The newly-announced Intel Meteor Lake processors bring with them a brand new architecture, holding the promise of impressive efficiency gains, boosted iGPU performance, and power-efficient ML (Machine Learning) performance. In this analysis, we delve into the leaked Cinebench R20 result of the Intel Meteor Lake Core Ultra 7 155H CPU, shedding light on its performance compared to the current-gen Raptor Lake mobile chips.
Efficiency Over Raw Performance
Intel's Meteor Lake processors have been designed with a primary focus on efficiency, prioritizing it over raw performance. This approach includes essential upgrades such as a new integrated GPU (iGPU) and AI enhancements. While these processors hold significant promise, the actual performance of Meteor Lake CPUs in consumer notebooks remains a mystery, as they are expected to hit the market several months from now.
Leaked Cinebench R20 Score
Fortunately, some insights into the performance of Intel's Meteor Lake Core Ultra 7 155H CPU have surfaced, thanks to a leak from Tom of Moore’s Law Is Dead. This CPU is positioned to occupy the middle ground in the enthusiast Meteor Lake (MTL) lineup, with Core Ultra 3/5 chips below it and Core Ultra 9 processors above it.
According to Moore’s Law Is Dead, a non-retail Core Ultra 7 155H equipped with 6 P-cores and 8 E-cores achieved a Cinebench R20 multi-core benchmark score of approximately 7,300 points while running at 100 watts. For comparison, the 14-core 13th gen chips, such as the Core i7-13700H and Core i9-13900H, averaged 5,971 and 6,781 points, respectively, in the same benchmark according to our testing data. Therefore, the Core Ultra 7 155H's performance, at first glance, may not seem impressive, particularly when considering that the scores for the Raptor Lake CPUs mentioned earlier are only averages and not necessarily representative of the top-performing laptops in the market.
For instance, the Core i7-13700H achieved scores as high as 7,674 points in the MSI Stealth 16 Studio, while the Core i9-13900H reached scores of up to 7,716 points in the MSI Stealth 17 Studio.
Performance Expectations
Moore’s Law Is Dead further elaborates that, according to their sources, although the Core Ultra 7 155H under discussion is a "Pre-QS" (Pre-Qualification Sample) chip, the final performance is expected to be only around 5% faster. Additionally, there is a suggestion that the Core Ultra 9 185H, a higher-tier processor in the Meteor Lake lineup, should offer a 5% performance boost over the Core Ultra 7 155H.
Moreover, it is alleged that the Ultra 7 155H sample tested by Moore’s Law Is Dead was "close to final performance" as it was "running at 100W with Desktop Cooling". The CPU reportedly sustained a clock speed of 3.8 GHz during the Cinebench R20 test, reaching up to 4.8 GHz, in line with the specified performance characteristics.
Utilization of Extra Cores
Interestingly, the same source maintains that the two additional little cores packed inside the System-on-Chip (SoC) in Meteor Lake processors are seldom utilized to enhance multi-threaded performance "unless you manually make them". Another source confirms that while it is "physically possible" to use all 16 cores (6 P-cores + 8 E-cores + 2 SoC cores) to run an application, the SoC cores are not optimized for such workloads. They operate at lower clock speeds, are designed for density and low voltage, and are manufactured using an inferior 6 nm process technology.
Future Releases
Finally, Moore’s Law Is Dead reports that Intel is on track to release the Arrow Lake processors in the third or fourth quarter of 2024. The leaker further suggests that we might witness Meteor Lake-based Next Unit of Computing (NUCs) and even Core i5/i7 chips launching for the LGA 1851 platform before the Arrow Lake releases.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it appears that Intel's primary focus with the Meteor Lake processors is to ensure efficiency gains. While we may see a reasonable performance boost, it is reasonable to expect only a modest performance improvement but a significant gain in overall efficiency.
