Intel Core i5-1245U vs AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX vs AMD Ryzen 9 7840HX

Intel Core i5-1245U

The Intel Core i5-1245U is a mid-range mobile CPU for thin and light laptops based on the Alder Lake architecture. It was announced in early 2022 and offers 2 performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) and 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading leading to 12 supported threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 1.6 to 4.4 GHz on the performance cluster and 1.2 to 3.3 GHz on the efficient cluster. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare to the Core i7-6700HQ). All cores can use up to 12 MB L3 cache. Compared to the i7-1265U (fastest U-series CPU at launch), the 1245U offers lower clock speeds, a slower iGPU, but the full "Enterprise" vPro management features. Compared to the P-series (28W) or H-series (45W), the 15W TDP may limit the sustained performance.

Performance

Thanks to the 10 cores, the multi-threaded performance should be clearly faster than the older quad-core Tiger Lake CPUs with 15 Watt (like the Intel Core i7-1160G7). The sustained performance will be limited by the TDP setting and thermals and therefore only short term loads. Thanks to the architectural improvements of the big Golden Cove cores, the single thread performance should be better than similar clocked Tiger Lake CPUs.

Features

The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200, LPDDR5-5200, and LPDDR4x-4267. The Thread Director (in hardware) can support the operating system to decide which thread to use on the performance or efficient cores for the best performance. For AI tasks, the CPU also integrates GNA 3.0 and DL Boost (via AVX2). Quick Sync in version 8 is the same as in the Rocket Lake CPUs and supports MPEG-2, AVC, VC-1 decode, JPEG, VP8 decode, VP9, HEVC, and AV1 decode in hardware. The CPU only supports PCIe 4.0 (x8 for a GPU and two x4 for SSDs).

The integrated graphics adapter is based on the Xe-architecture and offers 80 of the 96 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 1.2 GHz.

The CPU is rated at 15 W base power (TDP, PL1) and 55 W max. Turbo power (PL2) and the whole SoC is manufactured on a 10nm process at Intel, which is known as Intel 7.

AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX

The AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX is a fast high-end laptop processor of the Dragon Range series. It offers 16 cores based on the Zen 4 architecture that supports hyperthreading (32 threads). The cores clock from 2.5 (base) up to 5.4 GHz (single core boost). The 7945HX is the fastest mobile Ryzen CPU at launch and derived from the desktop Ryzen 9 7950X.

The Dragon Range series still uses a chiplet design with two CCD-clusters (each with 8 possible cores) in 5nm and an IO-die (including the memory controller and the Radeon 610M iGPU) in 6nm. The chip integrates 4x USB 3.2 Gen2 (10 Gbps) ports (no USB4), 28 PCIe 5.0 lanes (for GPU and SSDs) and a dual-channel DDR5-5200 memory controller.

Performance

The Ryzen 9 7945HX is among the fastest processors in our database, as of August 2023. It is in the same league as the Ryzen 9 7945HX3D and noticeably ahead of the Core i9-13980HX, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. It is outrageously, unbelievably fast, and those fortunate enough to purchase a laptop built around this CPU will have no performance issues for at least three years.

Thanks to its powerful cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 128 W, the ROG Strix Scar 17 G733PY-XS96 is one of the fastest laptops built around the 7945HX that we know of.

The R9 7945HX is rated at a TDP of 55 Watt and can be configured up to 75 Watt (cTDP).

AMD Ryzen 9 7840HX

The chip also integrates 4x USB 3.2 Gen2 (10 Gbps) ports (no USB 4), 28 PCIe 5.0 lanes (for GPUs and SSDs), a dual-channel DDR5-5200 memory controller and a small AMD Radeon 610M graphics card (2CUs, 400 - 2200 MHz).