AMD Ryzen 7 9700X vs AMD Ryzen 7 H 260 vs AMD Ryzen 9 8945H
AMD Ryzen 7 9700X
► remove from comparison
The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is an upper mid-range desktop CPU of the Granite Ridge product family that sports 8 Zen 5 cores (16 threads) running at 3.8 GHz to 5.5 GHz, along with PCIe 5 support and a basic RDNA 2 architecture iGPU. The Ryzen was launched in June 2024, with sales slated to start some time in August.
Architecture and Features
Like Strix Point APUs, Granite Ridge processors make use of the new Zen 5 microarchitecture. However, there are no efficient cores here; all of 9700X's cores are full Zen 5 cores with a "proper" Zen 5 implementation, not the simplified mobile version that has a lower AVX-512 performance. Furthermore, Granite Ridge is a multi-die design with only the CPU cores produced using a fairly modern 4 nm TSMC process. Strix Point processors are a single-die design, from what we know.
According to AMD, desktop Zen 5 delivers a 16% IPC uplift over Zen 4 thanks to branch prediction improvements and other refinements.
Elsewhere, the 9700X has 32 MB of L3 cache and 24 direct PCIe 5 lanes (3.93 GB/s throughput per lane) with up to 12 additional PCIe 4 lanes available depending on the motherboard. It supports DDR5 RAM as fast as 5,600 MT/s (up to 8,000 MT/s if overclocked).
The 9700X is unlocked for overclocking. Naturally, the AM5 socket CPU fully supports Windows 11, 64-bit Windows 10 as well as many Linux distros.
Performance
In our review, the Ryzen 7 delivered multi-thread benchmark scores very close to those of the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and 375, as well as the Core i7-12700 and i7-12700K.
Graphics
The Radeon 610M comes equipped with just 128 unified shaders running at up to 2,200 MHz. While this certainly isn't a gaming GPU, it's fast enough to run some competitive titles such as Counter-Strike 2 (~50 fps at 1080p / Low) as well as older (pre-2019) titles.
It can HW-decode many popular video codecs including first and foremost AVC, HEVC, VP9, AV1.
Power consumption
The CPU cores are built with TSMC's N4P process for a good, as of mid 2024, power efficiency. (Apple is the leader in this regard with the second-generation 3 nm process.)
The Ryzen 7's long-term TDP is either 65 W or 105 W, with each user free to make their own choice. If overclocked, its power consumption figures will increase significantly.
AMD Ryzen 7 H 260
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The AMD Ryzen 7 H 260 is a high-end notebook processor from the Hawk Point series with 8 cores and hyperthreading (SMT), which means it can process up to 16 threads simultaneously. At release, the CPU is only available in China and is technically practically identical to the older AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS or Ryzen 7 7840HS (slower AI engine).
The performance of the second-fastest model in the Hawk Point series should only be slightly behind the Ryzen 9 7940HS (+100 - 200 MHz clock, e.g. only 2% slower Turbo). As a result, the performance at 54W TDP should also be comparable to the AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX (also 8 Zen 4 cores, max 5.1 GHz, 55W, 32 MB L3) and thus clearly ahead of the old top model AMD Ryzen 9 6980HX resp. 6980HS (with lower TDP).
The chip integrates a modern RDNA 3-based graphics card (iGPU) called Radeon 780M with 12 CUs and up to 2.7GHz including AV1 video engine. Furthermore, a Xilinx FPGA-based XDNA AI accelerator is also integrated, which is now clocked higher. Hawk Point offers 2x USB 4 (40 Gbps), 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes and a dual-channel DDR5-5600 / LPDDR5x-7500 memory controller (with ECC support).
The Hawk Point series is a single chip (unlike the Dragon Range 7045HX series) and is manufactured at TSMC using the modern 4nm FinFET process.
AMD Ryzen 9 8945H
► remove from comparisonThe Ryzen 9 8945H is a rebadged Ryzen 9 7940HS with higher clock speeds on the Ryzen AI NPU. To be more specific, this is a powerful Hawk Point family laptop chip that has eight Zen 4 cores running at 4.0 GHz to 5.2 GHz. All of its cores are SMT-enabled for a total of 16 processing threads.
Compared to the 8945HS, the H seems to be a local variant for China and offers the same specifications.
The Radeon 780M serves as the integrated graphics adapter.
Architecture & Features
Hawk Point family chips are powered by the Zen 4 architecture, much like Phoenix and Dragon Range family chips are. That's not to say there is no difference between the three. With Hawk Point, AMD is betting big on generative AI; these chips are promised to deliver an up to 40% increase in generative AI performance over 7040 series APUs making apps like DaVinci Resolve and Adobe Photoshop even more powerful.
