Understanding and comparing PC energy efficiency can be challenging. That's why AMD has developed the AMD Processor Efficiency Calculator to help customers and end-users understand how differences in system power consumption can add up for individual users and across a PC fleet.
Energy efficiency is, in a sense, the unsung hero of computing. System manufacturers often emphasize features like higher clock speeds, larger core counts, increased display resolution, and thinner chassis. Under the hood, it's often improved energy efficiency that enables all of these advances.
One of the reasons why improvements in energy efficiency are less visible is because the battery life of any given PC is determined by a host of factors, including display power consumption, the Wi-Fi / cellular radio used, whether a discrete GPU is present, the size of the battery, the amount of low-level power optimization performed by the manufacturer, and the characteristics of the PC's central processor. Laptop manufacturers enjoy enormous flexibility when it comes to customizing power consumption, including the ability to set maximum frequency and skin temperature targets that may change the operating characteristics of a given processor. Understanding how two different systems compare to each other isn't easy, which is why we've developed the AMD Ryzen™ and Ryzen™ PRO Processor Efficiency Calculator.
This efficiency calculator draws its data from an industry standard suite of tests, with workloads chosen to represent the tasks office workers are likely to be performing on a day-to-day basis. We launched this tool back in November and are passionately continuing to evolve it to reflect the current business PC market.
The calculator can be used in several different ways. First, individuals considering various specific AMD laptops have the option to compare against Intel products. Choose your laptop models, the power mode you wish to compare, and the number of hours you expect the system to work per day, and you'll get an estimate of how many watt hours of energy those two systems are expected to use per day.
Business customers looking to make fleetwide purchasing decisions have the option to calculate updated annual electrical cost estimates, both within the United States and across the globe for the most accurate picture of energy usage possible, providing energy estimates for 145 countries. A short tutorial on using the calculator is included below:
How it Works
Using the AMD Processor Efficiency Calculator isn't difficult. To use it, first select the AMD processor / system you wish to compare from the list at the left-hand side of the page. In the example below, I've selected the AMD Ryzen™ 7 PRO 7840U processor powered Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2.
Next, select your Windows power preference -- Best Performance, Balanced, or Best Power Efficiency. AMD continues to add new systems and configurations to the database over time, building out the available options. If an appropriate Intel system isn't available for comparison, the calculator will ask you to pick a different power plan or system. Below, you can see that I've selected "Best Power Efficiency" and an Intel Core i7-1360P processor powered Dell XPS 13 for comparison. Other options built by different system vendors are available depending on your preference.
Finally, insert the number of hours (1-12) that you use the system per day. Press "Calculate", and the system will return comparison data for the two systems in question.
In Part 2, users have the option to input the size of a PC fleet and its estimated life cycle duration. This helps SMB and enterprise customers understand the power savings they can achieve with AMD across an entire fleet over a several-year duration.
Part 3 gives you the option to measure power savings depending on your country of residence. The Power Efficiency Calculator draws information on electricity rates for a country or US state, based on data sourced from Global Petrol Prices for non-US countries, and from data published by the Energy Information Agency for the United States.
Part 4 estimates how reducing power consumption across a laptop fleet also reduces GHG emissions. Data for these estimates is drawn from data provided by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Even small differences in power consumption can become significant across hundreds of systems. We hope you find this calculator useful as you plan your purchase, whether you are buying one PC or planning a fleetwide deployment.
