Home / Intel Core i5 / Intel Core i5-1250P: Performance and Specs

Intel Core i5-1250P

Intel Core i5-1250P: Analysis of a Mobile Processor for Hybrid Tasks

March 2025

Several years have passed since the release of Intel's Alder Lake processors, but models like the Core i5-1250P remain popular in budget and mid-range laptops. Let’s explore how relevant this chip is in 2025, who it suits, and how it performs in real scenarios.

Architecture and Process Technology: Hybrid Approach and Intel 7

The Intel Core i5-1250P is built on the hybrid Alder Lake architecture, which combines high-performance P-cores (Performance) and energy-efficient E-cores (Efficiency).

- Cores and Threads: 12 cores (4P + 8E) and 16 threads. P-cores operate at frequencies up to 4.4 GHz in turbo mode, while E-cores reach up to 3.3 GHz.

- Cache: 12 MB L3.

- Process Technology: Intel 7 (10nm Enhanced SuperFin).

- Integrated Graphics: Iris Xe with 80 EU (Execution Units), supporting DirectX 12, AV1 decoding, and HDMI 2.1.

The hybrid architecture optimizes task distribution: P-cores handle heavy applications (like rendering), while E-cores take care of background processes (updates, streaming). Intel Thread Director manages the load in real time, which is particularly useful in Windows 11.

Power Consumption and TDP: Balancing Power and Battery Life

The nominal TDP of the i5-1250P is 28W, but in turbo mode, it can reach up to 64W. This puts a strain on the cooling system, especially in thin laptops.

- Operating Modes:

- PL1 (long-term load): 28W.

- PL2 (short-term boost): 64W (up to 28 seconds).

- Power-saving Technologies:

- Intel Dynamic Tuning 2.0: adaptively adjusts power based on load.

- Speed Shift: instant switching between P-states to reduce latency.

In practice, in ultrabooks (e.g., ASUS ZenBook 14), the processor often runs in the 15-25W range to minimize heat generation.

Performance: From Office to Gaming

Office Tasks

- PCMark 10 Tests: 5200–5400 points.

- Launching 20 tabs in Chrome + Excel: no lags.

- PDF conversion: 15% faster than the i5-1135G7.

Multimedia

- HandBrake (4K → 1080p): 22 minutes (compared to 28 minutes for Ryzen 5 5625U).

- Adobe Photoshop (Neural Filters): Iris Xe speeds up AI filters by 30% thanks to DP4a support.

Gaming

- CS2 (1080p, low settings): 45-60 FPS.

- The Sims 4 (1080p, medium): 60 FPS.

- Cyberpunk 2077 (720p, FSR): 25-30 FPS – playable, but only for less demanding scenarios.

Turbo Mode: Under short-term load (like launching a game), P-cores boost to 4.4 GHz, but after 30-40 seconds, the frequency drops to 3.8-4.0 GHz due to heating.

Use Cases: Who is the i5-1250P Suitable For?

- Students and Office Workers: Multitasking (Zoom + browser + documents) without slowdowns.

- Freelancers: Photo/video editing in Lightroom or Premiere Pro (for 1080p).

- Casual Gamers: Playing titles like Dota 2 or Fortnite on low settings.

- Travelers: Adequate performance with a laptop weight starting from 1.2 kg.

Not Suitable For:

- Professional 3D designers (too few cores for rendering).

- Streamers (insufficient power for simultaneous gaming and video encoding).

Battery Life: How Long Will the Battery Last?

In laptops with a 60–70 Wh battery (e.g., Lenovo ThinkPad T14):

- Office Mode (brightness 150 nits): 8–10 hours.

- YouTube Streaming (1080p): 6–7 hours.

- Heavy Load (rendering): 1.5–2 hours.

Power-saving Technologies:

- Display Power Saving: automatically lowers GPU frequency when displaying static images.

- Connected Standby: background data synchronization during sleep mode.

Tip: Disable Turbo Boost in power settings to extend battery life by 20–25%.

Comparison with Competitors

AMD Ryzen 5 7640U (Zen 4, 4nm):

- Pros: Better power efficiency (up to 12 hours for office tasks).

- Cons: Weaker in single-threaded tasks (Geekbench 6 Single: 1890).

Apple M2 (5nm):

- Pros: Video editing in Final Cut Pro is 30% faster.

- Cons: Limited compatibility with Windows programs.

Intel Core i7-1260P:

- Pros: +2 P-cores, higher performance in multi-threaded tasks.

- Cons: Pricing of laptops is $200–300 higher.

Pros and Cons of the Core i5-1250P

Strengths:

1. Excellent single-thread performance (Geekbench 6 Single: 2077).

2. Supports Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 6E.

3. Affordable laptop prices (starting at $800).

Weaknesses:

1. Heating in thin cases (e.g., Acer Swift 3).

2. Dependence on the quality of the cooling system.

3. Lags behind Ryzen 7 in multi-threaded workloads.

Laptop Selection Recommendations

- Type of Device: Ultrabooks (Dell XPS 13, HP Spectre x360) or business laptops (Lenovo ThinkPad T14s).

- What to Look For:

- Cooling: 2 fans + heat pipes.

