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Intel Core i7-1250U vs Intel Core i5-1230U

Intel Core i7-1250U

► remove from comparison Intel i7-1250U

The Intel Core i7-1250U 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 4.7 GHz on the performance cluster and 0.8 to 3.5 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 1250U only offers "Essentials" vPro management features.

Performance

The average 1250U in our database is in the same league as the Ryzen 5 5500U; the i5-1240U, the i7-1260U and the i7-1265U are found close nearby as well.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 23 W, the Envy x360 13-bf0013dx is among the fastest laptops built around the 1250U that we know of. It can be at least 30% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

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 all 96 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 0.95 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 Core i5-1230U

► remove from comparison Intel i5-1230U

The Intel Core i5-1230U 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 to 4.4 GHz on the performance cluster and 0.7 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 i5-1240U, the 1230U offers a lower base CPU clock speed and only "Essentials" 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 i5-1235U) 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 0.85 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.

ModelIntel Core i7-1250UIntel Core i5-1230U
SeriesIntel Alder Lake-MIntel Alder Lake-M
CodenameAlder Lake-UAlder Lake-U
Series: Alder Lake-M Alder Lake-U
Intel Core i7-1265U compare1.3 - 4.8 GHz10 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i7-1255U compare1.2 - 4.7 GHz10 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i5-1245U compare1.2 - 4.4 GHz10 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i5-1235U compare0.9 - 4.4 GHz10 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i7-1260U compare0.8 - 4.7 GHz10 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i7-1250U « 0.8 - 4.7 GHz10 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i5-1240U compare0.8 - 4.4 GHz10 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i5-1230U0.7 - 4.4 GHz10 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i3-1215U compare0.9 - 4.4 GHz6 / 8 cores10 MB L3
Intel Pentium 8505 compare0.9 - 4.4 GHz5 / 6 cores8 MB L3
Intel Core i3-1210U compare0.7 - 4.4 GHz6 / 8 cores10 MB L3
Intel Pentium 8500 compare0.7 - 4.4 GHz5 / 6 cores8 MB L3
Intel Celeron 7305 compare0.9 - 1.1 GHz5 / 5 cores8 MB L3
Intel Celeron 7300 compare0.7 - 1 GHz5 / 5 cores8 MB L3
Intel Core i7-1265U compare1.3 - 4.8 GHz10 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i7-1255U compare1.2 - 4.7 GHz10 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i5-1245U compare1.2 - 4.4 GHz10 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i5-1235U compare0.9 - 4.4 GHz10 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i7-1260U compare0.8 - 4.7 GHz10 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i7-1250U0.8 - 4.7 GHz10 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i5-1240U compare0.8 - 4.4 GHz10 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i5-1230U « 0.7 - 4.4 GHz10 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i3-1215U compare0.9 - 4.4 GHz6 / 8 cores10 MB L3
Intel Pentium 8505 compare0.9 - 4.4 GHz5 / 6 cores8 MB L3
Intel Core i3-1210U compare0.7 - 4.4 GHz6 / 8 cores10 MB L3
Intel Pentium 8500 compare0.7 - 4.4 GHz5 / 6 cores8 MB L3
Intel Celeron 7305 compare0.9 - 1.1 GHz5 / 5 cores8 MB L3
Intel Celeron 7300 compare0.7 - 1 GHz5 / 5 cores8 MB L3
Clock800 - 4700 MHz700 - 4400 MHz
L1 Cache928 KB928 KB
L2 Cache9.5 MB9.5 MB
L3 Cache12 MB12 MB
Cores / Threads10 / 1210 / 12
TDP9 Watt9 Watt
Technology10 nm10 nm
max. Temp.100 °C100 °C
SocketBGA1781BGA1781
FeaturesLPDDR4x-4266/LPDDR5-5200 RAM, PCIe 4, Thr. Dir., DL Boost, GNA, vPro Ess., MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, BMI2, ABM, FMA, ADX, SMEP, SMAP, EIST, TM1, TM2, HT, Turbo, SST, AES-NI, RDRAND, RDSEED, SHALPDDR4x-4266/LPDDR5-5200 RAM, PCIe 4, Thr. Director, DL Boost, GNA, vPro Essen., MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AES, AVX, AVX2, FMA3, SHA
iGPUIntel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs ( - 950 MHz)Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs ( - 850 MHz)
Architecturex86x86
Announced
Manufacturerark.intel.comark.intel.com

