Intel Core i5 1235U vs Core 5 120U

43 out of 100
Intel Core i5 1235U
VS
48 out of 100
Intel Core 5 120U

We compared two 10-core laptop CPUs: the 1.3 GHz Intel Core i5 1235U against the 1.4 GHz Core 5 120U. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

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 120U and 1235U
Advantages of Intel Core 5 120U
  • Newer - released 1 year and 10 months later
  • Supports up to 96 GB DDR5-5200 RAM
  • 17% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 2437 vs 2089 points
  • 14% higher Turbo Boost frequency (5 GHz vs 4.4 GHz)

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
421
Cinebench 2026 (Single) 400 -
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) 1046 -

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
2437
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
7994
File compression 448.4 MB/sec 885.2 MB/sec
Clang compilation 24.1 Klines/sec 51.5 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 156 pages/sec 192.4 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 128.9 Mpixels/sec 217.6 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 206.3 pages/sec 246 pages/sec
Background blur 34.7 images/sec 34 images/sec
Photo processing 54.1 images/sec 79.6 images/sec
Ray tracing 10.5 Mpixels/sec 10.5 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 545 & 25 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
3467
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
14961
Integer math 47.4 GOps/sec 52.1 GOps/sec
Floating point math 37.4 GOps/sec 35.8 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 534M Primes/sec 53M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 16.6M Strings/sec 18.9M Strings/sec
Data encryption 9 GBytes/sec 10.4 GBytes/sec
Data compression 143.4 MBytes/sec 165.5 MBytes/sec
Physics 649 Frames/sec 932 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 7.9B Matrices/sec 9.3B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 8323 & 1547 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
97.23

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 24.5 PPW 28.1 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 424.1 PPW 532.9 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 829.9 PPW 997.4 PPW
Blender / Watt 5.36 PPW 6.48 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 i5 1235U
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-08-15 (zoetje)Cinebench 2026400 / 1046
πŸ“˜ 2026-08-09 (Jubayer)Cinebench 202486 / 393
πŸ“˜ 2026-05-06 (TASIN AMIR)Geekbench 6 CPU2191 / 7204
πŸ“˜ 2026-03-08 -> samueltailsGeekbench 6 CPU2147 / 6050
πŸ“˜ 2025-01-13 (sauron269)Cinebench 202498 / 368
Intel Core 5 120U
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-02-11 (Senna_Sempre_369)Geekbench 6 CPU2588 / 8894

Specifications

Full technical specification of Intel Core i5 1235U and Core 5 120U

General

Vendor Intel Intel
Released February 23, 2022 January 9, 2024
Type Laptop Laptop
Instruction Set x86-64 x86-64
Codename Alder Lake Raptor Lake Refresh
Model number i5-1235U 120U
Integrated GPU Iris Xe Graphics (80EU) Iris Xe Graphics (80EU)
Successor - Intel Core Ultra 5 225U - Intel Core 5 220U
Intel CPU rating (199th and 166th place)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 2 2
P-Threads 4 4
Base Frequency (P) 1.3 GHz 1.4 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 4.4 GHz 5 GHz
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 8 8
E-Threads 8 8
Base Frequency (E) 0.9 GHz 0.9 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (E) 3.3 GHz 3.8 GHz
Total
Total Cores 10 10
Total Threads 12 12
Bus Frequency 100 MHz 100 MHz
Multiplier 13x 14x
L1 Cache 80K (per core) 80K (per core)
L2 Cache 1280K (per core) 1280K (per core)
L3 Cache 12MB (shared) 12MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier No No

Package

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

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Intel Iris Xe Graphics (80EU) Intel Iris Xe Graphics (80EU)
GPU Base Clock 300 MHz 300 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1200 MHz 1300 MHz
Shading Units 640 640
TMUs 40 40
ROPs 20 20
Execution Units 80 80
TGP 15 W 15 W
iGPU FLOPS
1.5 TFLOPS
1.7 TFLOPS

Memory Support

Memory Types - DDR5-4800
- DDR4-3200
- LPDDR5-5200
- LPDDR4x-4267
- DDR5-5200
- DDR4-3200
- LPDDR5-6400
- LPDDR5x-6400
- LPDDR4x-4267
Max. Memory Size 64 GB 96 GB
Memory Channels 2 2
ECC Support No No

Misc

Official Site Intel Core i5 1235U official page Intel Core 5 120U official page
PCI Express Version 4.0 4.0
PCI Express Lanes 20 20

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
17 (29.8%)
40 (70.2%)
Total votes: 57

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Intel Core 5 120U or i5 1235U?
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