i9-10980HK leaks on Userbenchmark: Just 10 percent faster than Ryzen 7 4800H for 3 times the cost

Just days after Geekbench scores leaked for Intel's upcoming Comet Lake-H i9-10980HK, tipster @TUM_APISAK spotted a Userbenchmark listing for the processor. Despite having a 45W TDP that's less than half that of the desktop i7-9700K, the i9-10980HK delivers better single-threaded performance and comparable multithreaded performance to Intel's Coffee Lake flagship. 

While 45W is certainly frugal by desktop standards, this Comet Lake-H part will likely only feature in larger desktop-replacement laptops. The real question here is how the i9-10980HK compares to the Ryzen 7 4800H. A Userbenchmark comparison indicates that both parts are in the same broad performance envelope, with the i9-10980HK delivering roughly ten percent faster multithreaded performance. 

These results look a lot less impressive, though, when considering cost. Leaked retailer listings for Asus 4800H laptops indicate that the Ryzen CPU will feature in midrange laptops in the $1000 price bracket. On the other hand, i9-9980HK laptops like the $3500 XPS 15 7590 are almost embarrassingly expensive. If the Ryzen 7 4800H  delivers 90 percent of the CPU performance for 1/3 the price, it could put Intel in a very difficult position. 

While the i9-10980HK is technically the world's fastest mobile CPU, it's hard to see how it-or other Comet Lake-H parts, for that matter-would be able to compete effectively with AMD's upcoming 4th-gen Ryzen lineup.

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