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Intel Xeon W-11955M

Intel Xeon W-11955M: Mobile Workstation in a Compact Form Factor

April 2025

Introduction

Intel Xeon processors have traditionally been associated with servers and powerful workstations, but with the arrival of the Xeon W-11955M, the company has opted for mobility without compromise. This chip, designed for professional laptops, combines high performance, energy efficiency, and corporate reliability. Let’s explore who it is suitable for and what tasks it can handle.

Architecture and Process Technology: 10nm SuperFin and 8 Cores

Tiger Lake-H: Power in Detail

The Xeon W-11955M is based on the Tiger Lake-H architecture and is manufactured using the 10nm SuperFin process technology. This has allowed Intel to increase transistor density and reduce power consumption. The processor is equipped with 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base frequency of 2.6 GHz and a turbo mode of up to 5.0 GHz. Key features:

- 24 MB L3 Cache — twice as much as the Core i9 of the same generation, speeding up the processing of complex tasks.

- Integrated Intel UHD Graphics for 11th Generation — 32 execution units (EUs), supporting 4K/60 fps, and AV1 decoding.

- PCIe 4.0 Support — up to 20 lanes for fast SSDs and external GPUs.

- Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 6E — for connecting peripherals and high-speed Internet.

For comparison: The Apple M2 Pro (2025) offers 12 cores, but in mobile Xeon variants, the focus is on multithreading combined with corporate features (e.g., ECC memory).

Power Consumption and TDP: Balancing Power and Battery Life

35W TDP — surprisingly low for a Xeon. However, this is a "long" TDP: under peak loads, the chip can consume up to 65W, but the laptop’s cooling system must handle this. Energy-saving technologies:

- Intel Speed Shift — instant frequency switching based on load.

- Dynamic Tuning 2.0 — adaptation to thermal conditions in real-time.

- “Eco” Mode — reduces frequency for office applications.

Example: In the Dell Precision 5570 with the Xeon W-11955M and an 86 Wh battery, web surfing time reaches 8–9 hours, but rendering time drops to 2–3 hours.

Performance: From Excel to 3D Modeling

Geekbench 6: 2112 (Single-Core) / 9081 (Multi-Core) — on par with the desktop Core i7-12700K. Real-world scenarios:

- Office Tasks: Working simultaneously with dozens of tabs, Excel sheets, and Zoom — CPU load does not exceed 20%.

- Multimedia: Rendering 4K video in Premiere Pro takes 15% less time than with the Ryzen 9 6900HX.

- Gaming: On integrated graphics — CS2 at medium settings in Full HD (60–70 fps), Forza Horizon 5 at 30 fps (low). With a discrete RTX 4070 Mobile — full comfort in AAA titles.

- Turbo Mode: During brief loads (up to 10 seconds), the frequency rises to 5.0 GHz, but in Sustained Power Mode, it stabilizes at 4.2 GHz.

Important: For extended loads (for example, code compilation), an efficient cooling system is critical. In thin ultrabooks, the chip may throttle.

Usage Scenarios: Who is the Xeon W-11955M for?

1. Engineers and Designers: SolidWorks, AutoCAD, MATLAB — 8 cores and ECC memory reduce the risk of errors in calculations.

2. Developers: Compiling large projects, working with Docker containers.

3. Analysts: Processing Big Data in Python or R.

4. Video Editors: Rendering in DaVinci Resolve with Quick Sync acceleration.

Not recommended for:

- Gamers — better to choose a laptop with a Core i7 and RTX 4070 for the same $2000.

- Regular users — excessive power for which you’ll pay an extra $300–500.

Battery Life: How to Extend Usage Time?

- Adaptive Screen Dimming: Laptops with this processor are often equipped with brightness sensors.

- Disabling Background Processes: Windows 11 Pro is optimized for working with Xeon.

- “Power Saving” Mode in BIOS: Limits TDP to 25W, reducing frequencies.

