The Great CPU Showdown: AMD's Ryzen 9 6900HS vs Intel's i9-12900HK

In the world of mobile CPUs, it's no secret that both AMD and Intel have been vying for dominance. But when it comes to the latest and greatest offerings from each company, things get interesting. In this article, we'll be putting two of the most powerful mobile CPUs on the market head-to-head: AMD's Ryzen 9 6900HS and Intel's i9-12900HK.

But before we dive into the details, let's talk about why these CPUs are so important. The first thing you need to know is that the CPU is a major bottleneck in any laptop or mobile device. It determines how fast your device can perform tasks, from simple tasks like browsing the web to more demanding activities like gaming and video editing.

So, who has the better CPU? AMD's Ryzen 9 6900HS and Intel's i9-12900HK are both eight-core, 16-thread CPUs that are designed for exceptional performance per watt. But how do they compare to each other?

One thing you might notice right away is the difference in TDP (thermal design power) between the two CPUs. AMD's Ryzen 9 6900HS has a TDP of just 45 watts, while Intel's i9-12900HK has a whopping 110 watts. But don't let that fool you - AMD's chip has been optimized from the ground up for exceptional performance per watt.

To test this out, we ran Cinebench R23, a popular benchmarking tool used to measure CPU performance. And the results? Surprisingly close! AMD's Ryzen 9 6900HS came within just a hair of Intel's i9-12900HK. But how do these numbers translate to real-world usage?

In our test, we equalized the TDPs of both CPUs and ran a series of benchmarks to see which one performed better under different power levels. We used the Asus Armoury Crate on AMD and Throttle Stop on Intel, and then ran the Blender BMW test to see how well they performed.

Out of the gate, Intel took the lead as expected, with wins at 60 and 70 watts. But things started to change when we got to 50 watts. That's where AMD took their first win, and after that, it was a bloodbath. The craziest part? Between 30 and 25 watts, Intel's time increased by a whole minute - longer than it takes to order a water bottle at LTTstore.com.

But here's the thing: Intel might not be making as much progress as they think they are. We tested their i7-1265U CPU at just 15 watts, and it only managed two performance cores. Meanwhile, AMD can take their eight-core 6900HS and limit the power to whatever TDP is needed, and the performance just scales linearly.

So what does all this mean for you? Well, if you need a beast of a gaming laptop with a TDP of over 45 watts, Intel's i9-12900HK is still the clear winner. But if you want decent performance in a smaller machine, AMD's Ryzen 9 6900HS might just be the way to go.

Battery Life: A Major Upgrade

One area where AMD really shines is in battery life. Our last-gen Zephyrus G14 with a 5900HS got us 5 hours and 42 minutes away from the wall, while the new 6900HS lasts an impressive 11 hours and 11 minutes. And it's not just because of the increased TDP - both laptops have 76-watt hour batteries and 2K screens, so we're really pushing the limits here.

But what's even more interesting is that AMD wasn't lying with their slide deck. We've had a chance to test the new 6900HS in real-world usage, and it performs flawlessly.

RDNA 2 Graphics: The Biggest Upgrade of All

Finally, there's one thing that might just be the biggest upgrade of all: RDNA 2 graphics, AKA the same graphics architecture found in the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Don't expect to be cranking out 4K resolutions or playing modern games at high frame rates - but at 1080p, you can play basically everything.

We managed an impressive 85 FPS in Rocket League, a notoriously demanding game that's usually reserved for top-of-the-line hardware. And it's not just games - RDNA 2 graphics are also designed to reduce power consumption and heat generation, making them perfect for laptops where space is at a premium.

