Vietnamese YouTuber benchmarks the Intel Core Ultra 7 268V "Lunar Lake" chip, revealing the true potential of the 8c/8t CPU in various tests.
With better single-core performance than Ryzen AI HX 370, the Intel Core Ultra 268V "Lunar Lake" CPU shines in various tests
The Intel Lunar Lake mobile chips were launched on 3rd September but the laptops based on these chips are going to debut next week on the 24th. The Lunar Lake Core Ultra 200V CPUs bring a combination of Lion Cove P-Cores and Skymont E-Cores to ensure maximum power efficiency. While we only have information on the performance and efficiency of these chips from the company itself, an early review has revealed what it will be like to use a Core Ultra 200V processor.
The Vietnamese YouTube channel: ThinkView has benchmarked the Intel Core Ultra 7 268V "Lunar Lake" CPU on a Dell XPS 13 laptop against its rivals from AMD and Apple and we can see that the 268V is delivering some impressive results, which outperforms AMD chips in both numbers and power efficiency. The laptop used for the test was the Dell XPS 13 9350, featuring Core Ultra 7 268V, 32 GB LPDDR5X-8533 memory, and Windows 11 Home OS.
| CPUs | Intel Core Ultra 268V(15W) | AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370(21W) | Apple M3(6W) |
| Cinebench R23 Single-Core | 2054 | 2049 | 1932 |
As we can see from the table, the Intel Core Ultra 268V at 15W was dominating both the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 at 21W and Apple M3 at 6W in single-core performance numbers. The 268V is not only delivering a slightly higher score but it's doing it by being more power-efficient than the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. Still, the Apple M3 remains unbeatable in the efficiency department.
However, this wasn't the case with the multi-threaded performance as the Core Ultra 268V didn't achieve a competitive score against the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and Ryzen Z1 Extreme. It should be kept in mind that the Core Ultra 268V isn't aimed at delivering competitive multi-threaded performance as it's more of a power-efficient chip targeted for low to medium loads.
Also, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and Ryzen Z1 Extreme offer significantly more cores and threads respectively. The Z1 extreme has 16 threads while the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 has 24 threads to work with compared to just 8 on the 268V chip.
In the TimeSpy graphics test, the Core Ultra 268V shines once again, scoring a good 3715 points against 3562 of the Ryzen AI 9 HX370. This shows that the Arc 140V GPU is really good against its rivals and can play most games without any problems. However, remember that the 268V runs at 17W but the laptops using Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 can be configured to a much higher TDP.
This was illustrated by the reviewer as he was able to set the Vivobook S14 w/Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 at 55W while the Dell XPS 13 could only work at 17W mode, which sets back the gaming performance of the Dell XPS 13. The Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 was able to reach 50+ Fps in Far Cry 6 while the Core Ultar 268V remained in the mid-30s. In Black Myth: Wukong, the AMD chip was delivering 100+ FPS, and the Intel stayed at around the 50 FPS mark.
This shows that even though Intel's Arc 140V is an excellent iGPU, the CPU+GPU combination is what makes or breaks the overall performance. The Lunar Lake will, therefore be excellent for handhelds such as the upcoming MSI Claw 8, which is the successor to the Claw 7, running on an Intel Meteor Lake chip. One can also expect the gaming performance to improve when official launch drivers for Core Ultra 200V's Xe2 GPUs are available.
Do note that Intel has largely focused on the efficiency and battery life of the Lunar Lake-based laptops. In the review, we saw that the laptop could run up to 5.30 hours with a 55Wh battery. Although this is decent, it doesn't come up to the claims put forward by Intel in the launch.
Of course, the battery life will be increased if the battery is over 70Wh. The benchmarks were done on an engineering unit and we have seen some great battery life numbers in other reports.
All in all, the Lunar Lake chips look excellent for light loads, but users who are looking forward to executing intensive workloads such as 3D rendering, video editing, and gaming without any discrete GPU, will be better off with Strix Point from AMD at the moment.
News Source: ThinkView YT
About the author: Sarfraz Khan is a hardware reporter with a focus on PC components and the builder community. With years of experience writing about PC hardware and laptops, his work has been featured on several reputable technology publications. Sarfraz's hands-on experience is demonstrated through his first-person accounts of using and comparing different hardware configurations, providing practical and relatable insights for everyday users. His technical analysis is respected by peers in the enthusiast community and has been cited by specialized hardware sites such as Germany's Igor's Lab.
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