Intel Core i7-7500U vs AMD Ryzen 5 5560U vs Intel Celeron 3965Y

Intel Core i7-7500U

The Intel Core i7-7500U is a dual-core processor of the Kaby Lake architecture. It offers two CPU cores clocked at 2.7 - 3.5 GHz and integrates HyperThreading to work with up to 4 threads at once. The architectural differences are rather small compared to the Skylake generation, therefore the performance per MHz is very similar. The SoC includes a dual channel DDR4 memory controller and Intel HD Graphics 620 graphics card (clocked at 300 - 1050 MHz). It is manufactured in an improved 14nm FinFET process (14nm+) at Intel. Compared to the old Skylake Core i7-6500U (2.5 - 3.1 GHz), the i7-7500U clock speed is up to 400 MHz higher.

AMD Ryzen 5 5560U

The AMD Ryzen 5 5560U, is a fairly fast Cezanne family processor designed for use in thinner, lighter laptops. The R5 5560U integrates six of the eight cores based on the Zen 3 microarchitecture. The cores are clocked at 2.3 (guaranteed base clock) to 4 GHz (Turbo) and support SMT for a total of 12 threads. The chip is manufactured on the modern 7 nm TSMC process.

The new Zen 3 microarchitecture offers a significantly higher IPC (instructions per clock) compared to Zen 2. For desktop processors AMD claims 19 percent on average and in applications reviews showed around 12% gains at the same clock speed.

In addition to the six CPU cores, the APU also integrates a Radeon RX Vega 6 integrated graphics card with 6 CUs at up to 1600 MHz. The dual channel memory controller supports DDR4-3200 and energy efficient LPDDR4-4266 RAM. Furthermore, 16 MB level 3 cache (up from 8 MB at the 4800U) can be found on the chip.

Performance

The Ryzen 5 is a solid upper mid-range CPU and should be only slightly slower than the Ryzen 5 5600U (+200 MHz Boost).

Power consumption

This Ryzen 5 has a default TDP of 15 W, a value that laptop makers are allowed to change to anything between 10 W and 25 W with clock speeds and performance changing accordingly as a result. By going for the lowest value possible, it is possible to build a passively cooled system around this chip. Most laptop makers, however, will do the opposite to maximize performance.

The AMD Ryzen 5 5560U is built with TSMC's 7 nm manufacturing process for average, as of mid 2023, energy efficiency.

Intel Celeron 3965Y

The Intel Celeron 3965Y is a low power entry level processor for small laptops or tablets and based on the Kaby Lake architecture. It was announced in Q2 2017 and offers two processor cores clocked at 1.5 GHz (no Turbo Boost). Compared to the Pentium 4410Y, the Celeron 3965Y offers no HyperThreading and therefore can execute only up to two threads simultaneously. The chips also includes the Intel HD Graphics 615 GPU, a dual-channel memory controller (DDR3L/LPDDR3) as well as VP9 and H.265 video de- and encoder. It is still produced in a 14 nm process with FinFET transistors. Currently (2017) it is the slowest Kaby-Lake based processor.

Architecture

Intel basically used the familiar micro architecture from the Skylake generation, so the per-MHz performance is identical. Only the Speed-Shift technology for faster dynamic adjustments of the voltages and clocks was improved, and the matured 14 nm process now also enables much higher frequencies and better efficiency than before. 

Performance

Due to the missing HyperThreading, the Celeron 3965Y is slightly slower than the similar clocked Pentium 4410Y in some multi threaded benchmarks. The single thread performance is due to the missing Turbo Boost significantly worse than the more expensive Core m3-7Y30. This should be noticeable in daily tasks. 

Graphics

The integrated Intel HD Graphics 615 GPU has 24 Execution Units (EUs) like the old HD Graphics 515 and runs with clocks between 300 and 850 MHz in combination with this processor. The performance heavily depends on the TDP limit as well as the memory configuration; with fast LPDDR3-1866 RAM in dual-channel mode, the GPU should sometimes be able to compete with the HD Graphics 520, but can also be much slower in other scenarios. Modern games from 2016 will, if at all, only run smoothly in the lowest settings.

Contrary to Skylake, Kaby Lake now also supports hardware decoding for H.265/HEVC Main10 with a 10-bit color depth as well as Google's VP9 codec.

Power Consumption

The chip is manufactured in an improved 14 nm process with FinFET transistors, so the power efficiency was once again improved significantly. The TDP is rated at 6 Watt and can be reduced to 4,5 Watt (cTDP down).