Unlike Zen 3, Zen 4 features AVX512 support and, thanks to a plethora of other improvements including larger caches/registers/buffers across the board, is slated to bring a double-digit IPC improvement over the former.
Elsewhere, the 8945H has 16 MB of L3 cache and support for super-fast RAM (up to LPDDR5x-7500 or DDR5-5600; no ECC support). The processor is compatible with USB 4 and thus with Thunderbolt; PCIe support is limited to the 4.0 spec for a throughput of 1.97 GB/s per lane. 20 lanes are available.
OS support is limited to 64-bit editions of Windows 11 and Windows 10 and of course to Linux. Note that the chip isn't overclockable and neither is it user-replaceable as it gets soldered down for good (FP7, FP7r2, FP8 socket interfaces).
Performance
The 8945H is an R9 7940HS in disguise, so it's realistic to expect the chip to be just slightly faster than the Core i9-12900HK and also the Ryzen 7 7840HS, as far as multi-thread performance is concerned.
Your mileage may vary depending on how high the CPU power limits are and how competent the cooling solution of your system is.
Graphics
The Radeon 780M has 12 CUs (768 shaders) running at up to 2,800 MHz. This is a very fast iGPU, as of late 2023. It will let you use up to 4 monitors with resolutions as high as SUHD 4320p, and it is also capable of HW-encoding and HW-decoding the most widely used video codecs including AVC, HEVC and AV1. More importantly, it is fast enough for proper 1080p gaming as long as one is fine with low to medium detail settings.
Your mileage may vary depending on how high the CPU power limits are, how competent the cooling solution of the system is, how fast the RAM of the system is (there is no dedicated VRAM here).
Power consumption
This Ryzen 9 series chip has a long-term power limit (default TDP) of 35 W to 54 W, giving laptop makers a choice between longer battery life and higher performance. Either way, an active cooling solution is a must for a system powered by this chip.
The 8945H is built with TSMC's 4 nm process for high, as of late 2023, energy efficiency.
| Model | AMD Ryzen 7 9700X | AMD Ryzen 7 H 260 | AMD Ryzen 9 8945H | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Codename | Granite Ridge | Hawk Point-HS (Zen 4) | Hawk Point-HS (Zen 4) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series | AMD Granite Ridge (Zen 5, AM5) | AMD Hawk Point (Zen 4/4c) | AMD Hawk Point (Zen 4/4c) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series: Hawk Point (Zen 4/4c) Hawk Point-HS (Zen 4) |
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| Clock | 3800 - 5500 MHz | 3800 - 5100 MHz | 4000 - 5200 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| L1 Cache | 512 KB | 512 KB | 512 KB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| L2 Cache | 8 MB | 8 MB | 8 MB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| L3 Cache | 32 MB | 16 MB | 16 MB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cores / Threads | 8 / 16 8 x 5.5 GHz AMD Zen 5 | 8 / 16 8 x 5.1 GHz AMD Zen 4 | 8 / 16 8 x 5.2 GHz AMD Zen 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TDP | 65 Watt | 45 Watt | 45 Watt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technology | 4 nm & 6 nm | 4 nm | 4 nm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| max. Temp. | 95 °C | 100 °C | 100 °C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Socket | AM5 | FP7/FP7r2/FP8 | FP7/FP7r2/FP8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Features | DDR5-5600 RAM, PCIe 5 + PCIe 4, SMT, AES, AVX, AVX2, AVX512, FMA3, MMX (+), SHA, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A | DDR5-5600/LPDDR5x-7500 RAM, PCIe 4, Ryzen AI, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4A, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, AVX-512, BMI2, ABM, FMA, ADX, SMEP, SMAP, SMT, CPB, AES-NI, RDRAND, RDSEED, SHA, SME | DDR5-5600/LPDDR5x-7500 RAM, PCIe 4, Ryzen AI, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4A, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, AVX-512, BMI2, ABM, FMA, ADX, SMEP, SMAP, SMT, CPB, AES-NI, RDRAND, RDSEED, SHA, SME | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| iGPU | AMD Radeon 610M ( - 2200 MHz) | AMD Radeon 780M ( - 2700 MHz) | AMD Radeon 780M ( - 2800 MHz) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Architecture | x86 | x86 | x86 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announced | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturer | www.amd.com | www.amd.com | www.amd.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Die Size | 178 mm2 | 178 mm2 |
Benchmarks
Average Benchmarks AMD Ryzen 7 9700X → 0% n=0
Average Benchmarks AMD Ryzen 9 8945H → 0% n=0
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation
