Intel’s 10nm Tiger Lake H Mobility CPUs Decimate AMD’s 5900 HX Mobility Flagship In Benchmarks

Intel had already launched the first iteration of Tiger Lake some time ago on the 10nm SuperFin process and it was a work of art. It had a single-core score in Cinebench that was the only x86 processor to beat the Apple M1 but had one major flaw: it was limited to just 4 cores. Now, the company has rolled out an 8-core version, dubbed Tiger Lake H on its mature 10nm process and the results are spectacular. After spending almost a decade on 14nm, Intel finally has powerful mainstream processors out on a sub 14nm process.

Intel launches 8-core Tiger Lake H processors on the 10nm process, 19% performance gain over last generation

Before we get to the interesting stuff, Intel is launching a total of 5 consumer SKUs right now. Three of them are eight cores (with 16 threads) and two of them are six cores (with 12 threads). Intel has managed to retain a surprising amount of clock speed from the uber-mature 14nm process. The H series has a TDP envelope of 45W and is built for the laptop class we call luggables although the TDP is configurable down to 35W for energy-conscious vendors.  Unfortunately, Intel hasn’t scaled up graphics horsepower along with the compute and users will still get 128 EUs of Xe Graphics in the package.

Intel Tiger Lake-H Series Specifications
Core SKU Cores / Threads Base Clock All-Core Turbo Clock Max Turbo Clock TDP Launch Date
i9-11980HK 8C/16T 2.6 GHz 4.5 GHz 5.0 GHz 45-65W May 11th 2021
i9-11900H 8C/16T 2.5 GHz 4.2 GHz 4.9 GHz 35-45W May 11th 2021
i7-11800H 8C/16T 2.3 GHz 4.4 GHz 4.6 GHz 35-45W May 11th 2021
i5-11400H 6C/12T 2.7 GHz 4.1 GHz 4.5 GHz 35-45W May 11th 2021
i5-11260H 6C/12T 2.6 GHz 4.0 GHz 4.4 GHz 35-45W May 11th 2021

Now let’s talk benchmarks. Before we begin, keep in mind these are first-party benchmarks so that pinch of salt is *always* advisable but considering the margin we are seeing in these numbers, it is unlikely that AMD’s parts will have performance leadership (although energy efficiency leadership remains to be seen). In a battle of flagships, first off, we have the Core i9 11980HK vs the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 HX. The Intel part comfortably beats out the AMD part with a margin of almost 20% on average. This isn’t even a battle at this point – it’s a slaughter. It is worth noting that AMD’s laptop was actually using 10W more power for its GPU and still lost.

Up next we have the mid-range Core i5 taking on the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 HS high-end processor – and winning. This isn’t as clear a win as the 11980HK as the parts trade blows but considering the Core i5 is a mid-range part while the Ryzen 9 5900HS is a high-end part shows that Intel is clearly flexing here.

 

Finally, Intel has also compared the performance gains against the last generation of processors and there is an almost 19% gen over gen difference – which is amazing and the kind of performance gains we were used to seeing form Intel in the old days.

Intel has put on an absolutely spectacular show with its Tiger Lake H series and now we can only wait and see how they do with 10nm desktop and Meteor Lake. This might be too soon to say it – but could Intel be back?

Intel 11th Generation Mobility CPUs ‘Tiger Lake H’ Full Slide Deck

Intel 11th Generation Mobility CPUs ‘Tiger Lake H’ Full Product Brief

Intel 11th Generation Mobility Series ‘Tiger Lake H’ Full Press Release

What’s New: The new 11th Generation Intel® Core™ H-series mobile processors (code-named “Tiger

Lake-H”) launched worldwide today, led by the flagship Intel® Core™ i9-11980HK — the “World’s Best Gaming Laptop Processor.”1 The Intel Core i9-11980HK delivers the highest-performance2 in laptops for gaming, content creators and business professionals reaching speeds of up to 5.0 gigahertz (GHz).

“11th Gen Intel Core H-series processors take mobile gaming, content creation and commercial workstation systems to new heights. These new H-series processors are an exciting extension of our 11th Gen mobile family with double-digit single core and multi-core performance improvements, leading gameplay, direct attached storage and 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes for true enthusiast-level platform bandwidth. 11th Gen H-series is the industry’s most performant mobile processor that empowers users to game, create and connect with leadership performance at any enthusiast form factor.”

 — Chris Walker, Intel corporate vice president and general manager of the Mobile Client Platforms Group.

About Desktop-Caliber Gaming Performance on Mobile: With new 11th Gen Intel Core H-series processors, Intel leverages deep expertise in advanced processor design and PC gaming to bring the world’s best gaming laptop processors1 to gamers around the globe.

Extending the performance momentum established by the 11th Gen Intel Core H35 series, the 11th Gen Intel H-series processors, based on 10 nanometer SuperFin process technology, feature up to 8 cores and 16 threads, with single and dual-core turbo performance up to 5.0GHz. Additionally, the central processing unit (CPU) can directly access high-speed GDDR6 memory attached to the graphics card, enabling gamers to experience higher framerates with lower latency, and load large textures faster. The mobile processor offers 2.5 times the total PCIe bandwidth to the CPU compared with the 10th Gen Hseries processors, and three times the total PCIe bandwidth compared with other industry processors.

