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.
The AMD Ryzen 9 6980HX is a processor for big (gaming) laptops based on the Rembrandt generation. The R9 6980HX integrates all eight cores based on the Zen 3+ microarchitecture. They are clocked at 3.3 (guaranteed base clock) to 5 GHz (Turbo) and support SMT / Hyperthreading (16 threads). The chip is manufactured on the modern 6 nm TSMC process. The "X" in the name indicates the overclocking capabilities of the CPU.
The new Zen 3+ is a refresh of the Zen 3 architecture and should not offer a lot of changes. The chip itself however, offers a lot of new features, like support for USB 4 (40 Gbps), PCI-E Gen 4, DDR5-4800MT/s or LPDDR5-6400MT/s, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth LE 5.2, DisplayPort 2, and AV1 decode.
A big novelty is the integrated GPU Radeon 680M, that is now based on the RDNA2 architecture and offers 12 CUs at up to 2.4 GHz. It should be the fastest iGPU of all at the time of announcement.
Performance
While we have not tested a single system built around the 6980HX as of August 2023, we have tested at least one laptop featuring the 6950HS, a chip with very similar specs (8 cores, 16 threads, up to 4.9 GHz, Zen 3+). Based on that, expect the 6980HX to be up to 10% faster than the Ryzen 7 5800H, Ryzen 9 4900H, Ryzen 5 PRO 7640HS and also the Core i7-11800H. In other words, this is an impressive laptop CPU that will handle almost any task with ease, as of mid 2023.
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 Ryzen 9 series APU has a default TDP, also known as the long-term power limit, of 45 W, with the letter X indicating that the chip is ready for some healthy bit of overclocking - which will lead to much higher power consumption, naturally.
The R9 6980HX is manufactured on a 6 nm process for higher-than-average, as of early 2023, energy efficiency.
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card - Average benchmark values for this graphics card * Smaller numbers mean a higher performance 1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation
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