AMD Ryzen 9 4900U vs Intel Core i7-8700K

Processor comparisons 17-03-2021

   For example you have difficulties with the choice of a processor, you will solve them by reading the comprehensive tests AMD Ryzen 9 4900U vs Intel Core i7-8700K and understand which is better for games or normal use for programming, video editing, streaming, machine learning, rendering. Here is all information from real video editing and streaming tests or various benchmarks. A step-by-step analysis of all the technical characteristics, so that it can be easier to understand, is made by the table.
   From the video comparison, you can get the results of joint testing in software tests such as 7zip, VeraCrypt, Prime95, AIDA64, PCMark 10, World of Tanks enCore Benchmark, GeekBench 6, 5.2, Cinebench 23 (20, 15), SuperPi, WPrime, Dolphin Emulator, Blender, Gears 5, Blender, RealBench, Handbrake, PassMark, 3DMark, Furmark, MATLAB, DaVinci Resolve Studio, UserBenchmark.
   And how good the CPUs are in games:

DOOM: Eternal
Last Man Standing
Apex Legends
Cyberpunk 2077
Rainbow Six Siege
Red Dead Redemption 2
Grand Theft Auto V
Watch Dogs Legion
Valheim
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Overwatch
Fortnite
Borderlands 3
Valorant
Fallout 76
Death Stranding
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone
Halo Infinite

After reading the results of joint benchmarks and videos, you can already make an briefed decision about which processor is better to buy for gaming Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 9 4900U.

Summary benchmark results

As a percentage of the maximum value based on a sample from the entire base of all processors
Processor Benchmark

Ryzen 9 4900U

56%

Core i7-8700K

54%

This parameter shows the performance of the processors in single-threaded and multi-threaded mode. In this comparison, Ryzen 9 4900U is 3% better than Core i7-8700K. The data source is several popular tests. Detailed information can be found below.

Gaming performance
Summary result of all game benchmarks.

Ryzen 9 4900U

53%

Core i7-8700K

54%

For the maximum in this test, the results of the most powerful processor in the site database are taken. And it is clear that this is a server processor, on which no one will run games. Because the cost of this processor reaches several tens of thousands of dollars. And if it seems to you that the selected CPU has a small game result, look at the FPS that it produces in real games in the final table below.
List of other games in which processors were compared: Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Horizon Zero Dawn, Hitman 3, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Microsoft Flight Simulator, NBA 2K20, Half-Life: Alyx, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS GO), Monster Hunter World, League of Legends (LOL), Control, DOTA 2A, Metro Exodus, Battlefield V, Forza Horizon 4, Ghostrunner.

Gaming benchmark

Fortnite	94.6	95.7
Valorant	107.5	108.7
Cyberpunk 2077	60.2	60.9
Apex Legends	101.0	102.2
Call of Duty Warzone	80.6	81.6
Overwatch	87.0	88.1
Red Dead Redemption 2	74.1	75.0
DOOM Eternal	53.7	54.4
Warzone	83.8	84.8
Assassin's Creed	90.3	91.3
Valheim	89.2	90.3

The numbers in this table indicate the maximum FPS that was received on the device with the corresponding processor. Depending on the configuration of the computer (RAM size and Video Card) and graphics quality settings (Ultra, Medium, Normal), the results may differ quite significantly. We recommend that you better study the results of the Cinebench, GeekBench and Passmark becnmarks.
The computers participating in the comparisons not only were the equipped with different video cards and different amounts of RAM. But users also tested them at different screen resolutions: 2K, 4K or FullHD. Therefore, the game benchmark data is approximate. But all video cards met the average system requirements of games. To be sure exactly how much performance the processor will be in games, if you compare it in one assembly with the video card that is installed in your computer.

