Intel Core i5-1240U vs Intel Processor U300

Intel Core i5-1240U

The Intel Core i5-1240U is a mobile CPU for thin and light laptops based on the Alder Lake architecture. It was announced in early 2022 and offers 2  performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) and 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading leading to 12 supported threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 1.1 to 4.4 GHz on the performance cluster and 0.8 to 3.3 GHz on the efficient cluster. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare to the Core i7-6700HQ). All cores can use up to 12 MB L3 cache.  Compared to the similar Core i7-1260U, the 1240U offers lower clocked CPU cores, a slower iGPU, but the same "Enterprise" vPro management features.

Performance

Compared to the old 7 Watt Comet Lake-Y series (like the i7-10510Y), the performance should be clearly better thanks to the 10 cores and the improved architecture of the P-cores. Compared to the 15 W U-series (like the similar specified Core i5-1245U) the sustained performance will be clearly limited by the 9 Watt TDP. As always, the performance will also greatly depend on the cooling solution, especially for fanless laptops and tablets.

Features

The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200, LPDDR5-5200, and LPDDR4x-4267. 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 only supports PCIe 4.0 (x8 for a GPU and two x4 for SSDs).

The integrated graphics card is based on the Xe-architecture and offers 80 of the 96 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 0.9 GHz.

The CPU is rated at 9 W base power (TDP, PL1) and 29 W max. Turbo power (PL2) and the whole SoC is manufactured on a 10nm process at Intel, which is known as Intel 7.

Intel Processor U300

The Intel Processor U300 is an entry-level mobile CPU for thin and light laptops of the Raptor Lake-U series. It was announced in early 2023 and offers one performance core (Raptor Cove architecture P-core, similar to Alder Lake) and 4 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading for 6 processing threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 1.2 to 4.4 GHz on the performance cluster and 0.9 to 3.3 GHz on the efficient cluster. The per-clock performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare to the Core i7-6700HQ). All cores have access to 8 MB of L3 cache.

Performance

While we have not tested a single system powered by the U300 as of February 2024, its performance should be very similar to the outgoing Alder Lake Pentium 8505, since there is little difference between the two. The average U300 is set to be 10% to 20% behind the Ryzen 3 5300U and the Core i7-1185G7, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned, making the former an entry-level chip as of early 2024.

Your mileage may vary depending on how high the CPU power limits are.

Features

The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200, LPDDR5-5200, and LPDDR4x-4267. 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. Several PCIe 4 lanes (x8 for a GPU and two x4 for SSDs) as well as several PCIe 3 lanes are on offer.

The integrated graphics adapter is based on the Xe architecture and offers 48 of the 96 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 1.1 GHz.

Power consumption

The U300 has a base power consumption of 15 W, with 55 W being its maximum Intel-recommended Turbo power consumption. The CPU is built with a 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7.