Intel Core i5-1235U Vs AMD Ryzen 5 7520U: Is Intel Better?

In the fast-paced world of laptop processors, the battle between Intel and AMD continues to heat up, with each brand vying for supremacy. In this article, we will inspect and compare the performance of the Core i5 1235U vs Ryzen 5 7520U.

Key Takeaways

• The Core i5 1235U features Alder Lake architecture and FCBGA1744 socket (10nm) in contrast to the Ryzen 5 7520’s Zen 2 architecture and FP6 socket (6nm).
• Regarding the multi-core performance, the Core i51235U performs about 28% better than the Ryzen 5 7520U in the Cinebench R23 test.
• Considering the power consumption, the Ryzen 5 7520U operates on a modest 15W default TDP, while the Core i5 1235U runs a higher 55W turbo TDP.

Core i5-1235U Vs Ryzen 5 7520U

Comparison Table & Architectural Differences 

1. Architecture: The Core i5 1235U appears with an avant Intel Alder Lake architecture, while the Ryzen 5 7520U from AMD is built on the Zen 2 architecture. Regarding the fabrication resolution, the Core i5 1235U employs a 10nm production node, whereas the Ryzen 5 7520U leverages TSMC’s advanced 4nm FinFET technology.
2. CPU Socket: Looking at the processor socket, the Core i5 1235U features Intel’s FCBGA1744 socket, which has 1744 pins for connecting to the motherboard. The Ryzen 5 7520U, in comparison, uses AMD’s FP6 socket, which has 1140 pins.
3. Clock Frequency: The Ryzen 5 7520U showcases its dominance over the Core i5 1235U with a remarkable 1.5 GHz lead in base clock speed, providing a substantial margin of 115%. On the other hand, the Core i5 1235U yields a marginally higher turbo clock, edging past the Ryzen 5 7520U by 0.1 GHz or 2.3%. 
4. CPU Memory: While the Core i5 1235U supports DDR5 and DDR4 memory, the Ryzen 5 7520U supports only DDR5 memory. Both CPUs have two memory channels. The Core i5 1235U has 64GB max memory, while the Ryzen 5 7520U has only 16GB.
   Notably, the Ryzen 5 7520U offers LPDDR5 at 5500 MT/s, while the Core i5 1235U features DDR5 memory at 5200 MT/s. Furthermore, these processors lack compatibility with ECC memory.
5. iGPU: The AMD Radeon 610M iGPU on the Ryzen 5 7520U has 128 shading units, 2 RT cores, and a turbo frequency of 1900 MHz. It is simulated at a 6nm technology and employs RDNA 2.0 architecture. The Core i5 1235U, on the other hand, features Intel Iris Xe Graphics, which has two multi-format codec engines and a dynamic frequency of 1200 MHz.
6. TDP: Coming to thermal specs, the Core i5 1235U has a base power of 15W and a turbo power of 55W, whereas the Ryzen 5 7520U keeps a default TDP of 15W.

Related: Core i5 1235U Vs Ryzen 5 7530U

Ryzen 5 7520U Vs Core i5-1235U: Productivity Benchmarks 

Cinebench R23

Single-Core Performance

• When comparing single-core performance, the Core i5 1235U outperforms the Ryzen 5 7520U by around 40.2%.
• The Ryzen 5 7520U scored only 1171 on Cinebench R23 compared to the Core i5 1235U’s outstanding 1640 results.

Multi-Core Performance

• The Ryzen 5 7520U rises above the Core i5 1235U by roughly 28.2% in Cinebench R23’s multi-core test.
• In multi-core benchmarks, the Core i5 1235U scored an impressive 6601, outpacing the Ryzen 5 7520U’s achievement of 5149.

Blender 2.79 BMW27

• According to benchmark results from Blender 2.79, the Ryzen 5 7520U completes the tasks around 38.8% more quickly than the Core i5 1235U.
• The Core i5 1235U took only 423.5 seconds to complete the Blender 2.79 test, compared to the 588 seconds for the Ryzen 5 7520U.

