Intel Core i7-12700H vs Intel Core i9-11900H

Intel Core i7-12700H

The Intel Core i7-12700H is a high-end mobile CPU for laptops based on the Alder Lake architecture. It was announced in early 2022 and offers 6 performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) and 8 efficiency cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading leading to 20 supported threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 2.3 to 4.7 GHz on the performance cluster and 1.7 - 3.5 GHz on the efficient cluster. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare to the Core i7-6920HQ). All cores can use up to 24 MB L3 cache. Compared to the 12900H, the 12700H is lower clocked and offers only "Essentials" vPro features.

Performance

The average 12700H in our database wins a very important battle by being ever-so-slightly faster than the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX in multi-thread benchmarks while, perhaps even more importantly, nearly matching multi-thread benchmark scores of the more costly Core i9-12900H to be a great bang for the buck overall.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 101 W, the Legion 5 15IAH7H 82RB is among the fastest laptops built around the 12700H that we know of. It can be nearly 60% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

Features

The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200, LPDDR5-5200, and LPDDR4x-4267. 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 only supports PCIe 4.0 (x8 for a GPU and two x4 for SSDs).

The integrated graphics adapter is based on the Xe architecture and offers 96 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 1.4 GHz.

Power consumption

This Core i7 series chip has a "minimum assured" power consumption of 35 W, with 45 W being its Base power consumption. The CPU's highest Intel-recommended Turbo power consumption sits at 115 W.

The i7-12700H is built with Intel's 4th generation 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 for average, as of early 2023, 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.