Question Multicore Performance or Single Core Performance?

[edo101]

Hello, I am trying to decide between 2 laptops. One is the HP Spectre X360 which has an i7-1255U and the Asus Zenbook Flip 14 OLED which has the AMD 6800HS. I have both and both of them have their strenghts and weaknesses design wise. I am stuck on which one to pick so i compared the two cpus and found this:
https://nanoreview.net/en/cpu-compare/intel-core-i7-1255u-vs-amd-ryzen-7-6800h

As you can see the 1255U does have slightly better single core performance while the 6800H has better multicore performance.

My day 2 day would be to stream shows, browsing, write some docs, coding and edit photos and deploy photos when I am traveling which I often do. I do champion battery life and both of these laptops actually get about the same amount of battery run time. Like almost identical. If I could I would prbly undervolt the 6800H if possible since I couldn't find a 6800U laptop.

For that use case, which one should I opt for? Single core or multi core?

 

[Nighthawk117]

It's funny because even on Asus website, I think they mention USB 3. But in reality, the latop uses 2 USB 4 DP ports. THe device manager lists the USB4 protocol. I too like the look and size of the HP. THe wifi seems slightly better or at least smoother, and it has an IR camera so I can just look at my computer and unlock it. And the HP has a nice size ration. Like its' perfect for my handling...

But the Asus has dedicated Home and End buttons, a numberpad you can activate via touchpad, a dedicated HDMI port so I don't have to waste a USB4 port on display, and it has some nifty My Asus features that could help prevent burn in and extra dimming features for longer battery. And finally that iGPU is pretty good for ever i want to scratch a gaming itch.

So it's been hard deciding which one to pick. If the Asus had the 6800U i wouldn't have to struggle. I don't care for Thunderbolt since USB4 is pretty much good enough for whatever I nee. Just can't seem to pick one. So I was trying to see which one would give better battery and be better overall for my tasks @Nighthawk117

On the spec's it has 2x USB 4.0 Gen 3 Type-C support display / power delivery. I would expect those to work with Thunderbolt docks.

In terms of battery life, both machines seem very similar in runtimes for web browsing on wifi or even under max load despite the fact the Asus is using a high performance chip and not an ultra lower power CPU.

In regard to your tasks, photo editing tends to be a little biased towards single threaded performance although apps like Photoshop are much more multi-threaded than they used to be. While the Alder Lake architecture is faster at the same clock speed than Zen 3+, the i7 12550U has only 2 performance cores. Where the 6800HS has 8 Zen 3+ cores. I don't know what sort of coding you do, but I've found compiling code can be biased towards single threaded performance as well. However it would be highly dependant on your workload.

For reference, I use my laptop for office apps like Excel, programming in Visual Studio, SQL Server, browsing the internet, Netflix and playing some older and less demanding games. Some occasional photo editing with Photoshop Elements and Topaz Gigapixel AI.

So I actually prefer the HP Spectre design, I'd like a reason to choose that over the Asus, but I would pick the Asus due to the following:

1. 6800HS much higher base frequency of 3.2Ghz is beneficial in sustained workloads, the Zen 3 architecture across all 8 cores gives it a significant advantage in multi threading performance and should also make it a superior CPU for gaming should that apply.

2. The Radeon 680M GPU is dramatically more powerful than the Intel Iris Xe. That gives it much greater gaming potential but can also be beneficial for any image editing tasks that are GPU accelerated.

3. The HP Spectre 360 OLED brightness is regulated by a relatively low PWM frequency of 60hz. Where as the Asus according to Notebookcheck uses DC dimming:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-...ensation-thanks-to-AMD-and-OLED.620511.0.html

The latter as a result should be gentler on your eyes and less likely to lead to eye strain over a long period of use.

 

[edo101]

On the spec's it has 2x USB 4.0 Gen 3 Type-C support display / power delivery. I would expect those to work with Thunderbolt docks.

In terms of battery life, both machines seem very similar in runtimes for web browsing on wifi or even under max load despite the fact the Asus is using a high performance chip and not an ultra lower power CPU.

In regard to your tasks, photo editing tends to be a little biased towards single threaded performance although apps like Photoshop are much more multi-threaded than they used to be. While the Alder Lake architecture is faster at the same clock speed than Zen 3+, the i7 12550U has only 2 performance cores. Where the 6800HS has 8 Zen 3+ cores. I don't know what sort of coding you do, but I've found compiling code can be biased towards single threaded performance as well. However it would be highly dependant on your workload.

For reference, I use my laptop for office apps like Excel, programming in Visual Studio, SQL Server, browsing the internet, Netflix and playing some older and less demanding games. Some occasional photo editing with Photoshop Elements and Topaz Gigapixel AI.

So I actually prefer the HP Spectre design, I'd like a reason to choose that over the Asus, but I would pick the Asus due to the following:

1. 6800HS much higher base frequency of 3.2Ghz is beneficial in sustained workloads, the Zen 3 architecture across all 8 cores gives it a significant advantage in multi threading performance and should also make it a superior CPU for gaming should that apply.

