AMD A4-7210 vs Intel Core i5-13420H

AMD A4-7210

The AMD A4-7210 is a mobile quad-core SoC (codenamed "Carrizo-L") for entry-level devices and subnotebooks, which has been presented in May 2015. In addition to 4 CPU cores clocked at up to 2.2 GHz (boost clock), the 28 nanometer chip also integrates a Radeon R3 GPU, a single-channel DDR3L-1600 memory controller and the southbridge with various I/O-ports. The TDP of the A4-7210 can be configured from 12 to 25 Watt. The predecessor AMD A4-6210 features similar specifications except the slower clock speed (at least boost), the configurable TDP, and the new FP4 package (compatible to the mainstream Carrizo SoCs). 

Architecture

Carrizo-L, Beema (for notebooks) and Mullins (for tablets and compact subnotebooks, same die) are based on AMD's Puma+ architecture, which is the successor to the previous Jaguar design (Kabini and Temash APUs). Neither the performance per clock nor the feature set (including SSE up to 4.2, AVX and AES) have been modified. However, AMD managed to reduce the leakage current, enabling significantly higher (boost) clock speeds. This leads to a more responsive system and better overall performance. As its predecessor, the chip is manufactured in 28 nm.

Performance

The processor performance depends on the configured TDP of the SoC. Set to 25 Watt, the CPU should be faster than the old A6-6210.

Graphics

The integrated Radeon R3 should be similar to the Beema based Radeon R3 GPU with 128 shaders. In our first review sample the GPU was clocked at 686 MHz and therefore 86 MHz faster than in the A4-6210. Only a few current games (as of 2014) are thus playable in low settings.

Power Consumption

The power consumption of the entire SoC is rated at 12 to 25 watts. Thus, the APU is also suitable for small subnotebooks.

Intel Core i5-13420H

The Intel Core i5-13420H is a mid-range mobile CPU for laptops based on the Raptor Lake-H series (Alder Lake architecture). It was announced in early 2023 and offers 4 of the 6 performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) and 4 of the 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading leading to 16 supported threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 2.1 to 4.6 GHz (single core boost, all core up to 4.5 GHz) on the performance cluster and 1.5 to 3.4 GHz on the efficient cluster. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare to the Core i7-6700HQ). All cores can use up to 12 MB L3 cache. 

Performance

Thanks to the higher clock speeds of the improved Intel 7 process, the Core i5-13420H can surpass the old Core i5-12450H (e.g., + 200 MHz boost).

Features

The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to DDR5-5200 (up from DDR5-4800 of the i5-12500H). The Thread Director (in hardware) can support the operating system to decide which thread to use on the performance or efficient cores for the best performance. For AI tasks, the CPU also integrates GNA 3.0 and DL Boost (via AVX2). Quick Sync in version 8 is the same as in the Rocket Lake CPUs and supports MPEG-2, AVC, VC-1 decode, JPEG, VP8 decode, VP9, HEVC, and AV1 decode in hardware. The CPU now supports PCIe 5.0 x8 for a GPU and two PCIe 4.0 x4 for SSDs.

The integrated graphics card is based on the Xe-architecture and offers 48 of the 96 EUs (Execution Units).

The CPU is rated at 45 W base power (95 W PL2) but most laptops will use a PL1 of around 60 Watt. The SoC is manufactured in a further improved 10nm process at Intel, which is known as Intel 7.