SYSTEM ANALYZER

Rate My PC: Intel Core Ultra 5 115U + Intel Arc A530M

Get a comprehensive performance analysis of your gaming rig with detailed benchmarks, bottleneck detection, and upgrade recommendations

Build Configuration

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PROCESSOR (CPU)

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GRAPHICS CARD (GPU)

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89 Score

Top 11% Ranking

89 / 100

HIGH-END

Power Build

Top 11% of systems. Excellent for 1440p Ultra or 4K High gaming.

1440p Ultra4K High

System Balance Analysis

CPU vs GPU performance ratio

Well Balanced

CPU

82%

GPU

96%

PROCESSOR

Intel Core Ultra 5 115U

16,753 Benchmark Score

Top 18% Market Ranking

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GRAPHICS CARD

Intel Arc A530M

46,614 Benchmark Score

Top 4% Market Ranking

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Market Position

How your build compares to others

Budget

0-30

Mid-Range

30-60

High-End

60-85

Enthusiast

85-100

Your Build

Game Performance Benchmarks

Real-world 4K FPS in popular titles

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Performance Insights

Tips to maximize your system

Strong Performance

Excellent for 1440p gaming. Most games will run at high/ultra settings smoothly.

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Performance Tiers Explained

90-100

Ultimate

4K Ultra gaming, VR ready, ray tracing enabled, professional workloads

4K 60+ FPS VR Ready

70-89

High-End

1440p Ultra or 4K High settings, excellent for modern AAA titles

1440p Ultra 4K High

50-69

Mid-Range

1080p Ultra or 1440p Medium, great value for most gamers

1080p Ultra 1440p Med

30-49

Entry Level

1080p Medium settings, suitable for eSports and older titles

1080p Med eSports

0-29

Legacy

Basic gaming, older titles, consider upgrading for modern games

720p-1080p Low Older Games

# Intel Core Ultra 5 115U + Intel Arc A530M

This laptop pairing combines Intel's Meteor Lake mobile processor with Intel's discrete Arc 5-class graphics, creating a system that targets 70th and 85th percentiles for CPU and GPU performance respectively. The CPU delivers strong multi-threaded throughput for a 15W part, while the GPU brings 8GB of VRAM and hardware ray tracing to a portable chassis. The combined percentile of 78 places this build firmly in the upper-midrange of laptop configurations, though the absence of measured frame data means gaming expectations must be derived from synthetic benchmarks.

CPU Analysis

The Intel Core Ultra 5 115U is an 8-core, 10-thread processor built on Intel's Meteor Lake architecture, manufactured on a 7nm process at Intel's own foundries. The chip runs at a 1500 MHz base clock and boosts up to 4200 MHz, with a 15W TDP that classifies it as an ultra-low-power mobile part. This is not a high-frequency desktop chip; it is engineered for sustained operation in thin-and-light laptops where thermal and power budgets are tight.

The cache hierarchy is substantial for a mobile U-series chip. Each core gets 112 KB of L1 cache and 2 MB of L2 cache, which is generous per-core provisioning, while the shared L3 pool is 10 MB. This arrangement helps the processor feed its eight cores efficiently, particularly in workloads that exhibit temporal locality. The memory controller supports dual-channel DDR5 with bandwidth capped at 89.6 GB/s, which is adequate for the CPU's core count but will not set any bandwidth records.

Benchmark results reveal a processor that punches above its 15W envelope. In Cinebench R23, the 115U scores 10855 multi-core and 1532 single-core. The multi-core figure is striking when compared to the CPU's TDP — this chip delivers roughly 70% of the multi-threaded performance of a much higher-power desktop part while drawing a fraction of the power. The single-core score of 1532 indicates respectable per-thread performance, sufficient for responsive everyday computing and lightly-threaded applications.

The PassMark suite tells a more detailed story. The multithread score of 13024 and single-thread score of 3057 confirm balanced performance across both metrics. Integer math (41043) and floating-point math (30538) show the chip handles both types of calculation competently. Data compression (141945) and encryption (8606) scores suggest strong throughput for archiving and security workloads. Extended instructions score 8620, indicating the AVX-512 and related instruction sets are functioning well. Find prime numbers scores 53, which is low in absolute terms but typical for a mobile chip running a heavily integer-bound, single-threaded algorithm.

