Intel Core i5-1155G7

Intel Core i5-1155G7

Intel Core i5-1155G7: Review and Practical Guide for 2025

April 2025

Despite the emergence of new processors, the Intel Core i5-1155G7 remains a popular choice for budget and mid-range laptops. Let's explore why it is still relevant in 2025 and who it is best suited for.


1. Architecture and Manufacturing Process: What's Inside?

10nm SuperFin and Willow Cove

The processor is built on the Tiger Lake architecture (2020) using the 10nm SuperFin manufacturing process, which was a breakthrough for Intel at the time. This has allowed for reduced power consumption and increased transistor density.

- Cores and Threads: 4 cores, 8 threads. Base frequency — 2.5 GHz, turbo boost maximum — 4.5 GHz.

- Cache: 8 MB L3.

- Integrated Graphics: Intel Iris Xe (96 EU). Supports DirectX 12, 4K/60Hz, AV1 decoding.

Architecture features:

- Willow Cove: Improved IPC (instructions per cycle) by 10–15% compared to Ice Lake.

- AI Acceleration: Supports Intel DL Boost for machine learning tasks.

The iGPU Iris Xe is a key advantage. In 2025, it still handles basic gaming (for example, _CS2_ at low settings yields 40–50 FPS) and video processing.


2. Power Consumption and TDP: Balance Between Power and Battery Life

The processor's TDP is 12–28 W (adjusted by the laptop manufacturer). Ultrabooks often use a 15 W mode for optimized battery life, while compact workstations use 28 W for maximum performance.

Power Management Technologies:

- Intel Dynamic Tuning: Automatically adjusts power consumption based on workload.

- Thermal Velocity Boost: Temporarily increases frequency if temperature allows.

In practice, this means that during office tasks, the processor hardly heats up, but it may throttle frequencies during prolonged rendering due to overheating.


3. Performance: Real-World Scenarios

Office and Multimedia

- Office Applications (Word, Excel): CPU load does not exceed 20%.

- Web Browser: 30+ tabs in Chrome while streaming 1080p YouTube—no lags.

- Video Editing: In Adobe Premiere Pro, rendering a 10-minute 1080p video takes about 8–10 minutes.

Gaming

- Casual Games: _Dota 2_ (720p, low settings) — 60–70 FPS; _Genshin Impact_ (720p) — 40–50 FPS.

- Turbo Mode: In gaming, frequency stays around 3.8–4.2 GHz for the first 10–15 minutes, then drops to 3.5 GHz due to heating.

Geekbench 6:

- Single-Core: 1747 — comparable to Apple M1 (1680).

- Multi-Core: 4873 — weaker than Ryzen 5 5600U (5200+).


4. Use Scenarios: Who Is It For?

- Students and Office Workers: A lightweight laptop for studying, Zoom conferences, and document work.

- Freelancers: Basic photo (Lightroom) and video (Premiere Rush) editing.

- Casual Gamers: Older generation games or cloud gaming (GeForce NOW).

Not suitable for:

- Professional designers (not enough cores for 3D rendering).

- Streamers (lacks power for simultaneous gaming and streaming).


5. Battery Life: How Long Does the Laptop Last?

With a battery capacity of 50–60 Wh, the working time varies:

- Web Surfing: 8–10 hours (50% brightness, Wi-Fi).

- Video (local): 12+ hours (hardware decoding).

- High Load (rendering): 2–3 hours.

Power-Saving Technologies:

- Adaptix Dynamic Tuning: Optimizes load on CPU/GPU.

- Windows Eco Modes: Reduce frequency for background tasks.


6. Comparison with Competitors

AMD Ryzen 5 5500U

- Pros: 6 cores, cheaper.

- Cons: Vega 7 graphics is weaker than Iris Xe (~20% difference in gaming).

Apple M1

- Pros: Better battery life (up to 18 hours), cooler operation.

- Cons: Limited compatibility with Windows software.

