Intel Pentium Silver N6005 vs AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 7940HS

Intel Pentium Silver N6005

The Intel Pentium Silver N6005 is a quad-core SoC of the Jasper Lake series that is primarily intended for inexpensive and small desktop and was announced in early 2021. The four Tremont CPU cores clock between 2 and 3.3 GHz (single core Burst) and offer no HyperThreading (SMT). The N6005 uses 1.5 MB L2 and 4 MB L3 cache. The chip is manufactured in 10nm at Intel (most likely in the same process as Ice Lake).

CPU Architecture

The processor architecture is called Tremont and a complete redesign compared to the old Golmont Plus cores in the predecessor. According to Intel, the single thread performance of a core could be improved by 30% on average (10 - 80% in all tests of SPECint and SPECfp).

Features

In addition to the quad-core CPU block, the SoC integrates a 32 EU Intel UHD Graphics GPU clocked from 450 - 900 MHz and a LPDDR4(x) dual channel memory controller (up to 16 GB and 2933 MHz). The chip now also partly integrates Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+), 8 PCIe 3.0 lanes, 14 USB 2.0 / 3.2 ports and two SATA 6.0 ports. The package got bigger and measures 35 x 24 mm (compared to 25 x 24 mm for the N5030 e.g.). The SoC is directly soldered to the mainboard (BGA) and can't be easily replaced.

Performance

The average N6005 in our database is in the same league as the Core i3-1110G4, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. This is enough to enjoy Web browsing and watch videos online without noticeable slowdowns, as of mid 2023 - which is what most consumers want.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 15 W, the Intel NUC11ATKPE is among the fastest systems built around the N6005 that we know of. It can be about 50% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

Power Consumption

Similar to the predecessor, Intel specifies the TDP with 10 Watts (versus the 6 W of the mobile N6000). The chip can therefore be cooled passively in theory, but SKUs with fans are possible as well.

AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 7940HS

The AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 7940HS is a fast high-end laptop processor of the Phoenix series. It offers 8 cores (octa core) based on the Zen 4 architecture that supports hyperthreading (16 threads). The cores clock from 4 (base) up to 5.2 GHz (single core boost). The processor includes 8 MB L2 cache and 16 MB L3 cache.

Compared to the consumer Ryzen 9 7940HS, the PRO models offer additional security, manageability, and reliability features designed for professional users and workstation environments.

The performance of the R9 PRO 7940HS should be slightly higher than the old top model Ryzen 9 6980HX (8 Zen 3 cores with up to 4.9 GHz) at 54W TDP and Ryzen 9 6980HS at 35W TDP. Compared to the higher end Dragon Range series, the 7940HS should be similar to the Ryzen 7 7745HX (also 8 Zen 4 cores, max 5.1 GHz, 55W tDP, 32 MB L3).

The chip integrates a modern and fasts RDNA 3 graphics card (iGPU) called Radeon 780M with 12 CUs and up to 2.8 GHz clock speed. Furthermore, the Phoenix series include a video engine with AV1 de- and encoding, a new Xilinx FPGA based XDNA AI accelerator (Ryzen AI) that should be faster than the AI engine in the Apple M2 SOC and a dual-channel DDR5-5600 / LPDDR5x-7500 memory controller (with ECC support). The connectivity features includes 2 possible USB 4 (40 Gbps) ports and 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes for a GPU and SSDs.

The Phoenix series uses a single monolithic design (unlike the chiplet design of the 7045HX series) and is manufactured in the modern 4nm process at TSMC. The TDP can be configured between 35 and 45 Watt.