Intel Core i5-1035G1 vs AMD Ryzen 7 4800U

Intel Core i5-1035G1

The Intel Core i5-1035G1 is a quad-core SoC of the Ice Lake product family. It was announced in May 2019 and it features Hyper-Threading-enabled Sunny Cove CPU cores running at 1 GHz to 3.6 GHz. The highest Boost clock speed achievable when under all-core load is 3.2 GHz.

This Core i5 is designed for use in ultra-light laptops and Windows tablets. Unlike the costlier Core i5-1035G4, this i5 has the 32 EU UHD Graphics G1 iGPU, not the 48 EU Iris Plus G4; 1035G1's CPU cores run at a slightly lower clock rate, too.

Architecture

Ice Lake processors bring a significant, double-digit per-MHz performance boost over their immediate predecessors, much like Intel promised. What Intel was less keen on highlighting was the significant dip in clock speeds; Core i5-1035G1, Core i7-1065G7 and other Ice Lake CPUs run at lower clock speeds than similarly-specced Comet Lake or Whiskey Lake processors do when under the same load conditions.

Core i5-1035G1 is capable of HW-accelerating certain AI workloads. Thunderbolt and Wi-Fi 6 support is partially baked in the chip. The integrated RAM controller is compatible with up to 64 GB of DDR4-3200 or LPDDR4-3733 memory.

The i5 has several PCI-Express 3.0 lanes for connecting discrete graphics cards, SSDs and other devices. Four PCI-Express 3.0 lanes allow for read/write rates of up to 3.9 GB/s provided a suitably fast NVMe SSD is used.

Please note this is not a user-replaceable CPU. It is supposed to get soldered permanently on to the motherboard (BGA1526 socket interface).

Performance

In the grand scheme of things, Core i5-1035G1 is a lower mid-range CPU. It is good for more than just the basic tasks while being no match for true high-performers such as the mighty Core i7-10850H.

The i5's multi-thread performance puts it in the same league as Intel Core i7-10610U, Core i7-10710U, Core i7-1160G7, Ryzen 5 PRO 3500U. Your mileage may vary depending on how competent the cooling solution of your system is and how high the Power Limits are.

Graphics

UHD Graphics G1 is based on Intel's 11th gen architecture. The UHD Graphics runs at 300 MHz to 1,050 MHz and has 32 EUs; Iris Plus G4 has 48 EUs while Iris Plus G7 has 64 EUs, for reference. This iGPU will let you use up to 3 monitors simultaneously in resolutions up to 5120 by 3200.

The UHD Graphics G1 is significantly faster than the UHD Graphics 620, yet it's still not as good as a proper discrete graphics card. It will let you play a moderately long list of games, F1 2020 included, provided you are OK with 720p resolution and Lowest quality preset.

Power Consumption

Core i5-1035G1 has a default TDP (also known as the long-term Power Limit) of 15 W. OEMs are free to set that value to as high as 25 W or reduce it to as low as 13 W if required, with clock speeds and performance changing correspondingly as a result.

The Core i5 is manufactured on Intel's first-gen 10 nm process for moderately good energy efficiency. The CPU is designed for use in ultra-portable laptops, actively cooled tablets and tiny mini-PCs.

AMD Ryzen 7 4800U

The AMD Ryzen 7 4800U is a processor for thin and light laptops based on the Renoir architecture. The 4800U integrates all eight cores based on the Zen 2 microarchitecture. They are clocked at 1.8 (guaranteed base clock) to 4.2 GHz (Turbo) and support SMT / Hyperthreading (16 threads). The chip is manufactured in the modern 7 nm process at TSMC and partly thanks to it AMD advertises a 2x improved performance per Watt for the Renoir chips. Compared to the similar named Ryzen 7 4800H, the 4800U offers a lower TDP (15 versus 45 Watt) and base clock (1.8 versus 2.9 GHz).

According to AMD, the Ryzen 7 4800U is 4% faster in Cinebench R20 single thread test and 90 % faster in the multithreaded test compared to the fast Intel Core i7-1065G7 (Ice Lake, 4 cores, 3.9 GHz). This means the CPU should be one of the fastest processors in the 15 Watt TDP range and well suited for demanding tasks. The sustained performance however ist strongly depending on the cooling system and the TDP settings of the laptop.

In addition to the eight CPU cores, the APU also integrates a Radeon RX Vega 8 integrated graphics card with 8 CUs and up to 1750 MHz. The dual channel memory controller supports DDR4-3200 and energy efficient LPDDR4-4266 RAM. Furthermore, 8 MB level 3 cache can be found on the chip. See our hub page on the Renoir Processors for more information.

The TDP of the APU is specified at 15 Watt (default) and can be configured from 10 to 25 Watt by the laptop vendor. That means the chip is intended for thin and light laptops (but with fans).