Intel Core i5-14500HX vs Intel Core i7-12650HX vs Intel Core i9-14900HX

Intel Core i5-14500HX

The Intel Core i5-14500HX is a high-end CPU from the Raptor-Lake-HX Refresh series (RPL-H). The CPU offers all 6 performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove or Raptor Cove architecture) and 8 efficiency cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support hyperthreading (therefore 20 threads together) and clock from 2.4 to 4.9 GHz (single-core turbo). The E-cores clock from 1.9 - 3.7 GHz and should offer comparable performance to old Skylake cores (e.g. i7-6920HQ).

Performance

Thanks to the higher clock rates of the Rocket Lake series, the i5-14500HX can reach the level of the old Core i9-12900H and is therefore a very fast mobile CPU that is ideal for all areas of application.

Graphics unit

Like its predecessor, Intel integrates an Intel Xe-based graphics unit. In the 14500HX, all 96 EUs are activated and clock at up to 1.55 GHz.

Features

Like Alder-Lake-H, Raptor-Lake-H has partially integrated WiFi 6E and Thunderbolt 4 (4x). The integrated memory controller now supports faster DDR5-5200 memory. The integrated Gaussian and Neural Accelerator (GNA) is still installed in version 3.0. The Quick Sync 8 media engine is the same as in Rocket Lake and supports MPEG-2, AVC, VC-1 decode, JPEG, VP8 decode, VP9, HEVC and AV1 decode. The chip supports PCIe 5.0 x8 for a dGPU and two PCIe 4.0 x4 for SSDs. The PCH also offers PCIe Gen3 x12.

Power consumption

The Intel Core i5-14500HX is specified with 55 watts TDP (PL2 157 watts). The processor continues to be manufactured using the improved Intel 7 process (10 nm SuperFin).

Intel Core i7-12650HX

The Intel Core i7-12650HX is a high-end mobile CPU for laptops based on the Alder Lake architecture. It was announced in mid 2022 and offers 6 of the 8 performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) and 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading leading to 20 supported threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 2.0 to 4.7 GHz on the performance cluster and 1.5 to 3.3 GHz on the efficiency cluster. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare with the Core i7-6920HQ). All cores can use up to 25 MB L3 cache. The CPU offers an open multiplicator and therefore the possibility to overclock the CPU cores. Compared to the similar i7-12850HX, the 12800HX does not offer vPro or ECC memory support.

Performance

Due to the similar specs, the performance of the 12650HX should be similar to the Core i7-12700H (14 cores, max 4,7 GHz, 45 W TDP). Thanks to the higher TDP, the sustained performance could be better (if the cooling of the laptop is sufficient). 

Features

The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to DDR5-4800 and DDR4-3200. 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 supports 48 PCIe lanes consisting of 16 Gen5 (x16 or 2x8), 20 Gen4 and 12 Gen3.

The integrated graphics card is based on the Xe-architecture and offers 32 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 1.45 GHz.

The CPU is rated at 55 W base power (157 W PL2). The SoC is manufactured on a 10nm process at Intel, which is known as Intel 7.

Intel Core i9-14900HX

The Intel Core i9-14900HX is a high-end CPU based on the Raptor Lake architecture for large and heavy notebooks. The CPU was introduced at the beginning of 2024 and is a slightly higher clocked variant of the older Core i9-13980HX.

The total of 32 threads are divided into P-cores and E-cores, which we already know from Alder-Lake. Here, 8 performance cores (P-cores) with hyperthreading are used and 16 efficiency cores, so that a total of 32 threads can be processed simultaneously. The P-cores clock from 2.2 GHz (base clock) to 5.8 GHz (single-core turbo) and the E-cores from 1.6 GHz to 4.1 GHz.

Performance

Due to the slightly higher maximum clock rates, the single-core performance of the 14900HX in particular increases slightly compared to the 13980HX. Compared to AMD's top model, the Ryzen 9 7945HX or 7945HX3D the 14900HX comes in just behind (on average in our benchmarks). However, the performance depends on the benchmark and the cooling and is usually very comparable.

Graphics

Like the Intel Core i9-12900HX, the Intel Core i9-14900HX offers an integrated graphics unit. The Intel Iris XE architecture continues to serve as the basis. In terms of performance, however, not much has changed with the Intel UHD Graphics 770.

The 14900HX is manufactured on the improved 10nm FinFET process at Intel (Intel 7 process) and is specified with 55 watts of base power and 157 watts of turbo power.