Intel Core i5-12500H vs Intel Core Ultra 7 266V Comparison

The database places these two Intel mobile processors in an unusually tight overall contest despite radically different design philosophies. The Core Ultra 7 266V, a Lunar Lake part, averages a benchmark score of 23297 against 22625 for the Core i5-12500H, an Alder Lake-H chip, and both sit at the 76th percentile versus all CPUs in the database. Yet the head-to-head record favors the i5-12500H with 11 wins against 6 for the 266V. The aggregate numbers hide a sharply split profile: the older chip dominates classic multi-core rendering, while the newer one leads in single-thread responsiveness and several per-thread workloads, all while running at a nominal 17 W TDP rather than 45 W.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Cinebench suite is the i5-12500H's stronghold, and its margin is remarkably consistent across generations of the test. In Cinebench R15 multi-core it scores 1999 against 1667, a 16.6% win, and it repeats the pattern in R20 multi-core (8332 vs 6948, 16.6%) and R23 multi-core (19840 vs 16544, again 16.6%). Single-core rendering tells the same story: 282 vs 235 in R15, 1176 vs 980 in R20, and 2801 vs 2335 in R23, each roughly a 16.6-16.7% advantage for the Alder Lake part. That uniformity across six tests indicates a structural difference in per-core throughput under sustained rendering loads rather than test-specific noise.

PassMark adds texture to the picture. The i5-12500H wins integer math by a decisive 42.1% (71714 vs 41558), data compression by 26.2% (253431 vs 187050), random string sorting by 18.5% (28099 vs 22905), encryption by 6.3% (14749 vs 13822), and the overall multi-thread rating by 5.6% (20625 vs 19461).

The 266V's wins are fewer but in several cases dramatic. Its most striking result is find prime numbers, where it scores 191 against 57, a 235.1% margin. Physics favors it 58% (1608 vs 1018), single-thread rating favors it 15.4% (3943 vs 3418), floating point math favors it 9% (56923 vs 52227), and extended instructions by 6.4% (15928 vs 14965). The single-thread result deserves emphasis: it is the clearest evidence that the newer architecture delivers snappier lightly-threaded behavior even though the older chip wins single-core rendering.

The overall averages sit close because the scoring pools differ; each processor holds a 76th percentile ranking, and their nearest-rival clusters barely overlap. The 266V's closest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H (avgScore 23277, 0.1% away), the Intel Core i9-11900F (23254, 0.2%), the Intel Core Ultra 9 288V (23219, 0.3%), and the AMD EPYC 4124P (23167, 0.6%). The i5-12500H clusters with the Intel Core Ultra 5 135U (22618, 0%), the Intel Core i7-1270P (22502, 0.5%), the Intel Core i5-13500H (22468, 0.7%), and the AMD Ryzen 5 7535U (22791, -0.7%).

FAQ

Q: Which processor is faster overall?

A: By average benchmark score the Core Ultra 7 266V leads narrowly, 23297 to 22625, but the head-to-head record favors the i5-12500H with 11 test wins to 6. The answer depends on workload: multi-core rendering and integer-heavy work favor the i5, while lightly threaded and floating-point work favor the 266V.

Q: How large is the multi-core rendering gap?

A: Very consistent: 16.6% in Cinebench R15, R20, and R23 multi-core, all in favor of the i5-12500H.

Q: Does the Core Ultra 7 266V win any single-threaded test?

A: Yes. It takes the PassMark single-thread rating 3943 to 3418, a 15.4% win, despite losing every Cinebench single-core test by about 16.6%.

Q: Where is the biggest margin in either direction?

A: The 266V's find prime numbers score of 191 versus 57 is a 235.1% blowout. In the other direction, the i5-12500H wins integer math by 42.1%.

Q: How do their thermal envelopes compare?

A: The 266V carries a 17 W TDP versus 45 W for the i5-12500H, so the newer chip sustains competitive results at a far lower power target.

Q: How does each compare to its own peer group?

A: Both rank at the 76th percentile against all CPUs. The 266V's nearest rival is the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H at just 0.1% delta, while the i5-12500H's nearest is the Intel Core Ultra 5 135U at 0%.

Where Each One Wins

The i5-12500H is the pick for sustained throughput. Its 12 cores and 16 threads translate directly into the 16.6% Cinebench multi-core sweep and the 5.6% PassMark multi-thread win, and its 42.1% integer math and 26.2% data compression margins make it the stronger choice for compilation-style workloads, file archiving, and any pipeline that scales across many threads. The physics result, however, went the other way, so simple "more cores means better simulation" assumptions do not hold here.

The 266V wins where per-thread quality and efficiency matter. Its 15.4% single-thread rating advantage suits snappy everyday responsiveness, its 9% floating point and 6.4% extended instruction wins favor numerical and vectorized code paths, and its 58% physics margin benefits game-style rigid-body workloads. The 235.1% prime finding result is an outlier but reinforces that specific algorithmic workloads can strongly favor the newer core design. All of this arrives at a 17 W TDP, less than half the i5's 45 W, which matters for thin-and-light form factors and battery-driven sessions, and it pairs with substantially higher memory bandwidth at 136.5 GB/s on LPDDR5X.

Specification Differences

The two chips diverge on nearly every specification. The 266V offers 8 cores and 8 threads against 12 cores and 16 threads, a direct consequence of its no-hyperthreading design. Its base clock is lower at 2.20 GHz versus 2.50 GHz, but its boost clock is higher at 5.00 GHz versus 4.50 GHz. TDP is the headline split: 17 W against 45 W. The sockets differ entirely, Intel BGA 2833 for the 266V versus Intel BGA 1744 for the i5, so the parts are not interchangeable on any board.

Memory support also diverges. The 266V is specified for LPDDR5X (motherboard dependent) with dual-channel bus and 136.5 GB/s of bandwidth, while the i5-12500H supports DDR4 and DDR5 on a dual-channel bus with no recorded bandwidth figure. PCIe goes opposite ways: the 266V offers Gen 5 but only 4 CPU lanes, the i5 offers Gen 4 with 20 CPU lanes, so the older chip has far more lanes at a lower generation. The i5 also has a recorded die size of 217 mm² while the 266V has none recorded, and part numbers differ (SRPMMSRPMY versus SRLCY). Both support dual-channel memory, lack ECC, have locked multipliers, remain in active production, and serve the mobile segment.

Architecture Differences

These are two Intel generations apart in design philosophy. The 266V belongs to Core Ultra Series 2, built on the Lunar Lake architecture, manufactured by TSMC on a 3 nm process. The i5-12500H is a 12th Gen Core part on the Alder Lake-H architecture, manufactured by Intel on its 10 nm process. The foundry split is notable: the newer chip is Intel silicon designed for external fabrication on a denser node.

Cache configurations differ in structure. The 266V pairs 192 KB of L1 per core with a large 2.5 MB of L2 per core and a shared 12 MB L3. The i5 runs 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and a larger 18 MB shared L3. The 266V's much bigger per-core L2 reflects its efficiency-first design, feeding data to fewer, wider cores, while the i5 leans on its larger shared L3 to serve its higher thread count.

The integrated graphics divide is equally sharp: the 266V carries the Arc 140V against the i5's Iris Xe 80EU, a generational jump in GPU architecture. The core topology itself encodes the difference: 8 cores without hyperthreading on Lunar Lake versus 12 cores with 16 threads on Alder Lake-H. That topology, combined with the 3 nm node and the 17 W envelope, explains most of the benchmark data: fewer threads cost the 266V the multi-core rendering contests, while newer cores at up to 5.00 GHz delivered its single-thread, floating point, and physics wins.