AMD Ryzen 5 7530U vs Intel Core i5-1235U

AMD Ryzen 5 7530U

The AMD Ryzen 5 7530U is a processor for thin and light laptops based on the Cezanne generation. It is part of the second "Barcelo" refresh in early 2023 and offers 200 MHz higher boost clock for the CPU cores compared to the old Ryzen 5 5625U (but a slower base clock speed). The R5 7530U integrates six of the eight cores based on the Zen 3 microarchitecture. The cores are clocked at 2 (guaranteed base clock) to 4.5 GHz (single core boost) and support SMT for a total of 12 threads. The chip is manufactured in 7 nm at TSMC.

Performance

The average 7530U in our database is in the same league as the Ryzen 5 5625U, Ryzen 7 4800U, Ryzen 7 PRO 5850U, Core i5-1335U, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 37 W, the VivoBook 15X OLED M3504YA is among the fastest laptops built around the 7530U that we know of. It can be roughly 40% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

In addition to the six CPU cores, the APU also integrates a Radeon RX Vega 7 (now only called Radeon Graphics) integrated graphics card with 7 CUs at up to 2 GHz. The dual channel memory controller supports DDR4-3200 and energy efficient LPDDR4-4266 RAM. Furthermore, 16 MB level 3 cache (up from 8 MB at the 4800U) can be found on the chip.

Power consumption

This Ryzen has a default TDP of 15 W (also known as the Power Limit 1).

Intel Core i5-1235U

The Intel Core i5-1235U is a mid-range mobile CPU for thin and light laptops based on the Alder Lake architecture. It was announced in early 2022 and offers 2 performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) and 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading leading to 12 supported threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 1.3 to 4.4 GHz on the performance cluster and 0.9 to 3.3 GHz on the efficient cluster. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare to the Core i7-6700HQ). All cores can use up to 12 MB L3 cache. Compared to the i5-1245U, the 1235U offers lower base clock speeds and only "Essentials" vPro management features. Compared to the P-series (28W) or H-series (45W), the 15W TDP may limit the sustained performance.

Performance

The average 1235U in our database is in the same league as the Ryzen 5 PRO 5650U and also, surprisingly enough, the i7-1250U and the i7-1260U, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. This is a very respectable result, as of mid 2023.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 27 W, the Beelink SEi12 is among the fastest systems built around the 1235U that we know of. It can be twice as fast in CPU-bound workloads as the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

Architecture

The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200, LPDDR5-5200, and LPDDR4x-4267. The Thread Director (in hardware) can support the operating system to decide which thread to use on the performance or efficient cores for the best performance. For AI tasks, the CPU also integrates GNA 3.0 and DL Boost (via AVX2). Quick Sync in version 8 is the same as in the Rocket Lake CPUs and supports MPEG-2, AVC, VC-1 decode, JPEG, VP8 decode, VP9, HEVC, and AV1 decode in hardware. The CPU only supports PCIe 4.0 (x8 for a GPU and two x4 for SSDs).

The integrated graphics card is based on the Xe-architecture and offers 80 of the 96 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 1.2 GHz.

Power consumption

This ULV processor has a Base power consumption of 15 W (also known as the long-term power limit), with 55 W being its maximum Intel-recommended Turbo power consumption. Both values are too high to allow for passively cooled designs.

Core i5-1235U is manufactured on Intel's fourth-gen 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 for decent, as of mid-2022, energy efficiency.