Intel Core 9 273PTE vs Intel Core i9-11980HK Comparison

The Intel Core 9 273PTE and the Intel Core i9-11980HK occupy an interesting position in the database: two 45-watt Intel processors built on the same 10 nm process, separated by roughly five years of design philosophy. The recorded data shows the newer Bartlett Lake desktop part winning 14 of 17 head-to-head benchmarks, yet the older Tiger Lake-H mobile flagship still takes three wins and lands within a single percentile of its successor overall. This comparison is less of a rout than the win count suggests, and the details reward a closer look.

The Verdict

The Intel Core 9 273PTE is the stronger all-around processor in the recorded data. It wins every Cinebench test by a consistent margin of roughly 10 percent, posts a 31.2 percent advantage in floating point math, and delivers a striking 72.4 percent lead in physics simulation. Its average benchmark score of 31143 places it in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs in the database, just above the i9-11980HK's 30422 at the 81st percentile. Anyone choosing between these two for sustained multi-core workloads, simulation, or compute-heavy tasks should pick the 273PTE on the strength of the numbers alone.

The i9-11980HK still earns consideration in specific niches. It wins data compression by 3 percent, random string sorting by 8.6 percent, and extended instructions by 9.6 percent, which indicates its Tiger Lake-H architecture handles certain memory-shuffling and vector workloads exceptionally well despite having four fewer cores. It is also the only one of the pair with an unlocked multiplier, meaning tuning headroom exists where the platform allows it. However, its production status is listed as End-of-life, it is soldered to a BGA 1787 package with no socket upgrade path, and it supports only DDR4 memory. The 273PTE, by contrast, is an Active product on Socket 1700 with DDR4 and DDR5 support and ECC capability. For anything other than a legacy mobile platform already built around it, the data favors the 273PTE.

Architecture Differences

Both chips come from Intel's own fabs on a 10 nm process, but the resemblance largely ends there. The Core 9 273PTE belongs to the Bartlett Lake family and carries 12 cores and 24 threads, a 50 percent increase in core count over the Tiger Lake-H design's 8 cores and 16 threads. Cache scaling follows the same pattern: the 273PTE provides 2 MB of L2 per core and 36 MB of shared L3, against 1.25 MB per core and 24 MB shared on the 11980HK. L1 is identical at 80 KB per core.

Clock behavior differs sharply. The 273PTE runs a very low 1.40 GHz base clock but boosts to 5.50 GHz, an aggressive strategy that trades idle and baseline frequency for peak single-thread speed. The 11980HK operates a narrower band, from a 2.60 GHz base to a 5.00 GHz boost. Despite the higher peak boost, the 273PTE's base clock leaves sustained all-core frequency dependent on turbo behavior, which its 45 W TDP envelope must accommodate.

Platform features diverge meaningfully. The 273PTE offers PCIe Gen 5 with 16 CPU lanes and DDR5 memory at 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth, with DDR4 as a fallback and ECC support. The 11980HK stops at PCIe Gen 4 across 20 CPU lanes, DDR4 only, and 51.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The older chip counters with an unlocked multiplier, a 190 mm² die size recorded in the database (no die size is listed for the 273PTE), and integrated UHD Graphics 750 versus the UHD 730 in the newer part. Market segment also differs: the 273PTE is a desktop Socket 1700 processor, while the 11980HK is a mobile BGA 1787 part. The 273PTE launched with an MSRP of $549, and the 11980HK carried a launch MSRP of $583.

FAQ

Q: Which CPU is faster overall?

A: The Core 9 273PTE. It wins 14 of 17 head-to-head benchmarks, holds a higher average benchmark score (31143 versus 30422), and sits in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs compared to the 11980HK's 81st percentile.

Q: Does the older i9-11980HK win anything?

A: Yes, three tests. It leads in data compression (266571 versus 258704, a 3 percent win), random string sorting (31709 versus 28973, 8.6 percent), and extended instructions (17654 versus 15952, 9.6 percent).

Q: How large is the single-core gap?

A: Consistently near 10 percent for the 273PTE. Cinebench R23 single-core reads 2886 against 2628 (9.8 percent), and PassMark single thread reads 3433 against 3261 (5.3 percent).

