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Intel Core i5-10300H

Intel Core i5-10300H: A Versatile Processor for Budget Laptops in 2025

Overview of Capabilities, Strengths, and Limitations

Architecture and Process Technology: Legacy of the 14 nm Era

The Intel Core i5-10300H processor, released in 2020, belongs to the Comet Lake-H lineup and is still found in budget laptops of 2025. Despite its outdated 14 nm process technology, it remains relevant due to its balance of price and performance.

Key Specifications:

- 4 cores and 8 threads thanks to Hyper-Threading.

- Base frequency — 2.5 GHz, with a maximum in Turbo Boost mode of 4.5 GHz (for a single core).

- 6 MB of L3 cache — a modest amount for multi-threaded tasks, but sufficient for everyday use.

- Integrated Intel UHD graphics for the 10th generation with a base frequency of 350 MHz and a maximum of 1.05 GHz.

Architectural Features:

- Comet Lake-H is optimized for mobile devices with a TDP of 45 W, ensuring stable operation under load.

- Support for DDR4-2933 MHz and PCIe 3.0 (16 lanes) — sufficient for NVMe SSDs and discrete graphics like the NVIDIA GTX 1650.

- The integrated UHD GPU is suitable only for basic tasks: office applications, 4K video playback, and older games on low settings.

Power Consumption and TDP: The Cost of Performance

With a TDP of 45 W, this represents a compromise between power and battery life. Laptops with the Core i5-10300H often utilize cooling systems with dual fans and copper heat pipes. However, under prolonged load (for example, video rendering), temperatures may reach 90–95°C, necessitating regular cleaning of the cooler.

Operating Modes:

- Turbo Boost 2.0 — automatically increases frequencies up to 4.5 GHz, but only with adequate cooling.

- Undervolting — a popular method among users to reduce heat and power consumption without sacrificing performance.

Performance: What Can the Processor Do in 2025?

Geekbench 6 test results (1362 in single-core and 3983 in multi-core mode) show that the i5-10300H is still competitive, especially in the budget segment.

Use Cases:

1. Office Work (Excel, browser with 20+ tabs, Zoom): the processor handles it easily, rarely exceeding 30–40% load.

2. Multimedia — 1080p video editing in DaVinci Resolve: rendering takes 15–20% longer than with the Ryzen 5 5600H.

3. Gaming — paired with NVIDIA RTX 3050:

- Cyberpunk 2077 (Medium, 1080p) — 45–55 FPS;

- Fortnite (Epic, 1080p) — 70–80 FPS.

Turbo Mode: In games, the core frequency consistently stays around 4.0–4.2 GHz, but throttling begins after 20–30 minutes due to overheating.

User Scenarios: Who is the i5-10300H Suitable For?

- Students and Office Workers — for document work, webinars, light photo editing.

- Budget Gamers — in combination with a discrete GPU (GTX 1650, RTX 3050).

- Users who value reliability — the processor has been proven over the years, and drivers are stable.

Not Recommended For:

- AI tasks (small L3 cache).

- Professional 4K editing or 3D rendering.

Battery Life: How Long Will the Battery Last?

Laptops with the i5-10300H typically come equipped with 50–60 Wh batteries. In power saving mode (Wi-Fi, 50% brightness, Office):

- 6–7 hours — for models with FHD IPS screens at 60 Hz.

- 3–4 hours — under active load (gaming, editing).

Power-saving Technologies:

- Intel Speed Shift — dynamic frequency management.

- C-States — disabling unused cores.

Tip: Choose laptops with the ability to switch between iGPU and dGPU (NVIDIA Optimus) — this can extend battery life by 1–2 hours.

Comparison with Competitors: AMD, Apple, and Previous Generations

- AMD Ryzen 5 4600H (Zen 2, 7 nm): Better for multi-threaded tasks (6 cores/12 threads) but weaker in single-threaded tasks (Geekbench 6 Single Core — ~1250). Prices of comparable laptops range from $650 to $800.

- Apple M1 (5 nm): Significantly higher battery life (up to 15 hours) and performance in Single Core (~1700), but limited compatibility with Windows programs.

- Intel Core i5-11300H (Tiger Lake, 10 nm): More modern architecture, higher IPC (Instructions Per Cycle), integrated Iris Xe graphics. Laptops with this processor cost $100–150 more.

Conclusion: In 2025, the i5-10300H is a choice for those looking for a cheap gaming or work laptop with Windows support and discrete graphics.

Pros and Cons

Strengths:

- Affordable pricing for laptops ($600–900).

- Support for Thunderbolt 3 (in select models).

- Good gaming performance with dGPU.

Weaknesses:

- Outdated 14 nm process → high power consumption.

- Weak iGPU for modern games.

- Heat under load.

Laptop Selection Recommendations

1. Type of Device:

- Gaming Laptop (Acer Nitro 5, ASUS TUF Gaming) — pay attention to cooling systems (at least 2 fans).

- Universal Laptop (Lenovo IdeaPad 3, HP Pavilion) — look for models with a 512 GB SSD and 16 GB of RAM.

