Intel Core i3-1115G4 vs Intel Core i5-9400H

Intel Core i3-1115G4

The Intel Core i3-1115G4 is a dual-core SoC for laptops and Ultrabooks based on the Tiger Lake-U generation (UP3) that was launched in September 2020. It integrates two Willow Cove processor cores (4 threads thanks to HyperThreading). Each core can clock from 3 GHz (base speed) to 4.1 GHz (single- and dual-core boost). The faster Core i5 and i7 models offer more cores and are therefore significantly faster.

Another novelty is the integrated Xe graphics card based on the completely new Gen 12 architecture. In the i3-1115G4 Intel is naming the GPU UHD Graphics and offers only 48 of the 96 EUs clocked at 400 - 1250 MHz. GPU and CPU can together use the 6 MB of L3 cache.

Furthermore, Tiger Lake SoCs add PCIe 4 support (four lanes), AI hardware acceleration, and the partial integration of Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4 and WiFi 6 in the chip.

The chip is produced on the second-gen 10 nm Intel SuperFin process that should be comparable to the 7 nm TSMC process (e.g. Ryzen 4000 series).

Performance

Multi-thread peformance is most comparable to what the Intel Core i5-8250U and the AMD Ryzen 5 3450U deliver. This makes the i3 a more than decent option for day-to-day tasks; that said, any workload of the more taxing kind (such as exporting a high-bitrate, hour long UHD video) will be enough to bring the i3 to its knees.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 25 W, the ThinkPad L15 G2-20X4S0KU00 is one of the fastest laptops powered by the 1115G4 we know of. It can be more than 20% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

Power consumption

This Core i3 series chip has a default TDP of 12 W to 28 W, the expectation being that laptop makers will go for a higher value in exchange for higher performance. Either way, that's a tad too high to allow for passively cooled laptops, tablets, mini-PCs.

The Core i3-1115G4 is built with Intel's third-gen 10 nm process marketed as SuperFin for decent, as of mid 2022, energy efficiency.

Intel Core i5-9400H

The Intel Core i5-9400H is a high-end processor for laptops with four cores based on the Coffee Lake architecture (2019 refresh, CFL-HR). The processor clocks at between 2.5 and 4.3 GHz (4.1 with 4 cores) and can execute up to eight threads simultaneously thanks to Hyper-Threading. According to Intel, the CPU is manufactured in an improved 14nm (14nm++) process. Compared to the predecessor, the Core i5-8400H from 2018, the 9300H is only clocked slightly higher (+100 MHz CPU Turbo, +50 MHz GPU).

The Coffee Lake architecture is similar to Kaby Lake and differs only in the amount of cores (now six cores for the high end versions) and the improved 14nm process (14nm++ according to Intel).

Performance

The Intel Core i5-9400H should perform similar as the older Core i7-7920HQ (3.1 - 4.1 GHz). The faster Coffee Lake CPUs, like the Core i7-9750H offers two additional cores and is therefore up to 50% faster in multithreaded benchmarks. Still, the performance of the i5-9400H should be sufficient for even demanding applications and games.

Graphics

The integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630 iGPU is supposed to offer a slightly higher performance as its clock rate has been increased by 50 MHz. The architecture is identical to that of the Intel HD Graphics 630. We do expect a performance improvement, but as a low-end solution it will probably only display current games smoothly at reduced details - if at all.

Power Consumption

Intel specifies the TDP with 45 watts and therefore the i5 is only suited for big laptops with good cooling solutions. Using cTDP-down, the CPU can also be configured to 35 Watt resulting in a reduced performance.

Beware, the CPU was not yet released at the time of writing and the information is based on leaks and early price list information (e.g. by Intel or on Baidu).