Intel Core i5-8257U vs Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i5-8257U CPU1 vs CPU2 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
Intel Core i5-8257U Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Intel Core i5-8257U and the Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Intel Core i5-8257U 4 core processor released in Q3/2019 with the Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 which has 8 CPU cores and was introduced in Q3/2020.
Intel Core i5 (331) Family Qualcomm Snapdragon (102)
Intel Core i 8000U (8) CPU group Qualcomm Snapdragon SQ1/SQ2 (2)
8 Generation 1
Coffee Lake U Architecture Kryo 495
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i5-8257U is a 4 core processor with a clock frequency of 1.40 GHz (3.90 GHz). The processor can compute 8 threads at the same time. The Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 clocks with 3.15 GHz, has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.

Intel Core i5-8257U Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
4 Cores 8
8 Threads 8
normal Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
Yes Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
1.40 GHz (3.90 GHz) A-Core 3.15 GHz
4x Kryo 495 Gold
-- B-Core 2.42 GHz
4x Kryo 495 Silver

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.

Intel Core i5-8257U Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

Graphics (iGPU) integrated into the processor not only enable image output without having to rely on a dedicated graphics solution, but can also efficiently accelerate video playback.

Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 GPU Qualcomm Adreno 690
0.30 GHz GPU frequency --
1.05 GHz GPU (Turbo) --
9.5 GPU Generation 6
14 nm Technology 7 nm
3 Max. displays 0
48 Compute units --
384 Shader --
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
32 GB Max. GPU Memory --
12 DirectX Version 12.0

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 GPU Qualcomm Adreno 690
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode / Encode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 32 GB of memory in a maximum of 2 memory channels is supported by the Intel Core i5-8257U, while the Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 supports a maximum of 16 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 68.3 GB/s enabled.

Intel Core i5-8257U Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
DDR4-2400 Memory LPDDR4X-2133
32 GB Max. Memory 16 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 8 (Octa Channel)
38.4 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 68.3 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache --
6.00 MB L3 Cache --
3.0 PCIe version --
16 PCIe lanes --
15.8 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The Intel Core i5-8257U has a TDP of 15 W. The TDP of the Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 is --. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Intel Core i5-8257U Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
15 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) --
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Intel Core i5-8257U has 6.00 MB cache and is manufactured in 14 nm. The cache of Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 is at 0.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 7 nm.

Intel Core i5-8257U Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
14 nm Technology 7 nm
Monolithic Chip design Chiplet
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2 ISA extensions --
BGA 1528 Socket --
VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d Virtualization None
Yes AES-NI No
Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux Operating systems Android, Windows 10 (ARM)
Q3/2019 Release date Q3/2020
320 $ Release price --
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Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Intel Core i5-8257U to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.0 stars (3 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 1.0 stars (1 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i5-8257U (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 (80%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i5-8257U (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 (81%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i5-8257U Intel Core i5-8257U
4C 8T @ 3.90 GHz
989 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
8C 8T @ 3.15 GHz
793 (80%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i5-8257U Intel Core i5-8257U
4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
3770 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
8C 8T @ 3.15 GHz
3053 (81%)

Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i5-8257U Intel Core i5-8257U
4C 8T @ 3.90 GHz
998 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
8C 8T @ 3.15 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i5-8257U Intel Core i5-8257U
4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
4017 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
8C 8T @ 3.15 GHz
0 (0%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
Intel Core i5-8257U Intel Core i5-8257U
4C 8T @ 3.90 GHz
1212 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
8C 8T @ 3.15 GHz
0 (0%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
Intel Core i5-8257U Intel Core i5-8257U
4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
4237 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
8C 8T @ 3.15 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R20 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i5-8257U Intel Core i5-8257U
4C 8T @ 3.90 GHz
391 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
8C 8T @ 3.15 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R20 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i5-8257U Intel Core i5-8257U
4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
1589 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
8C 8T @ 3.15 GHz
0 (0%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
Intel Core i5-8257U Intel Core i5-8257U
Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 @ 1.05 GHz
806 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
Qualcomm Adreno 690 @ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)

Blender 3.1 Benchmark

In the Blender Benchmark 3.1, the scenes "monster", "junkshop" and "classroom" are rendered and the time required by the system is measured. In our benchmark we test the CPU and not the graphics card. Blender 3.1 was presented as a standalone version in March 2022.
Intel Core i5-8257U Intel Core i5-8257U
4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
66 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
8C 8T @ 3.15 GHz
0 (0%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
Intel Core i5-8257U Intel Core i5-8257U
4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
7628 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
8C 8T @ 3.15 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i5-8257U Intel Core i5-8257U
4C 8T @ 3.90 GHz
159 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
8C 8T @ 3.15 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i5-8257U Intel Core i5-8257U
4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
667 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
8C 8T @ 3.15 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core i5-8257U Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2
Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2019) Microsoft Surface Pro X

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