AMD Ryzen 5 4500U vs Intel Core i5-1034G1 vs Intel Core i5-1035G1

AMD Ryzen 5 4500U

The AMD Ryzen 5 4500U is an upper mid-range, hexa-core processor of the Renoir product family. The APU was unveiled in H1 2020; it is designed for use in thinner, lighter laptops. Its six Zen 2 CPU cores run at 2.3 GHz (base clock speed) to 4.0 GHz (highest Boost frequency possible). Ryzen 5 4500U features the Vega 6 iGPU.

The sole advantage of Ryzen 5 4600U over Ryzen 5 4500U is the thread-doubling SMT technology support. The former has SMT while the latter does not.

Architecture

Zen 2 is a resounding success, delivering massive improvements over outgoing Zen Plus-based processors. Ryzen 5 4500U is manufactured on the cutting-edge 7 nm TSMC process; it is compatible with dual-channel DDR4-3200 or quad-channel LPDDR4-4266 memory. This processor has 8 MB of Level 3 cache.

While the APU uses Zen 2 cores just like the desktop-grade Ryzen 3000-series processors do, Ryzen 7 3800XT included, it does does not have PCI-Express 4.0 support. It does feature several PCI-Express 3.0 lanes for connecting discrete graphics cards, SSDs and other devices. Four PCI-Express 3.0 lanes allow for read/write rates of up to 3.9 GB/s provided a suitably fast NVMe SSD is used.

Ryzen 5 4500U gets soldered permanently on to the motherboard (FP6 socket interface) and is anything but user-replaceable.

Performance

The average Ryzen 5 4500U in our database matches Intel's Core i5-11300H, Core i5-11320H and AMD Ryzen 3 5300U, as far as multi-thread performance is concerned. This is a very potent 15 W CPU delivering an undeniably impressive performance jump over the outgoing Ryzen 5 3500U.

Your mileage may vary depending on how high the Power Limits and how competent the cooling solution of your laptop are.

Graphics

Just like its name suggests, the Radeon RX Vega 6 graphics adapter has 6 Compute Units (6 x 64 = 384 unified shaders). In the case of Ryzen 5 4500U, this graphics adapter runs at up to 1,500 MHz. The iGPU definitely supports UHD 2160p monitors at 60 Hz; it will have no trouble HW-decoding HEVC, AVC, VP9, MPEG-2 and other widespread video codecs. AV1 is not supported though; such a video will have to be software-decoded for much lower energy efficiency.

Vega 6 will let you play many titles of 2020 and 2021 as long as you stick to low settings and low resolutions. F1 2021 (720p, Low) runs at 32 fps; Outriders (720p, Low) runs at 27 fps, to give you an example or two. As the iGPU has no VRAM of its own, it is paramount that fast system RAM is used.

Power Consumption

The Ryzen is very energy-efficient, as of mid-2022, thanks to the cutting-edge 7 nm TSMC process and its mature architecture.

Ryzen 5 4500U has a default TDP (also known as the long-term Power Limit) of 15 W that can be changed to anything between 10 W and 25 W by an OEM if required, a right they use more often than not. Clock speeds and performance will change correspondingly as a result. Either way, the chip is a tad too power-hungry to be used as a heart of a passively cooled tablet, laptop, mini-PC.

Intel Core i5-1034G1

The Intel Core i5-1034G1 is a power efficient quad-core SoC for laptops and Ultrabooks based on the Ice -Lake-U generation that was announced in Mai 2019 (Computex). It integrates four Sunnycove processor cores (8 threads thanks to HyperThreading) clocked at 0.8 (base) - 3.6 (single core Turbo) GHz. 2 cores can reach 3.6 GHz and all four 3.3 GHz using Turbo Boost. According to Intel the Sunnycove cores achieve 18% more IPCs (Instructions per Clock)  and therefore the CPU performance should be similar to the higher clocked Whiskey-Lake predecessors (e.g. Core i5-8365U with up to 4.1 GHz).

