AMD Athlon PRO 3045B vs Intel Core i7-4500U Comparison

The Intel Core i7-4500U and AMD Athlon PRO 3045B are both 15 W mobile processors aimed at thin-and-light laptops, yet the benchmark data reveals they have sharply contrasting personalities. The AMD part dominates the Cinebench suite, winning all five tests by roughly 10%, while the Intel part decisively wins both Geekbench tests, including a commanding 21.4% multicore victory. This split suggests that the two chips are tuned for different types of workloads, and the data offers a fascinating case study in how architectural priorities shape real-world performance.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking pattern in the head-to-head results is the complete reversal of fortunes between the Cinebench and Geekbench tests. The AMD Athlon PRO 3045B wins every Cinebench iteration, with the margins staying remarkably consistent. In Cinebench R15 multicore, the AMD scores 237 against Intel’s 212, a 10.5% advantage. That edge tightens slightly to 10.2% in Cinebench R20 multicore (988 vs 887) and widens again to 10.2% in Cinebench R23 multicore (2354 vs 2113). The single-core Cinebench results follow the same script: AMD leads by 10.1% in R20 (139 vs 125) and 10.2% in R23 (332 vs 298). The consistency of these margins across different Cinebench versions strongly suggests a fundamental throughput advantage in the AMD’s architecture for rendering-style workloads.

The Intel Core i7-4500U, however, flips the script entirely in Geekbench. In Geekbench multicore, Intel scores 1562 against AMD’s 1287, a massive 21.4% lead. The single-core gap is smaller but still decisive: Intel wins 818 to 766, a 6.8% advantage. This is a curious divergence. Cinebench is heavily dependent on raw compute and memory bandwidth, while Geekbench’s mixed workload includes memory latency, integer operations, and other tasks that can favor different design choices. The data implies that Intel’s Haswell architecture has a hidden strength in certain integer and latency-sensitive paths, while AMD’s Zen core excels at sustained floating-point or vectorized work.

The overall win count reinforces the split: AMD takes 5 of 7 head-to-head tests, Intel takes 2. Yet looking purely at the average benchmark scores, the two are nearly inseparable. AMD’s average is 872, Intel’s is 859, a difference of only 1.5%. Both sit at the 23rd percentile of all CPUs, meaning they occupy the same tier in the broader market. The head-to-head deltas, however, show that “equal on average” hides very different behavior under specific loads. The Intel chip’s 21.4% Geekbench multicore win is larger than any single AMD victory, which indicates Intel’s wins are more lopsided where they occur.

Architecture Differences

The two processors come from vastly different design philosophies, separated by five years of silicon evolution. The Intel Core i7-4500U uses the Haswell architecture on a 22 nm process, built by Intel with 1,300 million transistors on a 118 mm² die. The AMD Athlon PRO 3045B uses the Zen architecture (codenamed Dali) on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, packing 3,500 million transistors into a 148 mm² die. AMD has more than double the transistor count and a larger die, which reflects the more complex Zen core design.

Both chips have 2 cores and 4 threads, so thread count is identical. The cache layouts, however, tell a different story. Intel provides 64 KB of L1 per core and 256 KB of L2 per core, while AMD offers 96 KB L1 and 512 KB L2 per core. The L3 cache is the same on paper — 4 MB shared on both — but the larger per-core L1 and L2 on the AMD likely contribute to its Cinebench dominance, as rendering workloads often benefit from larger on-chip data storage. The base clocks also differ: Intel runs at 1800 MHz with a 3.00 GHz boost, while AMD starts at 2.30 GHz and boosts to 3.20 GHz. AMD’s higher clocks across the board help explain its consistent Cinebench wins.

Memory support is a major differentiator. Intel supports DDR3, while AMD supports DDR4 with a dual-channel bus and a stated memory bandwidth of 38.4 GB/s. The Intel chip has no published memory bandwidth figure in the data, but DDR4’s higher bandwidth is a likely factor in AMD’s multicore performance. AMD also supports ECC memory, a feature Intel lacks. On the PCIe front, AMD lists Gen 3 with 12 CPU lanes; Intel does not have a listed PCIe specification. Both integrate graphics — Intel HD 4400 on the Intel side, Radeon Vega (2CU) on the AMD side — but no benchmark data exists here to compare them.

FAQ

Q: Why does the AMD Athlon PRO 3045B win all Cinebench tests but lose Geekbench multicore?

A: The data shows AMD wins Cinebench by approximately 10% across all versions, while Intel wins Geekbench multicore by 21.4%. This likely stems from architectural differences: AMD’s larger L1 (96 KB vs 64 KB) and L2 (512 KB vs 256 KB) caches per core, plus higher base and boost clocks, favor rendering workloads. Intel’s Haswell architecture apparently handles Geekbench’s mixed integer/latency tasks more efficiently, despite lower clock speeds.

