Legit CPU, Incredible Integrated Graphics

With all benchmarks out of the manner, let's talk a bit more by and large well-nigh how the Ryzen v 2500U performs. In terms of CPU performance, the 2500U is a scrap slower than the Cadre i7-8550U. Non a perfect apples-to-apples comparison, but the i7-8550U is 30.6 pct faster on average based on the benchmarks we used.

These results are skewed in Intel'south favor a chip by the enormous disparity in MATLAB. At present, the Cadre i7 CPU here is a higher-tier model, but the equivalent Ryzen 7 2700U is simply ten pct faster on newspaper at best, and so that'southward won't exist plenty to close the gap.

It's worth mentioning that nigh people volition be upgrading to Ryzen Mobile from an older dual-cadre Intel CPU, which the Ryzen five 2500U trounces with iv-core power. (...) Coming from a iv-yr-old laptop? This Ryzen CPU will blow you away.

For those following the desktop boxing between AMD and Intel, these results shouldn't exist a surprise. Intel yet holds a strong IPC pb, and AMD does not have a core count advantage in their mobile parts like they practise on the desktop. Even with clock speeds favoring AMD past up to 300 MHz in sustained all-core workloads, in some cases at to the lowest degree, Intel'due south strong Kaby Lake IPC sees it outperform Ryzen Mobile across the lath.

This leaves the Core i7-8550U anywhere from ten to 25 percent faster than the Ryzen 5 2500U when hitting all iv cores, and typically that margin volition increment in unmarried-thread loads equally Intel gains a clock speed ascendency. Merely not always.

Is this a bad result for AMD's Ryzen Mobile CPU? Not necessarily, equally we're comparison Core i7 to Ryzen 5 here and we oasis't tested whatever eightth gen Core i5 parts still. The gap will shut when pitting the Core i7 up against the Ryzen 7 2700U, or when comparison Core i5 to Ryzen five. Information technology's nevertheless unlikely AMD will take the lead, but that battle volition end up closer, mayhap in a 10 to xx percent pb for Intel.

It's as well worth mentioning that most people volition be upgrading to Ryzen Mobile from an older dual-core Intel CPU, which the Ryzen 5 2500U trounces with four-core power. Gains of effectually 50 to 80 percent relative to the Core i7-7500U are common, and that'southward just pitting Ryzen 5 confronting last-gen Intel silicon. Coming from a four-year-old laptop? This CPU volition blow yous away.

But the real story here is graphics functioning, which is where the Ryzen 5 2500U demolishes the Core i7-8550U. The integrated Vega 8 GPU is considerably more powerful, to the tune of more than than 2x in GPU heavy benchmarks. It manages to achieve this while keeping to the same 15W TDP as Kaby Lake Refresh, and even when both the CPU and GPU are slammed, the Ryzen 5 2500U pulls ahead by a huge margin.

On paper, Vega 8 is ~two.5x times faster than UHD 620 in terms of raw compute, though in practical gaming scenarios I saw anywhere from 70 to 100 per centum more functioning out of it. This is enough of a proceeds to brand some games, like Civilization VI, playable where they previously were not, even at low settings.

As I've just had time with the HP Envy x360, it'south hard to make a definitive conclusion on how power efficient the Ryzen 5 2500U is. I have started the process of bombardment testing the Envy x360 and results seem as expected for this sort of laptop, which is expert news for Ryzen Mobile, simply I need more data before it becomes clear whether AMD or Intel has a power lead here.

The principal issue with Ryzen Mobile for now is availability. This testing has shown the Ryzen 5 2500U is a highly competitive APU and will be especially bonny for those that desire more GPU power in an ultraportable form factor, only you just don't have many options if you want a laptop with Ryzen within. There's the HP Envy x360, and that'south basically information technology.

And to brand matters worse, the Envy x360 is a 15-inch laptop, which is a grade factor where GeForce MX150 discrete GPUs (the mobile version of the desktop GeForce GT 1030) are readily bachelor alongside Kaby Lake CPUs in similar ultrathin designs.

If Ryzen Mobile is to succeed, AMD needs to get this bit inside 12 and 13-inch ultraportables where discrete GPUs are rarely seen. If Ryzen 5 2500U tin hit the same levels of operation in a smaller chassis, AMD would take a real winner on its easily.

So my final message to AMD and laptop manufacturers is: become this chip in laptops. Judging by the chatter around the internet, there is 18-carat demand for ultraportables with an APU like this within. Brand the laptops, and sales will follow.

Shopping Shortcuts:

  • HP Envy x360 15z on Amazon, HP

Pros: AMD is back in the mobile game. More than decent CPU performance output with four cores and eight threads. Vega 8 GPU is spectacular for integrated graphics in this thermal envelope.

Cons: Availability is a real concern (13-inch ultraportables wanted). CPU performance lags behind Intel's latest.