Ever since AMD announced its next-ish-gen processors based on its Zen 3+ architecture, we haven't heard much about them. But now a new benchmark leak might give us a deeper look at these CPUs in action before they start debuting in some of the best gaming laptops this year.
The benchmark appeared in the Geekbench Database on January 25 and gives details on the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX, which is one level down from the company's flagship Zen 3+ chip, the Ryzen 9 6980HX.
The eight-core/16-thread processor lists a base frequency of 3.30GHz and a boost frequency of 4.84GHz. The HX designation indicates that it is an unlocked processor, meaning that its TDP would be up to the OEM. The benchmark result doesn't indicate the TDP of the chip during its test.
As for its results, they are impressive. It scores a 1,593 in single-core performance and a 10,151 in multi-core performance. This is about 12% and 33% better than its predecessor, the Ryzen 9 5900HX, in single- and multi-core performance, respectively.
As VideoCardz points out, though, this still puts its performance below the Core i9-12900H Intel Alder Lake processor that it will be directly competing with.
The Intel chip has 14 cores and 20 threads, so its multi-core performance is much higher than the Ryzen 9 6900HX (as much as 42% higher). Its single-core performance is also up to 21% better than the competing AMD chip.
This isn't the final word on the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX's performance, mind you, since the TDP on this chip might be throttled somewhat. Those scores could improve dramatically on a beefier gaming laptop with fewer qualms about pushing a high TDP. We won't know until we start seeing them for ourselves next month.
Analysis: well, it's an improvement, but is it enough to dethrone Alder Lake?
As with all benchmarks ahead of a release, we need to take them with a grain of salt.
Still, assuming these results are legit, it's worth noting that the Ryzen 9 6900HX already has substantially better performance than the Ryzen 9 5900HX. This is a great place to start for AMD. There's good reason to be optimistic about this processor.
That said, AMD isn't competing against itself, and Intel's rival Alder Lake processors are absolutely running away with the crown right now. AMD's Zen 3+ needs to be competitive against Intel's latest silicon, and we're not sure this is enough.
AMD does have the advantage of including integrated RDNA2 graphics in its CPUs, which will definitely help differentiate its chips from Intel's. But if you're dropping the cash to buy a Ryzen 9- or a Core i9-powered gaming laptop, chances are you're opting for some heavier-duty discrete graphics too.
In the end, AMD is going to have to up the CPU performance of the 6900HX if it hopes to hold its own against Intel, and these scores don't look like they'll do much to hold back Team Blue.
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