7-Zip Compression Test

• When comparing data compression performance in 7-Zip, the Ryzen 5 7520U outperforms the Core i5 1235U by 39.3%.
• Compared to the Core i5 1235U’s admirable 33,736 MIPS data compression rate, the Ryzen 5 7520U fared at 24,219 MIPS.

3DMark11 Benchmarks

• According to 3DMark11 Benchmarks, the graphics processing power of the Core i5 1235U is 53.9% better than the Ryzen 5 7520U.
• The Core i5 1235U scored an impressive 11,915 points, while the Ryzen 5 7520U scored 7,743 points at full performance.

Mozilla Kraken 1.1

• The Core i5 1235U’s Javascript processing in the Mozilla Kraken 1.1 test was approximately 45.4% faster than the Ryzen 5 7520U.
• During the Mozilla Kraken 1.1 assessment, the Core i5 1235U had a stunning ping of 584ms, while the Ryzen 5 7520U functioned at 849ms.

CrossMark Benchmarks

• The Ryzen 5 7520U outperformed the Core i5 1235U by a fantastic margin of nearly 54.3% in the CrossMark performance test.
• The Ryzen 5 7520U scored 960 points, while the Core i5 1235U achieved a respectable 1,481 points.

WebXPRT 4 Benchmarks

• The Core i5 1235U’s browsing performance is roughly 48.7% better than the Ryzen 5 7520U measured by WebXPRT 4 Benchmarks.
• In the WebXPRT 4 Benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 7520U achieved 155.3, whereas the Core i5 1235U scored 231.

FP32 – iGPU Test

• Pursuant to the FP32 benchmarks, the Core i5 1235U’s iGPU performs about 288% more effectively than the Ryzen 5 7520U’s iGPU.
• In the iGPU performance test, the Ryzen 5 7520U had a shallow frame rate of 383 GFLOPS compared to the Core i5 1235U’s great 1,487 GFLOPS.

Geekbench 6

Single Core Performance

• Geekbench 6 single-core comparison results show that the Core i5 1235U outperforms the Ryzen 5 7520U by 26.1%.
• The Core i5 1235U achieves a remarkable score of 1688 points in the single-core test, surpassing the Ryzen 5 7520U’s 1338 points.

Multi-Core Performance

• Comparing multi-core performance reveals that the Core i5 1235U performs about 33.4% better than the Ryzen 5 7520U.
• In Geekbench 6, the Ryzen 5 7520U scores 4253 points, whereas the Core i5 1235U hits an incredible 5677 multi-core points.

Also Read: Core i7-1255U Vs Core i5-1335U

HWBOT 4K – x265

• The Ryzen 5 7520U outscored the Core i5 1235U by about 46% in a test that involved encoding a 4K video using the x265 codec.
• The Ryzen 5 7520U encoded the 4K video at a rate of 6.3 FPS, while the Core i5 1235U did so with a brilliant performance of 9.2 FPS.

PassMark Benchmarks

• Considering the multi-core performance of the two processors in the PassMark test, the Core i5 1235U beats the Ryzen 5 7520U by 40%.
• The Core i5 1235U achieved a respectable 13,681 points, whereas the Ryzen 5 7520U could only muster up a score of 9,770 points.

Power Consumption

• In power efficiency, the Ryzen 5 7520U shines 41.9% more efficiently than the Core i5 1235U, as seen in the Cinebench R15.
• During the above-discussed tasks (benchmarks), the Core i5-1235U operated at 52.5W of power, while the Ryzen 5 7520U ran at only 37W.

Which One Should You Go For?

Having thoroughly compared the Core i5 1235U vs Ryzen 5 7520U, let’s choose the CPU that best suits our specific wants and needs.

• If you want to improve the performance of multi-core and iGPU-dependent tasks like video encoding, gaming, programming, and content creation. The Core i5 1235U is highly recommended in such a situation due to its superior ability to tackle these duties over the Ryzen 5 7520U.
• The Ryzen 5 7520U has an advantage over the Core i5 1235U only in that it is a more recent chip made using a cutting-edge 6nm manufacturing process. However, in terms of performance, it trails behind the Core i5 1235U.

Pros And Cons