Intel Core Ultra 7 255U vs Intel Core 9 270H

Intel Core Ultra 7 255U

The Intel Core Ultra 7 255U is an upper mid-range CPU with 12 cores from the Arrow Lake U series, which was introduced at the beginning of 2025. The chip is similar to the Meteor Lake U series, but the compute part is manufactured using the modern Intel 3 process and therefore offers higher clock rates.

Like its predecessor, the SoC is based on a tile/chiplet design. The smaller compute tile (compared to the H processors) offers 2 performance cores (P cores, Redwood Cove architecture, SMT) and 8 efficiency cores (E cores, Crestmont architecture). The P-cores support hyperthreading (therefore 14 threads together) and clock up to 5.2 GHz. The E-cores clock at a maximum of 4.2 GHz. In addition, there are now two more low-power efficiency cores with up to 2.4 GHz on the low-power island; the compute tile can therefore be completely deactivated when idle and during simple tasks in order to save power.

Performance

Due to the higher clock rates, the Core Ultra 7 255U can clearly distinguish itself from the old top model Core Ultra 7 165U (12 cores, max 4.9 / 3.8 GHz, 12 MB cache). The old Core Ultra 7 155U lags even further behind due to its low clock rates.

Graphics unit

The Core Ultra 7 155U offers a new Arc-based iGPU called Intel Graphics with 4 Xe cores and 64 EUs that reach a maximum of 2.1 GHz. However, the performance is far below the new Arc iGPU in the H series.

Features

Arrow Lake-U has integrated WiFi 6E (WiFi 7 optional). The integrated memory controller now supports LPDDR5/x-8400 or DDR5-6400 (max. 128 GB). A dedicated NPU (2x Gen3 Neural Compute Engines) is now used. The Xe Media Engine supports MPEG-2, AVC, VC-1 Decode, JPEG, VP8 Decode, VP9, HEVC and AV1 Decode up to 8K 10-bit HDR. The chip now supports PCIe-5.0 (x8 for GPU) and PCIe-4.0 (three x12 for SSDs).

Power consumption

The Intel Core Ultra 7 255U is specified with 15 watts TDP (base) and 57 watts (PL2) max. turbo power. Meteor Lake consists of five individual chips, whereby the processor part is manufactured in the new Intel 3 process (5nm). The graphics unit is produced at TSMC in N5 and the SoC and I/O tile in the older N6 process. These 4 chips are then applied to the 22nm base tile using the Foveros process.

Intel Core 9 270H

The Intel Core 9 270H is a high-end mobile CPU for laptops based on the Raptor Lake-H series (Alder Lake architecture). It was announced in late 2024 and offers 6 performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) and 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading for 20 threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rates range from 2.7 to 5.8 GHz (single core turbo) on the performance cluster and 2 to 4.1 GHz on the efficiency cluster. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (comparable with the Core i7-6920HQ). All cores can use up to 24 MB L3 cache.

Compared to the pre-refresh top model, the Core i9-13900H, the Core 9 270H offers a 400 MHz higher Turbo clock speed and supports slightly faster DDR5-5600 RAM.

Performance

The average Core 9 270H should be slightly faster than a Core i9-13900H thanks to the higher Turbo clock speed. Especially single core workloads can profit from the higher frequency. Supplied with ample cooling and TDP, the Core 9 270H should be sufficient even for very demanding tasks.

Features

The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to DDR5-5600 (up from 5200 MHz for the 13th gen). The Thread Director (in hardware) can support the operating system to decide which thread to use on the performance or efficient cores for the best performance. For AI tasks, the CPU also integrates GNA 3.0 and DL Boost (via AVX2). Quick Sync in version 8 is the same as in the Rocket Lake CPUs and supports MPEG-2, AVC, VC-1 decode, JPEG, VP8 decode, VP9, HEVC, and AV1 decode in hardware. The CPU now supports PCIe 5.0 x8 for a GPU and two PCIe 4.0 x4 for SSDs.

The integrated graphics adapter is based on the Xe architecture and offers 96 EUs (Execution Units) that are clocked at up to 1.55 GHz.

The CPU is rated at 45 W base power (115 W PL2) but most laptops will use a PL1 of around 60 Watt. The SoC is manufactured on an improved 10nm process at Intel, which is known as Intel 7.