Intel Core i7-11800H vs AMD Ryzen 7 5800H vs Intel Core i9-11900H

Intel Core i7-11800H

The Intel Core i7-11800H is a high-end octa-core SoC for gaming laptops and mobile workstations. It is belongs to the Tiger Lake H45 family and was announced in mid 2021. It integrates eight Willow Cove processor cores (16 threads thanks to Hyper-Threading). The base clock speed depends on the TDP setting and is 2.3 GHz at 45 W. The single core Boost can be as high as 4.6 GHz while all cores can run at up to 4.2 GHz. The CPU offers 24 MB of Level 3 cache and supports DDR4-3200 memory.

The SoC also has the improved UHD Graphics iGPU with 32 EUs which is similar to the Iris Xe iGPUs.

Furthermore, Tiger Lake SoCs add PCIe 4 support (20 lanes in the H45 series), AI hardware acceleration, and the partial integration of Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 and Wi-Fi 6E in the chip.

All articles on Tiger Lake can be found in our Tiger Lake architecture hub.

Performance

The average 11800H in our database is a powerhouse, as of mid 2022. Its multi-thread performance is most comparable to that of the octa-core AMD Ryzen 7 5800H.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 165 W, the Alienware x17 R1 is among the fastest laptops powered by the 11800H that we know of. It can be almost 50% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

Power consumption

This Core i7 series chip has a default TDP, also known as the long-term power limit, of 45 W that laptop makers are allowed to reduce slightly, 35 W being the lowest Intel-recommended value. Doing so will result in lower clock speeds and lower performance. Either way, a proper cooling solution is a must for a CPU like this.

The Core i7-11800H is built with Intel's third-gen 10 nm process marketed as SuperFin for average, as of early 2023, energy efficiency.

AMD Ryzen 7 5800H

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800H is a high-performance octa-core processor of the Cezanne product family. It was released in Q1 2021; it is designed for use in larger laptops, primarily gaming laptops and DTRs. The Ryzen features eight SMT-enabled Zen 3 cores running at 3.2 GHz (base clock speed) to 4.4 GHz (highest Boost frequency possible) along with the Vega 8 iGPU. The chip has 16 MB of L3 cache.

Architecture

The Ryzen 7 5800H is manufactured on the modern 7 nm TSMC process, just like the outgoing Ryzen 7 4800H was; both CPUs have 8 cores and 16 threads, too. The underlying microarchitecture is what makes the two vastly different as the newer Zen 3 microarchitecture brings a massive IPC improvement over Zen 2. To be specific, AMD promises an increase of up to 19%, with independent reviews pointing to a lower (but sizeable nonetheless) 12% increase.

Ryzen 5 5800H supports dual-channel DDR4-3200 and quad-channel LPDDR4-4266 RAM. Unlike the desktop-grade Ryzen 5000-series processors, Ryzen 5 5800H does not support PCI-Express 4.0, meaning NVMe SSDs will be limited to read/write rates of 3.9 GB/s.

The CPU gets soldered straight on to the motherboard (FP6 socket interface) and is thus not user-replaceable.

Performance

The Ryzen is a marvel of a processor. As far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned, the average 5800H in our database trades blows with the Intel Core i5-12500H, Core i7-11800H, Core i7-12650H, Core i9-11950H and also the AMD Ryzen 9 4900H. Needless to say, a system built around this CPU will have little difficulty chewing through pretty much any workload imaginable for years to come.

With the long-term CPU power limit of 75 W, the Lenovo Legion 5 15ACH is among the fastest 5800H-toting laptops that we have tested; it can be at least 20% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest laptops built around the 5800H in our database such as the HP Victus 16 or the Asus ZenBook 14X OLED.

Graphics

In addition to its eight CPU cores, the APU has the Radeon RX Vega 8 graphics adapter. Just like the name suggests, Vega 8 features 8 Compute Units (8 x 64 = 512 unified shaders); in the case of Ryzen 7 5800H, the Vega runs at up to 2,000 MHz.

On paper, this iGPU is inferior to the 96 EU Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7. However, as is usually the case, synthetic benchmarks do not tell the entire story, as AMD's drivers are superior to those of Intel. As a result, the Vega will let you play a lot of games released in 2020 and 2021 at reasonable resolutions (up to Full HD 1080p) and Low to Medium presets. Mass Effect Legendary Edition is playable at 1080p (High), to give you an example. As the iGPU has no VRAM of its own, it is paramount that fast system RAM is used.

The graphics adapter definitely supports 2160p UHD monitors at 60 Hz. AVC, HEVC, MPEG-2, VP9-encoded videos can be hardware-decoded with the Vega but there is no AV1 support here; such a video will be software-decoded for much lower energy efficiency.

Power consumption

This AMD APU has a default TDP (also known as the long-term Power Limit) of 45 W that can be changed to anything between 35 W and 54 W by laptop makers, with clock speeds and performance changing accordingly as a result. No matter the exact value, an active cooling solution is a must.

The Ryzen 7 5800H is built with TSMC's 7 nm process for very decent, as of early 2022, energy efficiency.

Intel Core i9-11900H

The Intel Core i9-11900H is a high end octa core SoC for gaming laptops and mobile workstations. It is based on the Tiger Lake H45 generation and was announced in mid 2021. It integrates eight Willow Cove processor cores (16 threads thanks to HyperThreading). The base clock speed depends on the TDP setting and at 45 Watt is at 2.5 GHz. The single core boost speed can reach up to 4.9 GHz, all cores can reach up to 4.5 GHz. The CPU offers 24 MB level 3 cache and supports DDR4-3200 memory. 

Thanks to the new Tiger Lake architecture, the i9-11900H should be similar or faster than the old Intel Core i9-10885H (Comet Lake-H, 2.4 - 5.3 GHz, 16 MB L3) in single and multi threaded performance and similar to the Ryzen 9 5800H (Zen 3, 3.2 - 4.4 GHz, 16 MB L3). Therefore, the i9 should be one of the fastest laptop CPUs in 2021 and well suited for even very demanding tasks.

The SoC also included the improved Xe graphics card called UHD graphics with all 32 EUs.

Furthermore, Tiger Lake SoCs add PCIe 4 support (20 lanes in the H45 series), AI hardware acceleration, and the partial integration of Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 and Wi-Fi 6E in the chip.

The chip is produced on the improved 10nm process (called 10nm SuperFin) at Intel, which should be comparable to the 7nm process at TSMC (e.g. Ryzen 4000 series). The default TDP is rated at 45 W at 2.5 GHz base speed, at 35 Watt the base clock speed decreases to 2.1 GHz (cTDP down).

All articles on Tiger Lake can be found on our Tiger Lake architecture hub.