high-end graphics cards and a beefy cooling system, which should allow the flagship processors to operate at their full potential on a level playing field. 

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