Intel Core i7-10870H vs AMD Ryzen 5 4600H

Intel Core i7-10870H

The Intel Core i7-10870H is a higher-end, octa-core processor of the Comet Lake product family. The Hyper-Threading-enabled processor was unveiled in 2020. It is designed for use in large gaming laptops and DTRs; its CPU cores run at 2.2 GHz (base clock speed) to 5 GHz (max. Boost frequency). The all-core Boost frequency sits at 4.2 GHz.

Core i7-10870H is slightly inferior to Core i7-10875H in that the former has a 100 MHz lower base clock speed, 100 MHz lower Boost clock speed and no support for Intel's proprietary security features: vPro, TXT, SIPP.

Last but not the least, this H-class processor features the 24 EU UHD Graphics 630 iGPU.

Architecture

Comet Lake is a yet another revision of the dated Skylake architecture (much like the previous Coffee Lake, Whiskey Lake, Kaby Lake product families) for similar feature set and performance-per-MHz figures.

Still, 10th Generation Core processors have their advantages. The upgraded memory controller is one such advantage; it can officially host memory clocked at 2,933 MHz, an upgrade over the 2,666 MHz limitation of the outgoing Coffee Lake product family. Intel recommends using no more than 128 GB, for reference.

The 10870H is manufactured on Intel's third-gen 14 nm process. The octa-core CPU is compatible with Thunderbolt 3; it has sixteen 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 isn't a user-replaceable CPU. It gets soldered permanently on to the motherboard (BGA1440 socket interface) and is thus pretty much impossible to replace.

Performance

The average 10870H in our database is close to the Ryzen 5 5600H and the Core i9-9980HK, as far as multi-thread banchmark scores are concerned. The i7 thus is absolutely capable of handling any task that requires significant processing muscle, as of late 2021.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 95 W, the MSI GE76 Raider 10UH is among the fastest laptops featuring the 10870H that we know of. It can be about 30% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system built around the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

Graphics

The Intel UHD Graphics 630 is an old acquaintance of ours; this 24 EU iGPU was used in many H-class Intel Core processors of previous years, like a Core i7-9750H.

In the case of 10870H, the UHD Graphics runs at 350 MHz to 1,200 MHz. It will let you use up to 3 displays simultaneously. The highest resolution supported here is 4K (4096 by 2304 pixels). This graphics adapter will happily hardware-decode VP9, AVC, HEVC, MPEG-2 and other popular video codecs; the latest AV1 codec did not make the list.

UHD Graphics 630 was not made for gaming; it is not fast enough to handle most triple-A titles of 2019 and 2020, even if you set the resolution to 1024 x 768 and select the lowest quality preset possible.

Power consumption

The i7-10870H has a 45 W TDP (also known as the long-term Power Limit). Laptop makers are allowed to reduce that value somewhat, the lower limit being 35 W, with clock speeds and performance taking a hit as a result. As far as short-term loads are concerned, the CPU will happily consume 70 or even 100 W when Boosting, making quality active cooling solution a must.

This 10th generation Intel chip is manufactured on one of the old 14 nm Intel processes for low, as of late 2022, energy efficiency.

AMD Ryzen 5 4600H

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600H is a mobile SoC for big laptops based on the Renoir architecture. The 4600H integrates six of the eight cores based on the Zen 2 microarchitecture. They are clocked at 3 (guaranteed base clock) to 4 GHz (Turbo) and support SMT / Hyperthreading (12 threads).

In addition to the six CPU cores, the APU also integrates a Radeon RX Vega 6 integrated graphics adapter with 6 CUs and up to 1500 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.

Performance

The average 4600H in our database matches the Intel Core i7-10875H and even the Core i9-10885H, both significantly more costly chips, in multi-thread performance, giving this Ryzen an outrageously high price-to-performance ratio.

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

Power consumption

The Ryzen 5 chip has a default TDP (also known as the long-term power limit) of 45 W, a value that laptop makers are free to change to anything between 35 W and 54 W with clock speed and performance changing accordingly as a result. Either way, a high-performance cooling solution is a must for a CPU like this.

The 7 nm TSMC process this APU is built with makes for better-than-average, as of early 2022, energy efficiency.