Apple M1 Pro vs AMD Ryzen 9 6980HS

Processor comparisons 21-10-2022

   If there are difficulties with the choice of a processor, you will solve them by reading the comprehensive tests Apple M1 Pro vs AMD Ryzen 9 6980HS and understand which is better for games or simple use for rendering, video editing, machine learning, streaming, programming. Here is all information from real video editing and streaming tests or several benchmarks. A careful analysis of all the technical characteristics, to make it easier to read, is made by the table.
   From the video comparison, you can get the results of joint testing in special test applications like Blender, Furmark, DaVinci Resolve Studio, GeekBench 6, 5.2, VeraCrypt, UserBenchmark, WPrime, Prime95, Dolphin Emulator, MATLAB, RealBench, 7zip, Blender, SuperPi, Handbrake, World of Tanks enCore Benchmark, PCMark 10, Cinebench 23 (20, 15), 3DMark, Gears 5, PassMark, AIDA64.
   And how good the CPUs are in games:

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

After reading the results these benchmarks and videos, you can already make an informed decision about which processor is better to buy for gaming AMD Ryzen 9 6980HS or Apple M1 Pro.

Summary benchmark results

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

M1 Pro

59%

Ryzen 9 6980HS

58%

This value shows the performance of the processors in single-threaded and multi-threaded mode. In this comparison, M1 Pro is 1% better than Ryzen 9 6980HS. The data source is several popular tests. Detailed information can be found below.

Gaming performance
Summary result of all game benchmarks.

M1 Pro

57%

Ryzen 9 6980HS

55%

The maximum result in this parameter is 100 percent, which is the performance of the most powerful processor at the moment. And it is clear that this is a server processor, on which no one will play 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, just look at the FPS that it produces in real games in the final table below.
List of less popular games in which CPU comparisons were performed: NBA 2K20, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Control, Ghostrunner, Battlefield V, Forza Horizon 4, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Hitman 3, DOTA 2A, Metro Exodus, Half-Life: Alyx, Monster Hunter World, League of Legends (LOL), PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS GO), Horizon Zero Dawn.

Gaming benchmark

Fortnite	101.0	97.3
Valorant	114.8	110.6
Cyberpunk 2077	64.3	61.9
Apex Legends	107.9	103.9
Call of Duty Warzone	86.1	82.9
Overwatch	93.0	89.5
Red Dead Redemption 2	79.2	76.3
DOOM Eternal	57.4	55.3
Warzone	89.5	86.2
Assassin's Creed	96.4	92.9
Valheim	95.3	91.8

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 that were in the comparisons not only did they have different video cards and different amounts of RAM. But users also tested them at different screen resolutions: 4K, 2K or FullHD. So 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

M1 Pro

358%

Ryzen 9 6980HS

156%

To make a finishing resolution 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 M1 Pro is more energy efficient than the Ryzen 9 6980HS since it has less power consumption: 16W vs. 35W. Power consumption is especially important for laptops. Also, when choosing a processor cooling system, it will be useful to 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

Let's say you want to use the processor not only for gaming, but also for machine learning, programming, streaming, video rendering or video editing, then first of all you need to pay attention to the performance in multi-threaded mode. In this mode, to achieve maximum performance, the processor uses all cores and threads that it has. You will learn this data from the benchmark tables below. Before you take into account the data from these tests, be sure to check whether the program you are going to use on your computer supports multi-threaded mode. Because there are still many programs that use only one core to run, and all the advantages of multi-core mode turns out to be unnecessary.

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

	Apple M1 Pro	AMD Ryzen 9 6980HS
Cinbench 15 Single-core	304	261
Cinbench 15 Multi-core	1716	2536
Cinbench 20 Single-core	590	610
Cinbench 20 Multi-core	2936	5559
Cinbench 23 Single-core	2233	1578
Cinbench 23 Multi-core	11512	14146

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

	Apple M1 Pro	AMD Ryzen 9 6980HS
Single-Core	5046	3379
Multi-Core	32596	27970

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

	Apple M1 Pro	AMD Ryzen 9 6980HS
Single-Core	1723	1643
Multi-Core	12737	9105

Comparison of specifications

In the specification comparison table, the most helpful will be the release date of the processor and the possibility of overclocking it. The newer the processor, the longer it will last you. 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 in new games. Accordingly, there is no longer a need to buy a new CPU to enjoy the games any longer. The economy are obvious!

	Apple M1 Pro	AMD Ryzen 9 6980HS
Announcement date	October 07, 2021	January 09, 2022
Type	Laptop	Laptop
Socket	M1	FP7
Core name	8x Firestorm and 2x Icestorm	Rembrandt
Architecture	hybrid (big.LITTLE)	Zen 3+
Generation	1	6
Turbo Frequency		5 MHz
Frequency	3.2 MHz	3.3 MHz
Cores	10	8
Threads	10	16
Bus rate
Bit	64	64
Lithography	5 nm	6 nm
Transistors count	34000 millions	10200 millions
Power consumption (TDP)	16 W	35 W
Memory type	LPDDR5 - Up to 6400MHz	DDR5
Max. Memory	32 Gb
Memory Frequency	6400	3200
Memory bandwidth	208 GByte/s
L1 cache	4MB	512KB
L2 cache	24MB	4MB
L3 cache	24MB	16MB
Overclocking	No	No
Supports ECC	No	No
Part number	APL1103	FP7:100-000000750 FP7r2:100-000000751

In this comparison block, you should pay attention to the differences in clock speed and the number of cores. Here Ryzen 9 6980HS is 3% better than M1 Pro in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that M1 Pro has 2 more core than Ryzen 9 6980HS. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption (relevant for laptops).

Result:
The number of parameters for which Apple M1 Pro is better: 25
The number of parameters for which AMD Ryzen 9 6980HS is better: 11
Although it should be realized that all the data in the article above do not mean that taking them into account you should fully trust a simple comparison of these figures. Better to watch the testing video and read the reviews of real owners of Apple M1 Pro and AMD Ryzen 9 6980HS before making a decision which CPU to buy for gaming and which not.

Apple M1 Pro - all data

• Cinebench r15 score
• Cinebench r20 score
• Cinebench r23 score
• GeekBench 6, 5.2 score

• Apple M1 Pro specs and review.

AMD Ryzen 9 6980HS - all data

• Cinebench r15 score
• Cinebench r20 score
• Cinebench r23 score
• GeekBench 6, 5.2 score

• AMD Ryzen 9 6980HS specs and review.