China's Hygon C86-4G: Domestic CPU Matches Intel Raptor Lake for Gaming PCs

China's drive for CPU independence hits a milestone with Hygon's C86-4G processor, which delivers multi-threaded performance between Intel's Core i7-13700 and i7-14700 in Thunderobot's new gaming PC.

Core Specs and Architecture

The Hygon C86-4G features 16 cores and 32 threads with 32MB L3 cache at a 2.8GHz base clock. Built on a licensed AMD Zen foundation, Hygon touts a custom microarchitecture while adding DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0 support not found in early Zen designs.

As a full x86 chip, it runs Windows and standard apps without emulation, making it practical for gaming rigs and productivity unlike China's Arm or RISC-V alternatives.

Benchmark Performance Table

In multi-threaded integer tests, the C86-4G outperforms the i7-13700 by 22% and nearly matches the i7-14700. However, single-threaded scores lag significantly behind the Intel processors.

Gaming PC Launch and Real-World Use

Thunderobot's Black Warrior Hunter Pro debuts as China's first native CPU gaming laptop, pairing the C86-4G with an Nvidia RTX GPU to fill local graphics gaps. Strong multi-core results favor streaming and content creation over pure gaming IPC.

Early demos show Valorant and Black Myth: Wukong running smoothly, though detailed FPS benchmarks remain unavailable. Hygon plans further refinements amid scrutiny over intellectual property compliance.

Note: This article reflects the latest publicly available information on China's Hygon C86-4G CPU and its performance positioning.