Home > CPU Comparison > Core Ultra 9 185H or Core i9 13980HX: what's better?

Intel Core Ultra 9 185H vs i9 13980HX

60 out of 100
Intel Core Ultra 9 185H
VS
71 out of 100
Intel Core i9 13980HX
Intel Core Ultra 9 185H
Intel Core i9 13980HX

We compared two laptop CPUs: the 2.3 GHz Intel Core Ultra 9 185H with 16-cores against the 2.2 GHz i9 13980HX with 24-cores. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

  1. Review
  2. Differences
  3. Performance
  4. Specs
  5. Comments (2)

Review

General overview and comparison of the processors
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of power consumption
Integrated Graphics
iGPU capabilities for gaming and 3D-intensive tasks
NanoReview Final Score
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
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Key Differences

What are the key differences between 13980HX and 185H
Advantages of Intel Core Ultra 9 185H
  • More powerful Arc Graphics (8-Cores) integrated graphics: 4.8 vs 0.8 TFLOPS
  • More modern manufacturing process – 7 versus 10 nanometers
  • Newer - released 11 months later
  • More than 10° C higher critical temperature
Advantages of Intel Core i9 13980HX
  • Supports up to 192 GB DDR5-5600 RAM
  • Has 8 more physical cores
  • Has 12 MB larger L3 cache size, helping fully utilize a high-end GPU in gaming
  • 10% higher Turbo Boost frequency (5.6 GHz vs 5.1 GHz)
  • 13% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 2760 vs 2446 points

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
Core Ultra 9 185H
vs
Core i9 13980HX

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
Cinebench Scores (156th and 25th place)
Submit your benchmark results

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
File compression 1270 MB/sec 1400 MB/sec
Clang compilation 102.8 Klines/sec 161.1 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 342.7 pages/sec 432.8 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 389.7 Mpixels/sec 469.4 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 245.1 pages/sec 277 pages/sec
Background blur 45.2 images/sec 53.3 images/sec
Photo processing 131.5 images/sec 136.1 images/sec
Ray tracing 23.3 Mpixels/sec 36.2 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 492 & 434 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Integer math 97.4 GOps/sec 163.4 GOps/sec
Floating point math 72.2 GOps/sec 116.3 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 123M Primes/sec 186M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 39M Strings/sec 64.7M Strings/sec
Data encryption 19.5 GBytes/sec 34.5 GBytes/sec
Data compression 334.6 MBytes/sec 572.8 MBytes/sec
Physics 1940 Frames/sec 2510 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 19.9B Matrices/sec 33B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 4148 & 2555 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
Core Ultra 9 185H
200.07
Core i9 13980HX +91%
382.64

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 15.2 PPW 36.6 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 209.4 PPW 315.2 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 446.1 PPW 824.3 PPW
Blender / Watt 3.08 PPW 6.96 PPW
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Intel Core Ultra 9 185H
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2025-12-28 (Nicholas)Cinebench 202492 / 795
📘 2024-12-29 (Remembered2U)Cinebench 2024107 / 987
📘 2024-11-03 (Anish)Cinebench 2024103 / 886
📘 2024-10-01 (Guest #3)Cinebench 2024108 / 1088
Add View all (4)
Intel Core i9 13980HX
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2025-12-14 (Judicatio)Cinebench 2024128 / 1861
📘 2025-03-18 (Rennsport)Geekbench 6 CPU2951 / 17667
📘 2024-06-27 (PPLord)Cinebench 2024120 / 1190
Add View all (3)

Specifications

Full technical specification of Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and i9 13980HX

General

Vendor Intel Intel
Released December 14, 2023 January 3, 2023
Type Laptop Laptop
Instruction Set x86-64 x86-64
Codename Meteor Lake Raptor Lake
Model number 185H i9-13980HX
Integrated GPU Arc Graphics (8-Cores) UHD Graphics (32EU)
Rival Equivalent - AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS - AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX
Successor - Intel Core Ultra 9 288V -
Intel CPU rating (83rd and 40th place)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 6 8
P-Threads 12 16
Base Frequency (P) 2.3 GHz 2.2 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 5.1 GHz 5.6 GHz
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 10 16
E-Threads 10 16
Base Frequency (E) 1.8 GHz 1.6 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (E) 3.8 GHz 4 GHz
Total
Total Cores 16 24
Total Threads 22 32
Bus Frequency 100 MHz 100 MHz
Multiplier 23x 22x
L1 Cache 112K (per core) 80K (per core)
L2 Cache 2MB (per core) 2MB (per core)
L3 Cache 24MB (shared) 36MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier No No

Package

Fabrication Process 7 nm 10 nm
TDP (PL1) 35-65 W (configurable) 45-55 W (configurable)
Max. Boost TDP (PL2) 115 W 157 W
Socket FCBGA-2049 BGA-1964
Peak Temperature 110°C 100°C
Laptop processors ranking (103rd and 47th place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Arc Graphics (8-Cores) Intel UHD Graphics (32EU)
GPU Base Clock 300 MHz 300 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 2350 MHz 1650 MHz
Shading Units 1024 256
TMUs 64 16
ROPs 32 8
Execution Units 128 32
TGP 28 W 15 W
iGPU FLOPS
Core Ultra 9 185H +500%
4.8 TFLOPS
Core i9 13980HX
0.8 TFLOPS
More info: UHD Graphics 770 compared to Arc iGPU (8-Cores)

Memory Support

Memory Types - LPDDR5-7467
- LPDDR5x-7467
- DDR5-5600		 - DDR5-5600
- DDR4-3200
Max. Memory Size 96 GB 192 GB
Memory Channels 2 2
Max. Memory Bandwidth - 89.6 GB/s
ECC Support No Yes

Misc

Official Site Intel Core Ultra 9 185H official page Intel Core i9 13980HX official page
PCI Express Version 5.0 5.0
PCI Express Lanes 28 20

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
24 (17.3%)
115 (82.7%)
Total votes: 139

Competitors

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2. Intel Core Ultra 9 185H vs Intel Core i9 13900H (6)
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4. Intel Core Ultra 9 185H vs Intel Core Ultra 9 285H
5. Intel Core Ultra 9 185H vs Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (8)
6. Intel Core Ultra 9 185H vs Intel Core i7 13700H
7. Intel Core i9 13980HX vs AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX (20)
8. Intel Core i9 13980HX vs AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370
9. Intel Core i9 13980HX vs Intel Core i9 14900HX (3)
10. Intel Core i9 13980HX vs Apple M3 Max (3)
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Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Intel Core i9 13980HX or Ultra 9 185H?
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guidedorphas10 February 7, 2024 at 01:45 PM
The Intel Core Ultra 9 is all about efficiency and an integrated GPU for gamers who have a life outside gaming and don't want to be tethered to a power supply 24/7.
+17 Reply
Avatar
Mátyás Sándor January 1, 2024 at 05:26 PM
I might not be an expert, however, I have observed that the i9-13980HX specializes on overclocking and gaming/other performance-needing tasks, while I expect the Core Ultra 9 185H to be seen in high-end office laptops, as those don't require such graphical performance. I am pretty sure that the ones who will use (laptop) CPUs for gaming will not switch to the new generation, or at least not to this specific model. Studios will be using the predecessor as well, because it is better in turbo boost performance which enhances multitasking and designation experience. I hope this helps somebody later.
+26 Reply
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