Ryzen 7x45HX alias Dragon Range aka the first deployment of AMD chiplet processors in the mobile segment brings a real shift in the segment of the most powerful notebooks (whether mobile workstations or mobile gaming systems). Although several tests of these processors have already appeared, probably the first ever that deals with energy efficiency compared to the competition, was reported by the Chinese website Weixin. He tested the processors in five loads at different energy limits and plotted the results (compared to the eight-core Ryzen 9 6900HX as 100%) in a graph:
The consumption values (watts) that you see below the columns are not (only) TDP, but also the limit that the editors set for the tested processors. So no matter what the value is in the specifications of the processor manufacturer, how the system was set up by the laptop manufacturer, etc., the processor was limited (PL2 / PPT) by a specified value, which it could not exceed (for more than some fraction of a second, which considering the long-term load types could not distort the result).
As you can see, with 45W limited, Ryzen 9 7945HX achieves higher performance than Core i9-13980HX at 65W limited and is close to Core with 90W limited. Ryzen with a 65W limit already outperforms Core no matter how high the power limit Intel CPUs are set. With a maximum consumption of 65W, Ryzen is thus 3.3% faster than Core at 130 watts. In other words, the energy efficiency in this case is more than doubled (2.07×).
So far, there is no indication that Intel can erase this lead anytime soon. According to available information, Meteor Lake processors, which were supposed to put an end to AMD’s lead in energy efficiency, will be limited to models with a maximum of 6 large and 8 small cores (instead of 8+16), so they will not interfere in this segment. According to unofficial sources, their real availability is delayed. Although Intel repeatedly promises their release this year, availability will probably not occur before the turn of 2023 / 2024. Intel’s 4nm process is to blame, the yield of which does not reach expectations. On the other hand, these processors could be interesting for single-core performance due to the increase in IPC of large cores Redwood Covewhich will be approaching Zen 5.
