Intel Core i5-1240P vs Intel Core i7-1270P

Intel Core i5-1240P

The Intel Core i5-1240P is a mid-range Alder Lake-P family SoC designed for use in ultra-light, ultra-thin (yet actively cooled) laptops. It was announced in early 2022 and it has 4 performance cores as opposed to the 6 cores of the top-of-the-line i7-1280P (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) mated to 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The i5's P-cores are Hyper-Threading-enabled for a total of 16 threads when combined with its E-cores. The clock speeds range from 1.7 GHz to 4.4 GHz for the performance cluster and 1.2 GHz to 3.3 GHz for the efficient cluster. The shortcomings of this processor as compared with the slightly faster Core i5-1250P include the slightly lower iGPU clock speed and the limited vPro feature set ("Essentials" tier only, not allowing for remote device management).

Architecture

The i5 is a continuation of Intel's efforts to use the ARM-developed big.LITTLE technology for its own benefit. A single "little" Alder Lake core is supposed to be as fast as a Skylake core (as found in the venerable Core i7-6700HQ among other options) which is six years old at this point. All of Core i5-1240P's CPU cores enjoy access to 12 MB of L3 cache. The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to LPDDR5-5200, DDR5-4800, LPDDR4x-4267 or DDR4-3200; Intel recommends using no more than 64 GB of RAM, for reference. Just like the other 12th Gen Intel Core processors, this Core i5 comes with the Thread Director which is a new functionality designed to help Windows 11 decide which cores to use for what workload for best performance and efficiency possible. Hardware acceleration of AI algorithms is supported via GNA 3.0 and DL Boost (via AVX2). PCI-Express 5.0 support has not found its way into Alder Lake P processors, so users will have to be content with PCI-Express 4.0 for the time being. Four PCI-Express 4 lanes allow for a read/write rate of up to 7.9 GB/s, provided a suitably fast NVMe SSD is used.

Please note this is not a user-replaceable CPU. It gets soldered permanently on to the motherboard (FCBGA1744 socket interface).

Performance

The 12 CPU cores are not just able to outperform any quad-core Tiger Lake part, Core i7-1195G7 and Core i7-11375H included. Provided the Power Limits are high enough and the cooling solution is a good one, an i5-1240P will come reasonably close to what an i7-11600H can muster. Better yet, the i5 can be almost as fast as top-end Ryzen 5000 and Ryzen 6000 U-class processors. As stated earlier, it all comes down to whether a laptop can keep the CPU well-cooled or not and whether the long-term Power Limit is high enough (> 30 W) or not.

Graphics

The built-in graphics adapter in the form of the 80 EU Iris Xe running at up to 1.3 GHz has seen little change from what was built into certain Tiger Lake-UP3 processors, like an i5-1135G7, which is hardly a downside as this iGPU is loaded with modern features such as AV1 video decoding capability and SUHD 4320p monitor support. You can use up to 4 monitors simultaneously with this GPU, provided the laptop has the outputs required. The Xe isn't a stranger to a bit of casual gaming; that said, your mileage may vary depending on how high the Power Limits are and how capable the cooling solution of a laptop is. Expect something close to NVIDIA's MX250 or in other words, acceptable framerates in most games when playing at 1080p / Low settings. Fast RAM is a prerequisite for decent performance as the Iris Xe has to make do with no dedicated video memory.

Power Consumption

The i5's base power (also known as the default TDP value or PL1) is 28 W; its Intel-recommended Turbo power (also known as PL2) sits at 64 W. This processor is manufactured on Intel's third-gen 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 for an OK energy efficiency - on paper, that is. The tests we did proved that Intel's way to close the performance gap with AMD's Ryzen 5000 processors entails some seriously high power consumption figures where a single P-core can consume more than 20 W. AMD's Ryzen 5000 chips are not nearly as power-hungry, and Apple's M1-series processors can be several times more efficient while upholding a similarly high performance bar.

