CPUs

Intel’s 10th Gen Core i9-10980HK Mobile CPU Might be Slower than its 9th Gen Predecessor

With every new generation, one of the main takeaways is better performance at increased efficiency. However, with Intel’s 10th Gen mobile H series (high-performance), that might not be the case. Hear me out. Yes, it sounds absurd and will only happen in certain devices, and in select applications, but it’s embarrassing, nonetheless. A Geekbench 4 score comparing the 10th Gen Comet Lake-H flagship, the Core i9-10980HK, and the 9th Gen Core i9-9980HK indicates that something truly unfortunate:

Here the 10th Gen part is running at a lower clock, so the lower score isn’t really surprising. But then again, running a mobile part at 5GHz without overheating isn’t viable in normal scenarios. You NEED a liquid cooling solution for an 8-core CPU running at 5GHz.

There are many cases where OEMs use an inferior thermal solution and the higher clock speed, instead of being an advantage will lead to throttling and worse overall performance. This is something that already happens with the Core i7-9750H and the i9-9980HK.

With the Core i7-10750H, there are six instead of eight cores. As a result, the throttling is less pronounced, and there are some decent gains despite no apparent changes to the chip design.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Intel 10th Gen Comet Lake-H CPUs compare against AMD’s Ryzen 4000 mobile APUs. We expect the newer processors to be priced similar or slightly higher than the existing 9th Gen parts. At the same price points, the Renoir chips will likely offer more cores and efficiency, forcing Intel to cut prices.

Areej Syed

Processors, PC gaming, and the past. I have been writing about computer hardware for over seven years with more than 5000 published articles. Started off during engineering college and haven't stopped since. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Divinity, Torment, Baldur's Gate and so much more... Contact: areejs12@hardwaretimes.com.
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