Intel Core i5-12500H (2024)

- Pros: 12 cores, better performance in multitasking.

- Cons: TDP 45 W, more expensive.


7. Pros and Cons

Strengths:

- High single-thread performance.

- Powerful graphics for its class with Iris Xe.

- Support for Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 6.

Weaknesses:

- Only 4 cores (competitors offer 6–8).

- Heating under prolonged load.

- In 2025, outdated manufacturing process (new models are on 5–7nm).


8. Laptop Selection Recommendations

Types of Devices:

- Ultrabooks (Acer Swift 5, Lenovo Yoga 7): Weight up to 1.3 kg, battery life 10+ hours. Price: $600–$800.

- Budget Workstations (HP Envy 14): 14-15 inch screen with IPS matrix, 512 GB SSD.

What to Look For:

- Cooling: 2 fans are better than passive cooling.

- Display: For multimedia, aim for 100% sRGB.

- Ports: Thunderbolt 4 is useful for docking stations.


9. Final Conclusion: Is It Worth Buying in 2025?

The Core i5-1155G7 is suitable if you are looking for:

- An affordable laptop ($600–$900) for work and study.

- A device with good graphics for less demanding games.

- Portability and battery life without overpaying for top models.

Key Benefits: Balance of price and performance, support for modern interfaces (Thunderbolt 4, PCIe 4.0), sufficient power for most everyday tasks.

Alternative: If your budget allows, consider laptops with Intel Core Ultra 5 125U (2024) or AMD Ryzen 7 7730U — they offer more cores and better power efficiency.

Basic

Label Name
Intel
Platform
Mobile
Launch Date
May 2021
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.
i5-1155G7
Code Name
Tiger 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).
4
Total Threads
?
Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.
8
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
?
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
L3 Cache
8 MB
CPU Socket
?
The socket is the component that provides the mechanical and electrical connections between the processor and motherboard.
FCBGA1449
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.
10 nm SuperFin
TDP
28 W
Max. Operating Temperature
?
Junction Temperature is the maximum temperature allowed at the processor die.
100°C
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.
DDR4-3200 | LPDDR4x-4267
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.
2
Bus Speed
4 GT/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.
No

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.
1.35 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.
80
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.
4096x2304@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.
7680x4320@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.
4096x2304@60Hz
Number of Displays Supported
4
Graphics Output
?
Graphics Output defines the interfaces available to communicate with display devices.
eDP 1.4b | MIPI-DSI 2.0 | DP 1.4 | HDMI 2.0b

Miscellaneous

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 | Intel® AVX-512
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 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 Clear Video HD Technology
?
Intel® Clear Video HD Technology, like its predecessor, Intel® Clear Video Technology, is a suite of image decode and processing technologies built into the integrated processor graphics that improve video playback, delivering cleaner, sharper images, more natural, accurate, and vivid colors, and a clear and stable video picture. Intel® Clear Video HD Technology adds video quality enhancements for richer color and more realistic skin tones.
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 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 Deep Learning Boost (Intel DL Boost)
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
1747
Geekbench 6
Multi Core Score
4873
Geekbench 5
Single Core Score
1389
Geekbench 5
Multi Core Score
4237
Passmark CPU
Single Core Score
2914
Passmark CPU
Multi Core Score
10227

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core
1984 +13.6%
1878 +7.5%
1674 -4.2%
1624 -7%
Geekbench 6 Multi Core
5511 +13.1%
5184 +6.4%
4603 -5.5%
4339 -11%
Geekbench 5 Single Core
1534 +10.4%
1452 +4.5%
1331 -4.2%
1288 -7.3%
Geekbench 5 Multi Core
4685 +10.6%
4455 +5.1%
3991 -5.8%
3802 -10.3%
Passmark CPU Single Core
3059 +5%
2978 +2.2%
2833 -2.8%
2765 -5.1%
Passmark CPU Multi Core
11080 +8.3%
10615 +3.8%
9760 -4.6%
9290 -9.2%