About This Bleeding-Edge Platform: 11th Gen Intel Core H-series mobile processors empower creators and business professionals to execute tasks faster, from anywhere, thanks to best-in-class components and connectivity 3. With 20 lanes of PCIe Gen 4 — a first for any laptop — the processor offers 4k HDR/Dolby Vision video streaming, rich configurations with fast storage, hybrid Intel® Optane™ for high performance and capacity, 6GHz Intel® Killer™ Wi-Fi 6E (Gig+) support, and Thunderbolt™ 4 with up to 40 gigabytes (GBs) per second for faster connections.

New platform features also include:

  • 20 PCIe Gen 4.0 lanes with Intel® Rapid Storage Technology bootable in Raid 0 — and up to 44 total PCIe lanes that include 24 PCIe Gen 3.0 lanes from a dedicated platform controller hub.
  • Memory support up to DDR4-3200.
  • Thunderbolt™ 4 with transfer speeds up to 40Gbps.
  • Discrete Intel® Killer™ Wi-Fi 6E (Gig+).
  • Dual Embedded Display Port integrated for power optimized companion display.

Today’s launch also introduces new Intel vPro® H-series processors — led by the eight-core and 16thread Intel® Core™ i9-11950H — and Intel® Xeon® W-11000 series mobile processors. Built on the 11th Gen Intel vPro® platform, the unrivaled business-class PC platform delivers comprehensive hardwarebased security4 and breakthrough performance, as well as powerful computing experiences for professional users such as engineers, data scientists, content creators and financial analysts who need to tackle multi-threaded, performance intensive applications at their desk, or on the go. The new 11th Gen Intel® Core™ vPro® H-series processors and Xeon W-11000 series mobile processors unveiled today and, when combined with the new Intel Core vPro platform, offer:

  • Xeon + Error Correcting Code (ECC) memory.
  • Intel® Hardware Shield — available exclusively on the Intel® vPro® platform, as delivered by 11th Gen Intel® Core™ vPro® mobile processors5, provides the world’s most comprehensive hardware-based security for business, and the industry’s first and only silicon-enabled artificial intelligence threat detection to help stop ransomware and cryptomining attacks for Windowsbased systems.5 It is also equipped with Intel® Control-flow Enforcement Technology, a groundbreaking technology to help shut down an entire class of attacks that long evaded software-only solutions.6
  • Intel® Total Memory Encryption.
  • Intel® Active Management Technology.
  • Intel® Deep Learning Boost.

About the Diversity of Designs with Broad Availability: 11th Gen Intel Core Mobile H-series and Intel® Xeon® W-11000 series processors will power more than 80 enthusiast laptop designs across consumer, commercial and workstation segments this year. With more than one million 11th Gen H-series processors shipped to Intel partners worldwide by launch, whether it’s for high-refresh gaming, robust content creation or mobile workstations, no one offers people more choices and availability when it comes to mobile computing.

The Small Print: 

  • As measured by frames per second on similarly configured systems with 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-11980HK, Intel® Core™ i9-10980HK, or Ryzen 9 5900HX processors. Product prices may vary.  Results: 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-11980HK scored higher on the majority of the 29 game titles tested.  See intel.com/11thgenmobile for details.
  • Estimated based on Intel internal measurements of SPECint_rate_base2017 (1-copy) of an Intel® Core™ i911980HK-based internal reference platform versus estimated measurements on AMD Ryzen™ 9 5900HX, Intel® Core™ i9-10980HK and Intel® Core™ i7-11375H processors. See intel.com/11thgenmobile for details. 3 Subject to regional spectrum allocation; not available in all markets. Visit www.intel.com/PerformanceIndex (connectivity) for details.
  • Learn more at intel.com/11thgenvpro. No product or component can be absolutely secure.
  • In Windows-based PCs, based on unique features and IOActive testing (commissioned by Intel; as of April 2021) comparing Intel® Hardware Shield security capabilities with corresponding technologies in AMD Ryzen™ Pro-based systems. Visit intel.com/11thgenvpro for details. No product or component can be absolutely secure.

Results may vary.

  • Intel® Control-flow Enforcement Technology (Intel® CET) is designed to help protect against jump/call-oriented programming (JOP/COP) attack methods and return-oriented programming (ROP) attack methods, malware known as memory safety issues and which comprise over half of ZDI-disclosed vulnerabilities. Visit intel.com/11thgenvpro for details. No product or component can be absolutely secure. Results may vary.

Additional Disclaimers:

Performance results are based on testing as of dates shown in configurations and may not reflect all publicly available updates. Performance varies by use, configuration and other factors. Learn more at www.Intel.com/PerformanceIndex.

Your costs and results may vary.

Certain features available on select SKUs only.  Please check OEM website for specific device details.

Intel contributes to the development of benchmarks by participating in, sponsoring, and/or contributing technical support to various benchmarking groups, including the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community administered by Principled Technologies.

Intel technologies may require enabled hardware, software or service activation.

Altering clock frequency or voltage may void any product warranties and reduce stability, security, performance, and life of the processor and other components. Check with system and component manufacturers for details.

© Intel Corporation. Intel, the Intel logo, and other Intel marks are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.



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