More for less: how much performance do you really lose with the Ultra 7 instead of the Ultra 9 in Lenovo’s Legion Pro?

The CPU is a perfect example. Over the past few years, we’ve seen laptops where supposedly weaker processors maintained higher, more stable performance than top-tier chips that were heavily throttled due to heat constraints.

We’ve now tested two configurations of the Lenovo Legion Pro 15 16IAX10: first the higher-end model with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, and more recently, the version with a Core Ultra 7 255HX paired with an RTX 5070 (non-Ti).

While the GPU performance gap between these two versions is clear, the difference on the CPU side is surprisingly small—despite the Ultra 9 offering 24 cores versus 20 and a slightly higher boost clock. Across all CPU benchmarks, the overall performance delta is roughly 7 to 8 percent.

However, the gap widens depending on the workload. In single-core benchmarks, the Ultra 9’s lead is within the margin of error, but in multi-core tests it grows to around 10–13 percent.

Interestingly, both CPUs show nearly identical performance curves in our Cinebench R15 endurance test. That means the stronger chip in the Legion Pro doesn’t throttle earlier—or more aggressively—than the lower-tier model.

In short, the difference is negligible in most real-world scenarios, especially in gaming, where CPU clock speeds usually drop to a few hundred MHz below their peak and the GPU becomes the deciding factor. Unless you specifically need maximum multi-core performance, opting for a laptop with the slightly smaller CPU can be a smart way to save money without sacrificing much gaming performance.

Review Lenovo Legion Pro 16IAX10 with RTX 5070