AMD Ryzen 5 7540U vs Intel Core i5-1155G7

AMD Ryzen 5 7540U

The AMD Ryzen 5 7540U is a fast mid-range laptop processor of the Phoenix series. It offers 6 cores (hexa core) based on the Zen 4 architecture that supports hyperthreading (12 threads). The cores clock from 3.2 (base) up to 4.9 GHz (single core boost). The processor includes 6 MB L2 cache and 16 MB L3 cache.

Thanks to the new Zen 4 architecture and higher clock speeds, the R5 7540U is clearly faster than the old Ryzen 5 6600U (Zen 3, 6 cores, 4.5 GHz). Compared to the similar 7640U, the 7540U offers a lower base clock and a slower iGPU.

The chip integrates a modern and fasts RDNA 3 graphics card (iGPU) called Radeon 740M with 4 of the 12 CUs and 2.5 GHz clock speed. Furthermore, the Phoenix series include a video engine with AV1 de- and encoding and a dual-channel DDR5-5600 / LPDDR5x-7500 memory controller (with ECC support). The new Xilinx FPGA based XDNA AI accelerator (Ryzen AI) is not included in the 7540U. 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 (28 Watt default).

Intel Core i5-1155G7

The Intel Core i5-1155G7 is a power efficient quad-core SoC for laptops and Ultrabooks based on the Tiger Lake-U generation that was announced in mid 2021 as part of the refresh. It integrates four Willow Cove processor cores (8 threads thanks to HyperThreading). The base clock speed depends on the TDP settings and ranges from 1 GHz (12 Watt TDP) up to 2.5 GHz (28 Watt). Boost clock speed is 4.5 GHz.

Tiger Lake SoCs add PCIe 4 support (4 lanes), AI hardware acceleration, and the partial integration of Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4 and Wifi 6 in the chip.

Another novelty is the integrated Xe graphics adapter with 80 EUs based on the completely new Gen 12 architecture. It offers a significantly higher performance compared to the older Iris Plus G7 (Ice Lake).

Performance

The average 1155G7 in our database proves to be a very decent mid-range processor, as of mid 2022, trading blows with the Core i7-10810U and the Ryzen 5 4500U as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. While perhaps not the best option for power users, this Core i5 will make most consumers happy, providing for short load times and generally pain-free experience.

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

This Core i5 series chip has a default TDP, also known as the long-term power limit, of 12 W to 28 W, the expectation being that laptop makers will go for a higher value in exchange for higher performance. Either way, this is a tad too high to allow for passively cooled designs.

The i5-1155G7 is built with Intel's third-gen 10 nm process marketed as SuperFin for lower-than-average, as of early 2023, energy efficiency.