AMD Ryzen 7 170 vs Ryzen 7 260: What Similar Names Conceal

By their names, the Ryzen 7 170 and Ryzen 7 260 seem to be adjacent models from the same lineup. However, the Ryzen 7 170 is based on Zen 3+ and is nearly identical to the Ryzen 7 7735HS, while the Ryzen 7 260 is built on the newer Zen 4 platform, akin to the Ryzen 7 8845HS. The similar indices here can be misleading: technically, these are processors from different generations.

Ryzen 7 170 - The Familiar Ryzen 7 7735HS Under a New Name

The Ryzen 7 170 is difficult to classify as a new processor. Its specifications nearly mirror those of the Ryzen 7 7735HS: eight Zen 3+ cores, 16 threads, boost frequencies up to 4.75 GHz, 16 MB of L3 cache, and Radeon 680M.

The Ryzen 7 170 is based on a 2022 generation platform rather than a new architecture. Eight Zen 3+ cores are still adequate for office work, programming, multitasking, and many resource-intensive applications.

Therefore, the closeness of the names should not be misleading: in terms of hardware, the Ryzen 7 170 is significantly older than the Ryzen 7 260.

Ryzen 7 260: The Familiar Hawk Point on Zen 4

The Ryzen 7 260 has much in common with the Ryzen 7 8845HS. It features eight Zen 4 cores, higher frequencies, a Radeon 780M, and a dedicated NPU for Ryzen AI.

While it still has eight cores, the Zen 4 cores themselves are faster, and the set of features is considerably broader. The Ryzen 7 260 has twice the L2 cache, support for faster memory, and more powerful integrated graphics.

CPU Performance

The most noticeable advantage of the Ryzen 7 260 is its single-thread performance. In Geekbench 6, laptops with the Ryzen 7 170 usually score around 2000-2100 points, while those with the Ryzen 7 260 score approximately 2600-2700 points.

The approximately 25% difference primarily manifests in tasks sensitive to the speed of individual cores: certain compilation stages, browser performance, parts of professional applications, and gaming.

In multi-threaded tests, the results heavily depend on the specific laptop. Both processors have eight cores and 16 threads, so power limits and cooling systems play a significant role here.

Geekbench 6 in Specific Laptops

The multi-core performance of the Ryzen 7 260 varies by about 30% even among laptops with the same processor. The ASUS Vivobook 18 scores around 10,200 points, while the ASUS TUF Gaming A16 and Lenovo Legion 5 score around 13,300 points.

Thus, the CPU name alone is insufficient: results depend on the power limits and cooling efficiency imposed by the manufacturer.

The performance disparity among laptops with the Ryzen 7 170 is also notable: the ASUS Vivobook 16 significantly outperforms the Acer Nitro V 15 in multi-core tests.

Radeon 680M vs Radeon 780M

Both integrated graphics have 12 compute units, but they belong to different generations. The Radeon 680M is based on RDNA 2 and operates at frequencies up to 2.2 GHz, while the Radeon 780M utilizes RDNA 3 and can boost up to 2.7 GHz.

The Ryzen 7 260 also supports faster memory, which is particularly important for integrated graphics since it lacks its own video memory; thus, performance significantly depends on the RAM bandwidth.

The Radeon 780M is faster, but the difference is not sufficient to classify it into a different tier of gaming performance. The primary scenario for both is esports and less demanding games. In heavier AAA titles, adjustments to settings and scaling are usually necessary.

In a laptop with a discrete GPU, the difference between the Radeon 680M and Radeon 780M becomes nearly insignificant for gaming.

NPU is Only Present in Ryzen 7 260

The Ryzen 7 170 lacks a dedicated neural processor. The Ryzen 7 260 features Ryzen AI with NPU performance of up to 16 TOPS.

However, this 16 TOPS for the NPU is already a modest figure. For Copilot+ PC, a minimum of 40 TOPS is required; therefore, having Ryzen AI alone is unlikely to influence the choice between the two laptops.

Memory, USB4, and Video

The differences extend beyond just the CPU cores. The Ryzen 7 260 supports DDR5-5600 and LPDDR5X-7500, whereas the Ryzen 7 170 is limited to slower memory. The Ryzen 7 260 also supports USB4.

The Hawk Point features a newer multimedia block with hardware support for AV1. In office tasks, the difference is nearly imperceptible, but when working with video, the capabilities of the Ryzen 7 260 are broader.

Conclusion

At a similar price, the Ryzen 7 260 is the clear choice. It is significantly faster in CPU performance, has the Radeon 780M, supports faster memory, and includes USB4.

The Ryzen 7 170 is essentially the Ryzen 7 7735HS under a new name. Eight Zen 3+ cores are still sufficient for most work tasks, but it clearly lags behind the Hawk Point in capabilities.

The Ryzen 7 170 makes sense to consider only if there is a substantial discount on the laptop, especially if it comes with a discrete graphics card, as the difference between the Radeon 680M and 780M becomes almost irrelevant in that case.