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Intel Core i7-9750HF

Intel Core i7-9750HF

Intel Core i7-9750HF in 2025: Is it Worth Buying a Laptop with This Processor?

Analysis of the capabilities and relevance of the six-core Coffee Lake chip

1. Architecture and Process: Based on 14 nm

The Intel Core i7-9750HF processor, released in 2019, belongs to the Coffee Lake Refresh generation. Despite its age, it remains popular in budget gaming and work laptops thanks to its six-core architecture.

- Cores and Threads: 6 cores, 12 threads. Base frequency — 2.6 GHz, maximum in Turbo Boost mode — 4.5 GHz.

- Cache Memory: 12 MB L3. This is sufficient for handling multitasking tasks, such as rendering or video encoding.

- Process Technology: 14 nm. In 2025, this is considered outdated — competitors like AMD and Apple have long transitioned to 5–7 nm, which provides better power consumption.

- iGPU: Absent. The "F" suffix in the name indicates that there is no integrated graphics. This means that a laptop with this CPU must have a discrete graphics card (e.g., NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti or RTX 2060).

Practical Advice: If you are buying a laptop with the i7-9750HF, check for at least a basic discrete GPU. Without it, the device will not be able to display images on the screen!

2. Power Consumption and TDP: Balancing Power and Heat

The processor's TDP (Thermal Design Power) is 45 W. This is a typical figure for H-class mobile chips aimed at performance.

- Real Load: Under active workloads (e.g., rendering or gaming), power consumption can reach 60–70 W, requiring an efficient cooling system.

- Heat Dissipation: Without quality cooling, the processor quickly reaches critical temperatures (95–100°C), leading to throttling (frequency reduction).

Real-life Example: In compact laptops (with a thickness < 20 mm), the i7-9750HF often runs at the limit of its capabilities due to insufficient cooling. In gaming models with large heat sinks (e.g., ASUS TUF Gaming), the situation is better.

3. Performance: How Does it Handle Tasks in 2025?

Geekbench 6 results (1353 / 4602) show that the chip remains relevant for basic and moderately complex tasks:

- Office Work: Easily handles browsers, documents, and video conferencing.

- Multimedia: 4K video, editing in DaVinci Resolve or Photoshop — possible, but for complex projects, speed may be lacking (especially compared to Ryzen 7 6800H or Apple M3).

- Gaming: Paired with a GPU like the RTX 3060, it allows gaming in Full HD at high settings. For example, Cyberpunk 2077 — 45–55 FPS, Elden Ring — 50–60 FPS.

- Turbo Mode: Under ideal conditions, frequencies can reach 4.5 GHz, but only for 1–2 cores. For multi-threaded tasks, the stable frequency is around 3.8–4.0 GHz.

Tip: Use programs like ThrottleStop for manual control of Turbo Boost. This will help avoid overheating in thin laptops.

4. Use Cases: Who is the i7-9750HF Suitable For?

- Budget Gamers: Paired with a GPU priced at $800–1000, such a laptop is a good option for gaming in Full HD.

- Freelancers: Suitable for video editing and 3D modeling, but be prepared for long rendering times.

- Students: The power is sufficient for programming and working with CAD applications.

Who is it not suitable for:

- Users who prioritize battery life (see section 5).

- Professionals working with AI or 8K video.

5. Battery Life: A Weak Point of the Processor

With a TDP of 45 W, laptop battery life rarely exceeds 4–5 hours even for office tasks.

- Power Saving Technologies: Intel Speed Shift (dynamic frequency management), C-states (shutting down unused cores).

- Tips for Extending Battery Life:

— Set the power mode to “Energy Saver”.

— Disable Turbo Boost through Windows settings.

— Choose a laptop with a battery of at least 70 Wh (e.g., Acer Nitro 5).

Real-world Practice: Under active use (gaming, rendering), the device will last no more than 1.5–2 hours.

6. Comparison with Competitors

- AMD Ryzen 5 5600H (6 cores, 12 threads): 10–15% faster in multi-threaded tasks, lower temperatures, but more expensive.

- Apple M2 (8 cores): Twice as good energy efficiency, but limited compatibility with Windows applications.

- Intel Core i5-12450H (Alder Lake): 25–30% more performance due to its hybrid architecture, but more expensive ($1000+).

Conclusion: In 2025, the i7-9750HF is a choice for those looking for an inexpensive laptop with discrete graphics. Competitors offer better power-to-battery life ratios but at higher prices.

7. Pros and Cons

Strengths:

- Affordable price: laptops starting from $700.

- Support for discrete GPUs up to RTX 3060.

- Good performance in gaming and multitasking.

