Intel Core i7-9800X vs HiSilicon Kirin 980

Last updated:

CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i7-9800X CPU1 vs CPU2 HiSilicon Kirin 980
Intel Core i7-9800X HiSilicon Kirin 980

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Intel Core i7-9800X and the HiSilicon Kirin 980 and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Intel Core i7-9800X 8 core processor released in Q4/2018 with the HiSilicon Kirin 980 which has 8 CPU cores and was introduced in Q4/2018.
Intel Core i7 (298) Family HiSilicon Kirin (29)
Intel Core i 9000X (8) CPU group HiSilicon Kirin 980 (2)
9 Generation 7
Skylake X Refresh Architecture Cortex-A76 / Cortex-A55
Desktop / Server Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i7-9800X is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 3.80 GHz (4.50 GHz). The processor can compute 16 threads at the same time. The HiSilicon Kirin 980 clocks with 2.60 GHz, has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.

Intel Core i7-9800X Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 980
8 Cores 8
16 Threads 8
normal Core architecture hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE)
Yes Hyperthreading No
Yes Overclocking ? No
3.80 GHz (4.50 GHz) A-Core 2.60 GHz
2x Cortex-A76
-- B-Core 1.92 GHz
2x Cortex-A76
-- C-Core 1.80 GHz
4x Cortex-A55

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.

Intel Core i7-9800X Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 980
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

Graphics (iGPU) integrated into the processor not only enable image output without having to rely on a dedicated graphics solution, but can also efficiently accelerate video playback.

no iGPU GPU ARM Mali-G76 MP10
GPU frequency 0.72 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) --
-- GPU Generation Bifrost 3
Technology 7 nm
Max. displays 2
-- Compute units 10
-- Shader 160
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory 4 GB
-- DirectX Version 12

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

no iGPU GPU ARM Mali-G76 MP10
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
No Codec AVC Decode / Encode
No Codec VC-1 Decode / Encode
No Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 128 GB of memory in a maximum of 4 memory channels is supported by the Intel Core i7-9800X, while the HiSilicon Kirin 980 supports a maximum of 8 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of -- enabled.

Intel Core i7-9800X Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 980
DDR4-2666 Memory LPDDR4X-2133
128 GB Max. Memory 8 GB
4 (Quad Channel) Memory channels 4 (Quad Channel)
85.4 GB/s Max. Bandwidth --
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache --
16.50 MB L3 Cache 2.00 MB
3.0 PCIe version --
44 PCIe lanes --
43.3 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The Intel Core i7-9800X has a TDP of 165 W. The TDP of the HiSilicon Kirin 980 is 6 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Intel Core i7-9800X Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 980
165 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 6 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
95 °C Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Intel Core i7-9800X has 16.50 MB cache and is manufactured in 14 nm. The cache of HiSilicon Kirin 980 is at 2.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 7 nm.

Intel Core i7-9800X Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 980
14 nm Technology 7 nm
Monolithic Chip design Chiplet
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, AVX-512 ISA extensions --
LGA 2066 Socket --
VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d Virtualization None
Yes AES-NI No
Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux Operating systems Android
Q4/2018 Release date Q4/2018
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Intel Core i7-9800X to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 0 stars (0 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the HiSilicon Kirin 980 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 5.0 stars (8 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i7-9800X (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 (62%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i7-9800X (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 (32%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i7-9800X Intel Core i7-9800X
8C 16T @ 4.50 GHz
1155 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
681 (59%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i7-9800X Intel Core i7-9800X
8C 16T @ 4.20 GHz
9402 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
2576 (27%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
Intel Core i7-9800X Intel Core i7-9800X
8C 16T @ 4.50 GHz
1372 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
885 (65%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
Intel Core i7-9800X Intel Core i7-9800X
8C 16T @ 4.20 GHz
7654 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
2778 (36%)

Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i7-9800X Intel Core i7-9800X
8C 16T @ 4.50 GHz
1271 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i7-9800X Intel Core i7-9800X
8C 16T @ 4.20 GHz
13067 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R20 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i7-9800X Intel Core i7-9800X
8C 16T @ 4.50 GHz
455 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R20 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i7-9800X Intel Core i7-9800X
8C 16T @ 4.20 GHz
4338 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
0 (0%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
Intel Core i7-9800X Intel Core i7-9800X
@ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
ARM Mali-G76 MP10 @ 0.72 GHz
520 (100%)

AnTuTu 8 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 8 Benchmark measures the performance of a SoC. AnTuTu benchmarks the CPU, GPU, Memory as well as the UX (User Experience) by simulating browser and app usage. AnTuTu can benchmark any ARM CPU that runs under Android or iOS. Devices may not be directly compareable if the benchmark has been performed under different operating systems.

In the AnTuTu 8 benchmark, the single-core performance of a processor is only slightly weighted. The evaluation consists of the multi-core performance of the processor, the speed of the RAM and the performance of the internal graphics.
Intel Core i7-9800X Intel Core i7-9800X
8C 16T @ 3.80 GHz
0 (0%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
412594 (100%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
Intel Core i7-9800X Intel Core i7-9800X
8C 16T @ 4.20 GHz
18113 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
0 (0%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Multi-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.
Intel Core i7-9800X Intel Core i7-9800X
8C 16T @ 3.80 GHz
4467 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core i7-9800X HiSilicon Kirin 980
Unknown Huawei P30
Huawei P30 Pro
Huawei Honor 20
Huawei Honor 20 Pro
Huawei Mate 20
Huawei Mate 20 Pro
Huawei Nova 5T

Popular comparisons containing this CPUs

1. HiSilicon Kirin 980Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 HiSilicon Kirin 980 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
2. HiSilicon Kirin 980Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 HiSilicon Kirin 980 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
3. Qualcomm Snapdragon 765GHiSilicon Kirin 980 Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G vs HiSilicon Kirin 980
4. HiSilicon Kirin 980Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 HiSilicon Kirin 980 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
5. Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5GHiSilicon Kirin 980 Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G vs HiSilicon Kirin 980
6. HiSilicon Kirin 980Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 HiSilicon Kirin 980 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
7. HiSilicon Kirin 980Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G HiSilicon Kirin 980 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G
8. Qualcomm Snapdragon 732GHiSilicon Kirin 980 Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G vs HiSilicon Kirin 980
9. Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 4GHiSilicon Kirin 980 Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 4G vs HiSilicon Kirin 980
10. HiSilicon Kirin 980Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 HiSilicon Kirin 980 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 870


back to index