Intel Core i5-L16G7 vs AMD Ryzen 7 4980U

Intel Core i5-L16G7

The Core i5-L16G7 is an SoC with 5 processor cores based on the Lakefield architecture. It uses one fast Sunny Cove core (known from Ice-Lake CPUs but without AVX512) with up to 3 GHz and 4 small Tremont cores (Atom / Celeron) with up to 2.8 GHz. Using all 5 cores, the CPU can reach up to 1.8 GHz, base clock speed is 1.4 GHz. The CPU does not support HyperThreading / SMT. The rest of the SoC is similar to the Ice Lake chips, like the Gen 11 graphics card with 64 EUs (similar to the Iris Plus G7 but only clocked at 500 MHz and using the UHD Graphics name).

Performance

The average L16G7 in our database is in the same league as the Pentium N6000 and also the Core i3-1110G4, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. This kind of performance is only sufficient for basic day-to-day activities as of late 2023.

Your mileage may vary depending on how competent the cooling solution of your laptop is and how high the CPU power limits are.

With a specified TDP of 7 Watt (PL1, 9.5 Watt PL2), the CPU is well suited for thin and light laptops and Windows based tablets. / 2-in-1. Intel claims that the standby power was greatly reduced (91% better compared to the i7-8500Y with 2.5 mW). The SoC is manufactured in 10nm and uses the Intel Foveros 3D Packaging technology. Foveros is used to stack the in 22FFL manufactured I/O die, the compute die in 10nm and up to 8 GB LPDDR4X-4267.

AMD Ryzen 7 4980U

The AMD Ryzen 7 4980U is a Renoir family processor designed for certain Microsoft Surface systems. 4980U has eight Zen 2 cores clocked at 2.0 GHz (base clock speed) to 4.4 GHz (Boost) with thread-doubling SMT tech enabled for a total of 16 threads. The chip is manufactured on the modern 7 nm TSMC process and partly thanks to that AMD promises a 2x improvement in performance-per-Watt over Ryzen 3000 series mobile CPUs.

Architecture

The Zen 2 microarchitecture has brought a sizeable per-thread performance boost compared to the outgoing Zen+ parts. Renoir product family is also the first to introduce 8-core ULV processors to laptop market, keeping power consumption within reasonable limits. This AMD processor family is very impressive from most perspectives. One of the disatvantages to keep in mind is the lack of PCI-Express 4 support, meaning these blazing-fast NVMe SSDs will be limited to 3.9 GB/s tops.

Ryzen 7 4980U is designed to work with quad-channel LPDDR4 memory at up to 4,267 MHz. 8 MB of Level 3 are present in this chip. The Ryzen 7 gets soldered straight to the motherboard (FP6 socket) and is thus not user-replaceable. Please go to our Renoir hub page for more information on the product family.

Performance

The 4980U is the fastest U-class Ryzen 4000 series chip. As such, its clock speeds are 200 MHz higher (both the base one and Boost one) than what the Ryzen 7 4800U has.

It is thus hardly surprising that the average 4980U in our database is in the same league as the Ryzen 7 5800U and also the Core i7-1260P, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned.

Graphics

In addition to its eight CPU cores, the Ryzen 7 also features the Radeon RX Vega 8 graphics adapter with 8 CUs (= 512 shaders) at up to 1,950 MHz. This iGPU is compatible with FreeSync and DirectX 12 and is able to HW-decode AVC, HEVC, VP9-encoded videos (no AV1 support here). Vega 8 is capable of outputting UHD 2160p60 video signal to several monitors and, similar to Intel's Iris Xe (80 EUs), is good enough for a bit of light gaming on the go, provided one is content with sub-1080p resolutions and low/medium quailty presets.

Power consumption

The APU has a default TDP, also known as the long-term power limit, of 15 W; much like it is with other U-class Ryzen 4000 chips, AMD is fine with laptop makers (Microsoft, in this case) changing that value to anything between 10 W and 25 W.

The 7 nm TSMC process this Ryzen 7 is built with makes for above average, as of mid 2022, energy efficiency.