Weaknesses:

- High power consumption.

- Lack of iGPU (risk of laptop failure if discrete graphics fail).

- Outdated 14 nm process technology.

8. Recommendations for Choosing a Laptop

- Type of Device: Only gaming laptops or workstations (e.g., MSI GF65 Thin, Lenovo Legion 5). Ultrabooks with this CPU are rare.

- What to Look For:

— Cooling system (at least 2 fans, copper heat pipes).

— Discrete graphics card: NVIDIA GTX 1650 or higher.

— RAM: 16 GB DDR4.

— Storage: SSD NVMe 512 GB.

Prices in 2025: New models range from $750–$1100. For the same price, you can find laptops with Ryzen 5 6600H, but without a GPU.

9. Final Conclusion

The Intel Core i7-9750HF in 2025 is suitable for those who need an affordable laptop for gaming or working with moderate requirements. Its key advantages:

- Affordable price.

- Compatibility with powerful discrete GPUs.

- Stability in multi-threaded tasks.

However, be mindful of the disadvantages: low battery life, heating, and lack of iGPU. If your budget allows an additional $200–300, it’s better to opt for a laptop with an Alder Lake or Ryzen 6000/7000 processor—these will last longer and disappoint less in the future.

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Basic

Label Name
Intel
Platform
Mobile
Launch Date
April 2019
Model Name
?
The Intel processor number is just one of several factors - along with processor brand, system configurations, and system-level benchmarks - to be considered when choosing the right processor for your computing needs.
i7-9750HF
Code Name
Coffee Lake

CPU Specifications

Total Cores
?
Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).
6
Total Threads
?
Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.
12
Basic Frequency
2.60 GHz
Max Turbo Frequency
?
Max Turbo Frequency is the maximum single-core frequency at which the processor is capable of operating using Intel® Turbo Boost Technology and, if present, Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 and Intel® Thermal Velocity Boost. Frequency is typically measured in gigahertz (GHz), or billion cycles per second.
4.50 GHz
Intel Turbo Boost Technology
?
Intel® Turbo Boost Technology dynamically increases the processor's frequency as needed by taking advantage of thermal and power headroom to give you a burst of speed when you need it, and increased energy efficiency when you don’t.
2.0
Intel Hyper-Threading Technology
?
Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) delivers two processing threads per physical core. Highly threaded applications can get more work done in parallel, completing tasks sooner.
Yes
L3 Cache
12 MB
CPU Socket
?
The socket is the component that provides the mechanical and electrical connections between the processor and motherboard.
FCBGA1440
Technology
?
Lithography refers to the semiconductor technology used to manufacture an integrated circuit, and is reported in nanometer (nm), indicative of the size of features built on the semiconductor.
14 nm
TDP
45 W
Max. Operating Temperature
?
Junction Temperature is the maximum temperature allowed at the processor die.
100°C
PCI Express Version
?
PCI Express Revision is the supported version of the PCI Express standard. Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (or PCIe) is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard for attaching hardware devices to a computer. The different PCI Express versions support different data rates.
3.0
Number of PCI Express Lanes
?
A PCI Express (PCIe) lane consists of two differential signaling pairs, one for receiving data, one for transmitting data, and is the basic unit of the PCIe bus. Max # of PCI Express Lanes is the total number of supported lanes.
16
Intel 64
?
Intel® 64 architecture delivers 64-bit computing on server, workstation, desktop and mobile platforms when combined with supporting software.¹ Intel 64 architecture improves performance by allowing systems to address more than 4 GB of both virtual and physical memory.
Yes
Instruction Set
?
The instruction set is a hard program stored inside the CPU that guides and optimizes CPU operations. With these instruction sets, the CPU can run more efficiently. There are many manufacturers that design CPUs, which results in different instruction sets, such as the 8086 instruction set for the Intel camp and the RISC instruction set for the ARM camp. x86, ARM v8, and MIPS are all codes for instruction sets. Instruction sets can be extended; for example, x86 added 64-bit support to create x86-64. Manufacturers developing CPUs that are compatible with a certain instruction set need authorization from the instruction set patent holder. A typical example is Intel authorizing AMD, enabling the latter to develop CPUs compatible with the x86 instruction set.
64-bit
PCI Express Configurations
?
PCI Express (PCIe) Configurations describe the available PCIe lane configurations that can be used to link to PCIe devices.
Up to 1x16 | 2x8 | 1x8+2x4

