Intel Core i7-7700 vs AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX vs Intel Core i3-7020U

Intel Core i7-7700

The Intel Core i7-7700 is a fast quad-core processor for desktops based on the Kaby Lake architecture and was announced in January 2017. It is the top model of the 65 Watt consumer Kaby-Lake-H series at the time of the announcement. The faster CPUs, like the Core i7-7700K, are specified with 91 Watt. Besides four cores including Hyper-Threading (8 threads) support running at 3.6 - 4.2 GHz, the processor is also equipped with the HD Graphics 630 GPU as well as a dual-channel memory controller (DDR3L-1600/DDR4-2400). It is manufactured in a 14nm process with FinFET transistors.

Architecture

Intel basically uses the same micro architecture compared to Skylake, so the per-MHz performance does not differ. The manufacturer only reworked the Speed Shift technology for faster dynamic adjustments of voltages and clocks, and the improved 14nm process allows much higher frequencies combined with better efficiency than before.

Power Consumption

The chip is manufactured in an improved 14nm process with FinFET transistors, which improves the efficiency slightly.

AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX

The AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX is a processor for big (gaming) laptops based on the Rembrandt generation. The R9 6900HX integrates all eight cores based on the Zen 3+ microarchitecture. They are clocked at 3.3 (guaranteed base clock) to 4.9 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

The average 6900HX in our database edges out the Core i7-12800H just slightly while, a little disappointingly, not quite managing to leave the 6900HS behind in the dust. Don't get us wrong; this is still a brilliant CPU for your demanding apps and games, as of late 2022. It does lag behind some of the 12th generation Intel Core i9 options, though.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of nearly 90 W, the XMG Neo 15 2022 is among the fastest laptops built around the 6900HX that we know of. It can be at least 20% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

Power consumption

This Ryzen 9 series chip has a default TDP, also known as the long-term power limit, of 45 W with the letter "X" indicating that the user is officially allowed to overclock the thing - leading to an increase in power consumption levels. Either way, a high-performance cooling solution is a must for a CPU like this.

The R9 6900HX is built with TSMC's 6 nm process making for very good, as of early 2023, energy efficiency.

Intel Core i3-7020U

The Intel Core i3-7020U is a dual-core processor of the Kaby Lake architecture. It offers two CPU cores clocked at 2.3 GHz (without Turbo Boost) 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 should be very similar. The SoC includes a dual channel DDR4 memory controller and Intel HD Graphics 620 graphics card (clocked at 300 - 1000 MHz). It is manufactured in an improved 14nm FinFET process at Intel. Compare to the old i3-7100U, the newer i3-7020U is clocked 100 MHz lower (CPU cores) and therefore the current entry level model for the Core i3 line. The similar Pentium Gold 4415U offers less Cache (2 versus 3 MB) and a slower GPU.

Architecture

Intel basically uses the same micro architecture compared to Skylake, so the per-MHz performance does not differ. The manufacturer only reworked the Speed Shift technology for faster dynamic adjustments of voltages and clocks, and the improved 14nm process allows much higher frequencies combined with better efficiency than before.