Intel Core i5-11400H Review: Mainstream Ryzen Challenger

[Scorpus]

The Core i5-11400H mobile CPU comes as a direct competitor to AMD's Ryzen 5 5600H, which means it's used across many mainstream, affordable laptops usually offered as the entry-level option in many popular laptop series.

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/review/2306-intel-core-i5-11400h/

Laptops Used for Testing:

• XMG Core 17 2021
• MSI GE76 Raider 11900HK
• Lenovo Legion 5 15ACH6H
• Asus TUF Dash F15
• Asus ZenBook 13 OLED
• Gigabyte Aorus 15G
• Gigabyte Aorus 15P
• XMG Apex 17 2021
• Asus ROG Flow X13
• Gigabyte Aorus 17X
• MSI Stealth 15M
• Schenker Via 14
• XMG Core 14
• Intel NUC M15
• Dell Inspiron 14 7000
• Tuxedo Aura 15
• HP Probook x360 435 G7
• Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7
• Lenovo ThinkPad T14
• HP Envy x360 (4500U)
• Lenovo IdeaPad 14
• Acer Swift 3 14 Ice Lake
• Razer Blade 15 Base
• MSI GE66 Raider 10SGS
• Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV
• MSI GL65 Leopard 10SEK
• MSI GS66 Stealth 10SE
• Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IU
• Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506II
• Gigabyte Aorus 15G XB
• Asus Zephyrus G14 GA401IV
• Asus ZenBook Pro Duo UX481FL
• Razer Blade Stealth 2019
• MSI Prestige 14 A10SC
• Gigabyte Aorus 15
• MSI GE75 Raider 9SF
• Razer Blade Pro 17
• Asus ROG Strix Scar III G531G
• Gigabyte Aorus 15 XA
• Acer Predator Helios 300 (9750H)
• Asus ZenBook UM433D

 

[paul1122]

I was sitting on the edge of my seat, hoping you'd figure out a way for Intel to win this one. Thanks.

 

[Irata]

I am curious - what‘s the 11400H‘s PL2 TDP and duration. Afaik it can be over 100W for 8C models but it would be interesting to know what it‘s for the 6C 11400H vs Ryzen 5600H as this should be interesting for short / bursty work loads.

Battery life would also have been useful for a laptop CPU review.

It‘s also interesting to see that PCIe 4 and additional lanes matter much more for laptops than for desktop systems as we went from

The only weakness on Intel's platform is the lack of PCIe 4.0 support, but not everyone is planning to take advantage of that right away.

(and no mention of the PCIe lane deficit) or CPU provided high speed USB ports or PCIe 4 chipset connection in the Ryzen 5800x review

to

I feel the Core i5-11400H has the better platform and set of features. Intel offers 20 lanes of PCIe 4.0, while AMD is stuck on PCIe 3.0, a minor consideration though it might have some implications for storage performance,

Speaking of chipsets - the need for one vs no need might also have been worth a mention.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

For the most part, when I buy new CPU, I prefer the Intel product.

My Asus Tuf laptop has a 5800h and so far so good.

But my next Desktop will be DDR5 with an Intel 13th Generation.

 

[Gayanath]

My Asus TUF F15 laptop has core i5 - 11400H processor and RTX3050 GPU. It is very fast and it has smooth performance for gaming. I highly recommend Intel core i5 - 11400H CPU. It's perfect CPU.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Well, I came to this article because Intel's Xe GPU was mentioned but then Tim didn't do any gaming/graphics benchmarks using just the IGPs so we've learnt nothing about how good (or more likely, how bad) the Xe IGP is in this APU.

It's not like it would be hard to do because all that's needed is to go into the Windows Device Manager, disable the discrete GPU and run the tests again.

 

[madboyv1]

Well, I came to this article because Intel's Xe GPU was mentioned but then Tim didn't do any gaming/graphics benchmarks using just the IGPs so we've learnt nothing about how good (or more likely, how bad) the Xe IGP is in this APU.

