Intel Tiger Lake could destroy AMD Ryzen 4000 when it comes to single-thread performance

(Image credit: Shutterstock / Pawarun Chitchirachan)

New benchmark results have appeared online that apparently show the Intel Core i7-1165G7, which will be an 11th generation Tiger Lake chip, handily beating the AMD Ryzen 7 4800U, a ‘Renoir’ APU when it comes to single-threaded performance.

If these results, which were shared by well-known leaker @TUM_APISAK, are accurate, then it shows Intel has some nifty tricks up its sleeve in the fight against AMD.

What’s interesting about these results is that for the most part, the AMD Ryzen 7 4800U dominates the Intel Core i7-1165G7 – which considering the spec, is to be expected. The AMD Ryzen 7 4800U is a 7nm chip with eight Zen 2 cores, 16 threads, a 1.8GHz base clock and a 4.2 boost.

Meanwhile, the Intel Core i7-1165G7 is an upcoming CPU that is rumoured to be a 10nm processor with four Willow Cove cores, eight threads, a base clock of 2.8Ghz and a boost of 4.7GHz.

Those extra cores and threads instantly put the AMD Ryzen 7 4800U at an advantage (and that’s before we even consider the benefits of it being 7nm architecture compared to the Intel chip’s 10nm++).

According to the PassMark PerformanceTest results, the AMD Ryzen 7 4800U got an overall score of 17,552, a fair bit higher than the 13,372 the Intel Core i7-1165G7 apparently scores.

But, when it comes to single-threaded performance, the Intel chip thrashes the AMD one, with a score of 3,273 for the i7, compared to 2,631 for the Ryzen 7 – a quite substantial gap for Team Blue.

Pinch of salt, please

It seems that the higher clock speeds of the Intel chip really do help out in single-thread performance

While these results paint an interesting picture where the upcoming CPU battle between Intel and AMD won’t be quite clear cut, we should urge caution when it comes to these results.

First of all, while the AMD Ryzen 7 4800U is a laptop chip that's in products that are actually out right now, the Intel Core i7-1165G7 is only rumored, so we don’t know how accurate the specs are.

Also, as Tom’s Hardware points out, the sample size of the AMD Ryzen 7 4800U is 55, while the Intel Core i7-1165G7’s results are taken from a single sample – which means if there is an issue with the sample, then that can disproportionally affect the results.

Still, it gives us an interesting hint at Tiger Lake’s strengths and weaknesses, and hopefully we’ll find out more soon – with Intel holding a bit event on September 2, where it is expected to officially reveal its Tiger Lake lineup.

Matt Hanson
Managing Editor, Core Tech

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there's no aspect of technology that Matt isn't passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. He’s personally reviewed and used most of the laptops in our best laptops guide - and since joining TechRadar in 2014, he's reviewed over 250 laptops and computing accessories personally.

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