Notebookcheck Logo

That awkward moment when a Core i7-8750H laptop can outperform a Core i7-9750H laptop

The Alienware m15 is able to run the Core i7-8750H at faster clock rates than most other gaming laptops
The Alienware m15 is able to run the Core i7-8750H at faster clock rates than most other gaming laptops
After testing 5 different laptops with the Core i7-9750H, multi-thread processor performance is essentially identical to the last generation Core i7-8750H. Some older laptops with the i7-8750H like the Alienware m15 can still perform faster than the newer and pricier i7-9750H.

When we benchmarked our first Whiskey Lake-U Core i7-8565U laptops late last year, we confirmed our suspicion that raw processor performance would be just marginally better than the Kaby Lake-R Core i7-8550U at best or even slower at worst. Now that the mobile Intel 9th gen H-series has arrived, we can test how much of a performance gain it offers over the outgoing Intel 8th gen H-series in a similar manner.

In short, it's the same story all over again. Actual processor performance will depend on the cooling solution and OEM implementation rather than the Intel naming convention.

Our latest two examples are the Alienware m15 and Razer Blade 15 equipped with the Core i7-8750H and Core i7-9750H, respectively. When running CineBench R15, final scores are within just 1 to 4 percent of one another. When running the same CineBench R15 Multi-Thread benchmark in a loop to test for Turbo Boost sustainability, the Alienware with the older CPU is actually better at maintaining faster clock rates and performance for longer as shown by our comparison graph below. Both laptops perform similarly at the start of the test, but throttling is heavier on the Razer. The i7-8750H will outperform the i7-9750H by almost 5 percent after accounting for throttling between these two laptops.

The major asterisk in this comparison is core temperature. While the Alienware stabilizes at 3.4 GHz compared to 3.1 GHz on the Razer, core temperature is much warmer at 99 C. The minor boost in processor performance comes at a major price in terms of running temperatures.

Of course, the Alienware m15 and Razer Blade 15 are just two implementations of the i7-8750H and i7-9750H out of the hundreds in the market. Performance can and will fluctuate across different models, but we certainly don't expect huge gains based on our experience with half a dozen different Core i7-9750H laptops thus far.

If you're in the market for a Core i7-9750H laptop, don't expect major performance advantages over the i7-8750H, if any. Consider the Core i9-9880H instead if multi-thread processor performance is a priority.

060120180240300360420480540600660720780840900960102010801140Tooltip
Razer Blade 15 RTX 2080 Max-Q GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q, i7-9750H, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB512HAJQ; CPU Multi 64Bit: Ø1056 (1046.13-1175)
Alienware m15 P79F GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q, i7-8750H, Toshiba XG5 KXG50ZNV512G; CPU Multi 64Bit: Ø1123 (1106.07-1188.78)
Cinebench R15
CPU Single 64Bit
Average Intel Core i7-9750H
  (170 - 194, n=82)
183.7 Points
Razer Blade 15 RTX 2080 Max-Q
Intel Core i7-9750H
175 Points
CPU Multi 64Bit
Average Intel Core i7-9750H
  (952 - 1306, n=85)
1182 Points
Razer Blade 15 RTX 2080 Max-Q
Intel Core i7-9750H
1175 Points
Cinebench R15
CPU Single 64Bit
Average Intel Core i7-8750H
  (163 - 177, n=86)
172 Points
Alienware m15 P79F
Intel Core i7-8750H
168 Points
CPU Multi 64Bit
Alienware m15 P79F
Intel Core i7-8750H
1192 Points
Average Intel Core i7-8750H
  (863 - 1251, n=93)
1113 Points
Razer Blade 15 when running Prime95. CPU stabilizes at 3.1 GHz and at a temperature of 63 C
Razer Blade 15 when running Prime95. CPU stabilizes at 3.1 GHz and at a temperature of 63 C
Alienware m15 when running Prime95. CPU stabilizes at 3.4 to 3.5 GHz and at a temperature of 99 C
Alienware m15 when running Prime95. CPU stabilizes at 3.4 to 3.5 GHz and at a temperature of 99 C

Source(s)

Own

Read all 10 comments / answer
static version load dynamic
Loading Comments
Comment on this article
Please share our article, every link counts!
> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2019 05 > That awkward moment when a Core i7-8750H laptop can outperform a Core i7-9750H laptop
Allen Ngo, 2019-05-22 (Update: 2019-05-22)