Is the Core Ultra 7 255H worth it in the ThinkPad E16 G3? We tested it

The new ThinkPad E16 G3 left a good impression in our review and Lenovo improved the office laptop in important areas, including the chassis, the ports and the display. Our review unit was equipped with the current Intel Core Ultra 5 225U (Arrow Lake) and it offers sufficient CPU performance for standard office tasks, but the weak spot is the low iGPU performance. We now had the chance to test the ThinkPad E16 G3 with the more powerful Core Ultra 7 255H, which also offers the integrated Intel Arc Graphics 140T. It is no surprise that the Core Ultra 255H offers more performance, but the cooling unit (one fan, small heatpipe) is identical, so how much performance can you use?

The situation is much better when you look at the performance of the iGPU. However, we have to note that the Arc Graphics 140T also benefits from a dual-channel memory configuration, while the base model with the Intel Graphics was only equipped with a one memory module (single channel). The 140T is 120 % faster than the Intel Graphics in synthetic benchmarks, but the results are once again a bit behind the average results we usually get for this iGPU.

If you like to play some games after the work is finished, you will benefit from the Core Ultra 7 255H with the Arc Graphics 140T as well. Our default gaming benchmarks in the 1080p resolution show an advantage over 70 % compared to the Core Ultra 5 225U. If you plan on using an external graphics card (which is no problem thanks to Thunderbolt 4), you also benefit from more headroom with the faster processor.

As expected, the Core Ultra 7 255H is much more powerful than the Core Ultra 5 225U, but keep in mind that the cooling of the ThinkPad E16 G3 cannot utilize the full potential of the faster CPU. Whether you are willing to pay 170 Euros more is another question. The smaller Core Ultra 5 225H (including the Arc Graphics 130T) for 50 Euros more is probably the more reasonable choice for the E16 G3. Please see our full review of the Lenovo ThinkPad E16 G3 for all further information.

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