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Intel Xeon W-10855M

Intel Xeon W-10855M: A Processor for Mobile Workstations in 2025

Analyzing Capabilities, Use Cases, and Competitiveness

1. Architecture and Process Technology: Comet Lake in the Age of 3nm

The Intel Xeon W-10855M processor, released in 2020, is based on the Comet Lake-H microarchitecture and is manufactured using a 14nm process technology. Although by 2025 dominance lies with 5nm and 3nm chips (such as Apple M4 or AMD Zen 5), Comet Lake remains relevant in the mobile workstation niche due to its stability and proven solutions.

Key Specifications:

- 6 cores / 12 threads with a base frequency of 2.8 GHz and a maximum turbo frequency of 5.1 GHz (for a single core).

- Integrated graphics Intel UHD for the 10th generation (32 EU, frequency up to 1.2 GHz).

- Support for DDR4-2933 MHz (up to 128 GB) and ECC memory — a key feature of Xeon.

Architecture Features:

- Hyper-Threading for multithreaded workloads.

- Turbo Boost Max 3.0 and Thermal Velocity Boost technologies for automatic overclocking at low temperatures.

- The integrated GPU is suitable only for basic tasks: office applications, 4K video encoding, but not for modern gaming.

2. TDP 45W: Balancing Power and Heat

A Thermal Design Power (TDP) of 45W indicates a classification within high-performance mobile processors. Unlike ultrabooks (15-28W), the Xeon W-10855M requires:

- An efficient cooling system with two fans and heat pipes.

- A thick laptop chassis (from 20mm).

Practical Example: The Dell Precision 7550 laptop with this CPU heats up to 85–90°C under load, but throttling (frequency reduction) does not occur thanks to a well-designed cooler.

3. Performance: Real Tasks and Turbo Mode

Geekbench 6:

- 1472 points (single core) — comparable to Intel Core i7-11800H.

- 5722 points (multithreading) — on par with Ryzen 7 5800H.

Use Cases:

- Office Work: In Chrome with 50 tabs + Excel + Zoom — no delays.

- Multimedia: Rendering 4K video in DaVinci Resolve takes ~25–30 minutes (compared to 15–18 minutes with Apple M3).

- Gaming: Using integrated graphics — only CS2 at low settings (40–50 FPS). With a discrete GPU (NVIDIA RTX A2000) — Cyberpunk 2077 at medium settings (50–60 FPS).

Turbo Mode: The processor can maintain frequencies up to 4.4 GHz (all cores) for 2–3 minutes, after which it reduces to 3.9 GHz to avoid overheating.

4. Use Cases: Who is the Xeon W-10855M Suitable For?

- Engineers and Designers: ECC memory support is critical for CAD applications (AutoCAD, SolidWorks) where memory errors are unacceptable.

- Data Analysts: Multithreading accelerates processing in Python/R.

- Mobile Workstations: Laptops for 3D modeling, rendering, and virtualization (e.g., VMware).

Not Suitable For:

- Gamers who prioritize battery life and FPS in AAA games.

- Ultrabook users: the thickness and weight of devices with Xeon W-10855M start from 2.5 kg.

5. Battery Life: The Cost of Performance

Under active load (rendering, code compilation), laptops with this CPU run on battery for 1.5–2 hours. In office mode (50% brightness, Wi-Fi) — up to 5–6 hours.

Power-saving Technologies:

- Intel Speed Shift — dynamic switching between P-states.

- Adaptix Thermal Framework — optimizing cooler performance.

Tip: To extend battery life, disable Turbo Boost in the BIOS settings — this will reduce performance by 20–25% but add 1–1.5 hours of runtime.

6. Comparison with Competitors

- AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 6950H (Zen 3+, 6nm): Better energy efficiency (+30% battery life), but lacks ECC memory in most models.

- Apple M3 (3nm): 2–3 times higher speed in rendering, but limited compatibility with Windows software.

- Intel Core i9-11980HK: Higher gaming performance but lacks ECC and stability under long loads.

Conclusion: The Xeon W-10855M is the choice for those needing reliability rather than record FPS or battery life.

7. Pros and Cons

Strengths:

- Support for ECC memory and vPro for enterprise security.

- Stable operation under 100% load.

- Compatibility with Windows/Linux and professional software.

Weaknesses:

- The 14nm process technology is outdated: high power consumption and heat.

- Integrated graphics are weaker than those in Ryzen 6000/7000.

- Price: laptops with this CPU start at $2200 (new stock in 2025).

8. Recommendations for Choosing a Laptop

- Device Type: Only mobile workstations — Dell Precision 7560, HP ZBook Fury 17 G8, Lenovo ThinkPad P15.

- What to Look For:

- Cooling system: at least 2 fans + 4 heat pipes.

- Discrete graphics: NVIDIA RTX A3000 or AMD Radeon Pro W6600.

- Display: 100% sRGB or Adobe RGB for designers.

Example Configuration for $2500:

- Xeon W-10855M + 32 GB DDR4 ECC + 1 TB SSD + NVIDIA RTX A2000.

9. Final Conclusion

The Intel Xeon W-10855M in 2025 is a niche solution for:

- Engineers working in the field with demanding software.

- Corporate users valuing stability and ECC memory.

- IT specialists deploying virtual machines on a laptop.

Alternatives: If ECC is not needed, consider AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 7940HS or Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 — they offer better performance and battery life.

Prices and models are accurate as of April 2025. When choosing a laptop, check with suppliers for processor availability — new devices with Xeon W-10855M are rarely found but remain on the market as specialized solutions.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Mobile

Launch Date

April 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.

W-10855M

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

2.80 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.

5.10 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

Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 Frequency

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. Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 frequency is the clock frequency of the CPU when running in this mode.

4.90 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0

Yes

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.

Yes

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.

1.20 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.

4096x2304@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.

4096x2304@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

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.

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 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

1472

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

5722

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

1128

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

5379

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

2786

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

12873

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Core i7-8700K

1576 +7.1%

Xeon E3-1275 v6

1524 +3.5%

Xeon W-10855M

1472

Core i5-7640X

1419 -3.6%

EPYC 7702P

1374 -6.7%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Xeon E5-2667 v4

6482 +13.3%

Ryzen 5 4600G

6129 +7.1%

Xeon W-10855M

5722

Core i7-10700E

5412 -5.4%

Ryzen 3 4300G

5071 -11.4%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Core i7-11370H

1192 +5.7%

Ryzen 5 4500

1160 +2.8%

Xeon W-10855M

1128

Xeon E3-1275 v5

1112 -1.4%

Core i7-9700T

1089 -3.5%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Core i3-13100

5938 +10.4%

Xeon Silver 4109T

5733 +6.6%

Xeon W-10855M

5379

Ryzen 5 2600E

5101 -5.2%

Core i5-10500H

4907 -8.8%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Core i7-11700T

2935 +5.3%

Xeon E-2234

2873 +3.1%

Xeon W-10855M

2786

Ryzen 9 3900X

2749 -1.3%

Core i7-10850H

2703 -3%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Ryzen 5 2600

13937 +8.3%

Xeon E-2136

13449 +4.5%

Xeon W-10855M

12873

Core i5-10505

12198 -5.2%

Xeon Silver 4208

11384 -11.6%