The CPU's percentile rank of 70 against all CPUs is notable for a 15W mobile part. Its average benchmark score of 16753 places it in direct competition with several established processors. The nearest rivals are remarkably close: the Intel Core i5-1235U scores 16770 (0.1% higher), the AMD Ryzen 3 7335U scores 16827 (0.4% higher), the AMD Ryzen 3 8440U scores 16663 (0.5% lower), and the Intel Core i3-12100E scores 16853 (0.6% higher). These sub-1% deltas mean the 115U is functionally tied with these chips — the differences are within run-to-run variance.

What this means for real workloads: the 115U will handle office productivity, web browsing, coding, and light content creation without complaint. The 8-core/10-thread configuration (likely 2 performance cores, 8 efficient cores, and 2 additional threads via hyperthreading on the P-cores) provides enough parallelism for modern multitasking. The 10 MB L3 cache helps with database queries and spreadsheet operations. This is not a chip for heavy 3D rendering or video encoding marathons, but it will not embarrass itself in those tasks either.

Upgrade Path and Platform

The Intel Core Ultra 5 115U uses the Intel BGA 2049 socket, which is a ball-grid-array package soldered directly to the motherboard. This means the CPU is not upgradeable in any practical sense — a laptop buyer is committing to this processor for the life of the machine. There is no socket to swap chips, no aftermarket cooler to install, and no overclocking headroom (the multiplier is locked). The 15W TDP is fixed by the platform design.

Memory support is DDR5, with the caveat that the exact configuration depends on the motherboard. The dual-channel memory bus delivers 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory itself is typically soldered or socketed depending on the laptop design, but the controller's capability is fixed. ECC memory is not supported, so this platform is not aimed at mission-critical data integrity workloads.

PCIe connectivity comes from the CPU: Gen 4 with 12 lanes. This is sufficient for a discrete GPU (the Arc A530M uses PCIe 4.0 x8), an NVMe SSD, and additional I/O devices. The 12-lane allocation is typical for a mobile U-series part, which must balance GPU bandwidth against storage and peripheral needs. A Gen 4 x4 NVMe drive will run at full speed, and the remaining lanes can cover Wi-Fi, Thunderbolt, or USB controllers.

The integrated graphics is Arc Xe-LPG with 48 execution units. This is a capable iGPU for basic display output and light 3D acceleration, but the presence of the discrete Arc A530M means the iGPU is primarily a fallback for battery-saving modes or multi-display setups. For pure CPU workloads, the integrated graphics can be disabled to save power.

The system's power delivery is designed around the CPU's 15W TDP and the GPU's 65W TDP. The combined thermal envelope of roughly 80W for the two primary compute components is modest by gaming laptop standards, which means the chassis can be relatively thin and light. There is no suggested PSU rating provided, but the total system draw will be well within what a standard laptop AC adapter can supply — expect a 90W to 130W brick depending on the OEM's configuration choices.

A sensible next upgrade for a laptop with this pairing is not a component swap but a capacity increase: more RAM if the system ships with 8GB or 16GB, and a larger or faster NVMe SSD. The PCIe Gen 4 lanes ensure storage will not be a bottleneck. The platform is otherwise a sealed unit, and any meaningful performance improvement would require a completely new laptop with a higher-tier CPU and GPU.

FAQ

Q: How does the Core Ultra 5 115U compare to its closest CPU rivals?

A: The 115U's average benchmark score of 16753 is within 0.6% of four rival chips. It trails the AMD Ryzen 3 7335U by 0.4%, the Intel Core i5-1235U by 0.1%, and the Intel Core i3-12100E by 0.6%, while leading the AMD Ryzen 3 8440U by 0.5%. These differences are negligible in real-world terms.

Q: What is the GPU's performance position relative to other mobile graphics cards?

A: The Arc A530M scores 46614 on average, placing it at the 85th percentile of all GPUs. It is virtually tied with the AMD Radeon RX 5600M (46601, 0% delta), trails the AMD Radeon RX 6550M by 0.2% (46702), and leads the NVIDIA RTX A2000 by 1.2% (46043) and the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation by 1.4% (45972).

Q: Does this CPU support ECC memory?

A: No. The ECC memory field is false, so error-correcting memory is not available on this platform. This is standard for consumer mobile processors.

Q: What is the maximum memory bandwidth of the 115U?

