Intel Core i7-7Y75 vs Intel Core i5-1250P vs Intel Core i5-1240P

Intel Core i7-7Y75

The Intel Core i7-7Y75 is a very efficient dual-core SoC for tablets and passively cooled notebooks based on the Kaby Lake architecture and was announced in the end of August 2016. The CPU consists of two processor cores clocked at 1.3-3.6 GHz (2-core Turbo not specified yet). Thanks to Hyper Threading, the processor can execute up to four threads simultaneously. The chips also includes the Intel HD Graphics 615 GPU, a dual-channel memory controller (DDR3L/LPDDR3) as well as VP9 and H.265 video de- and encoder. It is still produced in a 14 nm process with FinFET transistors. 

Architecture

Intel basically used the familiar micro architecture from the Skylake generation, so the per-MHz performance is identical. Only the Speed-Shift technology for faster dynamic adjustments of the voltages and clocks was improved, and the matured 14 nm process now also enables much higher frequencies and better efficiency than before. 

Performance

Despite the changed designation, the Core i7-7Y75 is the successor to the Core m7-6Y75 (Skylake Y-series), so the chip does not reach the performance level of other Core i processors due to the lower TDP. Thanks to its high Turbo clock, the 7Y75 can sometimes keep up with the 15 Watt models for short peak load and single-thread scenarios, but the clocks will drop significantly under sustained workloads. The CPU is still suitable for many more demanding applications as well as multitasking. 

Graphics

The integrated Intel HD Graphics 615 GPU has 24 Execution Units (EUs) like the old HD Graphics 515 and runs with clocks between 300 and 1050 MHz in combination with this processor. The performance heavily depends on the TDP limit as well as the memory configuration; with fast LPDDR3-1866 RAM in dual-channel mode, the GPU should sometimes be able to compete with the HD Graphics 520, but can also be much slower in other scenarios. Modern games from 2016 will, if at all, only run smoothly in the lowest settings.

Contrary to Skylake, Kaby Lake now also supports hardware decoding for H.265/HEVC Main10 with a 10-bit color depth as well as Google's VP9 codec.

Power Consumption

The chip is manufactured in an improved 14 nm process with FinFET transistors, so the power efficiency was once again improved significantly. The typical TDP for the Y-series is specified at 4.5 Watts, and can be adjusted in both directions depending on the usage scenario.

Intel Core i5-1250P

The Intel Core i5-1250P 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 i5-1260P include the smaller L3 cache, slower iGPU model, lower clock speeds. Full vPro feature set is enabled in the case of this i5, though ("Enterprise" tier, 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 i5-1250P'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, 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). The alluringly fast PCI-Express 5.0 spec 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 permanently soldered on to the motherboard (FCBGA1744 socket interface).

Performance

The average 1250P in our database nearly matches the Ryzen 5 5500U and the Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U in multi-thread performance, trailing behind the Core i5-1240P just slightly. This is a great CPU for nearly all tasks imaginable, as long as one does not expect it to be as fast as the mighty Core i7-12700H.

Your mileage may vary depending on how high the Power Limits are and how competent the cooling solution of your system is. The latter is really important as a single Golden Cove core can eat more than 20 W when under heavy load.

Graphics

The built-in graphics adapter in the form of the 80 EU Iris Xe running at up to 1.4 GHz has seen little change from what was built into certain 11th Gen Tiger Lake UP3 processors, like a Core i5-1135G7, which is hardly a downside as this iGPU is loaded with modern features, AV1 video decoding capability and SUHD 4320p monitor support included. 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 Xe has to make do with no dedicated video memory.

Power consumption

The i5's base power consumption (also known as the default TDP or Power Limit 1) is 28 W; its maximum Turbo power consumption (also known as the PL2) is not supposed to exceed 64 W. As for the "Minimum Assured" power consumption, Intel's guidelines mention 20 W. All in all, an active cooling solution is a must for a CPU like this.

The i5-1250P is built with Intel's fourth-gen 10 nm manufacturing process marketed as Intel 7 for decent, as of late 2022, energy efficiency. Despite that, the i5 is more power-hungry than certain 7 nm U-class AMD Ryzen 5000 chips delivering similar, or even higher, performance.

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

Multi-thread performance is most comparable to the Ryzen 5 5500U, Ryzen 5 5600U and, surprisingly enough, the Core i5-1250P, making the i5-1240P a great processor for most consumers. Content creators and gamers will be better served by an H-class CPU such as the mighty Core i7-12700H, though.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 40 W, the NUC 12 Pro Kit NUC12WSBi5 is among the fastest systems built around the 1240P that we know of. It can be more than 2 times as fast in CPU-bound workloads as the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

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 consumption (also known as the default TDP value or Power Limit 1) is 28 W; its maximum Turbo power consumption (also known as the PL2) is not supposed to exceed 64 W. The "Minimum Assured" power consumption is fairly high at 20 W. All in all, an active cooling solution is a must for a CPU like this.

This 12th generation Intel chip is built with Intel's fourth-gen 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 for decent, as of late 2022, energy efficiency. Keep in mind that many 7 nm U-class AMD Ryzen 5000 chips are just as fast, or even faster than the i5 while sipping less juice.