Memory Specifications

Memory Type
?
Intel® processors come in four different types: Single Channel, Dual Channel, Triple Channel, and Flex Mode. Maximum supported memory speed may be lower when populating multiple DIMMs per channel on products that support multiple memory channels.
DDR4-2666 | LPDDR3-2133
Max Memory Size
?
Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.
128 GB
Memory Channels
?
The number of memory channels refers to the bandwidth operation for real world application.
2
Bus Speed
8 GT/s
Max Memory Bandwidth
?
Max Memory bandwidth is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored into a semiconductor memory by the processor (in GB/s).
41.8 GB/s
ECC Memory Supported
?
ECC Memory Supported indicates processor support for Error-Correcting Code memory. ECC memory is a type of system memory that can detect and correct common kinds of internal data corruption. Note that ECC memory support requires both processor and chipset support.
No

Miscellaneous

Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
?
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) allows one hardware platform to function as multiple “virtual” platforms. It offers improved manageability by limiting downtime and maintaining productivity by isolating computing activities into separate partitions.
Yes
Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)
?
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) continues from the existing support for IA-32 (VT-x) and Itanium® processor (VT-i) virtualization adding new support for I/O-device virtualization. Intel VT-d can help end users improve security and reliability of the systems and also improve performance of I/O devices in virtualized environments.
Yes
Intel Standard Manageability (ISM)
?
Intel® Standard Manageability is the manageability solution for Intel vPro® Essentials platforms and is a subset of Intel® AMT with out-of-band management over Ethernet and Wi-Fi, but no KVM or new life cycle management features.
Intel® SSE4.1 | Intel® SSE4.2 | Intel® AVX2
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology
?
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology is an advanced means of enabling high performance while meeting the power-conservation needs of mobile systems. Conventional Intel SpeedStep® Technology switches both voltage and frequency in tandem between high and low levels in response to processor load. Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology builds upon that architecture using design strategies such as Separation between Voltage and Frequency Changes, and Clock Partitioning and Recovery.
Yes
Execute Disable Bit
?
Execute Disable Bit is a hardware-based security feature that can reduce exposure to viruses and malicious-code attacks and prevent harmful software from executing and propagating on the server or network.
Yes
Cache
?
CPU Cache is an area of fast memory located on the processor. Intel® Smart Cache refers to the architecture that allows all cores to dynamically share access to the last level cache.
12 MB Intel® Smart Cache
Intel AES New Instructions
?
Intel® AES New Instructions (Intel® AES-NI) are a set of instructions that enable fast and secure data encryption and decryption. AES-NI are valuable for a wide range of cryptographic applications, for example: applications that perform bulk encryption/decryption, authentication, random number generation, and authenticated encryption.
Yes
Intel VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)
?
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT), also known as Second Level Address Translation (SLAT), provides acceleration for memory intensive virtualized applications. Extended Page Tables in Intel® Virtualization Technology platforms reduces the memory and power overhead costs and increases battery life through hardware optimization of page table management.
Yes
Intel Flex Memory Access
Yes
Intel OS Guard
Yes

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6
Single Core Score
1353
Geekbench 6
Multi Core Score
4602
Geekbench 5
Single Core Score
1019
Geekbench 5
Multi Core Score
4788
Passmark CPU
Single Core Score
2442
Passmark CPU
Multi Core Score
10611

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core
Core i7-10750H
1439 +6.4%
Xeon W-3223
1387 +2.5%
Core i7-9750HF
1353
Xeon E3-1280 v6
1313 -3%
Core i3-10105T
1270 -6.1%
Geekbench 6 Multi Core
Core i5-9500F
5183 +12.6%
Core i5-1140G7
4872 +5.9%
Core i7-9750HF
4602
Core i9-7920X
4327 -6%
Xeon E7-8850
4103 -10.8%
Geekbench 5 Single Core
Core i3-10320
1064 +4.4%
Ryzen 7 PRO 2700X
1040 +2.1%
Core i7-9750HF
1019
Ryzen 3 4300U
998 -2.1%
Core i7-6785R
971 -4.7%
Geekbench 5 Multi Core
Xeon E7-4830 v2
5279 +10.3%
Core i7-4930K
5025 +4.9%
Core i7-9750HF
4788
Ryzen 5 5625C
4573 -4.5%
Xeon E5-2440 v2
4337 -9.4%
Passmark CPU Single Core
EPYC 7453
2522 +3.3%
Core i5-1245UE
2476 +1.4%
Core i7-9750HF
2442
Ryzen 7 2700E
2410 -1.3%
Xeon E5-1630 v4
2372 -2.9%
Passmark CPU Multi Core
Xeon D-2146NT
11736 +10.6%
Xeon E5-2628L v4
11079 +4.4%
Core i7-9750HF
10611
Core i5-9500
10219 -3.7%
Xeon E-2174G
9741 -8.2%