A: The CPU supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a theoretical bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. The actual memory type and speed depend on the specific laptop motherboard.

Q: Can the CPU be overclocked?

A: No. The multiplier is unlocked, which means the clock multiplier is locked and the boost behavior is fixed by Intel's firmware. The 15W TDP also limits any manual tuning headroom.

Q: What API features does the Arc A530M support?

A: The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. This includes hardware ray tracing via the 12 RT cores and full DirectX 12 Ultimate feature set for modern game compatibility.

Q: Is there measured gaming frame data for this specific CPU+GPU combination?

A: No. The FACT PACK contains no measured FPS rows for this exact pairing. All gaming performance must be estimated from the individual CPU and GPU benchmark scores.

Who Should Build It

This laptop pairing targets users who need a balance of CPU and GPU performance in a portable chassis. The CPU's 70th percentile ranking means it handles general productivity with ease — office suites, web applications, and software development tools will run smoothly. The 8-core/10-thread configuration with 10 MB L3 cache is well-suited for programmers compiling code, students running multiple research applications, and small business users juggling spreadsheets, presentations, and communication tools.

Content creators working with 1080p video or moderate-resolution photos will find the combination workable. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10855 indicates it can handle video encoding and photo batch processing, though not at professional speeds. The GPU's 85th percentile ranking and 8GB VRAM allow for GPU-accelerated effects and rendering in applications that support OpenCL or Vulkan compute. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 49735 confirms substantial compute capability for a mobile GPU.

Gamers at 1080p resolution with medium to high settings are the most obvious target audience. The GPU's performance class, as indicated by its Geekbench scores (49735 OpenCL, 43492 Vulkan), places it in the range of capable 1080p gaming. The CPU will not bottleneck the GPU in most titles, given its strong single-thread score of 3057 in PassMark. Esports titles and older AAA games will run at high frame rates; newer demanding titles will require settings adjustments.

Developers and engineers who need local virtualization, containerized workloads, or compilation will appreciate the CPU's multi-threaded capacity relative to its 15W power draw. The data encryption score of 8606 and compression score of 141945 indicate solid performance for security-sensitive applications and archiving tasks. Students in STEM fields running MATLAB, Python with NumPy, or similar computational tools will find the floating-point math score of 30538 sufficient for coursework and research projects.

This is not a workstation-class system. Users who need maximum multi-threaded rendering, massive dataset processing, or high-end GPU compute should look elsewhere. But for a laptop that balances portability, CPU grunt, and GPU capability, this pairing serves a broad swath of users from students to professionals.

Gaming Performance

No measured FPS data exists for this exact CPU+GPU combination. The FACT PACK contains no measuredFpsUltraByGame entries, so all frame rate expectations below are estimates derived from the synthetic benchmark scores. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 3057 and the GPU's Geekbench Vulkan score of 43492 together suggest a system capable of smooth 1080p gaming at medium to high settings in most titles.

The Arc A530M's 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth is the key gaming asset. This memory capacity is sufficient for modern game textures and assets at 1080p and even some titles at 1440p, though the bandwidth may limit performance at higher resolutions. The GPU's boost clock of 1300 MHz and 1536 shading units deliver a peak FP32 throughput of 3.994 TFLOPS, which places it in the range of older midrange desktop GPUs.

For esports titles like Fortnite, Valorant, or Counter-Strike 2, this system should easily exceed 60 FPS at 1080p with high settings, potentially reaching 100+ FPS in less demanding games. The CPU's strong single-thread performance ensures the game logic and physics threads are well-fed. Competitive gamers will likely need to reduce settings to hit 144Hz refresh rates, but the hardware foundation is there.

AAA titles at 1080p with medium settings are the realistic target. Games like Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin's Creed Mirage, or Starfield will require the 12 RT cores for ray-traced effects, but the 3.994 TFLOPS FP32 throughput will limit ray tracing to lower settings or off. With rasterization only, the GPU should manage 40-60 FPS in most modern titles at medium presets. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10855 suggests it will not be the limiting factor in most games.

The memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s is a potential constraint in texture-heavy scenes. The 128-bit bus is narrower than what high-end desktop GPUs use, and games that load large textures rapidly may see stutter or frame drops. The 8GB VRAM helps mitigate this by allowing more data to reside on the GPU, but games exceeding 8GB usage will trigger fallback to system memory with its 89.6 GB/s bandwidth — a significant reduction.

