Did you discover the 4500U doesn't match your expectations?
Did you discover the 4500U doesn't match your expectations?
I setup a lot of laptops for clients. Mostly retirees and seniors. I have a process that rarely changes which includes the removal of bloatware/trialware, performing all available updates. And transfer of data from the old system. Over the last six months the laptop of choice (bang for the buck vs availability where I am in Canada) has been the Dell Inspiron 14/15 5000 series. For the better part of the last six months due to the inavailability of the highly reviewed 4500U processor it has been the 1135G7. I've setup a dozen or more in the last six months. So I know what kind of time frame to expect out of simple setup, not taking into account data transfer of course. A month back, the availability of the 4500U finally hit and they had a nice little system available at $600 Canadian. Being that with Covid pricing the 1135G7 was floating between 650 and 750 Canadian with the common price being in about the 730 range this was AWESOME, and an easy sell. I sold a half a dozen of them to clients in the span of a couple of days. These systems were, with the exception of the processor configured, as near as I can tell, similarily spec'd. Same memory. SSD. Same Dell 5000 chassis (sometimes 14" sometimes 15.6"). Comparible. I was excited for the 4500U finally turning up. So excited I picked one up for my daughters birthday. All the scores. All the reviews. Everything pointed to no-brainer. So here's the problem. I've setup 5 of these in the last few weeks. Why are the setups taking SO MUCH LONGER than the 1135G7? The setup process is the same. Initial user account setup, removal of McAfee Trial. Removal of bloatware (things retirees will never use like the Mixed Reality Portal, 3D Viewer). Then I work on updates, initially Dell updates. Then Windows Updates and Windows Store Updates. Install an AdBlocker. Its kind of a routine. But I'm finding these 4500U units to be taking an unreasonable amount of time for setup. One BIG offender is Windows Updates, but not exclusively. They seem to take FOREVER on the AMD. I've yet to have one of each on the bench at the same time so I haven't done a side by side yet. But I don't think its my imagination. Has anyone else seen this? Has anyone else done the side-by-side comparison. Is AMD gaming the benchmarks? Why am I not seeing the performance the reviews and benchmarks lead me to expect? Anyone else seeing what I'm seeing or is it my imagination? Without actually timing things, my guess is the AMD is taking 40-60% longer to setup than the Intel. Battery life admittedly is ridiculously good on the 4500U. Good on the 1135G7, but really good on the 4500U.
Looking back I think I misplaced it—I probably meant to put it elsewhere. It was intended for Processors, but perhaps it should have been in a different section.
It's not really clear why the improvement isn't noticeable. Perhaps a conventional mechanical system is more suited to the task.
Checked the CPU activity and frequency you were observing. Next time, consider reinstalling Windows instead of deleting programs.
Consider installing the chipset drivers and performing a Windows update first. The AMD model might feature a smaller heatsink or the CPU could run at a lower core temperature during boot—typically around 15W, with a typical range of 10–25W. Intel versions usually have a core temperature down to 12W and a boost up to 28W, which is higher than AMD. The exact default TDP isn't clear, but it seems likely AMD's configuration stays within a safer range. Also, Intel offers a 4.2 GHz turbo and 2.4 GHz base clock, whereas AMD provides 2.3 GHz stock and 4 GHz turbo. This difference could stem from the CPU being capped at 10–15W instead of reaching up to 25W. Review the BIOS settings for more details.
I understand your perspective. I’m focusing on configuring systems for older users, not optimizing for gaming performance. Past reviews usually reflect standard settings, not every tweak. I’ll review the BIOS settings once I have a chance to set everything up. In the meantime, when I have time, I’ll check how my daughter’s system is configured. My goal isn’t to find a perfect solution, but to confirm if others have noticed similar issues with the 4500U during setup. Benchmarks might not capture real-world performance for everyone.