Home > CPU Comparison > Core i3 1215U or Ryzen 5 5500U: what's better?

Intel Core i3 1215U vs AMD Ryzen 5 5500U

42 out of 100
Intel Core i3 1215U
VS
38 out of 100
AMD Ryzen 5 5500U
Intel Core i3 1215U
AMD Ryzen 5 5500U

We compared two 6-core laptop CPUs: the 1.2 GHz Intel Core i3 1215U against the 2.1 GHz AMD Ryzen 5 5500U. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

  1. Review
  2. Differences
  3. Performance
  4. Specs
  5. Comments (16)

Review

General overview and comparison of the processors
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of power consumption
Integrated Graphics
iGPU capabilities for gaming and 3D-intensive tasks
NanoReview Final Score
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
πŸ”Œ Usage Scenario:

Key Differences

What are the key differences between 5500U and 1215U
Advantages of Intel Core i3 1215U
  • Supports up to 64 GB DDR5-4800 RAM
  • 43% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 2184 vs 1526 points
  • Newer - released 1 year and 2 months later
  • Has 2 MB larger L3 cache size
  • Newer PCI Express version – 4.0
  • 10% higher Turbo Boost frequency (4.4 GHz vs 4 GHz)
Advantages of AMD Ryzen 5 5500U
  • More powerful Radeon RX Vega 7 integrated graphics: 1.6 vs 1.1 TFLOPS
  • More modern manufacturing process – 7 versus 10 nanometers

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
Core i3 1215U
vs
Ryzen 5 5500U

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
Submit your benchmark results

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Core i3 1215U +43%
2184
Ryzen 5 5500U
1526
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
File compression 356.7 MB/sec 504.2 MB/sec
Clang compilation 45.1 Klines/sec 32.5 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 117.1 pages/sec 103.5 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 180.5 Mpixels/sec 151.5 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 224.7 pages/sec 124.6 pages/sec
Background blur 18.9 images/sec 27.2 images/sec
Photo processing 54.2 images/sec 49.8 images/sec
Ray tracing 9.45 Mpixels/sec 8.97 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 1106 & 599 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Core i3 1215U +30%
3101
Ryzen 5 5500U
2390
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Core i3 1215U
10106
Ryzen 5 5500U +25%
12609
Integer math 34.4 GOps/sec 44.4 GOps/sec
Floating point math 24.6 GOps/sec 25.6 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 30M Primes/sec 26M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 12.7M Strings/sec 18.7M Strings/sec
Data encryption 6.8 GBytes/sec 10.2 GBytes/sec
Data compression 113.1 MBytes/sec 171.4 MBytes/sec
Physics 546 Frames/sec 526 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 6.7B Matrices/sec 10.7B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 3915 & 6029 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
Core i3 1215U
58.9
Ryzen 5 5500U +56%
91.95

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 18.9 PPW 16.2 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 377.5 PPW 240.2 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 673.7 PPW 504.4 PPW
Blender / Watt 3.93 PPW 3.68 PPW
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Intel Core i3 1215U
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2025-04-11 (Shanmukh)Geekbench 6 CPU2126 / 6248
πŸ“˜ 2023-11-06 (goryn81)Cinebench 202489 / 283
Add View all (2)
AMD Ryzen 5 5500U
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2025-08-11 (Akhil)Cinebench 202468 / 404
πŸ“˜ 2025-06-06 (DON'T_SYBAU ❀️)Geekbench 6 CPU1515 / 6409
πŸ“˜ 2025-06-04 (Micro_review)Geekbench 6 CPU1526 / 6005
πŸ“˜ 2025-05-14 (Josh Passed)Cinebench 202469 / 315
πŸ“˜ 2024-05-30 (Wildan)Cinebench 202468 / 367
Add View all (5)

Specifications

Full technical specification of Intel Core i3 1215U and AMD Ryzen 5 5500U

General

Vendor Intel Amd
Released February 23, 2022 January 12, 2021
Type Laptop Laptop
Instruction Set x86-64 x86-64
Codename Alder Lake Zen 2 (Lucienne)
Model number i3-1215U -
Integrated GPU UHD Graphics (64EU) Radeon RX Vega 7
Rival Equivalent - - Intel Core i5 1135G7
Successor - Intel Core 3 100U - AMD Ryzen 5 7520U
AMD Ryzen CPU ranking (#165th place)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 2 6
P-Threads 4 12
Base Frequency (P) 1.2 GHz 2.1 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 4.4 GHz 4 GHz
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 4 -
E-Threads 4 -
Base Frequency (E) 0.9 GHz -
Turbo Boost Frequency (E) 3.3 GHz -
Total
Total Cores 6 6
Total Threads 8 12
Bus Frequency 100 MHz 100 MHz
Multiplier 12x 21x
L1 Cache 80K (per core) 64K (per core)
L2 Cache 1280K (per core) 512K (per core)
L3 Cache 10MB (shared) 8MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier No No

Package

Fabrication Process 10 nm 7 nm
TDP (PL1) 12-15 W (configurable) 10-25 W (configurable)
Max. Boost TDP (PL2) 55 W -
Socket BGA-1744 FP6
Peak Temperature 100Β°C 105Β°C

