Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX vs AMD Ryzen 9 8940HX

Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX

The Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX is a mobile high-end CPU for gaming notebooks based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It offers 20 cores consisting of 8 fast performance cores with up to 5.2 GHz and 12 of the 16 smaller efficiency cores with up to 4.5 GHz clock speed. The CPU has access to 30 MB L2 cache and 36 MB L3 cache and is specified with a TDP of 55 watts.

The SoC integrates a small dedicated NPU called AI Boost with 13 TOPS (Int8) and optionally supports vPro Essentials. The integrated memory controller supports up to 192 GB DDR5-6400 (dual channel, ECC optional). The integrated GPU (iGPU) is a small Intel Graphics graphics card with four Xe cores running at 300 - 1850 MHz.

Performance - High End

Thanks to the improved IPC of the cores (especially the efficiency cores), the CPU should perform just behind or at the level of the Raptor Lake Core i9-14700HX (8 + 12 cores, max 5.5 / 3.9 GHz). This makes the CPU ideal for demanding tasks such as high-end gaming and content creation.

Production - TSMC and Foveros

The Arrow Lake-HX chips are based on the desktop Arrow Lake-S chips and are composed of several chiplets. The CPU part is manufactured at TSMC in the modern N3B (3nm) process, the GPU also comes from TSMC in the N5P process. The SoC and I/O tile are manufactured in the TSMC N6 process. The base tile is manufactured by Intel in the 22nm process and carries the individual chiplets thanks to Fovero's 3D packaging.

AMD Ryzen 9 8940HX

The AMD Ryzen 9 8940HX is a flagship 16-core Dragon Range refresh lineup laptop processor that debuted in April 2025. The product offers 16 SMT-enabled Zen 4 cores (32 threads) running at 2.4 GHz to 5.3 GHz, along with a rather basic Radeon 610M RDNA 2 architecture iGPU. This Ryzen 9 8000 APU is essentially a Ryzen 9 7940HX with the Turbo clock speed increased by 100 MHz.

The 8940HX is composed of three dies made on two different nodes (5 nm for CPU cores; 6 nm for other componentry). It features a very healthy 28 PCIe 5 lanes for connecting graphics cards and SSDs as fast as 15.75 GB/s. The RAM controller is limited to DDR5-5200 or slower; there is no NPU and no Thunderbolt support, the product page on amd.com indicates, but the clock multiplier is unlocked for easy overclocking.

Performance

While we have not tested a single system featuring the 8940HX as of April 2025, we do have some Cinebench benchmark scores for the 7940HX. Based on those, the newer Ryzen 9 should have no trouble beating the Core i9-13950HX, Core i9-13980HX and Core i9-14900HX.

That being said, with this many cores the APU will probably do a much better job serving content creators rather than gamers.

Power consumption

Much like the 7940HX, the 8940HX has a base TDP (long-term power limit) of 55 watts that can officially be jacked up to as high as 75 watts. To dissipate 50+ watts, at least one high-RPM fan is needed.