AMD’s Mobile Revival: Redefining the Notebook Business with the Ryzen 9 4900HS (A Review)
by Dr. Ian Cutress on April 9, 2020 9:00 AM ESTLow Power Performance
Truth be told, I didn’t go into this review with low power testing in mind. These sorts of laptops, while capable of driving high performance on the go, are essentially expected to be connected to the power socket when performance is needed. Even the best ultraportables struggle for battery life when everything is whirring at full tilt. Nonetheless, after my own experiences of 3 hours of gaming on power with a Matebook X Pro and a high screen brightness, it is a genuine use case.
For these tests, the settings and software are the same as normal, but the only change is that the power cable has been removed and the power setting in Windows has been moved to ‘Best Battery Life’. We’re still in the Recommended Power Plan and not the Battery Saver Plan. What this does is force the OS and system to manage its power appropriately between CPU and GPU. In these circumstances being able to distribute the power where it is needed most can be a very critical factor in getting a project finished, or having a game that is playable.
Our tests here, due to time, are the following:
- Civilization 6, 1080p MSAA 8x, AI Test (On Battery, Battery Saver)
- Borderlands 3, 1080p Medium (On Battery, Battery Saver)
- Counter Strike Source, 1080p Max (On Battery, Battery Saver)
So previously Intel had a very slight advantage in AI turn time here, but as we move to a power limited scenario, AMD takes a more substantial lead – over 10%.
Where we had a small 5% win for AMD in the full power scenario, the gap is a bit bigger percentage wise for AMD in the low power scenario. It is still under 30 FPS, which is probably unplayable for BL3.
Now CSS is a little odd. When I’m in Battery Saver mode but plugged in, I get the full power FPS value. But the minute I take it out, on the Razer Blade, something goes a bit mental and we end up being limited to 60 FPS. V-Sync is disabled in every setting I think of, and yet there doesn’t seem to be a way of getting off of 60 FPS.
Ultimately in every scenario, in a few small tests, where Intel might have been ahead on wall power, AMD pulls ahead on limited power.
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Deicidium369 - Sunday, April 12, 2020 - link
Thing is AMD is not their largest customer - they also build for Apple and Nvidia - so NO, TSMC could NOT deliver the same volume as Intel - not even close.Qasar - Sunday, April 12, 2020 - link
and intel cant deliver 10nm in volume, point is ?Namisecond - Monday, April 13, 2020 - link
Until we know actual numbers, Intel's "Can't deliver in volume" may still be more than the volume AMD can. To the point where they win the OEM contracts.Qasar - Monday, April 13, 2020 - link
and i STILL cant buy any 10nm based chips from intel, that kinda points to cant deliver in volume to me. some markets are getting them, but my local computer stores, best buy, or other stores that sell notebooks, dont have any.Deicidium369 - Monday, April 13, 2020 - link
I bought 2 Dell 2-in-1s back in October - both 10nm Ice Lake, both i7-1065G7s. The fact you can't seem to locate them at the Goodwill where you shop, doesn't change the fact they are around, and no problem to get.try http://www.dell.com
Qasar - Monday, April 13, 2020 - link
and yet more insults.. that all you got now ?? grow upDeicidium369 - Monday, April 13, 2020 - link
I would bet you that Intel has sold more 10nm than AMD has sold period. The idea that Intel can't deliver silicon is a cute story. Intel 10nm is in like 20 different designs, and there are other 10nm products other than the laptops stuff. So they are delivering it in volume - for close to a year now - and they signaled that by making the Cooper Lake 4 and 8 socket only and only having 10nm Xeon in 1 and 2 socket.Qasar - Monday, April 13, 2020 - link
" I would bet you that Intel has sold more 10nm than AMD has sold period " yea right, prove it.. most some links instead of your intel biased BSagain.. just be cause YOU were able to by intels 10nm stuff where YOU are, doesnt make it high volume, and to quote dell as being a source, good one, guess what dell as used intel for MOST of the time its been in business, and there for, more then likely gets first dibs.
Namisecond - Monday, April 13, 2020 - link
If TSMC were exclusively working on AMD stuff, possibly, but TSMC has more steady and more lucrative customers like Nvidia, Qualcomm and Apple. To make matters worse, AMD is also tying up valuable fab time with their console SoCs.Namisecond - Monday, April 13, 2020 - link
World's largest fab or not, You can't just throw some money at TSMC and demand more wafers overnight. Last I checked, TSMC was at capacity and was not accepting new orders for anything less than 18 months into the future. This is how contract suppliers work. AMD also has the problem of game console SoCs tying up their available fab capacity at TSMC. Intel owns their own fabs. If they can get their shit sorted out, they won't have capacity problems like this. Just because Gondalf makes bad fanboi arguments doesn't mean you have to lower yourself to his level.