Intel Core i9-12900HK vs AMD Ryzen 5 7645HX vs AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX

Intel Core i9-12900HK

The Intel Core i9-12900HK is a high-end mobile CPU for laptops based on the Alder Lake architecture. It was announced in early 2022 and offers 6 performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) and 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading leading to 20 supported threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 2.5 to 5 GHz on the performance cluster and 1.8 to 3.8 GHz on the efficiency cluster. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare with the Core i7-6920HQ). All cores can use up to 24 MB L3 cache. As a K-variant, the CPU offers an open multiplicator and therefore the possibility to overclock the CPU cores. Compared to the similar i9-12900H, the 12900HK only offers the "Essentials" features of vPro.

Performance

The average 12900HK in our database is in the same as the Core i9-13900H, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. It's also almost as fast as the Ryzen 7 7745HX and the Core i5-13500HX. This is a super-fast processor, as of mid 2023; it will have no issues running any app or any game for at least two more years.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 134 W, the Alienware x17 R2 P48E is among the fastest laptops built around the 12900HK that we know of. It can be more than 40% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

Features

The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200, LPDDR5-5200, and LPDDR4x-4267. The Thread Director (in hardware) can support the operating system to decide which thread to use on the performance or efficient cores for the best performance. For AI tasks, the CPU also integrates GNA 3.0 and DL Boost (via AVX2). Quick Sync in version 8 is the same as in the Rocket Lake CPUs and supports MPEG-2, AVC, VC-1 decode, JPEG, VP8 decode, VP9, HEVC, and AV1 decode in hardware. The CPU only supports PCIe 4.0 (x8 for a GPU and two x4 for SSDs).

The integrated graphics card is based on the Xe-architecture and offers 96 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 1.45 GHz.

Power consumption

This Core i9 series chip has a "minimum assured" power consumption of 35 W, with 45 W being its Base power consumption. The maximum Intel-recommended Turbo power consumption sits at 115 W.

The i9-12900HK is manufactured on Intel's 4th generation 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 for lower-than-average, as of mid-2023, energy efficiency.

AMD Ryzen 5 7645HX

The AMD Ryzen 5 7645HX is a fast high-end laptop processor of the Dragon Range series. It offers 6 cores based on the Zen 4 architecture that supports hyperthreading (12 threads). The cores clock from 4 (base) up to 5 GHz (single core boost).

The performance of the R5 7645HX should be significantly higher than the fastest 6-core CPU of the Ryzen 6000 mobile series the Ryzen 5 6600H. Especially single threaded performance should be very good thanks to the new Zen 4 cores and relatively high clock speeds. This means even the old Ryzen 9 6980HX (also 5 GHz, but Zen 3) should be slightly slower in single threaded workloads.

The Dragon Range series still uses a chiplet design with two CCD-clusters (each with 8 possible cores, the 7645HX only uses one CCD with 6 of the 8 cores) in 5nm and an IO-die (including the memory controller and the Radeon 610M iGPU) in 6nm. The chip integrates 4x USB 3.2 Gen2 (10 Gbps) ports (no USB4), 28 PCIe 5.0 lanes (for GPU and SSDs) and a dual-channel DDR5-5200 memory controller.

The R5 7645HX is rated at a TDP of 55 Watt and can be configured up to 75 Watt (cTDP).

AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX

The AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX is a fast high-end laptop processor of the Dragon Range series. It offers 8 cores based on the Zen 4 architecture that supports hyperthreading (16 threads). The cores clock from 3.6 (base) up to 5.1 GHz (single core boost).

The Dragon Range series still uses a chiplet design with two CCD-clusters (each with 8 possible cores, the 7745HX only uses one CCD) in 5nm and an IO-die (including the memory controller and the Radeon 610M iGPU) in 6nm. The chip integrates 4x USB 3.2 Gen2 (10 Gbps) ports (no USB4), 28 PCIe 5.0 lanes (for GPU and SSDs) and a dual-channel DDR5-5200 memory controller.

Performance

The average 7745HX in our database is in the same league as the Core i5-13500HX and the Core i7-13705H, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. This is a very fast chip, as of early 2023, and it will make both content creators and gamers happy - for the next two years or so, at least. Your mileage may vary depending on how competent the cooling solution of your system is and how high the CPU power limits are.

The R7 7745HX is rated at a TDP of 55 Watt and can be configured up to 75 Watt (cTDP).