AMD Ryzen 5 4600H vs AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme vs AMD Ryzen 9 4900H

AMD Ryzen 5 4600H

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600H is a mobile SoC for big laptops based on the Renoir architecture. The 4600H integrates six of the eight cores based on the Zen 2 microarchitecture. They are clocked at 3 (guaranteed base clock) to 4 GHz (Turbo) and support SMT / Hyperthreading (12 threads).

In addition to the six CPU cores, the APU also integrates a Radeon RX Vega 6 integrated graphics adapter with 6 CUs and up to 1500 MHz. The dual channel memory controller supports DDR4-3200 and energy efficient LPDDR4-4266 RAM. Furthermore, 8 MB level 3 cache can be found on the chip. See our hub page on the Renoir Processors for more information.

Performance

The average 4600H in our database matches the Intel Core i7-10875H and even the Core i9-10885H, both significantly more costly chips, in multi-thread performance, giving this Ryzen an outrageously high price-to-performance ratio.

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 chip has a default TDP (also known as the long-term power limit) of 45 W, a value that laptop makers are free to change to anything between 35 W and 54 W with clock speed and performance changing accordingly as a result. Either way, a high-performance cooling solution is a must for a CPU like this.

The 7 nm TSMC process this APU is built with makes for better-than-average, as of early 2022, energy efficiency.

AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme

The AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme is a fast high-end laptop processor of the Phoenix series and fastest model of the U-series. It offers 8 cores (octa core) based on the Zen 4 architecture that supports SMT (hyperthreading , 16 threads). The cores clock from 3.3 (base) up to 5.1 GHz (single core boost). The processor includes 8 MB L2 cache and 16 MB L3 cache.

The performance of the R7 7840U is, depending on the workload, only slightly below the Ryzen 7 7840HS (higher base clock speed and TDP). Compared to the previous generation Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U, the 7840U is clearly faster thanks to the Zen 4 architecture and higher clock speeds. Compared to the similar Ryzen 7 7840U, the Z1 Extreme offers no AI engine.

The chip integrates a modern and fasts RDNA 3 graphics card (iGPU) called Radeon 780M with 12 CUs and up to 2.7 GHz clock speed. Furthermore, the Phoenix series include a video engine with AV1 de- and encoding, a new Xilinx FPGA based XDNA AI accelerator (Ryzen AI) that should be faster than the AI engine in the Apple M2 SOC and a dual-channel DDR5-5600 / LPDDR5x-7500 memory controller (with ECC support). The connectivity features includes 2 possible USB 4 (40 Gbps) ports and 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes for a GPU and SSDs.

The Phoenix series uses a single monolithic design (unlike the chiplet design of the 7045HX series) and is manufactured in the modern 4nm process at TSMC. The TDP can be configured between 15 and 30 Watt.

AMD Ryzen 9 4900H

The AMD Ryzen 9 4900H is a mobile SoC for big laptops based on the Renoir architecture. At the time of announcement in March 2020 it is the fastest model of the 4000H series. The R9 4900H integrates all eight cores based on the Zen 2 microarchitecture. They are clocked at 3.3 (guaranteed base clock) to  4.4 GHz (Turbo) and support SMT / Hyperthreading (16 threads). The chip is manufactured in the modern 7 nm process at TSMC and partly thanks to it AMD advertises a 2x improved performance per Watt for the Renoir chips

According to our information, the Ryzen 9 4900H is only slightly faster than the Ryzen 7 4800H. The CPU is clocked 400 MHz (base +14%) to 200 MHz (boost +5%) higher, but the gains greatly depend on the cooling and TDP settings. Compared to Intel chips, the i9-9980HK top model should be comparable. That means the Ryzen 9 4900H should be able to handle all demanding tasks and gaming.

In addition to the eight CPU cores, the APU also integrates a Radeon RX Vega 8 integrated graphics card with 8 CUs. The dual channel memory controller supports DDR4-3200 and energy efficient LPDDR4-4266 RAM. Furthermore, 12 MB level 3 cache can be found on the chip. See our hub page on the Renoir Processors for more information.

The TDP of the APU is specified at 45 Watt (default). That means the chip is intended for big and relatively heavy laptops.