Buying a laptop is not an easy task. There are so many different models, different configurations. The key component in every laptop is the CPU. In this guide, we are going to help you choose better by ranking all Intel and AMD CPUs purely based on performance. By the way, do not miss our “Recommended Smartphones” list that contains best smartphones for every budget.
Before you look at the CPU rankings, please remember these. Often, we see retailers try to clear older stock and they do not help you to get what is best for you.
Architecture and Fabrication
TL;DR version : Go with latest generation as it can run faster at same clock speed compared to last gen. Also, newer CPUs are also easier to cool, take less power. Overall, it will be a win in all fronts for you.
This is the most important factor. Do not fall for GHz and MHz. With each generation upgrade, the efficiency of CPU and how fast it can handle instructions get better. This way, a newer CPU that runs at lower speed will be faster than previous generation CPU that runs at higher speed. Moreover, you also have to consider fabrication. The lower the fabrication is, the more efficient the CPU gets.
Semiconductor device fabrication is the process used to create the integrated circuits that are present in everyday electrical and electronic devices. It is a multiple-step sequence of photo lithographic and chemical processing steps during which electronic circuits are gradually created on a wafer made of pure semiconducting material. Silicon is almost always used, but various compound semiconductors are used for specialized applications. -Wikipedia
CPUs and GPUs are filled with millions and millions of transistors. In chips, these function more like gates switching on and off, to allow electrons pass. In manufacturing plant, multiple chips are made out of single wafer of silicon. The nm figure that you see in specifications (14nm, 28nm etc) is the size of this transistor. When a company says that their chip is designed on 14nm fabrication process, in layman’s terms, it means that the size of the transistor/gate is 14nm. When the transistor size is reduced, there are various advantages. Electrons travel less distance and this improves efficiency and speed. Transistors require less power to turn on and this reduces amount of power required. As a result, there will be noticeable increase in processing power. Also, with smaller transistor size, the size of cpu decreases allowing phone makers to have more space for other components. For example, the battery can be bigger, niche features can be added, phone can be thinner.
Yield rate increases as manufacturing plants move to lower fabrication process. Take a scenario where the transistors are so big that you can only create two processors from a wafer. If one of these two processor is faulty, the yield rate for the wafer is just 50%. Shrink the size of transistor and now you can create 10 processor from the same wafer. If one is faulty ,the yield rate will be 90%. Now, create 100 processors from same wafer and if 1 is faulty, you have a yield rate of 99%. A smaller fabrication processor not only improves performance and power efficiency, it also lets chip manufacturing companies have higher yield rate, faster production and higher revenue.
Core count
TL;DR version: Do not go lower than 6 cores. This is the bare minimum for today’s requirements, even if it for simple web browsing or light usage. Intel has two different types of cores (Performance and Efficiency cores) in same CPU. All the cores in AMD are performance cores. Go for CPU that has more performance cores. Do not fall for total number of cores. A 10 or 12 total core Intel CPU can be beaten by an 8 core AMD CPU. A (4P + 8E) 12 core Intel CPU can be beaten by their own (6P+4E) 10 core CPU.
Clock speed and power usage
Clock speed is measured in GHz. Power consumption is measured in Watts. Laptop CPUs are rated anywhere from 15W to 157W. For same type of core, the higher the clock speed, higher the performance. But there is a catch here. TDP. As the TDP gets lower, the speed goes down.
Thermal Design Power (TDP)
The faster a CPU runs, the more heat it generates and more power it consumes. Some use the term TDP for heat generated and some use this for power consumed by laptop. For now, we will consider ‘power consumed’. Laptops run on battery power. Unlike a desktop where there is no problem with power draw, laptop CPUs need balance between power and battery life. For this reason, CPU makers set limits for power draw. The lower the TDP is, the lower the performance will be. If you pick a CPU that has very high TDP, you end up with laptop that has poor battery. Ideal TDP for laptops would be around 55W.
AMD Ryzen™ 9 7945HX
Intel Core i9 13980HX
Intel Core i9 13950HX
Intel Core i9 13900HX
Intel Core i9 13900H
Intel Core i7 13850HX
AMD Ryzen™ 9 7845HX
Intel Core i7 13700HX
Intel Core i9 13900HK
Intel Core i9 13905H
Intel Core i7 13650HX
Intel Core i7 13800H
Intel Core i7 13705H
Intel Core i7 13700H
Intel Core i5 13600HX
Intel Core i5 13500HX
AMD Ryzen™ 7 7745HX
AMD Ryzen™ 9 7940HS
AMD Ryzen™ 7 7840HS
Intel Core i7 13620H
Intel Core i5 13450HX
Intel Core i7 1370P
AMD Ryzen™ 7 7840U
AMD Ryzen™ 5 7645HX
AMD Ryzen™ 5 7640HS
AMD Ryzen™ 7 7735HS
AMD Ryzen™ 5 7640U
AMD Ryzen™ 5 7540U
AMD Ryzen™ 7 7736U
AMD Ryzen™ 7 7735U
AMD Ryzen™ 7 7535HS
AMD Ryzen™ 7 7730U
AMD Ryzen™ 5 7535U
AMD Ryzen™ 5 7530U
Intel Core i5 13600H
Intel Core i5 13505H
Intel Core i5 13500H
Intel Core i7 1360P
Intel Core i5 1350P
Intel Core i5 1340P
Intel Core i5 13420H
Intel Core i7 1365U
Intel Core i7 1355U
Intel Core i5 1345U
Intel Core i5 1335U
Intel Core i5 1334U
Here is the order in which we rate the laptop CPUs: