AMD cheats benchmark score comparison with Intel

AMD is currently clearly ahead with the X3D desktop CPUs. Now the company has also tested its Ryzen AI 300 series processors for mobile devices against Intel’s competitor Lunar Lake. The results are clear… thanks to a ‘trick’.

AMD CPUs have recently been successful in desktop gaming

AMD recently achieved great success with the new Ryzen 7 9800X3D. The processor was so popular that it sold out worldwide within a few hours. It clearly leaves the new Ultra Core 9 285K from competitor Intel in the gaming area behind. Because Team Blue focuses more on efficiency and (gaming) performance with its new chips.

Comparison of laptop processors

But what about CPUs for mobile devices such as laptops? Intel was actually able to deliver convincing numbers here with Lunar Lake. Now, however, AMD has its very own Benchmark tests conducted to show who can take the gaming crown.

The Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 with integrated AMD Radeon 890M graphics was compared with the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V with Arc 140V graphics in several games at a resolution of 1080p and medium graphics settings. According to AMD, the results are quite clear. The Ryzen is said to be a whopping 75 percent faster on average than the Core Ultra. However, this number is not based on a robust comparison of the processors.

Software makes the difference

The HX 370 was able to achieve significantly higher refresh rates than the 258V in the tested games such as Ghost of Tsushima, Far Cry 6 or Cyberpunk 2077, but only when using FSR 3 and Hyper-RX, AMD’s software acceleration. The technologies generate additional frames and improve the image.

In games that do not support FSR 3, driver-based AFMF 2 imaging is used instead. Meanwhile, Intel’s technology called XeSS does not offer a function for generating additional images. So the comparison is flawed. However, if you look at the native performance of the two processors – i.e. the number of FPS achieved without software acceleration – the HX 370 and the 258V are equal in most cases. In some games such as Spiderman Remastered or Hitman 3, the Intel chip is even significantly ahead.

The whole package counts

Of course, most users will make use of AMD’s software acceleration whenever possible to maintain the additional FPS it generates. The comparison with applied software acceleration therefore probably corresponds most closely to the actual experience that gamers will have when playing with the processors. Nevertheless, the statement that the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is on average 75 percent faster in games than the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V is at least somewhat misleading.