Both systems were purchased at retail by PC Perspective without any involvement from Intel or AMD. Common specifications for both systems include 16GB of DDR4 memory and a 512GB NVMe SSD, although the memory for Ice Lake is clocked at that platform’s default 3733MHz while the Ryzen system is using its default at 2400MHz. Memory speed can play an important role in system performance, especially for Ryzen, but when it comes to laptops, you get what the manufacturer includes, and there are no Ryzen systems in this power range that offer faster memory.

Another difference to keep in mind is the TDP potential of the systems. Both processors have a base TDP of 15W, but they are designed to be configurable within a certain range depending on the power and cooling capabilities of the system. The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 runs the i7-1065G7 at its base 15W TDP, however the larger chassis of the ThinkPad T495 allows the Ryzen 7 3700U to reach just under 20W in some cases as measured by AMD’s μProf utility. So, again, the current systems on the market do not allow this to be a true apples-to-apples comparison.

Ryzen 3000 In Name Only

Before we get to the results, we wanted to clarify that while the 3700U is using AMD’s latest mobile platform, it doesn’t offer the features or performance you may have seen in recent Ryzen desktop and server launches. Despite its “3000-series” branding, Ryzen 3000 for mobile is based on AMD’s Zen+ architecture, and was released at the beginning of this year. Ryzen 3000 for desktop is based on the new Zen 2 architecture, which won’t hit mobile until next year.

In short, Ice Lake represents Intel’s latest architecture, while Zen+ has been on the market for some time. However, this is still the latest AMD platform you can buy in the mobile market and is therefore eligible for comparison.

Ice Lake Benchmarks: 1065G7 vs. 3700U

We ran benchmarks on both systems while fully charged and connected to their included power adapters, with Windows power options configured for maximum performance. We used the latest build of Windows 10 as of August 30, 2019, with all patches, updates, and firmware applied.

Our tests are broken down between processor-focused benchmarks and gaming tests. While neither system is advertised as a gaming powerhouse, Intel has touted the new Gen11 Iris Plus Graphics as a major improvement over its previous efforts, and for many users the GPU is the most important factor for Ice Lake overall.

Also, some tests factor in results for features such as storage speed, which are specific to each laptop’s configuration and not necessarily indicative of the potential of the two hardware platforms themselves. Again, this is not a review of these two specific laptops, but rather an initial look at how Ice Lake performance compares to its current AMD competitor.

Cinebench

We tested both the latest R20 release of Maxon’s Cinebench benchmark as well as its predecessor, R15. This benchmark measures CPU rendering performance for both single- and multi-core configurations and presents results as a test-specific score with higher numbers equaling better performance. Of note, Intel earlier this year argued that Cinebench, which is commonly used by hardware review publications, should be de-emphasized since, Intel claims, it does not accurately reflect common “real world” usage scenarios.