Older games and indie titles will run exceptionally well. The GPU's pixel rate of 62.40 GPixel/s and texture rate of 124.8 GTexel/s allow for high fill rates in less demanding engines. DirectX 12 Ultimate support ensures compatibility with the latest rendering techniques, and Vulkan 1.4 support covers modern cross-platform titles.

GPU Analysis

The Intel Arc A530M is a discrete mobile GPU based on the DG2-256 chip, built on TSMC's 6nm process. The chip contains 11,500 million transistors on a 269 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 42.8 million per square millimeter. This is a substantial chip for a mobile part, and the 65W TDP reflects its ambition to deliver desktop-class features in a laptop form factor.

Memory is 8GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) for a total bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. The 8GB capacity is generous for a mobile GPU and allows for high-resolution textures and large compute datasets. The 128-bit bus width is a compromise for power and cost, but the 224 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p gaming and moderate compute workloads.

The compute configuration consists of 1536 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 render output units. This arrangement yields a pixel rate of 62.40 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 124.8 GTexel/s. The FP32 throughput is 3.994 TFLOPS, with FP16 capability at 7.987 TFLOPS using a 2:1 ratio. This places the GPU in the range of midrange discrete graphics from a few years ago.

The 12 RT cores are the standout feature for a mobile GPU at this tier. Hardware ray tracing is present, and while the 3.994 TFLOPS FP32 throughput limits ray-traced performance, the capability exists for games that support it. DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) support means the GPU can handle all modern rendering features including mesh shaders and variable rate shading. OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4 support ensure broad API compatibility.

Benchmark results confirm the GPU's position. Geekbench OpenCL scores 49735, while Vulkan scores 43492, giving an average benchmark score of 46614. This places the GPU at the 85th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals are extremely close: the AMD Radeon RX 5600M scores 46601 (0% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 6550M scores 46702 (0.2% higher), the NVIDIA RTX A2000 scores 46043 (1.2% lower), and the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation scores 45972 (1.4% lower). The A530M is effectively performance-matched with these competitors.

For rendering workloads, the GPU's compute capabilities are meaningful. The OpenCL score of 49735 indicates strong performance for GPU-accelerated rendering in Blender, Adobe Premiere, or DaVinci Resolve. The 8GB VRAM allows for larger scenes and longer timelines without spilling to system memory. The FP16 throughput of 7.987 TFLOPS benefits AI inference and machine learning tasks that use half precision.

Balance and Bottleneck

The balance between the Core Ultra 5 115U and the Arc A530M is skewed toward the GPU. The CPU sits at the 70th percentile while the GPU sits at the 85th percentile, creating a system where the graphics card is the primary performance driver. This is generally a healthy configuration for gaming and GPU-accelerated workloads, as the CPU is less likely to bottleneck the GPU in most scenarios.

In CPU-bound workloads, the 115U's performance is competitive with its nearest rivals within 0.6%, but the 15W TDP limits sustained all-core performance. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10855 is achieved with boost clocks, but prolonged rendering or encoding may see clock drops as thermal headroom is consumed. The GPU, with its 65W TDP, has more thermal and power headroom relative to its performance class.

For gaming, the CPU's single-thread performance (PassMark 3057, Cinebench R23 single-core 1532) is sufficient to feed the GPU in most titles. The GPU's 3.994 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 224 GB/s bandwidth will be the limiting factor at high settings and resolutions. At 1080p medium settings, the balance is nearly ideal — the CPU can maintain high frame rates while the GPU renders at a consistent pace.

In compute workloads, the bottleneck depends on the task. Data compression (CPU score 141945) is CPU-bound and will run at the processor's pace. GPU-accelerated rendering in OpenCL is GPU-bound and will benefit from the A530M's compute throughput. Mixed workloads like video encoding with GPU assist will see both components active, with the CPU handling the encode logic and the GPU accelerating filters and effects.

The memory subsystem presents a potential bottleneck. The CPU's 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and the GPU's 224 GB/s bandwidth are both modest by absolute standards. In games that stream large amounts of data, the GPU may stall waiting for textures from system memory via the PCIe Gen 4 x8 interface. The 8GB VRAM mitigates this by keeping assets local, but games exceeding 8GB will expose the bandwidth gap.

