Ryzen 9 5980HS vs Xeon W-1290

PassMark CPU Mark evaluates processor speed through complex mathematical computations. It provides a reliable metric to compare multi-core performance, where higher scores indicate faster processing for multitasking, gaming, and heavy workloads.

Head-to-Head Verdict, Benchmarks, Value & Long-Term Outlook

This comparison brings together gaming FPS, productivity performance, platform differences, power efficiency, pricing context, and upgrade path so you can see which CPU actually makes more sense.

Ryzen 9 5980HS

2021

Why buy it

✅+0.7% higher PassMark.
✅Draws 35W instead of 80W, a 45W reduction.
✅100+% more PCIe lanes (16 vs 0) for storage and expansion-heavy builds.
✅Integrated graphics onboard with Radeon Graphics (8CU), while Xeon W-1290 needs a discrete GPU.

Trade-offs

❌Smaller total L3 cache (16 MB vs 20 MB).
❌Less compelling for workstation-style loads than Xeon W-1290, which brings 10 cores / 20 threads.

Xeon W-1290

2020

Why buy it

✅+25% larger total L3 cache (20 MB vs 16 MB).
✅Better for workstations and heavier parallel workloads: 10 cores / 20 threads.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark (20,112 vs 20,257).
❌Launch MSRP is still $498 MSRP, while Ryzen 9 5980HS mostly shows up through inconsistent older-market listings.
❌128.6% higher power demand at 80W vs 35W.
❌No integrated graphics, while Ryzen 9 5980HS can still boot and troubleshoot without a discrete GPU.

Ryzen 9 5980HS

2021

Xeon W-1290

2020

Why buy it

✅+0.7% higher PassMark.
✅Draws 35W instead of 80W, a 45W reduction.
✅100+% more PCIe lanes (16 vs 0) for storage and expansion-heavy builds.
✅Integrated graphics onboard with Radeon Graphics (8CU), while Xeon W-1290 needs a discrete GPU.

Why buy it

✅+25% larger total L3 cache (20 MB vs 16 MB).
✅Better for workstations and heavier parallel workloads: 10 cores / 20 threads.

Trade-offs

❌Smaller total L3 cache (16 MB vs 20 MB).
❌Less compelling for workstation-style loads than Xeon W-1290, which brings 10 cores / 20 threads.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark (20,112 vs 20,257).
❌Launch MSRP is still $498 MSRP, while Ryzen 9 5980HS mostly shows up through inconsistent older-market listings.
❌128.6% higher power demand at 80W vs 35W.
❌No integrated graphics, while Ryzen 9 5980HS can still boot and troubleshoot without a discrete GPU.

Quick Answers

So, is Ryzen 9 5980HS better than Xeon W-1290?

Not in a simple one-size-fits-all way. Xeon W-1290 makes more sense for workstation-style multi-core throughput, while Ryzen 9 5980HS is the better mainstream desktop choice for gaming, platform cost, and day-to-day practicality.

Which one is better for streaming, content creation, and heavy multitasking?

For streaming, content creation, and heavier multitasking, Ryzen 9 5980HS is the better fit. You are getting 0.7% better PassMark, backed by 8 cores and 16 threads.

Which one is the smarter buy today, not just the cheaper CPU?

Ryzen 9 5980HS is still the faster CPU overall, but Xeon W-1290 makes more sense if price matters more than absolute performance. Ryzen 9 5980HS is at an unclear MSRP at unclear MSRP versus $498 MSRP, and it gives you 0.7% better PassMark. The trade-off is that Xeon W-1290 is still the better pure gaming CPU with a 1.9% average FPS lead across 4 shared CPU game tests in our data. Xeon W-1290 is also 100.0% better value on MSRP (40.4 vs 0.0 PassMark/$), which is why it is easier to justify for price-conscious builds on paper.

Which one is more future-proof for 2026 and beyond?

Ryzen 9 5980HS is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting a newer CPU generation (2021 vs 2020) and more multi-core headroom with 8 cores / 16 threads instead of 10/20. That extra compute headroom should age better as games, background tasks, and creator workloads get heavier.

Games Benchmarks

Paired with RTX 4090

To accurately isolate CPU performance, all benchmarks below use an NVIDIA RTX 4090 as the reference GPU. This eliminates GPU-side bottlenecks and highlights pure processing throughput differences between the CPUs.

Note: Real-world results may vary based on your actual GPU. CPU performance impact is more visible in processing-intensive titles and high-refresh-rate gaming scenarios.