It's not like it would be hard to do because all that's needed is to go into the Windows Device Manager, disable the discrete GPU and run the tests again.

Considering this paragraph of the the review:

What Intel has left out of this chart are exact GPU specifications. You’ll see here that it’s listed as having UHD Graphics with the same clock speeds as other processors, but what Intel isn't telling you is that the Core i5 model has just 16 execution units in its Xe GPU, compared to 32 on higher tier models. This means the 11400H requires a discrete GPU to get adequate graphics performance.

I'm okay with them leaving out any iGPU tests. The 32 eu version of the current Xe iGPU leaves just about every modern game wanting for extra juice as it stands, so you can imagine what halving the execution units will do to gaming performance.

Here's NBC's page for the 32eu version. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-UHD-Graphics-Xe-750-32EUs-GPU-Benchmarks-and-Specs.527298.0.html

 

[Avro Arrow]

Considering this paragraph of the the review:

I'm okay with them leaving out any iGPU tests. The 32 eu version of the current Xe iGPU leaves just about every modern game wanting for extra juice as it stands, so you can imagine what halving the execution units will do to gaming performance.

Here's NBC's page for the 32eu version. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-UHD-Graphics-Xe-750-32EUs-GPU-Benchmarks-and-Specs.527298.0.html

Thanks for the link. Yeah, I realise that it's going to be bad, all Intel IGPs have been bad but I was just curious as to HOW bad. I was curious as to how much of an improvement the Xe is over the HD series.

 

[madboyv1]

Well, if I remember correctly when Xe first came out as an IGP with most/all EUs included, it was a strong showing all things considered. Something like 2-4x better performance in synthetic tests, 50-100% better performance in games, though the bar was so low you'd still hardly be able to call that playable in many cases, and often still set to the most bare bones of graphical settings at 720p. I say this without any support, just a very hazy memory.

It was still something to be excited about for me however, since I generally play older games anyways. XD

 

[Avro Arrow]

Well, if I remember correctly when Xe first came out as an IGP with most/all EUs included, it was a strong showing all things considered. Something like 2-4x better performance in synthetic tests, 50-100% better performance in games, though the bar was so low you'd still hardly be able to call that playable in many cases, and often still set to the most bare bones of graphical settings at 720p. I say this without any support, just a very hazy memory.

It was still something to be excited about for me however, since I generally play older games anyways. XD

Exactly. I wanted to see how far they've come. Now, having said that, I know that nobody in their right mind would choose the Intel APU over the AMD APU. I mean, let's face it, there's not a chance that Xe is going to be anywhere near as good as Radeon but I was curious as to what their progress was.

 

[Tantor]

Very thorough article. They let the cat out of the bag.

"...the 5600H is far superior at lower power ranges, such as when the TDP is configured down to 35W."

"The 11400H’s iGPU is weak, as bad as 10th-gen H-series parts and less than half as fast as the 5600H’s iGPU."

"Pricing is another consideration, where generally Intel systems are more expensive than AMD...in our observations we saw a 5 to 10% higher prices to go Intel in otherwise equivalent builds."

Summary: The 11400H is a power hog, its iGPU is less than half as fast, and it costs 5-10% more. It only makes sense in 45w laptops with discrete graphics. Even there it's gonna cost you a lot more.

 

[Makste]

Very thorough article. They let the cat out of the bag.

"...the 5600H is far superior at lower power ranges, such as when the TDP is configured down to 35W."

"The 11400H’s iGPU is weak, as bad as 10th-gen H-series parts and less than half as fast as the 5600H’s iGPU."

"Pricing is another consideration, where generally Intel systems are more expensive than AMD...in our observations we saw a 5 to 10% higher prices to go Intel in otherwise equivalent builds."

Summary: The 11400H is a power hog, its iGPU is less than half as fast, and it costs 5-10% more. It only makes sense in 45w laptops with discrete graphics. Even there it's gonna cost you a lot more.

Except that both the 5600H and the 11400H have a score of 90.