- Screen: Brightness from 300 nits, FHD/IPS resolution.

- Battery: At least 50 Wh.

- Examples of 2025 Models:

- ASUS Vivobook S14: $899, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD.

- MSI Modern 15: $849, slots for RAM and SSD upgrades.

Final Conclusion

In 2025, the Intel Core i5-1250P remains a solid choice for those seeking a balance between price, performance, and mobility. It is suitable for:

- Users needing a versatile laptop for work, study, and light creativity.

- Travelers, valuing battery life and a weight of under 1.5 kg.

- Budget gamers willing to play at low settings.

Key Advantages: support for modern interfaces, high speed in everyday tasks, and options to choose laptops in the $800–1200 price range. However, if you need maximum battery life or professional workloads, consider the Apple M3 or AMD Ryzen 7 7840U.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Mobile

Launch Date

February 2022

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.

i5-1250P

Code Name

Alder 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.

Performance-cores

Efficient-cores

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.

4.40 GHz

Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency

Maximum P-core turbo frequency derived from Intel® Turbo Boost Technology.

4.40 GHz

Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency

Maximum E-core turbo frequency derived from Intel® Turbo Boost Technology.

3.30 GHz

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

L3 Cache

12 MB

CPU Socket

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

FCBGA1744

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.

Intel 7

TDP

28 W

Processor Base Power

The time-averaged power dissipation that the processor is validated to not exceed during manufacturing while executing an Intel-specified high complexity workload at Base Frequency and at the junction temperature as specified in the Datasheet for the SKU segment and configuration.

28 W

Maximum Turbo Power

The maximum sustained (>1s) power dissipation of the processor as limited by current and/or temperature controls. Instantaneous power may exceed Maximum Turbo Power for short durations (<=10ms). Note: Maximum Turbo Power is configurable by system vendor and can be system specific.

64 W

Minimum Assured Power

20 W

Max. Operating Temperature

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

100°C

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.

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

Microprocessor PCIe Revision

Gen 4

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.

Up to DDR5 4800 MT/s Up to DDR4 3200 MT/s Up to LPDDR5 5200 MT/s Up to LPDDR4x 4267 MT/s

Max Memory Size

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

64 GB

Memory Channels

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

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® Iris® Xe Graphics eligible

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.

1.40 GHz

DirectX Support

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

12.1

Execution Units

The Execution Unit is the foundational building block of Intel’s graphics architecture. Execution Units are compute processors optimized for simultaneous Multi-Threading for high throughput compute power.

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 @ 60Hz

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.

7680 x 4320 @ 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 @ 120Hz

Number of Displays Supported

Graphics Output

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

eDP 1.4b | DP 1.4a | HDMI 2.1

Miscellaneous

Intel Deep Learning Boost (Intel DL Boost) on CPU

A new set of embedded processor technologies designed to accelerate AI deep learning use cases. It extends Intel AVX-512 with a new Vector Neural Network Instruction (VNNI) that significantly increases deep learning inference performance over previous generations.

Yes

Intel Image Processing Unit

6.0

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

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.

12 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 High Definition Audio

Yes

Intel Active Management Technology (AMT)

Yes

Intel Volume Management Device (VMD)

Intel® Volume Management Device (VMD) provides a common, robust method of hot plug and LED management for NVMe-based solid state drives.

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 Hardware Shield Eligibility

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 QuickAssist Software Acceleration

Yes

Intel Control-Flow Enforcement Technology

CET - Intel Control-flow Enforcement Technology (CET) helps protect against the misuse of legitimate code snippets through return-oriented programming (ROP) control-flow hijacking attacks.

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.

4.6

OpenCL Support

OpenCL (Open Computing Language) is a multi-platform API (Application Programming Interface) for heterogeneous parallel programming.

3.0

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

2077

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

7515

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

1629

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

7551

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

3539

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

20287

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Ryzen Z1 Extreme

2264 +9%

Ryzen Z1

2180 +5%

Core i5-1250P

2077

Xeon w9-3475X

1990 -4.2%

Core i5-1245U

1890 -9%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Ryzen 5 5600XT

8457 +12.5%

Core i3-12300HL

8043 +7%

Core i5-1250P

7515

Ryzen 7 5800H

7087 -5.7%

Core i7-11600H

6673 -11.2%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Core i9-11900KF

1768 +8.5%

Ryzen 7 7700

1690 +3.7%

Core i5-1250P

1629

Core i5-1245UL

1569 -3.7%

Core i7-11800H

1491 -8.5%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Xeon E-2378G

8337 +10.4%

Core i3-14100

7910 +4.8%

Core i5-1250P

7551

Core i7-1355U

7177 -5%

Core Ultra 5 125U

6755 -10.5%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Core i5-14400F

3726 +5.3%

Ryzen Z1 Extreme

3635 +2.7%

Core i5-1250P

3539

Xeon w9-3495X

3465 -2.1%

Ryzen 7 5700X

3384 -4.4%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Ryzen 7 PRO 5750GE

21961 +8.3%

Ryzen 7 5800H

21089 +4%

Core i5-1250P

20287

Core i9-9900KS

19528 -3.7%

Core i7-10700K

18892 -6.9%