The biggest improvement for Ice-Lake is the integrated Gen 11 graphics card called UHD Graphics G1. The Core i5-1034G1 integrates the smallest GPU, the UHD Graphics that features 32 of the 64 CUs and clocks at 300 - 1050? MHz. The faster variants include Iris Plus G4 and G7.

Other improvements for Ice Lake are the AI hardware acceleration and the partial integration of Thunderbolt and Wifi 6 in the chip. The integrated DDR4 memory controller supports modules with up to 3200 MHz (and LPDDDR4 3733).

The Core i5-1034G1 is produced in the improved 10nm+ process at Intel (2nd generation) that should offer a comparable performance to the 7nm process at TSMC. The TDP is specified at 15 Watts and therefore the CPU can be used in thin and light laptops (but usually with a fan). Intel offers a configurable TDP of 7.5 - 25 Watts for the partners resulting in significant performance differences (due to longer periods of Turbo Boost).

Intel Core i5-1035G1

The Intel Core i5-1035G1 is a quad-core SoC of the Ice Lake product family. It was announced in May 2019 and it features Hyper-Threading-enabled Sunny Cove CPU cores running at 1 GHz to 3.6 GHz. The highest Boost clock speed achievable when under all-core load is 3.2 GHz.

This Core i5 is designed for use in ultra-light laptops and Windows tablets. Unlike the costlier Core i5-1035G4, this i5 has the 32 EU UHD Graphics G1 iGPU, not the 48 EU Iris Plus G4; 1035G1's CPU cores run at a slightly lower clock rate, too.

Architecture

Ice Lake processors bring a significant, double-digit per-MHz performance boost over their immediate predecessors, much like Intel promised. What Intel was less keen on highlighting was the significant dip in clock speeds; Core i5-1035G1, Core i7-1065G7 and other Ice Lake CPUs run at lower clock speeds than similarly-specced Comet Lake or Whiskey Lake processors do when under the same load conditions.

Core i5-1035G1 is capable of HW-accelerating certain AI workloads. Thunderbolt and Wi-Fi 6 support is partially baked in the chip. The integrated RAM controller is compatible with up to 64 GB of DDR4-3200 or LPDDR4-3733 memory.

The i5 has several PCI-Express 3.0 lanes for connecting discrete graphics cards, SSDs and other devices. Four PCI-Express 3.0 lanes allow for read/write rates of up to 3.9 GB/s provided a suitably fast NVMe SSD is used.

Please note this is not a user-replaceable CPU. It is supposed to get soldered permanently on to the motherboard (BGA1526 socket interface).

Performance

In the grand scheme of things, Core i5-1035G1 is a lower mid-range CPU. It is good for more than just the basic tasks while being no match for true high-performers such as the mighty Core i7-10850H.

The i5's multi-thread performance puts it in the same league as Intel Core i7-10610U, Core i7-10710U, Core i7-1160G7, Ryzen 5 PRO 3500U. Your mileage may vary depending on how competent the cooling solution of your system is and how high the Power Limits are.

Graphics

UHD Graphics G1 is based on Intel's 11th gen architecture. The UHD Graphics runs at 300 MHz to 1,050 MHz and has 32 EUs; Iris Plus G4 has 48 EUs while Iris Plus G7 has 64 EUs, for reference. This iGPU will let you use up to 3 monitors simultaneously in resolutions up to 5120 by 3200.

The UHD Graphics G1 is significantly faster than the UHD Graphics 620, yet it's still not as good as a proper discrete graphics card. It will let you play a moderately long list of games, F1 2020 included, provided you are OK with 720p resolution and Lowest quality preset.

Power consumption

Core i5-1035G1 has a default TDP (also known as the long-term Power Limit) of 15 W. OEMs are free to increase that value somewhat, the upper limit being 25 W, or reduce it (as low as 13 W are possible). Clock speeds and performance will change correspondingly as a result.

The Core i5 is manufactured on Intel's first-generation 10 nm process for average, as of early 2023, energy efficiency. It's too power-hungry to become a heart of a passively cooled laptop or tablet, either.