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TDP of notebook CPUs in the test: When the Core i9 loses against the Core i7

Sep 17, 2021

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The outcry was great when Nvidia expanded the TDP's influence on performance with the GeForce RTX 3000 laptop GPUs and initially remained silent about it. With mobile processors this is already old hat. Nevertheless, one should continue to talk about how the following duel Core i9-11980HK against i7-11800H shows.

Table of contents

The TDP influence is enormous in the notebook
Intel's official Tiger Lake ranking
Test model 1: MSI GE76 Raider with full equipment
Test model 2: Schenker XMG Neo 15 (Mid 2021) with full throttle
The test goal: Maximum performance for the maximum possible time

2 Benchmarks and experiences
1. The power limits and their effects
2. Benchmarks in applications with low and high CPU loads
3. Comparison to desktop solutions
3 Conclusion and recommendation
1. Is a Core i9 faster than a Core i7?
2. How fast is it faster?
3. Test, test, test – preferably in a swarm

The biggest, fastest and best is just good enough for some customers. But does the customer get exactly that if they base their choice on the type designation of the CPU or GPU installed in the notebook? Yes, it does as long as it compares different CPUs or GPUs in the same notebook. If, on the other hand, he compares the supposedly same CPU or GPU in two different notebooks, the type identifier is often no longer helpful.

The TDP- Influence enormous

The reason: The CPU and GPU manufacturers meanwhile give each model the option of being individually adapted by the OEM – within a seemingly endless range. As a rule, this is done via the TDP, i.e. the maximum permanently available power consumption. Every now and then the cooling system is added as a limiting factor.

An outcry among modern mobile GPUs

This topic came into focus at the beginning of 2021 with the publication of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3000 laptop GPUs (test), the individual representatives of which could be configured very differently, which was less visible to the customer than ever before. The buyer can hardly see in advance that a mobile GeForce RTX 3060 could definitely beat a 3080 if it was plugged into notebook A and not B. Only the publication by ComputerBase of the TDP configurations allowed by Nvidia, which should actually only be seen by OEMs, brought more light into the dark and set a ball rolling that now at least provides for the specification of the TDP for every notebook.

Always a topic for mobile CPUs

The problem with mobile CPUs has been around for much longer and therefore less “sensational”. There, too, the official ranking of the CPUs is only worth something as long as they sit in the same notebook with the official standard configuration. Because there has always been a broad TDP framework here. It ensures that supposedly slower processors in Notebook A are much faster than the supposedly better model in Notebook B.

Because in desktop mode, PL2, the maximum permitted power consumption for short load peaks, you can also become a more or less enduring endurance runner (PL1) – and that at a very different level.

This problem also needs to be examined again from time to time, which the editors did in this test based on the golden mean processor Core i7-11800H in the XMG Neo 15 (M21) and the flagship Core i9-11980HK in the MSI GE76 Raider U11 has.

Intel's official Tiger Lake ranking

At the start of the test, there is a tabular overview of the Tiger Lake H45 in the notebook, which are most relevant here. This does not claim to be complete, because Intel has massively expanded the Tiger Lake range in notebooks over the past few months and continues to do so on a regular basis. As of the status of the test in mid-September, 55 mobile CPUs (including Embedded and Xeon) are stored in the Tiger Lake database.

Important Intel Tiger Lake H45 for notebooks model cores/
Threads max. all-core cycle
min./max. TDP max. Cycle
(Number of cores) L3 cache graphics EUs max.GPU clock DDR4 TDP Core i9-11980HK 8/16 3.3 GHz (65 W)/4.5 GHz 5.0 GHz (2 core ) 24 MB UHD 32 1.45 GHz 3200 45-65 Watt Core i9-11950H 8/16 2.1 GHz (35 W)/4.4 GHz 4.9 GHz (2 core) 24 MB UHD 32 1.45 GHz 3200 35–45 Watt Core i9-11900H 8/16 2.1 GHz (35 W)/4.4 GHz 4.9 GHz (2 core) 24 MB UHD 32 1.45 GHz 3200 35–45 Watt Core i7-11850H 8/16 2.1 GHz (35 W)/4.3 GHz 4.8 GHz (2 core) 24 MB UHD 32 1.45 GHz 3200 35–45 watts Core i7-11800H 8/16 1.9 GHz (35 W)/4.2 GHz 4.6 GHz (2 core) 24 MB UHD 32 1.45 GHz 3200 35–45 watts Core i5-11500H 6/12 2.4 GHz (35 W)/4.2 GHz 4.6 GHz (2 core) 12 MB UHD 32 1.40 GHz 3200 35–45 Watt Core i5-11400H 6/12 2.2 GHz (35 W)/4.1 GHz 4, 5 GHz (2 cores) 12 MB UHD 32 1.45 GHz 3200 35–45 watts Core i5-11260H 6/12 2.1 GHz (35 W)/4.0 GHz 4.4 GHz (2 cores) 12 MB UHD 32 1.40 GHz 3200 35–45 watts bold : in the test

Test model 1: MSI GE76 Raider with full equipment

With the MSI GE76 Raider 11 UH, Intel has not just provided any top model with the Core i9-11980HK and a GeForce RTX 3080 ( 150 + 15 watts) it is also equipped with the most powerful components on the market. With the gamer in focus, there is only Full HD on 17 inches, but there with a brisk 350 Hz. That has its price: the notebook costs around 4,000 euros.

Even before the first benchmark it was noticed: Neither MSI's software nor the BIOS allow the HK to be overclocked, even if this is possible with this – and only this – CPU from Intel. The CPU can only be accelerated via the performance profile, although no precise information can be found as to what is hidden behind the respective settings.