Intel Core i7-13700HX vs AMD Ryzen 9 6980HX vs Intel Core i9-13950HX

Intel Core i7-13700HX

The Intel Core i7-13700HX is a fast high-end mobile processor of the Raptor Lake series. Is was announced in early 2023 and is based on the desktop Core i7-13700K with combined 16 cores and 24 threads. Eight fast Raptor Cove performance cores (P-cores) with HyperThreading clocking between 2.1 - 5 GHz (4.5 GHz all core boost) and eight Gracemont efficiency cores without HyperThreading (1.5 - 3.7 GHz).

Compared to Alder Lake, Raptor Lake offers improved P-Cores (Raptor Cove micro-architecture) with bigger Caches and more E-Cores (same Gracemont micro-architecture). Furthermore, the chip supports faster DDR5 memory (up to 5600 MHz for the 13980HX, but only 4800 MHz for the i7).

Performance

The average 13700HX in our database is in the same league as the i7-13650HX, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned, and thus outguns the Ryzen 7 7745HX by a significant margin. This is a very fast chip, as of early 2023.

Thanks to its powerful cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 122 W, the Uniwill GM6PX7X is among the fastest laptops built around the 13700HX that we know of. It can be at least 10% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

Power consumption

The chip's "minimum assured" power consumption sits at 45 W. Its Turbo power consumption is not supposed to exceed 157 W; its Base power consumption is supposed to be around 55 W. Most laptop makers will probably go for a value much higher than 55 W to get better performance.

This Raptor Lake family processor is built with Intel's 4th generation 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 for average, as of early 2023, energy efficiency.

AMD Ryzen 9 6980HX

The AMD Ryzen 9 6980HX is a processor for big (gaming) laptops based on the Rembrandt generation. The R9 6980HX integrates all eight cores based on the Zen 3+ microarchitecture. They are clocked at 3.3 (guaranteed base clock) to 5 GHz (Turbo) and support SMT / Hyperthreading (16 threads). The chip is manufactured on the modern 6 nm TSMC process. The "X" in the name indicates the overclocking capabilities of the CPU.

The new Zen 3+ is a refresh of the Zen 3 architecture and should not offer a lot of changes. The chip itself however, offers a lot of new features, like support for USB 4 (40 Gbps), PCI-E Gen 4, DDR5-4800MT/s or LPDDR5-6400MT/s, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth LE 5.2, DisplayPort 2, and AV1 decode.

A big novelty is the integrated GPU Radeon 680M, that is now based on the RDNA2 architecture and offers 12 CUs at up to 2.4 GHz. It should be the fastest iGPU of all at the time of announcement.

Performance

While we have not tested a single system built around the 6980HX as of August 2023, we have tested at least one laptop featuring the 6950HS, a chip with very similar specs (8 cores, 16 threads, up to 4.9 GHz, Zen 3+). Based on that, expect the 6980HX to be up to 10% faster than the Ryzen 7 5800H, Ryzen 9 4900H, Ryzen 5 PRO 7640HS and also the Core i7-11800H. In other words, this is an impressive laptop CPU that will handle almost any task with ease, as of mid 2023.

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

This Ryzen 9 series APU has a default TDP, also known as the long-term power limit, of 45 W, with the letter X indicating that the chip is ready for some healthy bit of overclocking - which will lead to much higher power consumption, naturally.

The R9 6980HX is manufactured on a 6 nm process for higher-than-average, as of early 2023, energy efficiency.

Intel Core i9-13950HX

The Intel Core i9-13950HX is a fast high-end mobile processor of the Raptor Lake-HX series. Is was announced in early 2023 and is based on the desktop Core i9-13000K with combined 24 cores and 32 threads. Eight fast Raptor Cove performance cores (P-cores) clocked from 2.2 to 5.5 GHz (single core, all core boost 4.9 GHz) with HyperThreading and sixteen Gracemont efficiency cores without HyperThreading clocked from 1.6 to 4 GHz. The 13950HX is very similar to the Core i9-13980HX, but with vPro Enterprise support and a 100 MHz reduced boost of the P-cores.

Compared to Alder Lake, Raptor Lake offers improved P-cores (Raptor Cove micro-architecture) with bigger Caches and more E-Cores (same Gracemont micro-architecture). Furthermore, the chip supports faster DDR5 memory (up to 5600 MHz for the 13980HX).

Performance

The average 13950HX in our database is in the same league as the i9-13980HX and the i9-13900HX while being noticeably faster than the Ryzen 9 7845HX, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. This is a very, very fast chip, as of mid 2023.

Thanks to its powerful cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 145 W, the MSI GE78HX 13VH-070US is among the fastest laptops built around the 13950HX that we know of.

Power consumption

The chip's "minimum assured" power consumption is 45 W while its Turbo power consumption isn't supposed to go over 157 W. Intel suggests the "base" power consumption should be set to 55 W, which laptop makers aren't really obliged to do. Most will go for a higher value to get better performance.

This i9 series processor is manufactured on Intel's 4th generation 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 for average, as of early 2023, energy efficiency.