The AMD Ryzen96900HS and Intel Corei712700H perform similarly, all things considered. Each has its advantages, so choosing between them can be a challenge.
Two of the top laptop processors in 2022 are the Intel Core i7-12700H vs AMD Ryzen 6900HS, but with so many other factors impacting laptop performance, it’s hard to compare them head to head. So, when Lenovo offered me the opportunity to run the Intel version of its excellent Slim 7 Pro X laptop, which I had previously reviewed in its AMD incarnation, I jumped at the chance to pit two very similar laptops against each other.
Specs Performance is close, but no cigar I reviewed the Slim 7 Pro X with an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS, a 35-watt eight-core/16-thread CPU running at up to 4.9GHz. As mentioned above, the laptop was also equipped with 32GB of LPDDR5 RAM and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD. The Slim 7i Pro X was equipped with a 45-watt Intel Core i7-12700H with 14 cores and 20 threads, running at up to 4.7GHz. It used 16GB of 5200MHz of LPDDR 5 RAM and a 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD.
The bigger difference came in the Pugetbench Premiere Pro benchmark that runs in a live version of Adobe Premiere Pro. This benchmark stresses both the CPU and GPU, and the Slim 7 Pro X was a solid performer for a 14-inch laptop with an RTX 3050. It was at least 60% faster than laptops running Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics. The Intel version was faster, though. It scored about 31% faster in balanced mode, and its performance ratcheted up another 8% in performance mode.
Battery life Both Slim 7 Pro X versions I tested came with 70-watt-hour batteries and the same 3.5K IPS display. So, it’s fair to compare their battery lives and draw some conclusions, at least given Lenovo’s implementation. Connectivity Another difference between Intel and AMD is connectivity. It’s not the most significant advantage, but Intel chipsets support Thunderbolt 4, which is both faster and provides better display support than most USB-C connections, including the most recent USB4. And, the Intel machine has the faster Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2, compared to the AMD version’s Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1.