AMD Ryzen 5 3550H vs Intel Celeron N4505 vs AMD Ryzen 5 3450U

AMD Ryzen 5 3550H

The AMD Ryzen 5 3550H is a mobile SoC that was announced in January 2019. It combines four Zen+ cores (8 threads) clocked at 2.1 GHz to 3.7 GHz with a Radeon RX Vega 8 graphics adapter with 8 CUs (512 Shaders) clocked at up to 1,200 MHz. Compared to the similar Ryzen 5 3500U, the 3550H offers a 20 Watt higher TDP and therefore a better performance under long periods of load. The integrated dual-channel memory controller supports up to DDR4-2400 memory. As the features of the Picasso APUs are the same compared to the Raven Ridge predecessors, we point to our Raven Ridge launch article.

The Picasso SoCs use the Zen+ microarchitecture with slight improvements that should lead to a 3% IPS (performance per clock) improvements. Furthermore, the 12 nm process allows higher clock rates at similar power consumptions.

Performance

The average 3550H in our database proves to be a solid mid-range CPU, its multi-thread benchmark scores hovering close to those of the Intel Core i7-10710U and the Core i5-8257U. Which is a little slow for an H-class processor, as of late 2021, but still more than enough for the vast majority of apps and games, provided one is fine with having to wait a little longer than usual for that 4K video encoding job to get completed.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and sufficiently high CPU power limits, the Pavilion Gaming 15-ec0002ng is among the fastest laptops powered by the 3550H that we know of. It can be more than 20% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

Power consumption

This Ryzen 5 series chip has a default TDP (also known as the long-term power limit) of 35 W. Laptop makers are free to reduce that value significantly with 12 W being the minimum AMD-recommended value. Clock speeds and performance would take a hit as a result; either way, that's a little too high to allow for passively cooled designs.

Last but not the least, the AMD Ryzen 5 3550H is built with a 12 nm process for lower-than-average, as of mid 2023, energy efficiency.

Intel Celeron N4505

The Intel Celeron N4505 is a dual-core SoC of the Jasper Lake series that is primarily intended for inexpensive and small desktops and was announced in early 2021. The two Tremont CPU cores clock between 2 and 2.9 GHz (single core Burst) and offer no HyperThreading (SMT). The N4505 uses 1.5 MB L2 and 4 MB L3 cache. The chip is built with Intel's first-gen 10 nm process, just like Ice Lake family processors.

CPU Architecture

The processor architecture is called Tremont and a complete redesign compared to the old Golmont Plus cores in the predecessor. According to Intel, the single thread performance of a core could be improved by 30% on average (10 - 80% in all tests of SPECint and SPECfp).

Features

In addition to the dual-core CPU block, the SoC integrates a 16 EU Intel UHD Graphics GPU clocked from 450 - 750 MHz and a LPDDR4(x) dual channel memory controller (up to 16 GB and 2933 MHz). The chip now also partly integrates Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+), 8 PCIe 3.0 lanes, 14 USB 2.0/ 3.2 ports and two SATA 6.0 ports. The package got bigger and measures 35 x 24 mm (compared to 25 x 24 mm for the N5030 e.g.). The SoC is directly soldered to the mainboard (BGA) and can't be easily replaced.

Performance

The average N4505 in our database is just as fast as AMD's dual-core Athlon Silver 3050e and Intel's previous-gen Celeron N4100, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. In other words, the Celeron is good for basic day-to-day activities but not much more than that, as of mid 2022.

Power consumption

This Celeron series SoC has a default TDP, also known as the long-term Power Limit, of 10 W, which is low enough to allow for passively cooled designs.

The N4505 is manufactured on the first-gen or the second-gen (no exact data available) 10 nm Intel process making for average, as of late 2022, energy efficiency.

AMD Ryzen 5 3450U

The AMD Ryzen 5 3450U is a mobile SoC that was announced in Q2 2020 as a refresh. It combines four Zen+ cores (8 threads) clocked at 2.1 GHz to 3.5 GHz (-200 MHz versus 3500U) with a Radeon RX Vega 8 iGPU with 8 CUs (512 Shaders) clocked at up to 1200 MHz.

The Picasso SoC uses the Zen+ microarchitecture with slight improvements that should lead to a 3% IPS (performance per clock) improvements. Furthermore, the 12 nm process allows for higher clocks at similar power consumption.

The integrated dual-channel memory controller supports up to DDR4-2400 memory. As the features of the Picasso APUs are the same compared to the Raven Ridge predecessors, we point to our Raven Ridge launch article.

Performance

The average 3450U in our database is in the same league as the Core i3-1115G4 and also the Ryzen 3 4300U, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. This is a better-than-expected result for an aging lower mid-range chip that is the 3450U, as of mid 2022.

Your mileage may vary depending on how high the CPU power limits are and how competent the cooling solution of your system is.

Power consumption

The Ryzen 5 has a default TDP (also known as the long-term power limit) of 15 W, a value that laptop manufacturers are allowed to change to anything between 12 W and 35 W if required with clock speeds and performance changing correspondingly. These values are fairly high, making active cooling solutions something of a necessity.

The CPU is built with a somewhat old, as of late 2022, 12 nm process for lower-than-average energy efficiency.