Intel Core i7-10750H vs Intel Core i5-10400H

Intel Core i7-10750H

The Intel Core i7-10750H is a high-end, 45 W processor designed for the larger laptops. The Comet Lake-H CPU was launched in mid-2020. It has six cores (twelve threads) running at 2.6 GHz Boosting up to 5 GHz (single-core Boost). The all-core Boost frequency is likely to be 4.3 GHz. Most of the specs are the same as the 10750H’s direct predecessor, the i7-9750H. A 10750H has only two advantages over its predecessor, in that its Boost frequency is somewhat higher and it also has a slightly improved memory controller that can now officially support memory clocked at 2,933 MHz, an upgrade over the 2,666 MHz limitation of the outgoing 9750H.

Architecture

Comet Lake is a yet another revision of the dated Skylake architecture not unlike the previous Coffee Lake, Whiskey Lake, and Kaby Lake families for similar performance-per-MHz between the five. There are few differences between Comet Lake and Coffee Lake processors as far as the features go. A Core i7-10750H is manufactured on the third-gen 14 nm Intel process that is no longer cutting-edge as AMD’s Ryzen 4000 processors are manufactured on the 7 nm TSMC process.

The mobile CPU is compatible with dual-channel DDR4-2933 RAM. It has support for PCI-Express 3.0 and Thunderbolt 3 but not the professional features (vPro, TXT, SIPP) unlike the Core i7-10850H. Both the CPU cores and the iGPU have access to 12 MB of L3 cache. A 10750H gets soldered to the motherboard (BGA1440 socket) and is pretty much impossible to replace.

Please see this page for more information on the Comet Lake processor family.

Performance

Boost sustainability depends a lot on the cooling system performance as well as the TDP settings. With that in mind, the average 10750H is as fast as the Core i7-8559U and Ryzen 7 3700X in single-core benchmarks, while multi-core testing reveals the CPU to be similar to the Ryzen 5 5500U and Ryzen 5 5600H. As of mid-2021, the i7 is fast enough for any task, gaming included.

Graphics

We've known the Intel UHD Graphics 630 iGPU for a while. This is the same iGPU the Core i7-9750H and Core i7-8750H processors had. In the case of an i7-10750H, the 24 EU iGPU is clocked at 350 MHz to 1,150 MHz. It supports up to 3 monitors with resolutions of up to 4096 by 2304 and the built-in video decoder can handle the AVC, HEVC, VP9 video streams but not the newer AV1 codec. This is not a gaming GPU as it is not fast enough to handle most AAA titles released in 2020. FRAPS reports 17 fps when running Escape from Tarkov at 720p (low quality preset), to give you an example.

Power Consumption

The energy efficiency is not great as the 14 nm manufacturing process is very old by now. While the default TDP value of the i7 is 45 watts, the actual consumption when under load will be significantly higher than this. A Core i7-10750H is a good fit for the larger laptops, since a high-performance cooling system is a must. OEMs can choose to set the TDP to 35 watts instead of the 45 watts for lighter and leaner designs but the base as well as the Boost clock speeds will take a hit as a result.

Intel Core i5-10400H

The Intel Core i5-10400H is a fast processor for laptops with four cores based on the Comet Lake-H series (4th generation of Skylake architecture). The processor clocks at between 2.6 and 4.6 GHz (up to 4.4 with 4 cores) and can execute up to eight threads simultaneously thanks to Hyper-Threading. According to Intel, the CPU is manufactured in 14nm (14nm++) process. 

The Comet Lake architecture is similar to Coffee Lake and offers the same features and is produced in the same 14nm process. Other than the improved clock rates, the memory controller now also supports faster DDR4-2933 RAM. More information on Comet Lake and all the models and articles on it can be found here.

The Core i5-10400H supports the management features vPro, TXT and SIPP. 

Performance

The performance should be slightly better than the old Core i7-8809G (Quad-Core 3.1 - 4.2) which was the fastest mobile quad core by Intel.

Graphics

The integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630 iGPU is supposed to offer a similar performance as the UHD630 in the Core i5-9300H. As a  low-end solution it will probably only run 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.