AMD Ryzen 5 5500U vs AMD Ryzen 7 5700U vs AMD Ryzen 3 5300U

AMD Ryzen 5 5500U

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500U is a hexa-core APU of the Lucienne product family designed for use in ultra-thin, upper mid-range laptops. The processor was unveiled in H1 2021; its six CPU cores are based on the Zen 2 microarchitecture. The cores run at 2.1 GHz (base clock speed) to 4 GHz (highest Boost frequency possible) and feature the thread-doubling SMT technology for a total of 12 threads. The chip is manufactured on the modern 7 nm TSMC process.

One could be forgiven for thinking Ryzen 5 5500U is a renamed Ryzen 5 4500U - which is not the case. Ryzen 5 5500U is most similar to Ryzen 5 4600U, the most noteworthy difference between the two being the faster iGPU model of the former.

In the meantime, Ryzen 5 5600U got a little more lucky; it is based on the newer Zen 3 architecture and it also has higher clock speeds than what a 5500U can boast of.

Architecture

While Ryzen 5 5500U and Ryzen 7 5700U are Zen 2-based processors, the neighbouring Ryzen 5 5600U and Ryzen 7 5800U use AMD's brand-new Zen 3 architecture. This makes the former two a generation older than their names suggest. Still, Zen 2 is nothing to sneeze at, with its high performance-per-Watt and performance-per-MHz figures.

Ryzen 5 5500U supports dual-channel DDR4-3200 and quad-channel LPDDR4-4266 RAM and has 8 MB of Level 3 cache. Unlike desktop-grade Ryzen 5000-series processors, Ryzen 5 5500U is limited to PCI-Express 3.0 (not PCI-Express 4.0; no 7.9 GB/s NVMe SSDs here).

The processor gets soldered permanently on to the motherboard (FP6 socket interface) and is thus not user-replaceable.

Performance

Multi-thread performance is most comparable to AMD Ryzen 7 4700U and Intel Core i7-10850H, which is nothing to sneeze at. The Ryzen will have no trouble chewing through pretty much any workload, as of late 2021. Your mileage may vary depending on how high the Power Limits are and how competent the cooling solution of your laptop is.

Graphics

The Radeon RX Vega 7 iGPU has 7 CUs at its disposal (64 x 7 = 448 unified shaders) running at up to 1,800 MHz. Its real-life performance is close to what we've seen from GeForce MX250 and Iris Xe Graphics G7 (80 EUs); Mass Effect Legendary Edition (2021) runs well at 1080p resolution, low-to-medium settings, to give you an example. As the iGPU has no VRAM of its own, it is paramount that fast system RAM is used.

The graphics adapter definitely supports UHD 2160p monitors at 60 Hz. It will have no trouble HW-decoding HEVC, AVC, VP9, MPEG-2 and other popular video codecs. There is no AV1 support; AV1-encoded videos will be software-decoded, which six Zen 2 cores will handle with ease.

Power Consumption

The APU has a default TDP (also known as the long-term Power Limit) of 15 W. This can be set to anywhere between 10 W and 25 W by an OEM, and in most cases they do go for a value higher than 15 W. Still, the 7 nm chip is a good option for ultrathin laptops as well as actively cooled tablets tablets, tiny mini-PCs and gaming handhelds of various shapes and sizes alike.

AMD Ryzen 7 5700U

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700U is an APU of the Lucienne product family designed for leaner laptops. The Ryzen features eight Zen 2 cores clocked at 1.8 GHz (base clock speed) to 4.3 GHz (Boost) as well as a Vega 8 iGPU. Thread-doubling SMT tech is enabled in this CPU for up to 16 concurrent processing threads.

Architecture

In spite of what its name may suggest, Ryzen 7 5700U is not a Zen 3 part, meaning this is a Ryzen 4000 series mobile processor in disguise. Nevertheless, the CPU is manufactured on the modern 7 nm TSMC process and its performance as well as energy efficiency figures are very strong compared to what Intel currently has to offer in this segment.

The Ryzen 7 features 8 MB of Level 3 cache. Its built-in memory controller is designed to work with dual-channel DDR4-3200 or quad-channel LPDDR4-4266 RAM. Unlike the desktop Ryzen 5000 processors, Ryzen 7 5700U does not support PCI-Express 4.0, meaning those speedy NVMe SSDs will be limited to read/write rates of 3.9 GB/s.

The Ryzen gets soldered directly to the motherboard (FP6 socket) and is thus not user-replaceable.

Performance

Ryzen 7 5700U is one of the fastest U-class CPUs of 2021. As such, it trades blows with Intel Core i7-1260P and AMD Ryzen 5 4600H in multi-thread benchmarks, the latter being a much more power-hungry part. The Ryzen 7 will meet the needs of power users without breaking a sweat.

Graphics

In addition to its eight CPU cores, Ryzen 7 5700U features a Radeon RX Vega series graphics adapter with 8 CUs (= 512 shaders) running at up to 1,900 MHz. This iGPU trails behind the 96 EU Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 in synthetic benchmarks, yet its real-world performance is good enough for many games released in 2020 and 2021 at reasonable resolutions (up to Full HD 1080p) and low to medium quality. As the Vega has no VRAM of its own, it is paramount that fast system RAM is used.

The graphics adapter definitely supports UHD 2160p monitors at 60 Hz, and will gladly HW-decode AVC, HEVC and VP9-encoded videos. There is no AV1 support here though.

Power Consumption

Ryzen 7 5700U has a default TDP, also known as the long-term power limit, of 15 W; however, laptop manufacturers are free to change that to anything between 10 W and 25 W, with clock speeds and performance changing correspondingly. The chip will gladly serve as the base of a super-slim laptop (with an active cooling solution, we must add) as well as a powerful mini-PC, or a portable gaming console. Last but not the least, the 7 nm TSMC process this Ryzen 7 is built with makes for very, very decent energy efficiency.

AMD Ryzen 3 5300U

The AMD Ryzen 3 5300U (not to be confused with the A4-5300 from 2012) is a processor for thin and light laptops based on the Lucienne generation. The R3 5300U integrates four cores (quad core) based on the Zen 2 microarchitecture. They are clocked at 2.6 (guaranteed base clock) to 3.8 GHz (Turbo) and support SMT for a total of 8 threads. The chip is manufactured on the modern 7 nm TSMC process. Compared to the older and similar Ryzen 3 4300U (Renoir), the Ryzen 3 5300U offers SMT and slightly higher clock speeds. The faster Ryzen 3 5400U is based on the newer Zen 3 architecture. See our hub page on the Renoir Processors for more information on the Lucienne / Renoir architecture.

In addition to the four CPU cores, the APU also integrates a Radeon RX Vega 6 integrated graphics adapter with 6 CUs at up to 1500 MHz. The dual channel memory controller supports DDR4-3200 and energy efficient LPDDR4-4266 RAM. Furthermore, 4 MB level 3 cache can be found on the chip.

Performance

The average 5300U in our database matches Intel Core i5-11300H, Core i7-11375H and also AMD Ryzen 5 4500U in multi-thread performance, making it an outstandingly good processor for sub-US$600 laptops.

Power consumption

The Ryzen 3 has a default TDP of 15 W, a value that laptop manufacturers are allowed to change to anything between 10 W and 25 W with clock speeds and performance changing correspondingly. Last but not the least, the 7 nm TSMC process this CPU is built with makes for very decent energy efficiency.