Power consumption

Ryzen 9 4900U

267%

Core i7-8700K

49%

To make a finishing decision on which processor is better, you should also consider the generation of its core. It is clear that the newer the generation, the better the performance of the processor in games and benchmarks, as well as its energy efficiency. In this case the Ryzen 9 4900U is more energy efficient than the Core i7-8700K as it consumes less power: 15W vs. 95W. Power consumption is especially important for laptops. Also, when choosing a processor cooling system, you must know its TDP. It is necessary to calculate so that the TDP data specified in the cooler specification is greater than the TDP of the compared processor.

Software benchmarks

If you plan to use the processor not only for gaming, but also for programming, machine learning, video editing or video rendering, streaming, then first of all you need to pay attention to the performance in multi-threaded mode. In this mode, the processor turns on all threads and cores that it has to the maximum to reach maximum performance. You will find out this data from the benchmark tables below. Before using the data from these tests, be sure to check whether the software you are going to use on your computer supports multi-threaded mode. Since there are still many programs that use only one core to run, and all the advantages of multi-core mode are unused.

Cinebench 23, 20 an 15
The results of this benchmark show Single-threaded and Multi-threaded CPU performance

	AMD Ryzen 9 4900U	Intel Core i7-8700K
Cinbench 15 Single-core	208	208
Cinbench 15 Multi-core	1398	1447
Cinbench 20 Single-core	503	487
Cinbench 20 Multi-core	3307	3689
Cinbench 23 Single-core	1270	1209
Cinbench 23 Multi-core	10053	8960

Passmark
This popular benchmark displays Multi-threaded and Single-threaded processor performance

	AMD Ryzen 9 4900U	Intel Core i7-8700K
Single-Core	2015	2760
Multi-Core	21586	13949

GeekBench 6, 5.2
This benchmark shows Multi-threaded and Single-threaded processor performance

	AMD Ryzen 9 4900U	Intel Core i7-8700K
Single-Core	1203	1402
Multi-Core	6431	7536

Comparison of specifications

In the specification comparison table, the most helpful will be the the possibility of overclocking it and release date of the processor. The later the processor is released, the longer it will last in your computer. And the easier it will be to upgrade the system later. The same can be said about overclocking. When the processor can be overclocked, increasing its performance, then it will continue to maintain maximum FPS even in the newest games. The savings are obvious! It turns out that you do not need to buy a new CPU to enjoy the games any longer.

	AMD Ryzen 9 4900U	Intel Core i7-8700K
Announcement date	January 12, 2021	October 01, 2017
Type	Laptop	Desktop
Socket	FP6	FCLGA1151-2
Core name	Renoir	Coffee Lake
Architecture	Zen 2	x86
Generation	4	8
Turbo Frequency	4.4 MHz	4.7 MHz
Frequency	2 MHz	3.7 MHz
Cores	8	6
Threads	16	12
Bus rate		8 GT/s
Bit	64	64
Lithography	7 nm	14 nm
Transistors count	8600 millions	3200 millions
Power consumption (TDP)	15 W	95 W
Memory type	DDR4-3200 LPDDR4-4266	DDR4-2666
Max. Memory	32 Gb	128 Gb
Memory Frequency	4266
Memory bandwidth		41.6 GB/s
L1 cache
L2 cache	2MB
L3 cache	8MB	12 MB
Overclocking	Yes	No
Supports ECC	No	No
Part number

In this comparison block, you should pay attention to the differences in clock speed and the number of cores. Here Core i7-8700K is 45% better than Ryzen 9 4900U in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that Ryzen 9 4900U has 2 more core than Core i7-8700K. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption (relevant for laptops).

Result:
The number of parameters for which AMD Ryzen 9 4900U is better: 14
The number of parameters for which Intel Core i7-8700K is better: 22
However, it should be understood that the summary data in the table above do not mean that taking them into account you should undividedly trust a simple quantitative comparison. Better to watch benchmarks video and read the reviews of of people who bought AMD Ryzen 9 4900U and Intel Core i7-8700K before making a selection which of the CPUs to buy for gaming.

• AMD Ryzen 9 4900U specs and review.

• Intel Core i7-8700K specs and review.