Intel Core i5

The Intel Core i5-1135G7 is a quad-core, mid-range SoC designed to be used in ultra-light laptops. The Tiger Lake-UP3 processor was introduced in September 2020. It features four Willow Cove CPU cores running at 2.4 GHz (base clock speed @ 28 W TDP) Boosting up to 4.2 GHz (1-core Boost). The all-core Boost clock speed sits at 3.8 GHz. This is a Hyper-Threading-enabled CPU, allowing for up to 8 concurrent processing threads.

Architecture

A sizeable performance-per-MHz boost is one of the multiple strengths of Tiger Lake compared to the older Ice Lake and Comet Lake product families. Core i5-1135G7 is compatible with dual-channel DDR4-3200 or quad-channel LPDDR4x-4267 RAM, supports PCI-Express 4.0 (4 lanes) and is capable of HW-accelerating AI workloads. Thunderbolt 4, USB 4 and Wi-Fi 6 support is partially baked into the chip. Four PCI-Express 4.0 lanes allow for read/write rates of up to 7.9 GB/s, provided a suitably fast NVMe SSD is used.

The i5 is manufactured on Intel's second-gen 10 nm process marketed as SuperFin that is supposedly comparable to TSMC's 7 nm process that Ryzen 4000 series laptop-grade processors are manufactured on. Both the CPU cores and the iGPU enjoy access to 8 MB of L3 cache. Higher-end Core i7-11x5 processors are notable for their larger Level 3 cache (12 MB versus 8 MB), faster iGPUs and higher clock speeds. Core i5-1135G7 is supposed to be permanently soldered to the motherboard (BGA1449 socket interface) and is thus not user-replaceable.

Performance

The i5's long-term Boost sustainability will depend heavily on how high the Power Limits and how good the cooling solution of your laptop are. That being said, the average Core i5-1135G7 in our database is just as fast as Intel Core i7-10810U, Core i5-1145G7, Core i5-1230U and AMD Ryzen 7 3780U are in multi-thread benchmarks. The performance may not be ground-breaking, but it鈥檚 still on the sunnier side. This Core i5 will have no difficulty coping with some light gaming and video editing on the go, and the usual web browsing and spreadsheet editing will pose no problem to it, either.

Graphics

The 80 EU Iris Xe Graphics G7 is based on Intel's Gen 12 architecture. The iGPU is somewhat faster than the older Iris Plus G7 (Ice Lake) and much faster than the UHD 620 (Comet Lake). The 80 EUs are clocked at 400 MHz to 1,300 MHz. This graphics adapter can drive up to 4 monitors in resolutions up to SUHD [email protected] and hardware decode the AVC, HEVC, VP9 and last but not the least AV1 video streams. The iGPU's gaming performance is close to what a typical GeForce MX250 has in store; casual gamers will be happy with the Xe as it will easily handle most titles at 720p on low or medium quality settings. An important thing to keep in mind is that the iGPU has no video memory of its own, making fast RAM a necessity.

Power Consumption

The 10 nm manufacturing process and low core count render this Core i5 a relatively energy-efficient CPU. Just like all other Tiger Lake-UP3 processors, Core i5-1135G7 has a long-term Power Limit of 12 W to 28 W (OEMs get to set the value according to their needs). This makes the i5 a good fit for thinner, lighter systems as well as an occasional Windows tablet. The CPU's long-term performance sustainability is likely to be very poor in passively cooled setups.

The AMD Ryzen 3 7330U is a processor for thin and light laptops based on the Cezanne generation. It is part of the second "Barcelo" refresh in early 2023 and offers 200 MHz higher clocked boost clock speed, but lower base clock speed compared to the old Ryzen 3 5425U. The R3 7330U integrates four of the eight cores based on the Zen 3 microarchitecture and is the slowest U-series processor of the Barcelo refresh at launch. The cores are clocked at 2.3 (guaranteed base clock) to 4.3 GHz (single core boost) and support SMT / Hyperthreading (8 threads). The chip is manufactured in 7 nm at TSMC.

The performance of the CPU part should be slightly better than the old Ryzen 3 5425U in the entry level. 

In addition to the four CPU cores, the APU also integrates a Radeon RX Vega 6 integrated graphics card (called Radeon Graphics) with 6 CUs and up to 1800 MHz. The dual channel memory controller supports DDR4-3200 and energy efficient LPDDR4-4266 RAM. Furthermore, 8 MB level 3 cache (same as the old 4800U) can be found on the chip.

Power consumption

This Ryzen 3 has a default TDP (also known as the long-term power limit) of 15 W and therefore also suited for thin and light laptops.

The AMD Ryzen 7 5825U is a processor for thin and light laptops based on the Cezanne generation. It is part of the "Barcelo" refresh in early 2022 and offers 100 MHz higher clocked CPU cores compared to the old Ryzen 7 5800U. The R7 5825U integrates all eight cores based on the Zen 3 microarchitecture and is the fastest U-series processor at launch. They are clocked at 2 (guaranteed base clock) to 4.5 GHz (Turbo) and support SMT / Hyperthreading (16 threads). The chip is manufactured on the modern 7 nm TSMC process.

The new Zen 3 microarchitecture offers a significantly higher IPC (instructions per clock) compared to Zen 2. For desktop processors AMD claims 19 percent on average and in applications reviews showed around 12% gains at the same clock speed.

The CPU performance should be between the old Ryzen 7 5800U and the new Ryzen 7 6800U (Zen 3+, 6 nm, up to 4.7 GHz).

In addition to the eight CPU cores, the APU also integrates a Radeon RX Vega 8 GPU with 8 CUs at up to 2000 MHz. The dual channel memory controller supports DDR4-3200 and energy efficient LPDDR4-4266 RAM. Furthermore, 16 MB level 3 cache (up from 8 MB at the 4800U) can be found on the chip.

The TDP of the APU is specified at 15 Watt (default) and can be configured from 10 to 25 Watt by the laptop vendor (most chips are configured higher than 15 Watt). That means the chip is intended for thin and light laptops (but with fans).