Benchmarks

Performance Rating - CB R15 + R20 + 7-Zip + X265 + Blender + 3DM11 CPU - i7-1250U
35.9 pt (50%)
Performance Rating - CB R15 + R20 + 7-Zip + X265 + Blender + 3DM11 CPU - i5-1230U
29.9 pt (41%)
Cinebench R23 - Cinebench R23 Multi Core
min: 7021     avg: 7275     median: 7069 (7%)     max: 7735 Points
min: 3066     avg: 4911     median: 4402 (4%)     max: 7264 Points
Cinebench R23 - Cinebench R23 Single Core
min: 1561     avg: 1580     median: 1574 (67%)     max: 1606 Points
min: 1135     avg: 1319     median: 1310 (56%)     max: 1512 Points
Cinebench R20 - Cinebench R20 CPU (Single Core)
min: 605     avg: 615     median: 618 (69%)     max: 621 Points
min: 441     avg: 496.7     median: 469 (52%)     max: 580 Points
Cinebench R20 - Cinebench R20 CPU (Multi Core)
min: 2745     avg: 2831     median: 2778 (7%)     max: 2970 Points
min: 1175     avg: 1877     median: 1653 (4%)     max: 2802 Points
Cinebench R15 - Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64 Bit
min: 1085     avg: 1182     median: 1172.9 (7%)     max: 1297 Points
min: 433     avg: 734     median: 514 (3%)     max: 1254 Points
Cinebench R15 - Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64 Bit
min: 218     avg: 223.3     median: 226 (68%)     max: 226 Points
min: 120.1     avg: 176     median: 186.8 (56%)     max: 221 Points
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Rend. Single (32bit)
7290 Points (44%)
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Rend. Multi (32bit)
17243 Points (12%)
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Rend. Multi (64bit)
28930 Points (20%)
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Rend. Single (64bit)
12037 Points (15%)
wPrime 2.10 - wPrime 2.0 1024m *
576 s (7%)
wPrime 2.10 - wPrime 2.0 32m *
14 s (3%)
WinRAR - WinRAR 4.0
4985 Points (8%)
7-Zip 18.03 - 7-Zip 18.03 Multli Thread 4 runs
min: 27072     avg: 29944     median: 30826 (18%)     max: 31934 MIPS
min: 12470     avg: 22356     median: 20092 (12%)     max: 34505 MIPS
7-Zip 18.03 - 7-Zip 18.03 Single Thread 4 runs
min: 4755     avg: 4867     median: 4805 (57%)     max: 5041 MIPS
min: 3873     avg: 4237     median: 3969 (47%)     max: 4870 MIPS
X264 HD Benchmark 4.0 - x264 Pass 2
41.8 fps (15%)
X264 HD Benchmark 4.0 - x264 Pass 1
152.7 fps (35%)
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 - HWBOT x265 4k Preset
min: 7.84     avg: 8.3     median: 8.1 (14%)     max: 8.97 fps
min: 3.59     avg: 6     median: 6 (10%)     max: 8.33 fps
Blender - Blender 3.3 Classroom CPU *
min: 747     avg: 894     median: 933 (12%)     max: 1001 Seconds
min: 1023     avg: 1459     median: 1458.5 (19%)     max: 1894 Seconds
Blender - Blender 2.79 BMW27 CPU *
min: 411     avg: 488.3     median: 498 (4%)     max: 556 Seconds
min: 503     avg: 754     median: 754 (5%)     max: 1005 Seconds
R Benchmark 2.5 - R Benchmark 2.5 *
min: 0.504     avg: 0.5     median: 0.5 (11%)     max: 0.538 sec
min: 0.527     avg: 0.6     median: 0.6 (13%)     max: 0.676 sec
3DMark 06 - CPU - 3DMark 06 - CPU
6641 Points (14%)
Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 1M - Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 1M *
7 s (2%)
Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 2M - Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 2M *
15 s (1%)
Super Pi Mod 1.5 XS 32M - Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 32M *
365 s (2%)
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance Physics
min: 12353     avg: 12691     median: 12473 (34%)     max: 13247 Points
min: 6656     avg: 9961     median: 10067 (27%)     max: 13161 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Physics