The overall picture is a well-balanced laptop for its intended use case. The GPU leads in raw performance percentile, the CPU is adequate for all but the most demanding multi-threaded tasks, and the combined percentile of 78 reflects a system that exceeds the median laptop by a significant margin.

Build Overview

This is a laptop-class build (buildClass: "laptop") pairing the Intel Core Ultra 5 115U with the Intel Arc A530M. The CPU is a 15W Meteor Lake mobile processor with 8 cores and 10 threads, while the GPU is a 65W discrete Arc 5-series part with 8GB VRAM. The combined system targets the upper-midrange of laptop performance, with a combined percentile of 78 across all builds.

The architecture is a hybrid of Intel's latest mobile CPU design and their discrete GPU initiative. The CPU brings Meteor Lake's modular design with separate compute, graphics, and I/O tiles, while the GPU uses the Xe-HPG architecture with dedicated RT cores. Both components are manufactured at leading-edge nodes (7nm Intel for CPU, 6nm TSMC for GPU), and both are currently in active production.

This pairing is designed for users who want discrete GPU performance without the bulk and power draw of a full gaming laptop. The 65W GPU TDP and 15W CPU TDP combine for roughly 80W of compute power, which is manageable in a thin chassis. The system is not a desktop replacement, but it offers significantly more GPU capability than integrated graphics alone.

The performance tier is solidly midrange-to-upper-midrange. The CPU's 70th percentile and GPU's 85th percentile place this build ahead of the majority of laptops, though it does not approach high-end desktop or enthusiast laptop performance. The combined percentile of 78 accurately reflects a system that handles most tasks well but will not excel at the most demanding workloads.

Benchmark Performance

The Intel Core Ultra 5 115U delivers an average benchmark score of 16753, placing it at the 70th percentile of all CPUs. Key results include Cinebench R23 multi-core at 10855 and single-core at 1532, Cinebench R20 multi-core at 4559 and single-core at 643, and Cinebench R15 multi-core at 1094 and single-core at 154. PassMark results show a multithread score of 13024, single-thread of 3057, integer math at 41043, floating-point math at 30538, data compression at 141945, data encryption at 8606, extended instructions at 8620, find prime numbers at 53, physics at 898, and random string sorting at 15124.

The Intel Arc A530M achieves an average benchmark score of 46614, placing it at the 85th percentile of all GPUs. Geekbench OpenCL scores 49735 and Vulkan scores 43492. The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 5600M, matches it exactly with a 0% delta, while the RX 6550M is 0.2% faster, the RTX A2000 is 1.2% slower, and the RTX 5880 Ada Generation is 1.4% slower.

The combined picture is a laptop that performs significantly above average in both CPU and GPU terms. The CPU's 70th percentile means it outperforms 70% of all processors, while the GPU's 85th percentile outperforms 85% of all graphics cards. The combined percentile of 78 reflects the system's overall position. In practical terms, this build handles modern productivity software, 1080p gaming, and GPU-accelerated content creation with competence, though it will require settings adjustments for the most demanding games and professional workloads. The lack of measured FPS data means all gaming expectations are estimates, but the synthetic benchmark scores indicate a capable and well-rounded mobile system.

Rate My PC: Intel Core Ultra 5 115U + Intel Arc A530M

Power Build

System Balance Analysis

Intel Core Ultra 5 115U

Intel Arc A530M

Market Position

Game Performance Benchmarks

Cyberpunk 2077

Red Dead Redemption 2

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Control

Call of Duty: Warzone

Fortnite

Performance Insights

Strong Performance

Performance Tiers Explained

Ultimate

High-End

Mid-Range

Entry Level

Legacy

CPU Analysis

Upgrade Path and Platform

FAQ

Who Should Build It

Gaming Performance

GPU Analysis

Balance and Bottleneck

Build Overview

Benchmark Performance

4K Gaming Performance

Cyberpunk 2077

Red Dead Redemption 2

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Control

Call of Duty: Warzone

Fortnite

1440p Gaming Performance

Cyberpunk 2077

Red Dead Redemption 2

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Control

Call of Duty: Warzone

Fortnite

1080p Gaming Performance

Cyberpunk 2077

Red Dead Redemption 2

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Control

Call of Duty: Warzone

Fortnite

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