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Intel UHD Graphics (64EU) Radeon RX Vega 7
GPU Base Clock 300 MHz 300 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1100 MHz 1800 MHz
Shading Units 512 448
TMUs 32 28
ROPs 16 8
Execution Units 64 7
TGP 15 W 15 W
iGPU FLOPS
Core i3 1215U
1.1 TFLOPS
Ryzen 5 5500U +45%
1.6 TFLOPS
More info: Radeon RX Vega 7 compared to UHD Graphics (64 EU)

Memory Support

Memory Types - DDR5-4800
- DDR4-3200
- LPDDR5-5200
- LPDDR4x-4267		 - DDR4-3200
- LPDDR4-4266
Max. Memory Size 64 GB 32 GB
Memory Channels 2 2
ECC Support No No

Misc

Official Site Intel Core i3 1215U official page AMD Ryzen 5 5500U official page
PCI Express Version 4.0 3.0
PCI Express Lanes 20 12

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
1804 (72.7%)
679 (27.3%)
Total votes: 2483

Competitors

1. Intel Core i3 1215U vs AMD Ryzen 5 7520U
2. Intel Core i3 1215U vs AMD Ryzen 3 7320U (6)
3. Intel Core i3 1215U vs Intel Core i3 N305 (6)
4. Intel Core i3 1215U vs Intel Core i5 1235U (10)
5. AMD Ryzen 5 5500U vs AMD Ryzen 5 7520U (7)
6. AMD Ryzen 5 5500U vs AMD Ryzen 5 7530U (5)
7. AMD Ryzen 5 5500U vs Intel Core i5 1235U (13)
8. AMD Ryzen 5 5500U vs Intel Core i3 1315U
9. AMD Ryzen 5 5500U vs AMD Ryzen 3 7320U (1)
10. AMD Ryzen 5 5500U vs AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (21)
Compare other CPUs (460+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: AMD Ryzen 5 5500U or Intel Core i3 1215U?
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Avatar
Syed August 31, 2024 at 02:38 AM
Which laptop is better for multiple tasks in single time under 40k
+79 Reply
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Rajeshwar September 1, 2024 at 05:14 PM
1) Ryzen 5 5500U(1st priority) 2) i5 11 or i5 12(if available)
+72 Reply
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Thirumal May 21, 2025 at 08:28 AM
Ryzen 5 5500U is double the time better in power efficiency, and iGPU i3 is not that good enough in multi-core performance.
+3 Reply
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ruban July 18, 2024 at 08:00 AM
Why are the i3 iGPU benchmarks low? Does dual channel improve i3 to equal Vega7?
+97 Reply
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Urpo May 21, 2024 at 04:41 PM
There is also a huge difference between single-channel and dual-channel memory when gaming with these iGPUs. I just upgraded a Lenovo R5 5500U laptop and an Acer i3 1215U laptop to both run 16GB. Both worked with the same Kingston 3200 DDR4 SO-DIMM, KF432S20IBK2/16.
+169 Reply
Avatar
Adas November 24, 2023 at 08:49 PM
In November 2023, all laptops featuring the Ryzen 5 saw a significant price increase, but i3 12th gen laptops remain reasonably priced. If you can get the 5500U at the same price as the 1215U laptop, choose the AMD variant for a 1-2% better GPU performance. If not, the i3 trumps them all in every aspect.
+136 Reply
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Fer April 30, 2024 at 06:19 AM
Thanks for your insight
+11 Reply
Avatar
Me-she July 13, 2023 at 10:08 AM
The AMD Ryzen 5 5500U and Intel Core i3 1215U are very close competitors. The Core i3's igpu is just 14.3% faster that AMD's igpu. In 67 modern popular games: AMD's RX Vega 7 is ahead in 9 tests Intel's UHD Graphics 64EUs is ahead in 48 tests there's a draw in 10 tests So Intel is just a little bit ahead when it comes igpu performance.
+171 Reply
Avatar
Krish November 19, 2022 at 06:30 PM
Even iris xe doesn't compare to Vega graphics, the 12th gen did nothing to improve igpu and with i3 u don't even get iris xe.
+93 Reply
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Ahem November 24, 2022 at 06:31 PM
The i3 uses the same graphics as the i5 xe, it's just different branding, the same stuff.
+54 Reply
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Kern December 5, 2022 at 04:18 AM
It still using Xe architect, don't confuse it with the previous Gen ones. I know because i have the i3-1215U in my current laptop.
+96 Reply
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Asad February 3, 2023 at 12:36 AM
Kern, Which laptop do you have? Are you satisfied with core i3's performance in terms of gaming and general use?
+275 Reply
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Tharuka February 15, 2023 at 07:17 PM
Kern, Is it a good laptop?
+38 Reply
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Kern March 24, 2023 at 02:51 AM
Asad, Yes, I'm satisfied. I'm using the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15IAU7 laptop. It is doing everything faster than my last AMD FX-7500 powered Lenovo system including running games like American and Euro Truck simulators better. The internet is also faster, well it can connect to 5G networks. Though it comes with a 256GB SSD and TN Full HD screen.
+41 Reply
Avatar
Kern March 24, 2023 at 02:53 AM
Tharuka, Yes, it's good and fasts for a normal business-class laptop.
+20 Reply
Avatar
Henry August 20, 2022 at 04:35 PM
Intel sounds better design.
+144 Reply
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