Tip: Choose models with at least a 90 Wh battery — such as the HP ZBook Fury 16 G9 (starting at $2800).

Comparison with Competitors

1. AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS (Zen 4, 8 cores, 5.2 GHz):

- Higher performance in multi-threaded tasks (Geekbench 6 Multi-Core ~10500).

- No support for ECC memory.

- Laptop prices: starting from $2200.

2. Apple M3 Pro (12 cores, 3nm):

- Better energy efficiency (up to 12 hours of use).

- Limited software compatibility (not suitable for Windows programs).

- MacBook Pro 16 price: starting from $2999.

3. Intel Core i9-12900HK (14 cores, 5.0 GHz):

- Cheaper (laptops start from $2000).

- Lacks corporate features like vPro.

Conclusion: The Xeon W-11955M is a choice for those who need maximum stability and support for ECC memory.

Pros and Cons

Strengths:

- High reliability and ECC support.

- Powerful multi-threaded performance.

- Compatibility with professional software (certified drivers for CAD).

Weaknesses:

- Laptop prices start from $2500.

- Integrated graphics are weaker than AMD Radeon 680M.

- Requires quality cooling.

Laptop Selection Recommendations

1. Device Type: Only workstations — Dell Precision, Lenovo ThinkPad P16, MSI WE76.

2. Cooling: At least two fans and heat pipes with liquid metal coating.

3. Memory: At least 32+ GB DDR5 with ECC.

4. Storage: PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD starting from 1TB (e.g., Samsung 990 Pro).

5. Display: 4K panel with 100% Adobe RGB coverage for color correction.

Example Configuration:

- Dell Precision 5770: Xeon W-11955M, 64 GB DDR5, RTX 5000 Ada, 2 TB SSD, 17-inch 4K display — $4500.

Final Conclusion

The Intel Xeon W-11955M is a specialized processor for professionals who value stability and performance. It is ideal for engineers, programmers, and designers willing to pay for the premium segment. If you do not need ECC memory or certified drivers, consider Core i9 or Ryzen 9 — they will save you budget without sacrificing power in everyday tasks.

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.

W-11955M

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).

Total Threads

Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-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.

5.00 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.

5.00 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0

Yes

L3 Cache

24 MB

CPU Socket

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

FCBGA1787

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

35 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

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+1x4 | 2x8+1x4 | 1x8+3x4

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 3200 MT/s

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).

51.2 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 11th 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.

1.45 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.

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

Graphics Output

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

eDP 1.4b | 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.

24 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 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 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

2112

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

9081

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

1741

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

9004

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

3294

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

22662

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Core Ultra 7 165U

2295 +8.7%

Core i7-11700KF

2201 +4.2%

Xeon W-11955M

2112

Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5945WX

2021 -4.3%

Xeon Max 9480

1915 -9.3%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Ryzen AI Max Pro 380

10309 +13.5%

Core i9-9920X X-series

9627 +6%

Xeon W-11955M

9081

Xeon Gold 5220R

8591 -5.4%

Xeon E-2378

8151 -10.2%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Core i7-14790F

1942 +11.5%

Core i9-11900K

1829 +5.1%

Xeon W-11955M

1741

EPYC 9254

1667 -4.3%

Ryzen 5 7640U

1607 -7.7%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Ryzen 9 PRO 3900

10253 +13.9%

Ryzen 7 5800X

9570 +6.3%

Xeon W-11955M

9004

Core i9-11980HK

8431 -6.4%

Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H

8006 -11.1%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Ryzen 9 6900HX

3444 +4.6%

Core i5-11600K

3356 +1.9%

Xeon W-11955M

3294

Xeon E-2336

3226 -2.1%

Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100

3179 -3.5%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Core i5-12600HE

24599 +8.5%

Snapdragon X Elite

23272 +2.7%

Xeon W-11955M

22662

Ryzen 9 5900HS

21780 -3.9%

Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U

20864 -7.9%