While the AMD Zen 2 architecture was unveiled at CES 2020, the top lineup of Ryzen 9 H processors have been left out of the initial announcement and only officially launched as of mid-March 2020.
That includes the standard 45W variant dubbed Ryzen 9 4900H, as well as a more efficient 35W Ryzen 9 4900HS bin of the same processor, meant to deliver “almost” the same kind of performance, but within a more efficient power envelope.
We’re not going to discuss real benchmark results in this article, but we’ll link to our detailed results once we’ve finalized the tests.
Instead, we’ll tell you what to expect from the Ryzen 9 APUs and how they differ from the existing Ryzen 7 4800H/4800HS mid-range variants, as well as compile a detailed list of all the available Ryzen 9 4900H/4900HS laptops that you’ll find in stores in the months to come.
So first off, here’s a quick specs sheet of the Zen 2 Ryzen H 7 and 9 processors:
| Ryzen 9 4900H |
Ryzen 9 4900HS | Ryzen 7 4800H | Ryzen 7 4800HS | |
| Build process | 7 nm | 7 nm | 7 nm | 7 nm |
| Generation | Zen 2 | Zen 2 | Zen 2 | Zen 2 |
| TDP | 45 W | 35 W | 45 W | 35 W |
| Cores/Threads | 8/16 | 8/16 | 8/16 | 8/16 |
| CPU Base Frequency | 3.3 GHz | 3.0 GHz | 2.9 GHz | 2.9 GHz |
| CPU Max Turbo | 4.4 GHz | 4.3 GHz | 4.2 GHz | 4.2 GHz |
| L3 Cache | 8 MB | 8 MB | 8 MB | 8 MB |
| Memory Type |
DDR4 3200 MHz, LPDDR4X 4266 MHz |
DDR4 3200 MHz, LPDDR4X 4266 MHz |
DDR4 3200 MHz, LPDDR4X 4266 MHz |
DDR4 3200 MHz, LPDDR4X 4266 MHz |
| Graphics | Radeon Vega, 8 CUs | Radeon Vega, 8 CUs | Radeon Vega, 7 CUs | Radeon Vega, 7 CUs |
| Graphics Speed | up to 1750 MHz | up to 1750 MHz | up to 1600 MHz | up to 1600 MHz |
| Processing Power | 1.79 TFLOPs | 1.79 TFLOPs | 1.43 TFLOPs | 1.43 TFLOPs |
In very few words, Ryzen 9 APUs are very similar to their Ryzen 7 counterparts, with a few small differences:
- slightly higher Base and Turbo clock counts;
- improve Radeon Vega graphics, with +1 CU, +150 Mhz frequency and +20% processing power.
The number of cores and threads, Cache, memory support or PCIe lanes are identical between the two, as well as the slew of optimizations and improvements the Zen 2 platform offers over the previous Zen 3000 lineup.
That being said, Ryzen 9 APUs might not seem like much of an upgrade over the Ryzen 7 models, especially since the GPU part shouldn’t weigh much in this case, as pretty much all Ryzen 9 configurations will include a dedicated dGPU that will negate the iGPU’s impact in demanding graphics loads.
However, there are a few other aspects to consider here. First off, there’s a good chance Ryzen 9 platforms will be implemented into higher-tier products, where Ryzen 7 configurations might not be offered. Then, OEMs will most likely offer variable power profiles for these APUs and allow them to run at higher TDPs when needed, thus return improved performance, and we might see better optimization on those higher-tier higher-margin Ryzen 9 configurations. Furthermore, pricing is going to be important: a big gap between 4800H and 4900H configurations will make the latter a hard-sell, but a smaller increase and customers will favor the 9s just to get the higher-tier product and gladly pay a small premium for it.
Anyway, we’ll know more about the real value-increase of these Ryzen 9 4900H and 4900HS APUs once SKUs are launched and we get to test a few of them. They’ve been announced for Q2 2020 from multiple OEMs including Asus, Dell, Acer or Lenovo, so you’ll have to wait, especially with the current delays caused by the COVID-2019 outbreak. For what is worth, though, AMD’s marketing materials claim solid productivity and gaming results for the Zephyrus G14 in the Ryzen 9 4900 HS + RTX 2060 65W (Max-Q) configuration, as illustrated below, but these are AMD’s test results and should be taken with a grain of salt until they’re verified by our tests (and other reputable 3rd party reviewers).
For now, here are the lists of rumored or announced Ryzen 9 4900HS and Ryzen 9 4900H notebooks. This is a work in progress and we’re constantly updating it with new entries as they are launched, so if you spot something that should be in here and is not, please tell us about it in the comments sections at the end of the post.
Portable laptops with Ryzen 9 4900HS 35W APU
This section is reserved for the lightweight and portable products built on the more efficient 35W Ryzen 9 4900HS implementation.
| Model | Screen | Hardware | Graphics | TB3 | Weight |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 GA401IV | 14-inch FHD IPS 120 Hz / WQHD IPS 60 Hz matte | up to Ryzen 9 4900HS / max 24 GB DDR4 RAM | up to RTX 2060 Max-Q (65W) | No | 3.55 lbs / 1.6 kg |
| detailed review here, early preview here, new 2020 model; portable and lightweight, magnesium build; single-zone white backlit keyboard; several screen options, including FHD IPS 120 Hz or WQHD IPS 60 Hz panels; 1x memory slot(8 GB RAM soldered), single M.2 NVME storage slot; configurations with Ryzen 5 and 7/ GTX 1660Ti 65W GPU also available; 76 Wh battery, 180W charger, USB-C charging also supported | |||||
| Price: $1699 | |||||
Full-size laptops with Ryzen 9 4900H 45W APU
This section includes the full-size notebooks built on the 45W Ryzen 9 4900H hardware platform.
| Model | Screen | Hardware | Graphics | TB3 | Weight |
| Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506 | 15.6-inch FHD IPS 60Hz/144 Hz matte | up to Ryzen 9 4900H / max 32 GB DDR4 RAM | up to RTX 2060 (90W ??) | No | 4.96 lbs / 2.25 kg |
| detailed review of different configuration here, early review here, new 2020 model; single-zone RGB backlit keyboard; multiple configurations available, starting from Ryzen 5 4600H/GTX 1650; 2x memory slots, 2x M.2 PCIe x2 storage slots + optional 2.5″ bay on small-battery configurations; 48 or 90 Wh battery | |||||
| Price: TBA | |||||
| Asus TUF Gaming A17 FA706 | 17.3-inch FHD IPS 60Hz/120 Hz matte | up to Ryzen 9 4900H / max 32 GB DDR4 RAM | up to RTX 2060 (90W ??) | No | 5.4 lbs / 2.45 kg |
| early review here, 17-inch variant on the TUF A15 above | |||||
| Price: TBA | |||||
Please keep in mind that these are early listings, some of them based on rumors and leaks, thus errors might slip in despite our best effort to keep things accurate and updated.
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