2. What to Look For:

- Display: Full HD with an IPS panel, brightness of 250 nits or higher.

- Ports: USB-C with Power Delivery support for charging via a power bank.

- Battery: at least 50 Wh.

Examples of 2025 Models:

- Acer Aspire 5 (i5-10300H, 8 GB RAM, GTX 1650) — $699.

- ASUS VivoBook Pro 15 (i5-10300H, 16 GB RAM, RTX 3050) — $849.

Final Conclusion

The Intel Core i5-10300H in 2025 is a processor for those who:

- Seek a budget gaming laptop with discrete graphics.

- Need a reliable workhorse under load without overpaying for the latest technology.

- Are not ready to pay extra for battery life (like the Apple M1) or multi-threading (like the AMD Ryzen).

Key Benefits: A good price-to-performance ratio, proven reliability, and compatibility with Windows software. If you're not a demanding gamer or only occasionally work with "heavy" applications — this processor will be a successful choice.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Mobile

Launch Date

September 2020

Model Name

The Intel processor number is just one of several factors - along with processor brand, system configurations, and system-level benchmarks - to be considered when choosing the right processor for your computing needs.

i5-10300H

Code Name

Comet Lake

CPU Specifications

Total Cores

Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).

Total Threads

Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.

Basic Frequency

2.50 GHz

Max Turbo Frequency

Max Turbo Frequency is the maximum single-core frequency at which the processor is capable of operating using Intel® Turbo Boost Technology and, if present, Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 and Intel® Thermal Velocity Boost. Frequency is typically measured in gigahertz (GHz), or billion cycles per second.

4.50 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 Frequency

4.50 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology dynamically increases the processor's frequency as needed by taking advantage of thermal and power headroom to give you a burst of speed when you need it, and increased energy efficiency when you don’t.

2.0

Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) delivers two processing threads per physical core. Highly threaded applications can get more work done in parallel, completing tasks sooner.

Yes

Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0

Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 identifies the best performing core(s) on a processor and provides increased performance on those cores through increasing frequency as needed by taking advantage of power and thermal headroom.

L3 Cache

6 MB

CPU Socket

The socket is the component that provides the mechanical and electrical connections between the processor and motherboard.

FCBGA1440

Technology

Lithography refers to the semiconductor technology used to manufacture an integrated circuit, and is reported in nanometer (nm), indicative of the size of features built on the semiconductor.

14 nm

TDP

45 W

Max. Operating Temperature

Junction Temperature is the maximum temperature allowed at the processor die.

100°C

PCI Express Version

PCI Express Revision is the supported version of the PCI Express standard. Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (or PCIe) is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard for attaching hardware devices to a computer. The different PCI Express versions support different data rates.

3.0

Number of PCI Express Lanes

A PCI Express (PCIe) lane consists of two differential signaling pairs, one for receiving data, one for transmitting data, and is the basic unit of the PCIe bus. Max # of PCI Express Lanes is the total number of supported lanes.

Intel 64

Intel® 64 architecture delivers 64-bit computing on server, workstation, desktop and mobile platforms when combined with supporting software.¹ Intel 64 architecture improves performance by allowing systems to address more than 4 GB of both virtual and physical memory.

Yes

Instruction Set

The instruction set is a hard program stored inside the CPU that guides and optimizes CPU operations. With these instruction sets, the CPU can run more efficiently. There are many manufacturers that design CPUs, which results in different instruction sets, such as the 8086 instruction set for the Intel camp and the RISC instruction set for the ARM camp. x86, ARM v8, and MIPS are all codes for instruction sets. Instruction sets can be extended; for example, x86 added 64-bit support to create x86-64. Manufacturers developing CPUs that are compatible with a certain instruction set need authorization from the instruction set patent holder. A typical example is Intel authorizing AMD, enabling the latter to develop CPUs compatible with the x86 instruction set.

64-bit

PCI Express Configurations

PCI Express (PCIe) Configurations describe the available PCIe lane configurations that can be used to link to PCIe devices.

Up to 1x16 | 2x8 | 1x8+2x4

Memory Specifications

Memory Type

Intel® processors come in four different types: Single Channel, Dual Channel, Triple Channel, and Flex Mode. Maximum supported memory speed may be lower when populating multiple DIMMs per channel on products that support multiple memory channels.

DDR4-2933

Max Memory Size

Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.

128 GB

Memory Channels

The number of memory channels refers to the bandwidth operation for real world application.

Bus Speed

8 GT/s

Max Memory Bandwidth

Max Memory bandwidth is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored into a semiconductor memory by the processor (in GB/s).

45.8 GB/s

ECC Memory Supported

ECC Memory Supported indicates processor support for Error-Correcting Code memory. ECC memory is a type of system memory that can detect and correct common kinds of internal data corruption. Note that ECC memory support requires both processor and chipset support.

GPU Specifications

Integrated Graphics Model

An integrated GPU refers to the graphics core that is integrated into the CPU processor. Leveraging the processor's powerful computational capabilities and intelligent power efficiency management, it delivers outstanding graphics performance and a smooth application experience at a lower power consumption.

