AMD Ryzen 5 4680U vs AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX

AMD Ryzen 5 4680U

The AMD Ryzen 5 4680U is a semi-custom APU of the Renoir family designed for Microsoft devices. The 4680U integrates six CPU cores based on the Zen 2 microarchitecture clocked at 2.2 GHz (base) to 4 GHz (Boost) with SMT support for a total 12 threads. The two advantages a 4680U has over the older Ryzen 5 4600U are its higher base clock speed and a faster iGPU.

Architecture

The chip is manufactured on the modern 7 nm TSMC process and in part thanks to this fact, AMD advertises a 2x performance per watt improvement over the 12 nm Ryzen 3000 mobile processors. The built-in dual-channel memory controller supports LPDDR4-4266 RAM. Furthermore, 8 MB of L3 cache can be found on the chip.

Just like the other mobile Ryzen 4000 CPUs, a 4680U supports PCI-Express 3.0. Please go to our Renoir processor hub page for additional information on the product family.

Performance

Multi-thread performance is most comparable to the Ryzen 7 4700U and the Core i5-10500H, the latter being a much more power-hungry chip. This makes the Ryzen a more than decent CPU for most tasks, as of early 2022.

Graphics

In addition to the six CPU cores, the APU also integrates a DX 12 compatible Radeon RX Vega 7 graphics adapter with 7 CUs (448 unified shaders) at up to 1,500 MHz. The Vega iGPU will have no trouble HW-decoding AVC, HEVC and VP9 videos, but the newer AV1 codec will only be decoded via software. In terms of gaming, we are looking at an MX150-level performance. Pretty much all games released in 2020 can be played on low to medium settings in 720p on this graphics adapter.

Power consumption

This Ryzen 5 series chip has a default TDP (also known as the long-term power limit) of 15 W, a value that laptop makers - Microsoft, in this case - are free to change to anything between 10 W and 25 W, with clock speeds and performance changing accordingly as a result. Indeed, we saw the CPU consume roughly 23 watts when subjected to our usual stress testing routine.

The 7 nm TSMC process this Ryzen is built with makes for very decent, as of mid 2022, energy efficiency.

AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX is a processor for big (gaming) laptops based on the Cezanne generation. The R9 5900H integrates all eight cores based on the Zen 3 microarchitecture. They are clocked at 3.3 (guaranteed base clock) to 4.6 GHz (Turbo) and support SMT for a total of 16 threads. The chip is manufactured on the modern 7 nm TSMC process. The "X" in the name indicates the overclocking capabilities of the CPU.

The new Zen 3 microarchitecture offers a significantly higher IPC (instructions per clock) compared to Zen 2. For desktop processors AMD claims 19 percent on average and in applications reviews showed around 12% gains at the same clock speed.

In addition to the eight CPU cores, the APU also integrates a Radeon RX Vega 8 integrated graphics adapter with 8 CUs and up to 2100 MHz. The dual channel memory controller supports DDR4-3200 and energy efficient LPDDR4-4266 RAM. Furthermore, 16 MB level 3 cache can be found on the chip.

Performance

The average 5900HX in our database trades blows with Intel's Core i9-11980HK, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. While not much faster than the less power-hungry Ryzen 9 5900HS, this is still a great CPU for quality gaming laptops as well as DTRs and high-performance mini-PCs, as of mid 2022.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 80 W, the Strix Scar 17 G733QSA-XS99 is among the fastest laptops powered by the 5900HX that we know of. It can be roughly 15% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

Power consumption

This Ryzen 9 series chip has a default TDP (also known as the long-term power limit) of 45 W, a value that laptop makers are allowed to change to anything between 35 W and 54 W with clock speeds and performance changing accordingly as a result. Either way, a high-performance cooling solution is a must for a CPU like this.

The R9 5900HX is built with the 7 nm TSMC manufacturing process resulting in decent, as of late 2022, energy efficiency.