AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS vs Intel Core i5-10200H

AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS is a processor for big (gaming) laptops based on the Cezanne generation. The R9 5900HS integrates all eight cores based on the Zen 3 microarchitecture. They are clocked at 3 GHz (guaranteed base clock) to 4.6 GHz (Turbo) and support SMT / Hyperthreading (16 threads). The chip is manufactured on the modern 7 nm TSMC process. Compared to the 5900HX (up to 54 W), the 5900HS is configured with a TDP of 35 W.

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 iGPU with 8 CUs at up to 2100 MHz. The dual channel memory controller supports DDR4-3200 and energy efficient LPDDR4-4266 RAM. Furthermore, 16 MB of Level 3 cache can be found on the chip.

Performance

The average 5900HS in our database matches the Core i7-12650H, the Core i9-11900H and the Core i9-11980HK in multi-thread performance. Surprisingly enough, it manages to come unbelievably close to the more power-hungry Ryzen 9 5900HX. This is a great CPU in all respects, and laptop makers as well as mini-PC manufacturers are taking notice.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 80 W, the Zephyrus G14 GA401QEC is among the fastest laptops powered by the 5900HS that we know of. It can be at least 10% 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 35 W that laptop makers aren't really required to stick to. Either way, an active cooling solution is a must for a CPU like this.

The Ryzen 9 5900HS is built with TSMC's 7 nm process for average, as of mid 2023, energy efficiency.

Intel Core i5-10200H

The Intel Core i5-10200H is a fast quad-core processor for laptops with four cores based on the Comet Lake-H series (4th generation of Skylake architecture). The processor clocks at between 2.4 and 4.1 GHz  and can execute up to eight threads simultaneously thanks to Hyper-Threading. According to Intel, the CPU is manufactured on 14nm (14nm++) process.

The Comet Lake architecture is similar to Coffee Lake and offers the same features and is produced in the same 14nm process. Other than the improved clock rates, the memory controller now also supports faster DDR4-2933 RAM. More information on Comet Lake and all the models and articles on it can be found here.

The Core i5-10200H supports no vPro, TXT or SIPP. These business features are available in the faster (and later released) Core i5-10400H (2.6 - 4.6 GHz).

Performance

The performance is only minimal better than the Core i5-9300H thanks to the support for faster DDR4-2933 RAM. This means, the CPU is well suited for demanding tasks, although the faster versions offer a significantly higher Turbo Boost clock speed for faster single core execution. 

Power consumption

This 10th gen Comet Lake processor has a default TDP (also known as the long-term power limit) of 45 W, a value that laptop manufacturers are allowed to reduce somewhat, 35 W being the lower limit. Doing so will result in lower clock speeds and lower performance. Either way, this CPU is too power-hungry to be used as the base of a passively cooled laptop.

Intel Core i5-10200H is built with an old, as of late 2022, 14 nm Intel process for subpar energy efficiency.