Q: Which chip has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Athlon PRO 3045B has an average benchmark score of 872, slightly above the Intel Core i7-4500U’s 859. The difference is only 1.5%, and both processors sit at the 23rd percentile of all CPUs, placing them in the same performance tier overall.

Q: What is the significance of the AMD’s 21.4% Geekbench multicore loss?

A: This is the largest delta in the head-to-head results. Intel scores 1562 to AMD’s 1287, a lead so large that it offsets AMD’s narrower Cinebench margins. It suggests that the Intel chip has a distinct advantage in workloads that resemble Geekbench’s test suite, which includes memory latency and integer operations.

Q: Do both processors have the same number of cores and threads?

A: Yes, both are 2-core, 4-thread parts. This makes the benchmark differences purely a matter of architecture, clock speed, cache size, and memory support rather than core count.

Q: How do the clock speeds compare?

A: AMD runs at 2.30 GHz base and 3.20 GHz boost, while Intel runs at 1.80 GHz base and 3.00 GHz boost. AMD’s higher clocks, combined with its larger caches, explain its consistent 10% lead in Cinebench tests.

Q: Is there a difference in memory technology support?

A: Yes, Intel supports DDR3, while AMD supports DDR4 with dual-channel and 38.4 GB/s bandwidth. AMD also supports ECC memory; Intel does not. The DDR4 support likely contributes to AMD’s multicore performance advantage.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear but nuanced verdict. For users whose primary workloads resemble Cinebench — sustained rendering, video encoding, or other compute-heavy tasks — the AMD Athlon PRO 3045B is the stronger choice, with a consistent 10% edge across all Cinebench iterations. The AMD also offers a higher average benchmark score (872 vs 859) and newer memory technology. However, the Intel Core i7-4500U cannot be dismissed. Its 21.4% Geekbench multicore win and 6.8% single-core win indicate it handles general-purpose computing, web browsing, and office productivity tasks more effectively, likely due to superior latency handling in the Haswell architecture. The two chips are evenly matched in overall percentile (both 23rd), but they are not interchangeable. The AMD wins on raw sustained throughput; the Intel wins on mixed workload responsiveness.

Specification Differences

The two processors differ in nearly every major specification except core count, thread count, TDP, and L3 cache size. The AMD Athlon PRO 3045B has a higher base clock (2.30 GHz vs 1.80 GHz) and boost clock (3.20 GHz vs 3.00 GHz). AMD’s process node is 14 nm versus Intel’s 22 nm, with AMD using GlobalFoundries as the foundry while Intel uses its own fabs. The transistor count is dramatically different: AMD packs 3,500 million transistors into a 148 mm² die, while Intel uses 1,300 million in a 118 mm² die. Cache sizes differ per core, with AMD offering 96 KB L1 and 512 KB L2 versus Intel’s 64 KB L1 and 256 KB L2. Memory support is DDR4 on AMD with dual-channel and 38.4 GB/s bandwidth, versus DDR3 on Intel. AMD supports ECC memory and lists PCIe Gen 3 with 12 lanes; Intel lists neither. AMD uses Socket FP5, Intel uses BGA 1168. AMD’s integrated graphics is Radeon Vega (2CU), Intel’s is HD 4400. AMD’s production status is listed as active, while Intel’s is not specified. Finally, AMD is part of the 3000 series with a Zen (Dali) architecture, while Intel is Haswell-ULT.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Athlon PRO 3045B wins in every Cinebench test — R15 multicore (237 vs 212), R20 multicore (988 vs 887), R20 single-core (139 vs 125), R23 multicore (2354 vs 2113), and R23 single-core (332 vs 298). This makes it the clear choice for 3D rendering, video transcoding, and any workload that scales with sustained compute throughput. Its higher clocks, larger caches, and DDR4 bandwidth give it a structural advantage in these tasks. The Intel Core i7-4500U wins in Geekbench multicore (1562 vs 1287) and Geekbench single-core (818 vs 766). This suggests it is better suited for interactive tasks, application launch times, and general desktop responsiveness where memory latency and single-threaded integer performance matter more than raw throughput. The Intel chip’s 21.4% multicore Geekbench win is particularly notable, implying that its architecture handles parallel integer workloads with unusual efficiency. For a mixed-use laptop that prioritizes everyday snappiness over render speed, the Intel part holds the edge; for a workstation-style mobile machine that crunches numbers, the AMD part is the data-backed winner.