AMD Ryzen 5 220 vs Intel Core Ultra 5 135U Comparison

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135U and AMD Ryzen 5 220 are both active mobile processors, but the benchmark data reveals two very different design philosophies. The Intel chip, a 12-core Meteor Lake part, wins across 4 of the 17 head-to-head tests, while the AMD Ryzen 5 220, a 6-core Zen 4 Hawk Point part, dominates the remaining 13. The data suggests a clear split between older, shorter-duration workloads where Intel holds a narrow edge, and sustained, modern multi-threaded tasks where AMD’s newer architecture pulls decisively ahead. This is not a close contest in aggregate; it is a case of specific legacy strengths versus broad modern superiority.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135U’s victories are concentrated in specific, older Cinebench R15 tests and two Passmark subtests. In Cinebench R15 multicore, the Intel chip scores 1634 against the AMD’s 1562, a 4.6% advantage. It repeats this in R15 single-core with a 228 to 220 win, a 3.6% margin. This pattern suggests that in the R15 workload, Intel’s hybrid architecture—likely leveraging its higher core count—manages to outperform the newer Zen 4 design. The other Intel wins come in Passmark’s floating-point math and physics tests. The floating-point score of 41232 is 16.1% higher than AMD’s 35500, and the physics score of 1122 is 14.1% higher than AMD’s 983. These are substantial margins, indicating that for specific computational tasks involving floating-point operations or physics simulations, the Intel part is clearly the better choice.

The AMD Ryzen 5 220, conversely, wins nearly everywhere else, and its victories are often far more decisive. The most dramatic example is Cinebench R23 multicore, where AMD scores 15502 against Intel’s 9315—a massive 39.9% lead. This is not a marginal improvement; it is a generational leap in sustained multi-threaded performance. AMD also wins in Cinebench R23 single-core by 28.6% (2188 vs 1563) and in R20 multicore and single-core by 8.8% each (6510 vs 5934 and 918 vs 837, respectively). Beyond Cinebench, the AMD chip wins in Passmark’s data compression (212739 vs 196712, a 7.5% lead), extended instructions (15512 vs 11144, a 28.2% lead), random string sorting (25433 vs 21620, a 15% lead), and single-thread performance (3646 vs 3343, an 8.3% lead). The data indicates AMD’s wins are not just more numerous but also larger in magnitude, particularly in modern rendering and compute-heavy workloads.

The Verdict

For users whose primary workloads are older Cinebench R15 benchmarks or specific scientific computing tasks involving floating-point math and physics, the Intel Core Ultra 5 135U is the data-backed choice. Its 16.1% lead in floating-point math and 14.1% lead in physics are significant enough to matter in those niche applications. However, this is a narrow window of advantage.

For virtually every other scenario, the AMD Ryzen 5 220 is the superior processor. The 39.9% lead in Cinebench R23 multicore is the single most important metric here, as it represents the modern standard for multi-threaded rendering and content creation. The 28.6% lead in R23 single-core also shows that AMD is faster even in lightly-threaded tasks that rely on a single core’s maximum speed. The consistent wins across Passmark’s integer math, data encryption, and multithread tests reinforce this picture. The data shows the AMD Ryzen 5 220 is the faster, more capable processor for the vast majority of computing tasks, despite having half the core count of the Intel part.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most revealing benchmark is Cinebench R23 multicore, where the AMD Ryzen 5 220 scores 15502 versus the Intel Core Ultra 5 135U’s 9315. The 39.9% delta is the largest of any test and highlights that AMD’s six Zen 4 cores are vastly more efficient at sustained multi-threaded work than Intel’s twelve Meteor Lake cores. This is not a small difference; it is the difference between a chip that feels fast in short bursts and one that sustains heavy loads without compromise.

The second-largest win for AMD is in Cinebench R23 single-core, with a 28.6% lead (2188 vs 1563). This shows that even when the workload is not parallelized, the AMD chip’s higher boost clock of 4.90 GHz and more efficient Zen 4 architecture provide a substantial advantage over Intel’s 4.40 GHz boost. The Passmark extended instructions test also shows a 28.2% lead for AMD (15512 vs 11144), indicating that the AMD chip is significantly better at handling newer, complex instruction sets.

