AMD Ryzen 5 4600HS vs AMD Ryzen 5 4500U vs AMD Ryzen 3 4300U

AMD Ryzen 5 4600HS

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600HS is a mobile SoC for big laptops based on the Renoir architecture. The 4600HS 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). The chip is manufactured on the modern 7 nm TSMC process and partly thanks to it AMD advertises a 2x improved performance per Watt for the Renoir chips. Compared to the similar named Ryzen 5 4600H, the 4600HS is the power efficient version with a TDP of 35 Watt (10 Watt less).

Due to the two deactivated cores and the slower Turbo clock speed, the Ryzen 5 4600HS should be significantly slower than the Ryzen 7 4800HS. The old top model Ryzen 7 3750H is still clearly slower due to the four Zen+ cores. Compared to the competition, the Intel Core i7-8850H (6-core Coffee Lake 2.6 - 4.3 GHz) should offer a similar performance.

In addition to the six CPU cores, the APU also integrates a Radeon RX Vega 6 integrated graphics card 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.

The TDP of the APU is specified at 35 Watt (default). Although the TDP is 10 Watt lower than the Ryzen 5 4600H, the chip is still intended for big and relatively heavy laptops. 

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 nearly matches the Core i5-11300H, the Core i5-11320H and also the AMD Ryzen 3 5300U as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned - thus delivering an undeniably impressive performance jump over the outgoing Ryzen 5 3500U.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term power limit of 38 W, the Xiaomi RedmiBook 16 R5 is among the fastest systems powered by the R5 4500U that we know of. It can be about 20% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system built around the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

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

This Ryzen chip is very energy efficient, as of mid 2022, thanks to the cutting-edge 7 nm TSMC manufacturing process and the mature Zen 2 architecture.

The 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 laptop makers if required, a right they use more often than not. Clock speeds and performance will change accordingly as a result. By going for the lowest value, it will be possible to use the APU as the heart of a passively cooled tablet, laptop, mini-PC.

AMD Ryzen 3 4300U

The AMD Ryzen 3 4300U is a processor for thin and light laptops based on the Renoir family. The 4300U integrates four cores based on the Zen 2 microarchitecture (quad core CPU). They are clocked at 2.7 (guaranteed base clock) to 3.7 GHz (Turbo) without SMT / Hyperthreading support (4 threads). The chip is manufactured on the modern 7 nm TSMC process and partly thanks to it AMD advertises a 2x improved performance per Watt for the Renoir chips. Compared to the faster Ryzen 5 4000 CPUs (e.g., Ryzen 5 4600U), the Ryzen 3 only offers 4 cores and lower Turbo clock speeds.

In addition to the four CPU cores, the APU also has the Radeon RX Vega 5 integrated graphics card with 5 CUs and up to 1400 MHz. The dual channel memory controller supports DDR4-3200 and energy efficient LPDDR4-4266 RAM. Furthermore, 4 MB of Level 3 cache can be found on the chip. See our hub page on the Renoir Processors for more information.

Performance

The average 4300U in our database matches the Core i5-1035G4 and the Core i5-11300H, both quad-core chips, in multi-thread performance. Technically a lower mid-range CPU, this Ryzen is light years ahead of Intel Pentiums and AMD Athlons that so many sub-US$500 laptops ship with.

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

Power consumption

The Ryzen 3 series chip has a default TDP (also known as the long-term power limit) of 15 W, a value that laptop manufacturers are free to change to anything between 10 W and 25 W with performance and clock speeds changing accordingly as a result. By going for the lowest value, it is possible to build passively cooled tablets, laptops, mini-PCs around this APU.

The 7 nm TSMC process the Ryzen 3 4300U is manufactured on makes for average, as of mid 2023, energy efficiency.