Intel Core i7-14700HX vs AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS vs AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS

Intel Core i7-14700HX

The Intel Core i7-14700HX is a high-end CPU based on the new Raptor Lake architecture for large and heavy notebooks. The CPU was introduced at the beginning of 2024 as part of the Raptor Lake HX refresh. The i7-14700HX is similar to the Core i7-13850HX with slightly higher clocked CPU cores.

The total of 28 threads are divided into P-cores and E-cores, which we already know from Alder Lake. The 14700HX offers 8 performance cores (P-cores) with hyperthreading and 12 efficiency cores (E-cores) without hyperthreading. A total of 28 threads are therefore supported. The P-cores clock at up to 5.5 GHz (single core) and the E-cores up to 3.9 GHz. The integrated memory controller supports a maximum of DDR5 with 5600 MHz.

Compared to Alder Lake, the new Raptor Lake architecture offers improved P-cores (Raptor Cove architecture with more cache), more E-cores (same Gracemont architecture) and higher clock rates thanks to the improved Intel 7 process. Furthermore, Intel now supports faster DDR5 main memory (up to 5600 MHz) in the top models.

The 14700HX is manufactured on the older 10nm FinFET process at Intel (Intel 7 process) and is specified with 55 watts base power and 157 watts turbo power.

AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS

The Ryzen 7 8745HS is a China-only Hawk Point family chip that never received an official launch. Targeted at gaming and productivity laptops but widely used in mini-PCs, too, the 8745HS features 8 cores (16 threads thanks to SMT support) running at up to 4.9 GHz, along with the still fairly capable Radeon 780M iGPU. There is no NPU here.

As an APU meant for use within China, this Ryzen 7 should be fully compliant with the Chinese government-approved cryptography standards.

The only difference between the 8745HS and the 8745H is the slightly lower default wattage of the latter, potentially leading to slightly lower clock speeds.

Performance

We fully expect this Zen 4 architecture processor to be about as fast as the Ryzen 7 7745HX (8 Zen 4 cores, 3.6 GHz to 5.1 GHz) meaning its multi-thread performance is a little better than the Core Ultra 9 185H but a few percentage points behind the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370.

Architecture and Features

Unlike Zen 3, Zen 4 features AVX512 support along with other improvements, like larger caches/registers/buffers across the board. Elsewhere, the 8745HS has 16 MB of L3 cache and a fast RAM controller (up to LPDDR5x-7500 and up to DDR5-5600). There are 20 PCI-Express 4 lanes for connecting devices such as NVMe SSDs (1.97 GB/s per lane) and graphics cards; USB 4 / Thunderbolt support is onboard, too. Please note that the APU isn't overclockable and neither is it user-replaceable. It gets soldered on to the motherboard for good (FP7r2 or FP8 socket interfaces).

Graphics

The Radeon 780M (12 CUs / 768 shaders, up to 2,600 MHz) can drive 4 monitors simultaneously with resolutions as high as SUHD 4320p. It will also have little issue hardware-encoding and hardware-decoding the most widely used video codecs (AV1, AVC, HEVC). As far as gaming is concerned, many titles are still playable at 1080p as of early 2025 albeit with most settings dialed down do Lowest or Low.

Power consumption

This Ryzen 7 series chip has a long-term power limit (default TDP) of 35 W to 54 W, giving system makers a choice between improving battery life and making the system they're designing faster. Either way, an active cooling solution is a must for a laptop or a mini-PC built around this APU.

AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS

The Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS is a powerful processor (APU) of the Hawk Point family. This isn't an entirely new laptop chip; instead, it's a rebadged Ryzen 7 7840U with a slightly higher wattage as well as higher clock speeds on the Ryzen AI NPU. The 8840HS has eight Zen 4 cores running at 3.3 GHz to 5.1 GHz that are SMT-enabled for a total of 16 processing threads, while the great Radeon 780M is responsible for 3D processing and similar duties. Compared to the consumer 8840HS, the PRO variant supports AMD PRO technologies with management features and usually longer availability and support.

Architecture & Features

Hawk Point family chips are powered by the Zen 4 architecture, much like Phoenix and Dragon Range family chips are. That's not to say there is no difference between the three. With Hawk Point, AMD is betting big on generative AI; these processors are set to deliver an up to 40% increase in generative AI performance over 7040 series APUs, making apps like DaVinci Resolve and Adobe Photoshop more useful than ever before.

Unlike Zen 3, Zen 4 features AVX512 support and, thanks to a plethora of other improvements including larger caches/registers/buffers, is slated to bring a double-digit IPC improvement over the former.

Elsewhere, the R7 PRO 8840HS has 16 MB of L3 cache and support for super-fast DDR5-5600 and LPDDR5x-7500 RAM. The chip is compatible with USB 4 and therefore with Thunderbolt. It comes with 20 PCIe 4 lanes, giving NVMe SSDs up to 7.8 GB/s of throughput.

Systems built around this Ryzen 7 series APU are designed to run 64-bit Windows 11, 64-bit Windows 10, or Linux. Please note that this processor is not overclockable and neither is it user-replaceable. It gets soldered down for good instead (FP7, FP7r2, FP8 socket interfaces).

Performance

Since this is a 7840U in disguise that we are dealing with here, it is safe to expect the 8840HS to be about as fast as the Core i7-12650H, as far as multi-thread performance is concerned.

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

Graphics

The Radeon 780M has 12 CUs (768 shaders) purring away at up to 2,700 MHz. This is exactly the right iGPU for people looking for a bit more horsepower than what Intel's aging Xe options can provide. The Radeon will let you use up to 4 monitors with resolutions as high as SUHD 4320p and it will also HW-decode and HW-encode the most widely used video codecs (including AV1, HEVC and AVC) without breaking a sweat. In terms of gaming, the thing is good enough for 1080p and medium-to-low settings, as of late 2023.

Your mileage may vary depending on how high the CPU power limits are, how competent the cooling solution of your system is, how fast the RAM of your system is (there is no dedicated VRAM here).

Power consumption

This Ryzen 7 series chip has a long-term power limit (default TDP) of 28 W that laptop makers are free to tune to their liking, with values between 20 W and 30 W greenlighted by AMD. Either way, an active cooling solution is a must for any system powered by this chip.

The 8840HS is built with TSMC's 4 nm process for high, as of late 2023, energy efficiency.