Intel Core i5-1140G7 vs Intel Core i3-8130U

Intel Core i5-1140G7

The Intel Core i5-1140G7 is a power-efficient quad-core SoC for laptops and Ultrabooks based on the Tiger Lake-U generation (UP4) that was introduced in early 2021. It integrates four Willow Cove processor cores (8 threads thanks to Hyper-Threading). The guaranteed base clock speed depends on the TDP setting and can range from 0.8 (7 W TDP) to 1.8 GHz (15 W TDP). The Turbo clock speed is specified at 4.2 GHz for one core, all cores can reach up to 3.5 GHz.

Another novelty is the integrated Xe graphics card with 80EUs based on the completely new Gen 12 architecture. It offers a significantly higher performance compared to the older Iris Plus G7 (Ice Lake). In the i5-1140G7 it uses 80 of the 96 EUs and clocks between 400 - 1100 MHz. The GPU and CPU can together use the 8 MB of L3 cache.

Furthermore, Tiger Lake SoCs add PCIe 4 support (four lanes), AI hardware acceleration, and the partial integration of Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4 and Wi-Fi 6 in the chip. The i5-1140G7 also supports the management feature vPro.

Performance

The average 1140G7 in our database is in the same league as the N95 and also the Pentium 7505, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. This is a pretty poor result, as of early 2023.

Your mileage may vary depending on how high the CPU power limits are, and how competent the cooling solution of your system is.

Power consumption

This Core i5 has a default TDP of 7 W to 15 W, the expectation being that laptop manufacturers will go for a higher value in exchange for higher performance. Those values are rather low, meaning at least a few passively cooled designs are to be expected.

Core i5-1140G7 is manufactured on Intel's 2nd generation 10 nm process marketed as SuperFin for decent, as of early 2023, energy efficiency.

Intel Core i3-8130U

The Intel Core i3-8130U is a power efficient dual-core SoC for notebooks and Ultrabooks (most likely) based on the Kaby Lake Refresh generation (and not Coffee Lake). It was announced in February 2018. Compared to its direct predecessor, the Core i3-7130U, the 8130U offers Turbo Boost for an increased single thread performance. The GPU is now named Intel UHD Graphics 620 but otherwise identical to the Intel HD Graphics 620. The integrated memory controller supports DDR4-2400 / LPDDR3-2133 and dual channel memory.

Architecture

Intel basically uses the same micro architecture compared to Skylake, so the per-MHz performance does not differ. The manufacturer only reworked the Speed Shift technology for faster dynamic adjustments of voltages and clocks, and the improved 14nm process allows much higher frequencies combined with better efficiency than before.

Performance

Clocked at 2.2 to 3.4 GHz, the Core i3-8130U offers a much better single core performance than the Core i3-7130U (2.7 GHz, no Turbo). Therefore, the overall performance should be comparable to the older Core i5-7260U (also 2.2 - 3.4 GHz). The Core i5-8250U offers four processor cores and therefore offers a much better multi-threaded performance.

Graphics

The integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 (Intel Gen 9.5) is untouched from the 8th Gen Kaby Lake chips. In the Core i3-8130U it is rather low clocked with 1 GHz compared to the 1.1 GHz in Core i7 models. With fast dual-channel memory it can reach the performance of a dedicated GeForce 920M.

Contrary to Skylake, Kaby lake now also supports H.265/HEVC Main 10 with a 10-bit color depth as well as Google's VP9 codec. The dual-core Kaby Lake processors announced in January should also support HDCP 2.2.

Power Consumption

The chip is most likely manufactured in an improved 14nm process with FinFET transistors (14nm+), the same as the 7th Gen Kaby Lake processors. Intel still specifies the TDP with 15 Watts, which is typical for ULV chips. According to Intel it can be configured to 10 Watt at 800 MHz (cTDP-down).