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 ESTGPU Benchmarks
Graphics is going to be a bit more challenging than the CPU tests. Games that test both the CPU and the GPU to the limits are going to find different tradeoffs with each of these systems.
The ASUS Zephyrus G14 is smaller and more thermally limited. It doesn’t have an AMD GPU, so it can’t take advantage of AMD’s new features like SmartShift that can manage power between the CPU and GPU. It technically has the stronger CPU, and while the graphics card is the same, ASUS has the Max-Q version of the RTX 2060, which is optimized for power and efficiency, and exhibits lower clocks. Technically the base frequency of this configuration is higher, at 975 MHz, the turbo is lower at 1185 MHz, and the GDDR6 memory is a lot lower at 1375 MHz (11Gbps/pin).
The Razer Blade 15 has the bigger chassis, and we assume is built for a larger overall TDP. While it has the ‘weaker’ CPU of the two, with fewer cores and lower frequency, it is paired with a full-fat GTX 2060 graphics card. We looked at the data for this card, and it exhibits a lower 960 MHz base frequency, it has the higher 1200 MHz turbo, 1750 MHz memory, and has a direct PCIe 3.0 x16 connection with the processor, while the ASUS system is only an x8.
For our tests, I’ve taken an older test (CS:Source), a couple of modern tests (Civ 6, FFXV) and a new test in Borderlands 3. We used the following settings:
- Final Fantasy, 1080p Fullscreen, Standard Quality
- Borderlands 3, 1080p, Medium Pre-Set
- Civilization 6, 1080p Maximum Preset No MSAA / 1K Occlusion Textures
- Civilization 6, 1080p Maximum Preset 8x MSAA / 2K Occlusion Textures
- Counter Strike Source, 1080p Maximum
In Final Fantasy, the results were around 10% different, favoring the AMD system.
Borderlands 3 was actually fairly close, with less than 5% between them, but still favoring AMD. I did notice that we were fairly close to the cutoff here between being CPU limited and GPU limited.
Civilization 6 is well known for constantly updating and being optimized, and here it seems the more powerful GPU wins out by a large 10 FPS margin.
However, if we add in some more compute and detail, we move to a more GPU limited scenario where the results are essentially equal.
Counter Strike is an odd one, given how old the game is. Here the game favors the Intel machine, with a ~10% advantage.
Like in the CPU tests, I did some of these gaming tests with the power cord removed and on battery saver mode. Results were interesting, to say the least, and can be found on the next page.
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guachi - Thursday, April 9, 2020 - link
I was looking at the very Razer you had in this review. Ended up preordering the Asus.So I thank you for the review and the comparison choice.
Mat3 - Thursday, April 9, 2020 - link
I know that's not a real die shot, but even so, that's the worst "fake" die shot I've ever seen.StevoLincolnite - Thursday, April 9, 2020 - link
I have a Ryzen 2700u notebook which I will happily toss out the window for this.ballsystemlord - Thursday, April 9, 2020 - link
Spelling and grammar errors:"If Intel has a lower frequency, fewer cores, and a lower frequency, all for the same power envelope as AMD, then it looks like a slam dunk for AMD."
Double "lower frequency":
"If Intel has a fewer cores and a lower frequency, all for the same power envelope as AMD, then it looks like a slam dunk for AMD."
"When the system does the battery life done right, it's crazy good."
Badly worded:
"When the system balances performance and battery life, it's crazy good."
mkozakewich - Thursday, April 9, 2020 - link
On these kinds of systems, battery life can tank when something goes wrong. I wonder if there was also a reason that the Intel system was showing such poor battery life.When AnandTech reviewed the Surface Book, I remember them giving it a really low battery life score. It turns out there's some kind of problem with the GPU connection, and the device will get twice the life if you disconnect and reconnect the tablet portion multiple times. I actually get 12 hours on my 2017 Surface Book 2. The system can run on 4 W. So, finally! I've never even considered an AMD system, because they would run closer to 8 or 12 watts, and that meant they'd either have a massive and heavy battery, or they'd only last a few hours.
But the caveat: As you see here, and with the Surface Book, that efficiency can go out the window if one thing goes wrong.
zodiacfml - Thursday, April 9, 2020 - link
Thanks for the Anandtech quality review. I hope we see cheaper 8 core laptops without discrete graphics. Seeing the performance of the iGPU on two memory speeds, hope to see AMD with integrated memory in its future products like what they did in the PS5/Series X, great for mobile and compact desktop PCsplonk420 - Friday, April 10, 2020 - link
thanks for the latency numbers! huuuuge help for emulation fans (or at least PS3 emulation fans)!deil - Friday, April 10, 2020 - link
a bit high idle speed, but that response times is what we want most for "snappy laptop" which feels fast. I really want one now...Haawser - Friday, April 10, 2020 - link
Hey Ian, could you do some iGPU game tests with a 720p render target, but running full screen with RIS ? I'd be interested to see if you can get much higher frame rates but without a massive loss of subjective IQ ? Cheers.Fulljack - Friday, April 10, 2020 - link
I'm interested with AMD 25x20 initiative. Could you please make an update for it? Last time you did was two years ago back in 2018. It would be an interesting piece of article to show how much AMD has grown. Thanks!https://www.anandtech.com/show/13326/amd-updates-i...