Ryzen 9 5980HS Benchmark Check

Xeon W-1290 Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	Ryzen 9 5980HS	Xeon W-1290
1080p
low	277 FPS	256 FPS
medium	250 FPS	239 FPS
high	210 FPS	201 FPS
ultra	180 FPS	173 FPS
1440p
low	241 FPS	223 FPS
medium	195 FPS	188 FPS
high	159 FPS	154 FPS
ultra	140 FPS	136 FPS
4K
low	168 FPS	156 FPS
medium	138 FPS	132 FPS
high	106 FPS	102 FPS
ultra	93 FPS	91 FPS

Open Ryzen 9 5980HS Open Xeon W-1290

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	Ryzen 9 5980HS	Xeon W-1290
1080p
low	506 FPS	503 FPS
medium	464 FPS	503 FPS
high	390 FPS	451 FPS
ultra	342 FPS	411 FPS
1440p
low	485 FPS	503 FPS
medium	407 FPS	475 FPS
high	349 FPS	405 FPS
ultra	294 FPS	353 FPS
4K
low	334 FPS	318 FPS
medium	288 FPS	282 FPS
high	263 FPS	270 FPS
ultra	227 FPS	235 FPS

Open Ryzen 9 5980HS Open Xeon W-1290

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	Ryzen 9 5980HS	Xeon W-1290
1080p
low	506 FPS	503 FPS
medium	506 FPS	503 FPS
high	506 FPS	503 FPS
ultra	506 FPS	419 FPS
1440p
low	506 FPS	503 FPS
medium	506 FPS	503 FPS
high	506 FPS	462 FPS
ultra	463 FPS	382 FPS
4K
low	506 FPS	469 FPS
medium	469 FPS	403 FPS
high	413 FPS	360 FPS
ultra	348 FPS	296 FPS

Open Ryzen 9 5980HS Open Xeon W-1290

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	Ryzen 9 5980HS	Xeon W-1290
1080p
low	506 FPS	503 FPS
medium	506 FPS	503 FPS
high	506 FPS	503 FPS
ultra	506 FPS	503 FPS
1440p
low	506 FPS	503 FPS
medium	506 FPS	503 FPS
high	506 FPS	503 FPS
ultra	477 FPS	503 FPS
4K
low	506 FPS	503 FPS
medium	463 FPS	487 FPS
high	410 FPS	435 FPS
ultra	346 FPS	380 FPS

Open Ryzen 9 5980HS Open Xeon W-1290

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Ryzen 9 5980HS and Xeon W-1290

Ryzen 9 5980HS

The Ryzen 9 5980HS is manufactured by AMD. It was released in 12 January 2021 (4 years ago). It is based on the Cezanne-HS (Zen 3) (2021) architecture. It features 8 cores and 16 threads. Base frequency is 3 GHz, with boost up to 4.8 GHz. L3 cache: 16 MB (total). L2 cache: 512K (per core). Built on 7 nm process technology. Socket: FP6. Thermal design power (TDP): 35 Watt. Memory support: DDR4. Passmark benchmark score: 20,257 points. Launch price was $299.

Xeon W-1290

The Xeon W-1290 is manufactured by Intel. It was released in 2015-01-01. It is based on the Comet Lake (2020−2025) architecture. It features 10 cores and 20 threads. Base frequency is 3.2 GHz, with boost up to 5.1 GHz. L3 cache: 20 MB (total). L2 cache: 256K (per core). Built on 14 nm process technology. Socket: LGA1200. Thermal design power (TDP): 80 Watt. Memory support: DDR4-2933. Passmark benchmark score: 20,112 points. Launch price was $800.

⚡

Processing Power

The Ryzen 9 5980HS packs 8 cores / 16 threads, while the Xeon W-1290 offers 10 cores / 20 threads — the Xeon W-1290 has 2 more cores. Boost clocks reach 4.8 GHz on the Ryzen 9 5980HS versus 5.1 GHz on the Xeon W-1290 — a 6.1% clock advantage for the Xeon W-1290 (base: 3 GHz vs 3.2 GHz). The Ryzen 9 5980HS uses the Cezanne-HS (Zen 3) (2021) architecture (7 nm), while the Xeon W-1290 uses Comet Lake (2020−2025) (14 nm). In PassMark, the Ryzen 9 5980HS scores 20,257 against the Xeon W-1290's 20,112 — a 0.7% lead for the Ryzen 9 5980HS. L3 cache: 16 MB (total) on the Ryzen 9 5980HS vs 20 MB (total) on the Xeon W-1290.

Feature	Ryzen 9 5980HS	Xeon W-1290
Cores / Threads	8 / 16	10 / 20+25%
Boost Clock	4.8 GHz	5.1 GHz+6%
Base Clock	3 GHz	3.2 GHz+7%
L3 Cache	16 MB (total)	20 MB (total)+25%
L2 Cache	512K (per core)+100%	256K (per core)
Process	7 nm-50%	14 nm
Architecture	Cezanne-HS (Zen 3) (2021)	Comet Lake (2020−2025)
PassMark	20,257	20,112

🧠

Memory & Platform

The Ryzen 9 5980HS uses the FP6 socket (PCIe 3.0), while the Xeon W-1290 uses LGA1200 (PCIe 3.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard.

Feature	Ryzen 9 5980HS	Xeon W-1290
Socket	FP6	LGA1200
PCIe Generation	PCIe 3.0	PCIe 3.0
Max RAM Speed	LPDDR4-4266	—
Max RAM Capacity	32 GB	—
RAM Channels	2	—
ECC Support	No	—
PCIe Lanes	16	—

🔧

Advanced Features

Virtualization: AMD-V (Ryzen 9 5980HS) / not specified (Xeon W-1290). The Ryzen 9 5980HS includes integrated graphics (Radeon Graphics (8CU)), while the Xeon W-1290 requires a dedicated GPU. Primary use case: Ryzen 9 5980HS targets Mobile High-End.