Intel Core i5-12450H vs Intel Core i3-1120G4

Intel Core i5-12450H

The Intel Core i5-12450H is a high-end mobile CPU for laptops based on the Alder Lake architecture. It was announced in early 2022 and offers 4 of the 6 performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) and 4 of the 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture) leading to 8 cores in total (octa core CPU). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading leading to 12 supported threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 2 to 4.4 GHz on the performance cluster and 1.5 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 12500H, the 12450H offers less E-cores, lower clock rates, a slower iGPU and no vPro support.

Performance

The average 12450H in our extensive database is a bit of a disappointment, its multi-thread benchmark scores only just matching those of the Ryzen 7 5700U and the Core i7-10750H, both fairly old chips as of Q2 2023.

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

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 adapter is based on the Xe-architecture and offers 48 of the 96 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 1.2 GHz.

The CPU is rated at 45 W base power (95 W PL2) but most laptops will use a PL1 of around 60 Watt. The SoC is manufactured in a 10nm process at Intel, which is known as Intel 7.

Intel Core i3-1120G4

The Intel Core i3-1120G4 is a power-efficient quad-core SoC for laptops and Ultrabooks based on the Tiger Lake-U generation (UP4) that was introduced in September 2020. It integrates four Willow Cove processor cores (8 threads thanks to Hyper-Threading). Each core can clock from 1.1 GHz (base speed) to 3.5 GHz (1 core boost). All cores at once can clock at up to 3 GHz.

Another novelty is the integrated Xe graphics adapter based on the completely new Gen 12 architecture. The i3 integrates the low end UHD Graphics G4 with 48 of the 96 EUs enabled and a clock speed of 400 - 1100 MHz. The GPU and CPU can together use the 8 MB of L3 cache.

Furthermore, Tiger Lake SoCs add PCIe 4 support (4 lanes), AI hardware acceleration, and the partial integration of Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4 and Wi-Fi 6 in the chip.

Performance

While we have not tested a single system built around the 1120G4 as of August 2023, it's fair to expect the chip to be about half as fast as the Core i5-1125G4 (Tiger Lake, 4 cores, 8 threads, up to 3.7 GHz), as far as multi-thread benchmarks are concerned. The 1120G4's low TDP target is slated to limit the chip's real-world Boost clock speeds significantly leading to underwhelming performance and high DPC latencies.

Power consumption

This Core i3 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. The CPU is built with Intel's third-gen 10 nm process marketed as SuperFin for decent, as of late 2022, energy efficiency.