2. The Radeon 680M GPU is dramatically more powerful than the Intel Iris Xe. That gives it much greater gaming potential but can also be beneficial for any image editing tasks that are GPU accelerated.

3. The HP Spectre 360 OLED brightness is regulated by a relatively low PWM frequency of 60hz. Where as the Asus according to Notebookcheck uses DC dimming:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-...ensation-thanks-to-AMD-and-OLED.620511.0.html

The latter as a result should be gentler on your eyes and less likely to lead to eye strain over a long period of use.

Thank you for that write up. I am in the same use case as you. Code I compile are mostly console based apps on C# but I will be getting into web development soon.

Design wise I definitely lean towards HP as well but it is hard to resist the fact that I get overall the same battery performance for a more powerful iGPU and overall more powerful cores. @Nighthawk117

 

[Nighthawk117]

Thank you for that write up. I am in the same use case as you. Code I compile are mostly console based apps on C# but I will be getting into web development soon.

Design wise I definitely lean towards HP as well but it is hard to resist the fact that I get overall the same battery performance for a more powerful iGPU and overall more powerful cores. @Nighthawk117

My biggest concern with the HP is the PWM frequency and whether that is likely to cause eye strain or not because it's very dependant on the individual. In terms of the laptops themselves, the reality is both are more than up to the job of your stated use case and should last for many years. The Iris XE GPU is also a big improvement over previous Intel graphics so older triple A titles are playable with reasonable performance.

If it were the case you really want the HP but are struggling to justify it then I wouldn't over complicate it, buying the one you happen to prefer is a perfectly legitimate criteria. It's only the above that I'd really be concerned over, but I don't have any laptops with OLED screens so it's not something I've experienced.

Actually, LaptopMedia's review say's PWM was only really an issue up to 100 nits of brightness which is actually not that high:
https://laptopmedia.com/gb/review/hp-spectre-x360-14-14-ef0000/#health-impact-8211-pwm-blue-light
That's much more reassuring, so again I'd really just buy the machine you prefer. I would be very surprised if you weren't happy with an HP Spectre given they are their flagship machines.

 

[edo101]

My biggest concern with the HP is the PWM frequency and whether that is likely to cause eye strain or not because it's very dependant on the individual. In terms of the laptops themselves, the reality is both are more than up to the job of your stated use case and should last for many years. The Iris XE GPU is also a big improvement over previous Intel graphics so older triple A titles are playable with reasonable performance.

If it were the case you really want the HP but are struggling to justify it then I wouldn't over complicate it, buying the one you happen to prefer is a perfectly legitimate criteria. It's only the above that I'd really be concerned over, but I don't have any laptops with OLED screens so it's not something I've experienced.

Actually, LaptopMedia's review say's PWM was only really an issue up to 100 nits of brightness which is actually not that high:
https://laptopmedia.com/gb/review/hp-spectre-x360-14-14-ef0000/#health-impact-8211-pwm-blue-light
That's much more reassuring, so again I'd really just buy the machine you prefer. I would be very surprised if you weren't happy with an HP Spectre given they are their flagship machines.

Yeah I like the make of the HP much better than the Asus. But the Asus for more overal performance seems to last just as long. I'll be keeping the Asus and returning the HP if HP will allow me. I will have to eat a 15% restocking fee though

 

[Nighthawk117]

Yeah I like the make of the HP much better than the Asus. But the Asus for more overal performance seems to last just as long. I'll be keeping the Asus and returning the HP if HP will allow me. I will have to eat a 15% restocking fee though

That's interesting after trying both of them your happy with the Asus. 15% is quite a lot but it is nice to try them and you'll likely end up using it for a long time.

May I ask how you found the build quality of the Asus relative to the HP?

 

[edo101]

That's interesting after trying both of them your happy with the Asus. 15% is quite a lot but it is nice to try them and you'll likely end up using it for a long time.

May I ask how you found the build quality of the Asus relative to the HP?

The Asus has a solid build quality. I just prefer the ratio of the HP. I also think long term wise, the HP will be more... "chip resistant" Meaning that due to the coating of the Asus, I can see paint chips here and there on the edges where the laptop brushes against other surfaces. I can see the coating peel off already in small spots around the edges of the Asus. The HP doesn't have this issue. Hp's issue is that it's easy to see smears since the color of mine is siilver/white.

I don intend to keep the Asus for sure despite the 15% stocking fee for HP. The Asus just does everything I could ask for. THe keyboard actually has dedicated Home and End for programming and insert and other buttons that you won't find on the streamlined HP. And that's without mentioning the much better Radeon iGPu that so far has done well with all the older games I've thrown at it. I didn't realize how much i'd enjoy being able to play some of my favorite games on the go when I am trying to waste time. The Intel HP is slower and textures do load slower on it.