Intel Core i7-1270P

The Intel Core i7-1270P is a higher-end Alder Lake-P family CPU, an expensive 28 W part meant for use in ultra-light, ultra-thin (yet actively cooled) laptops. This CPU was announced in early 2022 and it has 4 performance cores as opposed to the 6 cores of the top-of-the-line 1280P (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) mated to 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores are Hyper-Threading-enabled for a total of 16 threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock speeds range from 2.2 GHz to 4.8 GHz for the performance cluster and 1.6 GHz to 3.5 GHz for the efficient cluster. Full vPro feature set is supported by this Core i7 ("Enterprise" tier, allowing for remote device management). Its shortcomings as compared with the mighty i7-1280P include the smaller L3 cache, lower core count, lower clock speeds; the performance is slated to be significantly lower as a result.

Architecture

The i7 is a continuation of Intel's efforts to use the ARM-developed big.LITTLE technology for its own benefit. A single "little" Alder Lake core is supposed to be as fast as a Skylake core (as found in the venerable Core i7-6700HQ among other options) which is six years old at this point. All of an Intel Core i7-1270P's CPU cores enjoy access to 18 MB of L3 cache. The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to LPDDR5-5200, DDR5-4800, LPDDR4x-4267 or DDR4-3200. Intel suggests using no more than 64 GB, for reference. Just like the other 12th Gen Intel Core processors, Core i7-1270P comes with Thread Director which is a new functionality designed to help Windows 11 decide which cores to use for what workload for best performance and efficiency possible. Hardware acceleration of AI algorithms is supported via GNA 3.0 and DL Boost (via AVX2). PCI-Express 5.0 support has not found its way into Alder Lake P processors, so users will have to be content with PCI-Express 4.0 for the time being. Four PCI-Express 4 lanes allow for a read/write rate of up to 7.9 GB/s, provided a suitably fast NVMe SSD is used.

Please note this is not a user-replaceable CPU. It gets soldered permanently on to the motherboard (BGA1744 socket interface).

Performance

We first tested this CPU in May 2022. The 12 CPU cores are not just able to easily outshine any outgoing quad-core Tiger Lake part (Core i7-11375H and Core i7-1195G7 included). Provided the long-term Power Limit is high enough (> 30 W) and the cooling solution is a good one, this CPU will also beat any octa-core U-class Ryzen 5000 processor without breaking a sweat. A brief look at the specifications instantly reveals the Core i7 to be very similar to the Core i5-12600H, a 45 W processor; that said, the former is a CPU for ultraportable systems while the latter is destined to be a part of a chunky gaming laptop or a portable workstation, and so a 12600H-powered laptop will be much superior in anything but single-core load scenarios.

The fairly high processing power comes at a cost. A single Golden Cove core can consume more than 20 W when under heavy load. Performance sustainability is thus tied to how high the Power Limits and how low the thermals of a system are.

If our early Ryzen 7 6800U tests are any indication, the U-class Ryzen 6000 chips deliver a noticeable uplift in graphics department while the CPU performance pretty much stays where it was before. Which means Alder Lake P chips (the i7 and i5 ones, at least) have the upper hand.

Graphics

The built-in graphics adapter in the form of the 96 EU Iris Xe running at up to 1.40 GHz has seen no change from what was built into the 11th Gen Tiger Lake-UP3 processors, like an i7-1165G7, which is hardly a downside as this iGPU is loaded with modern features such as AV1 video decoding capability and SUHD 4320p monitor support. Up to 4 monitors can be used simultaneously with this iGPU. We expect the gaming performance to be reasonably close to that of NVIDIA's MX350 but inferior to AMD's 680M as found in certain Ryzen 6000 chips.

In other words, the Xe is good enough for most games at 1080p resolution / Medium settings, provided the Power Limits are high enough and the cooling solution is competent enough. Fast RAM is a prerequisite for decent performance as well (the Xe has to make do with no dedicated video memory).

Last but not the least, we discovered that the GPU utilization when playing YouTube UHD 2160p60 videos is higher than it was with Tiger Lake chips.

Power Consumption

The i7's base power (formerly known as the default TDP value or PL1) is 28 W, with 64 W being its Intel-recommended Turbo power (also known as PL2). Core i7-1270P is manufactured on Intel's third-gen 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 for an OK energy efficiency - on paper, that is. The tests we did proved that Intel's way to close the performance gap with AMD's Ryzen 5000 processors entails some seriously high power consumption figures where a single P-core can consume more than 20 W. AMD's Ryzen 5000 chips are not nearly as power-hungry, and Apple's M1-series processors can be several times more efficient while upholding a similarly high performance bar.