Intel Core i5-13450HX vs Intel Core i5-13420H

Intel Core i5-13450HX

The Intel Core i5-13450HX is a fast mid-range mobile processor of the Raptor Lake series. Is was announced in early 2023. The CPU integrates 6 fast Raptor Cove performance cores (P-cores) with HyperThreading and 4 Gracemont efficiency cores without HyperThreading. The P-Cores clock between 2.4 GHz (base) up to 4.6 GHz (single core boost, all-core 4.5 GHz). The smaller E-Cores clock between 1.8 and 3.4 GHz. All cores can access the combined 20 MB L3 cache (compared to the 36 MB of the i9 models).

Compared to Alder Lake, Raptor Lake offers improved P-Cores (Raptor Cove micro-architecture) with bigger Caches and more E-Cores (same Gracemont micro-architecture). Furthermore, the chip supports faster DDR5 memory (up to 5600 MHz for the 13980HX, but only 4800 MHz for the i5).

Performance

While we have not tested a single system built around the 13450HX as of August 2023, we have tested several systems featuring the Core i5-12600K, a CPU with very similar specs (six P-cores mated to four E-cores, both running at insignificantly faster clock speeds than what the 13450HX has). Based on that, we expect the 13450HX to be 10% to 15% behind the Ryzen 7 7840HS and the Ryzen 9 7940HS, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned.

Your mileage may vary depending on how competent the system's cooling solution is and how high the CPU power limits are.

Power consumption

The chip's "minimum assured" power consumption sits at 45 W. Its Turbo power consumption is not supposed to go over 157 W and its "base" power consumption is supposed to be around 55 W. Most laptop makers will probably go for a value much higher than 55 W to extract as much performance out of the chip as possible.

The i5-13450HX is built with Intel's 4th generation 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 for average, as of early 2023, energy efficiency.

Intel Core i5-13420H

The Intel Core i5-13420H is a mid-range mobile CPU for laptops based on the Raptor Lake-H series (Alder Lake architecture). It was announced in early 2023 and offers 4 of the 6 performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) and 4 of the 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading leading to 16 supported threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 2.1 to 4.6 GHz (single core boost, all core up to 4.5 GHz) on the performance cluster and 1.5 to 3.4 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. 

Performance

Thanks to the higher clock speeds of the improved Intel 7 process, the Core i5-13420H can surpass the old Core i5-12450H (e.g., + 200 MHz boost).

Features

The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to DDR5-5200 (up from DDR5-4800 of the i5-12500H). 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 now supports PCIe 5.0 x8 for a GPU and two PCIe 4.0 x4 for SSDs.

The integrated graphics card is based on the Xe-architecture and offers 48 of the 96 EUs (Execution Units).

The CPU is rated at 45 W base power (115 W PL2) but most laptops will use a PL1 of around 60 Watt. The SoC is manufactured in a further improved 10nm process at Intel, which is known as Intel 7.