36896 Points (31%)
3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Physics
min: 6700     avg: 8941     median: 9623 (24%)     max: 10500 Points
min: 4472     avg: 7453     median: 7284 (18%)     max: 10602 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Physics
min: 11876     avg: 14898     median: 16399 (29%)     max: 16418 Points
min: 6737     avg: 12027     median: 13426 (24%)     max: 15917 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Time Spy CPU
min: 4743     avg: 5610     median: 5756 (24%)     max: 6331 Points
min: 2140     avg: 2983     median: 3017 (13%)     max: 3791 Points
Geekbench 6.2 - Geekbench 6.2 Single-Core
2298 Points (70%)
Geekbench 6.2 - Geekbench 6.2 Multi-Core
7943 Points (31%)
Geekbench 5.5 - Geekbench 5.1 - 5.4 64 Bit Single-Core
min: 1584     avg: 1635     median: 1650 (70%)     max: 1670 Points
min: 1454     avg: 1541     median: 1529 (65%)     max: 1640 Points
Geekbench 5.5 - Geekbench 5.1 - 5.4 64 Bit Multi-Core
min: 6753     avg: 6931     median: 6947 (12%)     max: 7092 Points
min: 4193     avg: 6086     median: 6755 (12%)     max: 7309 Points
Geekbench 5.0 - Geekbench 5.0 64 Bit Single-Core
1547 Points (7%)
min: 1412     avg: 1472     median: 1471.5 (6%)     max: 1531 Points
Geekbench 5.0 - Geekbench 5.0 64 Bit Multi-Core
7072 Points (22%)
min: 3814     avg: 5506     median: 5505.5 (17%)     max: 7197 Points
Geekbench 3 - Geekbench 3 32 Bit Multi-Core
21447 Points (38%)
Geekbench 3 - Geekbench 3 32 Bit Single-Core
5120 Points (100%)
Geekbench 3 - Geekbench 3 64 Bit Multi-Core
24369 Points (38%)
Geekbench 3 - Geekbench 3 64 Bit Single-Core
5835 Points (87%)
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Kraken 1.1 Total Score *
min: 572     avg: 579     median: 577 (1%)     max: 587 ms
min: 604     avg: 641     median: 640.5 (1%)     max: 677 ms
Octane V2 - Octane V2 Total Score
81256 Points (73%)
WebXPRT 4 - WebXPRT 4 Score
min: 228     avg: 229.3     median: 229 (66%)     max: 231 Points
min: 188.4     avg: 204.2     median: 204.2 (59%)     max: 220 Points
WebXPRT 3 - WebXPRT 3 Score
min: 265     avg: 267.3     median: 267 (56%)     max: 270 Points
min: 219     avg: 233.5     median: 233.5 (49%)     max: 248 Points
CrossMark - CrossMark Overall
min: 1338     avg: 1386     median: 1361 (52%)     max: 1460 Points
min: 1117     avg: 1271     median: 1312 (50%)     max: 1383 Points
Power Consumption - Prime95 Power Consumption - external Monitor *
min: 31.8     avg: 36.9     median: 38.2 (7%)     max: 40.7 Watt
min: 14.7     avg: 25.3     median: 23.2 (4%)     max: 38 Watt
Power Consumption - Cinebench R15 Multi Power Consumption - external Monitor *
min: 39.7     avg: 43.8     median: 43.4 (8%)     max: 48.2 Watt
min: 17.8     avg: 36.4     median: 43.9 (8%)     max: 47.4 Watt
Power Consumption - Idle Power Consumption - external Monitor *
min: 5.82     avg: 6.8     median: 6.9 (5%)     max: 7.5 Watt
min: 2.87     avg: 5.2     median: 5.8 (4%)     max: 6.87 Watt
Power Consumption - Idle Power Consumption 150cd 1min *
min: 6.27     avg: 7     median: 7 (8%)     max: 7.71 Watt
min: 3.02     avg: 4.4     median: 3.9 (4%)     max: 6.1 Watt
Power Consumption - Cinebench R15 Multi Power Efficiency - external Monitor
min: 22.5     avg: 27.7     median: 29.9 (22%)     max: 30.8 Points per Watt
min: 10.8     avg: 19.7     median: 19.7 (15%)     max: 28.6 Points per Watt

Average Benchmarks Intel Core i7-1250U → 100% n=24

Average Benchmarks Intel Core i5-1230U → 81% n=24

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation

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Redaktion, 2017-09- 8 (Update: 2023-07- 1)