In conclusion, the battle between AMD's Ryzen 9 6900HS and Intel's i9-12900HK is heating up. While both CPUs have their strengths and weaknesses, it's clear that AMD is making some serious progress in terms of power efficiency and performance per watt. But only time will tell if they can hold off Intel's mighty i9-12900HK for long.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Theother guy's CPUs are hotand use too much power and are slowand ours are better and more efficient!- But who is right?In this Zephyrus G14 wehave an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS,nice, and over here an Intel i9-12900HK.We already saw that Intel's 12th genwas a massive step forward,but AMD claims they have a 2.62-times jumpin performance per watt.So can Ryzen 6000 reclaimthe mobile CPU throne?We'll give you the numbersafter this segue to our sponsor, Corsair.Corsair's new iCUE 5000Tcase offers a unique design,208 individually addressable RGB LEDs,and tons of builder-friendly features.Learn more at the link below.(upbeat music)AMD's Ryzen 9 6900HS is aeight-core, 16-thread CPUthat according to AMD has beenoptimized from the ground upfor exceptional performance per watt.Unlike the upcoming desktopCPUs that will be using Zen 4,Ryzen 6000 Mobile uses Zen3+ Rembrandt architecture.These chips are manufacturedusing TSMC's six-nanometer processthat earned them five slidesof just how darn efficient they are.But how do AMD's claimstransfer to the real world?Well, the first thing Idid with these two laptopsis run Cinebench R23, andthe results blew me away.The AMD Ryzen 9 6900HScame shockingly closeto the i9-12900HK,and I say shocking becauseAMD's chip has a TDP of 45 wattsand Intel's is 110.AMD has been making a huge dealabout the performanceper watt of these chips,and they just might be, eh...No. Nah, nevermind.Reviewing the hardware info logsshow that the Intel chipbriefly drew 110 watts,then quickly settled around 80,whereas the AMD chip boosted to 80 wattsand then settled around 75,meaning Intel might be onto somethingwith their mixture ofperformance and efficiency cores.In laptops, the TD specs yousee are largely meaningless.The CPU will use howevermuch power is availableuntil either the cooler or theVRMs can't take it anymore,and good thing techtubers existbecause there's basically no way to knowwhat a laptop CPU will dountil someone goes out and tests it.Since in laptops, whoevercan get the best performancewhile using the smallestamount of power wins,I devised a little test.Using the Asus Armoury Crate on AMDand Throttle Stop on Intel,I was able to equalizethe TDPs of the CPUs,and then I ran the Blender BMW testto see how well they performed.This way we can start at70 watts and end at 20to see which CPU will work bestover the largest number of laptops.Out of the gate, Inteltook the lead as expectedwith wins at 60 and 70 watts,but when we got to 50 wattsthings started to change.Here AMD took their first win,and after that it was just a bloodbath.The craziest bit is thatbetween 30 and 25 watts,Intel's time increased by a whole minute.That's longer than it takesto order a water bottleat LTTstore.com.I would've liked to gofurther, but at 20 wattsAMD started disregardingthe Armoury Crate limitsand gave the CPU a little bit more juice,but at this point wecan pretty safely guessIntel is not making a comeback.I do want to be careful herebecause it is very possiblethat Intel hasn't tuned the i9-1200HKto use under about 50 watts of power.In the future, thelower-power chips from themmight be better in this range,but looking at their lineup,I'm pretty confident in my findings.At 45 watts, Intel willhave their P-series CPUswith six P-cores and eight E-cores,with a Turbo power of 64 watts.But once you get to the U series,where the TDP dips below 45 watts,the number of cores drops dramatically.At 15 watts,Intel's i7-1265U only getstwo performance cores,and I'm very suspicious thatthey'll be heavily leaningon the 55-watt Turbo powerto extract any performancefrom these CPUs.Meanwhile, over at Team Red,it seems like AMD can justtake their eight-core 6900HSand limit the power towhatever TDP is neededand the performance just scales linearly.What all of this meansis that the choice between AMD and Intelcould come down to the TDPof the laptop that you're looking for.Intel has the lead inoutright performance,so if you need a beast of a gaming laptopwith a TDP of over 45 watts,I'd lead towards Team Blue.But if you want decentperformance in a smaller machine,I'd go with AMD below 45 watts.The bit that sucks for Intelis that I don't know many peoplelooking for desktop replacements.But I know loads ofpeople that are lookingfor a reasonably well-performinglaptop that's, you know,light and has long battery.Oh, and speaking of which,the battery life on the6900HS is excellent.Our last-gen Zephyrus G14 with a 5900HSgot us 5 hours and 42minutes away from the wall,while the new 6900HS lasteda massive 11 hours and 11 minutes.Both have 76-watt hourbatteries and 2K screens,so my only explanation is that AMDweren't lying with that slide deck.Get subscribed becausewe'll dig more into thisin our full review of theAsus Zephyrus G14 next week.I've only had, what, 26hours with this thingand that is not enoughtime to upload a videoclaiming it is the bestWindows laptop in existence.Which it very well may be.What is crazy though isthat we haven't even talkedabout what is potentially thebiggest upgrade in Ryzen 6000:RDNA 2 graphics, AKA thesame graphics architecturein the PS5 and Xbox Series X.Don't expect to be crankingthe details in modern games,but at 1080p you can playbasically everything.Like we managed 85 FPS in \"ForzaHorizon 5\" on low details.The Iris Xe graphics in thei9-12900HK only managed 46.Damn.This difference is so massivethat for thin-and-lights,I don't even know if I canrecommend an Intel systemsince you'll have such a bettergaming experience on AMD.Honestly, I just can't wait to seewhat kind of cool gamingdevices will come outin the next couple of yearsthat take advantage of RDNA 2.They've already blown meaway with the Steam Deck,and hopefully that's onlythe tip of the iceberg.So yeah, AMD wasn't able totake back the performance crownfrom Intel with Rembrandt,but they've managed to createa much more well-rounded CPUthat holds up across the TDP rangeand features the best iGPU by a mile.I can't wait to see whatlaptops come out using theseand I also can't wait to tellyou about our sponsor: Ting!Thanks to Ting Mobile forsponsoring today's video.Do you like saving money?Ting Mobile is a low-cost carrierwith rates that help you do just that.Start with unlimited talkand text for $10 a monthor data plans for $15 a month.Their Set 12 plan with 12 gigsof data is only $35 a month,and if you need it, unlimited data plansare at $45 a month as well.You can even share yourdata on a family planto save even more.Ting Mobile also offers pay-per-use plansand their Flex plans,charging just $5 per gigabyte.Even with those savings,you'll still get national-wide coverageand award-winning customer service.In fact, Consumer Reportsjust named Ting Mobiletheir number one carrier in America.Almost every phone on the marketwill work with Ting Mobileand they have the perfectplan for everyone,no matter what your needs are.Check them out at linus.ting.comto receive a $25 credit.So thanks for watching.If you want to watch another video,maybe check out ourreview of the Steam Deck.It used RDNA 2 in such a cool way.\n"