 

[Nighthawk117]

The Asus has a solid build quality. I just prefer the ratio of the HP. I also think long term wise, the HP will be more... "chip resistant" Meaning that due to the coating of the Asus, I can see paint chips here and there on the edges where the laptop brushes against other surfaces. I can see the coating peel off already in small spots around the edges of the Asus. The HP doesn't have this issue. Hp's issue is that it's easy to see smears since the color of mine is siilver/white.

This does seem a bit of a step up for the Zenbook, I note it seems to have an internal magnesium frame which is nice to see. It's interesting what you say about the coating, I never even thought about it.

And that's without mentioning the much better Radeon iGPu that so far has done well with all the older games I've thrown at it. I didn't realize how much i'd enjoy being able to play some of my favorite games on the go when I am trying to waste time. The Intel HP is slower and textures do load slower on it.

That's really why I prefer the Asus, if you do want to play the odd game the 680M completely transforms what it can do. If your willing to play at 720p, which I find acceptable on a 14" laptop, you can pretty much run most modern games with reasonable quality. Plenty of older ones will run fine at 1080p.

 

[edo101]

This does seem a bit of a step up for the Zenbook, I note it seems to have an internal magnesium frame which is nice to see. It's interesting what you say about the coating, I never even thought about it.


That's really why I prefer the Asus, if you do want to play the odd game the 680M completely transforms what it can do. If your willing to play at 720p, which I find acceptable on a 14" laptop, you can pretty much run most modern games with reasonable quality. Plenty of older ones will run fine at 1080p.

Yeah the Asus has a nice build quality and solid frame and hinge. Also the more I type on it, the more I love the keyboard over the HP's . I can actually play a bunch of older games on 1800p. I am playing Halo 3 MCC with high settings and getting around 45 to 50 fps. I absolutely love this laptop now the more I use it. Just need to figure out how to maximize the battery life. It also hits higher peak brightness which is good for using it outside and the My Asus Bloatware actually has useful things that can help manage the OLED screen to prevent burn in

 

[Nighthawk117]

Yeah the Asus has a nice build quality and solid frame and hinge. Also the more I type on it, the more I love the keyboard over the HP's . I can actually play a bunch of older games on 1800p. I am playing Halo 3 MCC with high settings and getting around 45 to 50 fps. I absolutely love this laptop now the more I use it. Just need to figure out how to maximize the battery life. It also hits higher peak brightness which is good for using it outside and the My Asus Bloatware actually has useful things that can help manage the OLED screen to prevent burn in

Do you mean 1800p or 1080p? For battery life I would try changing the battery slider to best battery life, I find that helps quite a lot on my laptop. Yes I've noticed that about the Asus laptops, they have things like Pixel Shift and stuff like that which is useful for maintaining the OLED.

 

[edo101]

Do you mean 1800p or 1080p? For battery life I would try changing the battery slider to best battery life, I find that helps quite a lot on my laptop. Yes I've noticed that about the Asus laptops, they have things like Pixel Shift and stuff like that which is useful for maintaining the OLED.

No I mean 1800p. The resolution of the latop is 2880 x 1800. I like to stick to native resolutions in games and lower the graphics settings. But I haven't had to lower anything for my older games. These include Bioshock 2, 1, Starcraft 2, Halo MCC to name a few. They all run on either max or high settings at 2800x1800. And yeah it has pixel shift and this dimming thing it can do to help elongate battery and minimize burn in

 

[Nighthawk117]

No I mean 1800p. The resolution of the latop is 2880 x 1800. I like to stick to native resolutions in games and lower the graphics settings. But I haven't had to lower anything for my older games. These include Bioshock 2, 1, Starcraft 2, Halo MCC to name a few. They all run on either max or high settings at 2800x1800. And yeah it has pixel shift and this dimming thing it can do to help elongate battery and minimize burn in

I was going to say, Halo MCC should run with ease at 1080p. That seems like a good result then, bet Halo looks good on an OLED panel. I play Reach quite a lot on my laptop.

 

[edo101]

I was going to say, Halo MCC should run with ease at 1080p. That seems like a good result then, bet Halo looks good on an OLED panel. I play Reach quite a lot on my laptop.

It looks really good especially at the resolution and screen size. It's hard to go back to non OLED panels now. I tested out a Surface Studio and within 5 mins knew I couldn't use it. I've switched to OLED for everything now including my monitor and tv.

Do you mean 1800p or 1080p? For battery life I would try changing the battery slider to best battery life

Do you mean this:

 

[edo101]

@Nighthawk117 ^

 

[Nighthawk117]

It looks really good especially at the resolution and screen size. It's hard to go back to non OLED panels now. I tested out a Surface Studio and within 5 mins knew I couldn't use it. I've switched to OLED for everything now including my monitor and tv.


Do you mean this:

Thought I'd already replied, yes that's the one. Slightly different place than on Windows 10 but apparently does the same thing.