On the Intel side, the wins are smaller but not trivial. The 16.1% lead in floating-point math (41232 vs 35500) is notable, and the 14.1% lead in physics (1122 vs 983) suggests that the Intel chip’s different core configuration handles some specific algorithms more effectively. The Cinebench R15 wins (4.6% and 3.6%) are curious, as they show Intel winning in an older benchmark version while losing decisively in the newer R23 versions. This suggests that the Intel architecture might be optimized for the older, shorter test, or that the AMD chip’s performance advantage scales with the increased duration and complexity of the R23 workload. The data clearly shows that as the benchmark becomes more demanding and modern, the AMD Ryzen 5 220 pulls further ahead.

FAQ

Q: Which processor is better for multi-core rendering?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 220 is significantly better, with a 39.9% higher score in Cinebench R23 multicore (15502 vs 9315).

Q: Does the Intel chip have any advantages in single-threaded performance?

A: No. The AMD Ryzen 5 220 wins in Cinebench R23 single-core by 28.6% (2188 vs 1563) and in Passmark single-thread by 8.3% (3646 vs 3343).

Q: What are the only areas where the Intel Core Ultra 5 135U wins?

A: It wins in Cinebench R15 multicore and single-core, plus Passmark floating-point math and physics tests, with leads of 4.6%, 3.6%, 16.1%, and 14.1%, respectively.

Q: How does the core count difference affect the results?

A: The Intel chip has 12 cores and 14 threads, while the AMD chip has 6 cores and 12 threads. Despite having double the cores, the Intel chip loses in most multi-threaded tests, indicating the AMD chip’s cores are much more powerful individually.

Q: Which chip has a higher boost clock?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 220 has a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, while the Intel Core Ultra 5 135U has a boost clock of 4.40 GHz.

Q: Is there a significant difference in their overall benchmark averages?

A: The Intel chip has an average benchmark score of 22618, while the AMD chip has an average of 22289. The Intel chip ranks at the 76th percentile, while the AMD chip ranks at the 75th percentile.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two chips is stark. The Intel Core Ultra 5 135U is built on a 7 nm process by Intel and uses the Meteor Lake architecture, which is a hybrid design with 12 cores. The AMD Ryzen 5 220 is fabricated by TSMC on a 4 nm process and uses the Zen 4 architecture, which is a monolithic design with 6 cores. The AMD chip contains 20,900 million transistors on a 137 mm² die, while the Intel chip’s transistor count and die size are not provided in the data.

The cache configurations also differ significantly. The Intel chip has an L1 cache of 112 KB per core, an L2 cache of 2 MB per core, and a shared L3 cache of 12 MB. The AMD chip has a smaller L1 cache of 64 KB per core and an L2 cache of 1 MB per core, but it compensates with a larger shared L3 cache of 16 MB. This larger L3 cache on the AMD chip likely contributes to its better performance in data-heavy workloads like the Passmark data compression test, where it leads by 7.5%.

The integrated graphics differ as well, with the Intel chip featuring Arc Xe-LPG 64EU graphics and the AMD chip featuring a Radeon 740M. Both chips support dual-channel DDR5 memory with a memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s, and neither supports ECC memory. The Intel chip has a PCIe Gen 4 connection with 12 lanes (CPU only), while the AMD chip has 14 lanes. These architectural differences explain why the AMD chip, despite fewer cores, delivers such superior performance in modern benchmarks—the combination of a more advanced 4 nm process, newer Zen 4 architecture, and larger L3 cache outweighs Intel’s core count advantage.

Specification Differences

The two processors differ across nearly every core specification category. The Intel Core Ultra 5 135U has 12 cores and 14 threads, while the AMD Ryzen 5 220 has 6 cores and 12 threads. The Intel chip’s base clock is 1600.00 MHz, which is lower than the AMD chip’s 3200.00 MHz base clock. The boost clocks also differ, with Intel reaching 4.40 GHz and AMD reaching 4.90 GHz. The AMD chip has a higher TDP of 28 W, compared to the Intel chip’s 15 W, which is consistent with its higher performance output.

The socket types are incompatible: the Intel chip uses Intel BGA 2049, while the AMD chip uses AMD Socket FP8. The process nodes differ, with Intel on 7 nm and AMD on 4 nm. The memory support is listed as “DDR5 Depends on motherboard” for the Intel chip, while the AMD chip simply lists “DDR5.” The PCIe lanes also differ slightly, with Intel offering 12 lanes and AMD offering 14 lanes. The integrated graphics are different, with Intel’s Arc Xe-LPG 64EU versus AMD’s Radeon 740M. The release dates are significantly different, with Intel launching on 2023-12-13 and AMD on 2025-01-05. The Intel chip has a launch MSRP of $332, while the AMD chip has no launch MSRP listed. The Intel chip’s part number is SRN6C, and the AMD chip’s is 100-000001611.