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Intel Core i7-1250U

Intel Core i7-1250U: A Hybrid Processor for Mobile Tasks. Full Review of 2025

Architecture and Process Technology: A Hybrid Approach and New Horizons

The Intel Core i7-1250U processor, released as part of the Alder Lake lineup, marks an important step in the evolution of mobile chips. Its architecture combines 10 cores (2 Performance cores and 8 Efficient cores) and 12 threads, providing flexibility in task distribution. The P-cores (Golden Cove) are responsible for high performance in single-threaded applications, while the E-cores (Gracemont) are optimized for background processes and energy efficiency.

The maximum turbo frequency reaches up to 4.7 GHz for P-cores, which is relevant for short bursts of workload (e.g., launching applications). E-cores operate at frequencies up to 3.5 GHz. The 12 MB L3 cache speeds up data processing, reducing latency.

The integrated graphics Intel Iris Xe (96 EU) supports 4K displays, hardware decoding of AV1, and light gaming at low settings. In 2025, it remains relevant for office laptops but falls behind discrete solutions and the Apple M3 in rendering tasks.

Intel's 7 process (formerly 10nm Enhanced SuperFin) provides a balance between performance and power consumption, which is particularly important for ultrabooks where every watt counts.

Power Consumption and TDP: How Intel Saves Power

The nominal TDP of the processor is 9W, but in reality, it dynamically adjusts from 7W to 29W thanks to Intel Dynamic Tuning technology. This allows laptops to adapt to workloads: for example, during video rendering, the chip temporarily increases power, while in reading mode, it minimizes it.

Key power-saving technologies include:

- Intel Thread Director – distributes tasks between P-cores and E-cores, reducing energy costs on background processes.

- Adaptix – machine learning algorithms for real-time optimization of frequencies and voltages.

As a result, even with active use, a laptop with the i7-1250U rarely overheats, and the fans operate quietly.

Performance: From Word Processing to Light Gaming

According to Geekbench 6 tests (1637 / 5354), the processor demonstrates:

- Single-threaded load: fast application launches, smooth browsing with dozens of tabs.

- Multi-threaded tasks: encoding a 10-minute video in HandBrake takes about 8 minutes (compared to 12 minutes for the i7-1165G7).

Real-world scenarios:

- Office work: simultaneous work with Excel, PowerPoint, Zoom, and over 20 Chrome tabs — without lags.

- Multimedia: editing in Adobe Premiere Rush (Full HD) using hardware acceleration.

- Gaming: CS:GO — 60-70 FPS on medium settings (1920x1080), Genshin Impact — 30-40 FPS on low.

Turbo mode maintains high frequencies for 20-25 seconds under load, after which the speed decreases to prevent overheating. In compact laptops (e.g., Lenovo Yoga Slim 7), this can lead to performance drops during prolonged rendering.

Use Cases: Who is the i7-1250U Suitable For?

- Students and freelancers: lightweight laptops for studying, document work, and online conferences.

- Mobile professionals: journalists, managers, designers (in connection with an external GPU for heavy tasks).

- Travelers: battery life of up to 14 hours (for example, in Asus ZenBook 13 OLED).

Not suitable for:

- Gamers demanding Ultra settings in AAA games.

- Engineers working with 3D models in SolidWorks.

Battery Life: How Long Will It Last?

With a TDP of 9W and a battery capacity of 60 Wh, the working time reaches:

- 12-14 hours — web surfing, office tasks (brightness at 150 nits).

- 8-9 hours — streaming video (Netflix, YouTube).

- 5-6 hours — photo editing in Lightroom.

Power-saving technologies:

- Connected Standby — background updates in sleep mode.

- Display Power Saving — automatic adjustment of brightness and screen refresh rate.

In 2025, the chip falls behind the Apple M3 in battery life (the MacBook Air with M3 works for up to 18 hours) but outperforms the AMD Ryzen 7 7730U (10-12 hours).

Comparison with Competitors: Who is Better?

- AMD Ryzen 7 7730U (Zen 3+): higher multi-threaded performance (Geekbench 6 Multi-Core ~6000), but weaker Radeon 680M graphics. Suitable for programmers.

- Apple M3: more energy efficient (up to 18 hours of operation), but limited compatibility with Windows applications.

- Intel Core i7-1260P (previous generation): higher TDP (28W), better for creative tasks, but battery life is 20% worse.

Prices for laptops with the i7-1250U in 2025: $900–$1300 (Dell XPS 13 — $1299, Acer Swift 5 — $999).

Pros and Cons

Strengths:

- Ideal balance of performance and battery life.

- Support for Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 6E.

- Affordable price for premium ultrabooks.

Weaknesses:

- Limited multi-threading power compared to Ryzen and Apple Silicon.

- Integrated graphics not suitable for serious gaming.

Laptop Selection Recommendations

1. Type of device: ultrabooks weighing up to 1.3 kg (HP Spectre x360, Microsoft Surface Laptop 5).

2. RAM: at least 16 GB LPDDR5 for multitasking.

3. Storage: SSD 512 GB NVMe.

4. Screen: IPS or OLED with a resolution of at least Full HD.

5. Ports: 2x Thunderbolt 4 for connecting docking stations.

Avoid models with passive cooling — they tend to throttle.

Final Conclusion

The Intel Core i7-1250U is an excellent choice for those who value mobility without compromising on basic performance. It is suitable for:

- Working on the go: long battery life and lightweight design.

- Home use: quick response for everyday tasks.

- Creativity: light photo and video editing.

However, if you need maximum power or gaming capabilities, consider processors with TDPs of 28W or higher, or discrete graphics. But convenience comes at the cost of weight and fan noise.

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.

i7-1250U

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.

4.70 GHz

Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency

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

4.70 GHz

Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency

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

3.50 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.

FCBGA1781

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

9 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.

9 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.

29 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 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.

950 MHz

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 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

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

1637

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

5354

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

1364

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

4666

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

2838

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

12179

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Ryzen 9 PRO 6950H

1777 +8.6%

Core i5-11300H

1687 +3.1%

Core i7-1250U

1637

Core i9-10900X

1566 -4.3%

Xeon Platinum 8571N

1518 -7.3%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Ryzen Threadripper 1900X

5905 +10.3%

Xeon E5-2643 v4

5555 +3.8%

Core i7-1250U

5354

Xeon E-2176M

4948 -7.6%

EPYC 7282

4654 -13.1%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Core i5-13600H

1498 +9.8%

Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U

1432 +5%

Core i7-1250U

1364

Ryzen 7 5800HS

1312 -3.8%

Core i7-1265UE

1272 -6.7%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Ryzen 5 1600

5118 +9.7%

Ryzen 5 5560U

4920 +5.4%

Core i7-1250U

4666

Ryzen 3 PRO 4350G

4430 -5.1%

Ryzen Embedded V2546

4221 -9.5%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Ryzen 7 5700X3D

2986 +5.2%

Core i9-10900E

2922 +3%

Core i7-1250U

2838

Core i5-10500

2771 -2.4%

Core i7-8700B

2739 -3.5%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Xeon E-2136

13449 +10.4%

Ryzen 3 5300G

12866 +5.6%

Core i7-1250U

12179

Ryzen 3 PRO 5475U

11354 -6.8%

Core i7-1195G7

10867 -10.8%