i3-1215U vs i5-8250U

VS

Aggregate performance score

Core i5-8250U
2017
4 cores / 8 threads, 15 Watt
3.88
Core i3-1215U
2022
6 cores / 8 threads, 15 Watt
6.83
+76%

Core i3-1215U outperforms Core i5-8250U by an impressive 76% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i5-8250U and Core i3-1215U processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking14481019
Place by popularity4721
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesIntel Core i5Intel Alder Lake-M
Power efficiency24.4843.09
Architecture codenameKaby Lake Refresh (2017−2019)Alder Lake-U (2022)
Release date21 August 2017 (7 years ago)23 February 2022 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$297no data

Detailed specifications

Core i5-8250U and Core i3-1215U basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores4 (Quad-Core)6 (Hexa-Core)
Threads88
Base clock speed1.6 GHz1.2 GHz
Boost clock speed3.4 GHz4.4 GHz
Bus typeOPIno data
Bus rate4 GT/sno data
Multiplier16no data
L1 cache64K (per core)80K (per core)
L2 cache256K (per core)1.25 MB (per core)
L3 cache6 MB (shared)10 MB (shared)
Chip lithography14 nmIntel 7 nm
Die size123 mm2no data
Maximum core temperature100 °C100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)72 °Cno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility++

Compatibility

Information on Core i5-8250U and Core i3-1215U compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1
SocketFCBGA1356,FC-BGA1356FCBGA1744
Power consumption (TDP)15 Watt15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i5-8250U and Core i3-1215U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI++
FMA-+
AVX++
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Speed Shift++
My WiFi+no data
Turbo Boost Technology2.0no data
Hyper-Threading Technology++
TSX-+
Idle States+no data
Thermal Monitoring++
Flex Memory Access++
Smart Response+no data
Deep Learning Boost-+

Security technologies

Core i5-8250U and Core i3-1215U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT-+
EDB++
Secure Key++
Identity Protection+-
SGXYes with Intel® MEno data
OS Guard++

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i5-8250U and Core i3-1215U are enumerated here.

AMD-V+-
VT-d++
VT-x++
EPT++

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i5-8250U and Core i3-1215U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4-2400, LPDDR3-2133DDR4, DDR5
Maximum memory size32 GB64 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth38.397 GB/sno data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare
Intel HD Graphics 620Intel UHD Graphics for 12th Gen Intel Processors
Max video memory32 GBno data
Quick Sync Video++
Clear Video+no data
Clear Video HD+no data
Graphics max frequency1.1 GHz1.1 GHz
Execution Unitsno data64

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i5-8250U and Core i3-1215U integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported34
eDP+no data
DisplayPort+-
HDMI+-
DVI+no data

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i5-8250U and Core i3-1215U integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support+no data
Max resolution over HDMI 1.44096x2304@24Hz4096 x 2304 @ 60Hz
Max resolution over eDP4096x2304@60Hz4096 x 2304 @ 120Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort4096x2304@60Hz7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i5-8250U and Core i3-1215U integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX1212.1
OpenGL4.44.6

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i5-8250U and Core i3-1215U.

PCIe version3.04.0
PCI Express lanes1220

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

i5-8250U 3.88
i3-1215U 6.83
+76%

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

i5-8250U 6158
i3-1215U 10846
+76.1%

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

i5-8250U 771
i3-1215U 1846
+139%

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

i5-8250U 1971
i3-1215U 4893
+148%

Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core

Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.

i5-8250U 5533
i3-1215U 7879
+42.4%

Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.

i5-8250U 17987
i3-1215U 19430
+8%

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

i5-8250U 8.06
i3-1215U 3.41
+136%

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

i5-8250U 6
i3-1215U 11
+85%

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

i5-8250U 562
i3-1215U 809
+44%

Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R15 (standing for Release 15) is a benchmark made by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version (sometimes called Single-Thread) only uses a single processor thread to render a room full of reflective spheres and light sources.

i5-8250U 143
i3-1215U 218
+52.1%

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R11.5 is an old benchmark by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version loads a single thread with ray tracing to render a glossy room full of crystal spheres and light sources.

i5-8250U 1.64
i3-1215U 2.79
+70.1%

TrueCrypt AES

TrueCrypt is a discontinued piece of software that was widely used for on-the-fly-encryption of disk partitions, now superseded by VeraCrypt. It contains several embedded performance tests, one of them being TrueCrypt AES, which measures data encryption speed using AES algorithm. Result is encryption speed in gigabytes per second.

i5-8250U 3.5
i3-1215U 11.6
+231%

x264 encoding pass 2

x264 Pass 2 is a slower variant of x264 video compression that produces a variable bit rate output file, which results in better quality since the higher bit rate is used when it is needed more. Benchmark result is still measured in frames per second.  

i5-8250U 32
i3-1215U 50
+56.6%

x264 encoding pass 1

x264 version 4.0 is a video encoding benchmark uses MPEG 4 x264 compression method to compress a sample HD (720p) video. Pass 1 is a faster variant that produces a constant bit rate output file. Its result is measured in frames per second, which means how many frames of the source video file were encoded per second.  

i5-8250U 138
i3-1215U 199
+44.9%

WinRAR 4.0

WinRAR 4.0 is an outdated version of a popular file archiver. It contains an internal speed test, using 'Best' setting of RAR compression on large chunks of randomly generated data. Its results are measured in kilobytes per second.

i5-8250U 3991
i3-1215U 7944
+99%

Geekbench 5.5 Multi-Core

i5-8250U 3427
i3-1215U 5259
+53.4%

Blender(-)

i5-8250U 900
+35.4%
i3-1215U 665

Geekbench 5.5 Single-Core

i5-8250U 925
i3-1215U 1539
+66.4%

7-Zip Single

i5-8250U 3706
i3-1215U 5032
+35.8%

7-Zip

i5-8250U 15366
i3-1215U 22883
+48.9%

WebXPRT 3

i5-8250U 168
i3-1215U 312
+86.3%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 3.88 6.83
Integrated graphics card 2.42 5.58
Recency 21 August 2017 23 February 2022
Physical cores 4 6

i3-1215U has a 76% higher aggregate performance score, 130.6% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 4 years, and 50% more physical cores.

The Core i3-1215U is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i5-8250U in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i5-8250U and Core i3-1215U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite CPU.


Intel Core i5-8250U
Core i5-8250U
Intel Core i3-1215U
Core i3-1215U

Similar processor comparisons

We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.

Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


4.2 2933 votes

Rate Core i5-8250U on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.8 2669 votes

Rate Core i3-1215U on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Core i5-8250U or Core i3-1215U, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.