Q: Do both chips support the same memory?

A: No. The 273PTE supports both DDR4 and DDR5 with ECC and 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The 11980HK supports DDR4 only, without ECC, at 51.2 GB/s.

Q: Can either processor be overclocked?

A: Only the i9-11980HK has an unlocked multiplier. The 273PTE's multiplier is locked.

Q: Are both still in production?

A: No. The 273PTE is listed as Active, while the 11980HK is End-of-life.

Specification Differences

| Field | Intel Core 9 273PTE | Intel Core i9-11980HK |

|---|---|---|

| Cores / Threads | 12 / 24 | 8 / 16 |

| Base Clock | 1.40 GHz | 2.60 GHz |

| Boost Clock | 5.50 GHz | 5.00 GHz |

| Socket | Intel Socket 1700 | Intel BGA 1787 |

| Codename | Bartlett Lake | Tiger Lake-H |

| L2 Cache | 2 MB per core | 1.25 MB per core |

| L3 Cache | 36 MB shared | 24 MB shared |

| Memory Support | DDR4, DDR5 | DDR4 |

| Memory Bandwidth | 89.6 GB/s | 51.2 GB/s |

| ECC Memory | Yes | No |

| PCIe | Gen 5, 16 lanes | Gen 4, 20 lanes |

| Integrated Graphics | UHD Graphics 730 | UHD Graphics 750 |

| Market Segment | Desktop | Mobile |

| Production Status | Active | End-of-life |

| Die Size | Not listed | 190 mm² |

| Multiplier Unlocked | No | Yes |

| Launch MSRP | $549 | $583 |

Both share a 45 W TDP, a 10 nm Intel process node, 80 KB of L1 per core, a dual-channel memory bus, and Intel manufacture. Neither lists transistor counts.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Cinebench suite tells one story, and it is uniform. The 273PTE wins R15 multi-core 2060 to 1876 and single-core 290 to 264, both by 9.8 percent. R20 repeats the pattern: 8586 versus 7819 multi-core (9.8 percent) and 1212 versus 1103 single-core (9.9 percent). R23 lands at 20445 versus 18617 multi-core and 2886 versus 2628 single-core, again 9.8 percent on both. A margin that stable across three renderers and two threading modes points to a genuine architectural advantage in per-thread throughput plus core count, not a benchmark-specific quirk.

PassMark spreads the results wider. The 273PTE's biggest win is physics: 1917 versus 1112, a 72.4 percent blowout that reflects simulation workloads scaling across its 24 threads. Floating point math goes the same way at 60673 versus 46262 (31.2 percent), and prime number search more than doubles up at 142 versus 100 (42 percent). Integer math (82411 versus 78682, 4.7 percent), encryption (14253 versus 13813, 3.2 percent), multi-thread (24054 versus 22436, 7.2 percent), and single thread (3433 versus 3261, 5.3 percent) all favor the newer chip as well.

The 11980HK's three wins cluster around memory-bound integer work. Data compression at 266571 versus 258704 (3 percent ahead), random string sorting at 31709 versus 28973 (8.6 percent ahead), and extended instructions at 17654 versus 15952 (9.6 percent ahead) show the Tiger Lake-H design extracting more from each of its fewer cores in these specific tests, possibly aided by its higher base clock of 2.60 GHz keeping all cores busier under sustained mixed load.

Context from the database rounds out the picture. The 273PTE's average score of 31143 puts it statistically level with rivals like the Core i7-12700F (31081, 0.2 percent delta), Ryzen 9 8945HS (31074, 0.2 percent), and Core i7-13700TE (31028, 0.4 percent), while trailing only the Core i7-12650HX (31290) by half a percent. The 11980HK's 30422 sits alongside the Ryzen 5 7640HS (30390, 0.1 percent), Core Ultra 5 225T (30468, 0.2 percent), Ryzen 7 7736U (30364, 0.2 percent), and Core i5-13600H (30548, 0.4 percent). The two comparison chips therefore land in overlapping competitive neighborhoods despite the age and segment gap, and the 273PTE's 14-to-3 win record makes it the clear pick wherever the choice actually exists.