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Intel Core i7-1260P

Intel Core i7-1260P: A Versatile Processor for Mobile Tasks in 2025

Overview of Hybrid Architecture, Performance, and Use Cases

Architecture and Process Technology: Hybrid Power of Alder Lake

The Intel Core i7-1260P processor, released in 2022, remains relevant in 2025 thanks to its Alder Lake hybrid architecture. This is Intel's first mobile chip that combines performance (P-cores) and efficiency (E-cores) cores.

- 12 cores (4P + 8E) and 16 threads: P-cores (Golden Cove) handle heavy tasks with Hyper-Threading support (8 threads), while E-cores (Gracemont) manage background processes.

- Clock speeds: Base frequency of P-cores is 2.5 GHz, with a maximum turbo frequency of 4.7 GHz. E-cores operate at 1.8–3.4 GHz.

- Intel 7 (10nm Enhanced SuperFin): The manufacturing process provides a balance between performance and power consumption.

- Intel Iris Xe Graphics (96 EU): The integrated graphics supports 4K displays, AV1 encoding, and provides up to 60 FPS in light gaming.

Example: When rendering video in DaVinci Resolve, P-cores are utilized for computations while E-cores handle background processes of the browser and messaging apps.

Power Consumption and TDP: Dynamic Optimization

The nominal TDP of the processor is 28 W, but actual consumption varies from 20 W (in office tasks) to 64 W (in turbo mode).

- Intel Dynamic Tuning 2.0: Algorithms automatically adjust power according to load and temperature.

- Thermal Velocity Boost: When the temperature is below 70°C, the frequency of P-cores temporarily increases by 100–200 MHz.

- Idle Savings: In idle mode, E-cores drop the frequency to 800 MHz, and the iGPU is disabled.

Tip: In laptops with passive cooling (like the Dell XPS 13), the i7-1260P is limited to 25 W to reduce heating.

Performance: From Office to Gaming

Office Tasks

- Chrome with 20 tabs + Zoom + Excel: CPU load is 30–40%, temperature is 45–55°C.

- Running Virtual Machines (VMware): 16 threads allow for working with 2-3 light VMs simultaneously.

Multimedia

- Premiere Pro (H.264 4K): Rendering takes 8–10 minutes (compared to 15 minutes with the i7-1165G7).

- HandBrake (video conversion): All cores are engaged; the processor is 15% faster than the Ryzen 7 6800U.

Gaming

- CS:GO (1080p, low settings): 90–110 FPS.

- The Witcher 3 (720p, low): 35–40 FPS.

- Turbo Mode: In games lasting up to 10 minutes, the iGPU frequency stays at 1.3 GHz, then drops to 1.0 GHz due to heating.

Use Cases: Who Is the i7-1260P Suited For?

1. Mobile Professionals: Designers, programmers, analysts working in Photoshop, VS Code, Tableau.

2. Students: Multitasking (lectures in Zoom, typing, streaming).

3. Travelers: Light gaming and 4K video streaming on the go.

Example Laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2025) — weight 1.1 kg, battery life up to 14 hours, price starting at $1499.

Battery Life: Balancing Power and Efficiency

With a battery capacity of 60 Wh:

- Office Tasks: 8–10 hours (brightness 150 nits, Wi-Fi on).

- Video Playback: 6–7 hours (4K on YouTube).

- Power-saving Technologies:

- Adaptix Dynamic Tuning: Reduces E-cores frequency when running on battery.

- Display Power Saving: Auto-adjusts screen brightness and refresh rate.

Life Hack: Disabling Turbo Boost in Windows settings increases battery life by 20–25%.

Comparison with Competitors

AMD Ryzen 7 7840U (Zen 4)

- Pros: Better multithreaded performance (+10%), support for LPDDR5X.

- Cons: iGPU Radeon 780M lags behind Iris Xe in Ray Tracing.

Apple M2 (MacBook Air)

- Pros: Battery life up to 18 hours, runs cool.

- Cons: Limited compatibility with Windows software.

Laptop Prices:

- Dell XPS 13 with i7-1260P — $1399.

- MacBook Air M2 — $1299.

Pros and Cons of the Processor

Strengths:

- Hybrid architecture for multitasking.

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

- Good graphics for less demanding gaming.

Weaknesses:

- Heating in turbo mode (up to 95°C in thin laptops).

- Dependency on OS optimization (Windows 11 recommended).

Recommendations for Laptop Selection

1. Types of Devices:

- Ultrabooks: ASUS ZenBook 14X (price starting at $1299).

- Business Laptops: HP EliteBook 840 G9 (from $1599).

- Compact Workstations: MSI Prestige 14 (from $1699).

2. What to Look For:

- Cooling System: Two fans and heat pipes.

- Display: 100% sRGB and HDR400 for creative tasks.

- Memory: 16+ GB LPDDR5.

Final Conclusion

The Intel Core i7-1260P in 2025 is an optimal choice for those seeking a versatile laptop for work and leisure. It suits:

- Freelancers processing photos and videos.

- Students balancing study and entertainment.

- Travelers valuing battery life.

Key Advantages: The power of hybrid cores, decent graphics, and support for modern connectivity standards. If your budget is $1300–1700, this processor will serve as a reliable foundation for 3-4 years.

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.

i7-1260P

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.

3.40 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

18 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.

18 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

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

1738

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

6639

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

1291

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

7382

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

3323

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

17244

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Core i7-11850H

1964 +13%

Core i5-1235U

1860 +7%

Core i7-1260P

1738

Core i7-9700K

1662 -4.4%

Ryzen 5 5600HS

1605 -7.7%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Ryzen Threadripper 2920X

7493 +12.9%

Core i7-9700KF

7072 +6.5%

Core i7-1260P

6639

Core i7-1255U

6257 -5.8%

Xeon E5-2670

5826 -12.2%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H

1395 +8.1%

Core i5-13500HX

1334 +3.3%

Core i7-1260P

1291

Core i3-10325

1252 -3%

Ryzen 5 5600U

1207 -6.5%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Core i7-9800X X-series

8179 +10.8%

Xeon Silver 4214

7792 +5.6%

Core i7-1260P

7382

Ryzen 5 3600X

7043 -4.6%

Opteron 6180 SE

6604 -10.5%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Core Ultra 5 125U

3472 +4.5%

Xeon w5-2445

3395 +2.2%

Core i7-1260P

3323

Ryzen 5 5600

3257 -2%

Xeon W-11555MRE

3201 -3.7%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Xeon W-1290E

18786 +8.9%

Xeon W-2145

18126 +5.1%

Core i7-1260P

17244

Xeon Silver 4214Y

16442 -4.7%

Core i9-13900TE

15819 -8.3%