Intel® UHD Graphics for 10th Gen Intel® Processors

Graphics Base Frequency

Graphics Base frequency refers to the rated/guaranteed graphics render clock frequency in MHz.

350 MHz

Graphics Frequency

Graphics max dynamic frequency refers to the maximum opportunistic graphics render clock frequency (in MHz) that can be supported using Intel® HD Graphics with Dynamic Frequency feature.

1.05 GHz

4K Support

Yes | at 60Hz

DirectX Support

DirectX* Support indicates support for a specific version of Microsoft’s collection of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for handling multimedia compute tasks.

Max Resolution (HDMI)

Max Resolution (HDMI) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor via the HDMI interface (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your system.

4096 x 2304@30Hz

Max Resolution (DP)

Max Resolution (DP) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor via the DP interface (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your system.

4096 x 2304@60Hz

Max Resolution (eDP - Integrated Flat Panel)

Max Resolution (Integrated Flat Panel) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor for a device with an integrated flat panel (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your device.

4096 x 2304@60Hz

Number of Displays Supported

Graphics Output

Graphics Output defines the interfaces available to communicate with display devices.

eDP/DP/HDMI/DVI

Miscellaneous

Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)

Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) allows one hardware platform to function as multiple “virtual” platforms. It offers improved manageability by limiting downtime and maintaining productivity by isolating computing activities into separate partitions.

Yes

Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)

Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) continues from the existing support for IA-32 (VT-x) and Itanium® processor (VT-i) virtualization adding new support for I/O-device virtualization. Intel VT-d can help end users improve security and reliability of the systems and also improve performance of I/O devices in virtualized environments.

Yes

Intel Standard Manageability (ISM)

Intel® Standard Manageability is the manageability solution for Intel vPro® Essentials platforms and is a subset of Intel® AMT with out-of-band management over Ethernet and Wi-Fi, but no KVM or new life cycle management features.

Intel® SSE4.1 | Intel® SSE4.2 | Intel® AVX2

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology is an advanced means of enabling high performance while meeting the power-conservation needs of mobile systems. Conventional Intel SpeedStep® Technology switches both voltage and frequency in tandem between high and low levels in response to processor load. Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology builds upon that architecture using design strategies such as Separation between Voltage and Frequency Changes, and Clock Partitioning and Recovery.

Yes

Execute Disable Bit

Execute Disable Bit is a hardware-based security feature that can reduce exposure to viruses and malicious-code attacks and prevent harmful software from executing and propagating on the server or network.

Yes

Cache

CPU Cache is an area of fast memory located on the processor. Intel® Smart Cache refers to the architecture that allows all cores to dynamically share access to the last level cache.

8 MB Intel® Smart Cache

Intel AES New Instructions

Intel® AES New Instructions (Intel® AES-NI) are a set of instructions that enable fast and secure data encryption and decryption. AES-NI are valuable for a wide range of cryptographic applications, for example: applications that perform bulk encryption/decryption, authentication, random number generation, and authenticated encryption.

Yes

Intel Boot Guard

Intel® Device Protection Technology with Boot Guard helps protect the system’s pre-OS environment from viruses and malicious software attacks.

Yes

Intel VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)

Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT), also known as Second Level Address Translation (SLAT), provides acceleration for memory intensive virtualized applications. Extended Page Tables in Intel® Virtualization Technology platforms reduces the memory and power overhead costs and increases battery life through hardware optimization of page table management.

Yes

Intel Flex Memory Access

Yes

Intel OS Guard

Yes

OpenGL Support

OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-language, multi-platform API (Application Programming Interface) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics.

4.5

Intel Quick Sync Video

Intel® Quick Sync Video delivers fast conversion of video for portable media players, online sharing, and video editing and authoring.

Yes

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6

Single Core Score

1362

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

3983

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

1041

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

3487

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

2579

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

8469

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Core i3-8350K

1450 +6.5%

Xeon W-2135

1396 +2.5%

Core i5-10300H

1362

EPYC 7402P

1321 -3%

Xeon Gold 6209U

1277 -6.2%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Xeon E3-1285 v4

4502 +13%

Xeon E3-1231 v3

4198 +5.4%

Core i5-10300H

3983

Core i7-10710U

3737 -6.2%

Opteron 6378

3530 -11.4%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Ryzen 5 4600HS

1085 +4.2%

Core i5-1030G7

1064 +2.2%

Core i5-10300H

1041

Ryzen 5 7520C

1019 -2.1%

Xeon E3-1260L v5

999 -4%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Core i7-4790K

3775 +8.3%

Core i3-9350KF

3611 +3.6%

Core i5-10300H

3487

Core i7-5750HQ

3363 -3.6%

Core i5-6600

3237 -7.2%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Xeon W-3265M

2669 +3.5%

Xeon W-3365

2625 +1.8%

Core i5-10300H

2579

Xeon E-2186M

2551 -1.1%

Core i7-6700K

2508 -2.8%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Xeon D-1557

9285 +9.6%

Core i3-1305U

8923 +5.4%

Core i5-10300H

8469

Core i3-10305T

8136 -3.9%

Core i5-8400H

7713 -8.9%