Intel Core Ultra 5 125U vs Intel Core i3-12100E

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core Ultra 5 125U CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Core i3-12100E
Intel Core Ultra 5 125U Intel Core i3-12100E

CPU comparison

Intel Core Ultra 5 125U or Intel Core i3-12100E - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125U has 12 cores with 14 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.30 GHz. Up to 96 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core Ultra 5 125U was released in Q4/2023.

The Intel Core i3-12100E has 4 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.20 GHz. The CPU supports up to 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i3-12100E was released in Q1/2022.
Intel Core Ultra 5 (10) Family Intel Core i3 (205)
Intel Core Ultra 100U (7) CPU group Intel Core i 12000 (34)
1 Generation 12
Meteor Lake U Architecture Alder Lake S
Mobile Segment Desktop / Server
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor Intel Core i3-13100E

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125U has 12 CPU cores and can calculate 14 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Intel Core Ultra 5 125U is 1.30 GHz (4.30 GHz) while the Intel Core i3-12100E has 4 CPU cores and 8 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i3-12100E is at 3.20 GHz (4.20 GHz).
Intel Core Ultra 5 125U Characteristic Intel Core i3-12100E
12 Cores 4
14 Threads 8
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture normal
Yes Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? No
1.30 GHz (4.30 GHz)
2x Redwood Cove		 A-Core 3.20 GHz (4.20 GHz)
4x Golden Cove
0.80 GHz (3.60 GHz)
8x Crestmont		 B-Core --
0.70 GHz (2.10 GHz)
2x Crestmont		 C-Core --

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 Ultra 5 125U Characteristic Intel Core i3-12100E
Intel AI engine AI hardware --
Intel AI Boost @ 1.4 GHz (OpenVINO, WindowsML, DirectML, ONNX RT) AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125U or Intel Core i3-12100E has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short. The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.
Intel Iris Xe 4 Core Graphics 64 EUs (Meteor Lake) GPU Intel UHD Graphics 730
0.60 GHz GPU frequency 0.30 GHz
1.85 GHz GPU (Turbo) 1.40 GHz
-- GPU Generation 12
5 nm Technology 14 nm
4 Max. displays 3
64 Compute units 24
512 Shader 192
Yes Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
32 GB Max. GPU Memory 64 GB
12.2 DirectX Version 12

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 Xe 4 Core Graphics 64 EUs (Meteor Lake) GPU Intel UHD Graphics 730
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 Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec AV1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec AVC Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125U can use up to 96 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 120.0 GB/s. The Intel Core i3-12100E supports up to 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 76.8 GB/s.
Intel Core Ultra 5 125U Characteristic Intel Core i3-12100E
LPDDR5X-7500, DDR5-5600 Memory DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200
96 GB Max. Memory 128 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
120.0 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 76.8 GB/s
No ECC No
12.00 MB L2 Cache 5.00 MB
-- L3 Cache 12.00 MB
4.0 PCIe version 5.0
20 PCIe lanes 20
39.4 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth 78.8 GB/s

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Intel Core Ultra 5 125U is 15 W, while the Intel Core i3-12100E has a TDP of 60 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.
Intel Core Ultra 5 125U Characteristic Intel Core i3-12100E
15 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 60 W
57 W TDP (PL2) 89 W
28 W TDP up --
12 W TDP down --
110 °C Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125U is manufactured in 7 nm and has 12.00 MB cache. The Intel Core i3-12100E is manufactured in 10 nm and has a 17.00 MB cache.
Intel Core Ultra 5 125U Characteristic Intel Core i3-12100E
7 nm Technology 10 nm
Chiplet Chip design Monolithic
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2 ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, AVX2+
BGA 2049 Socket LGA 1700
VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
Yes AES-NI Yes
Windows 11, Linux Operating systems Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux
Q4/2023 Release date Q1/2022
-- Release price 125 $
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Intel Core Ultra 5 125U to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.2 stars (5 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Intel Core i3-12100E to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 0 stars (0 ratings). Rate now:


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 Ultra 5 125U Intel Core Ultra 5 125U
Intel Iris Xe 4 Core Graphics 64 EUs (Meteor Lake) @ 1.85 GHz
1835 (100%)
Intel Core i3-12100E Intel Core i3-12100E
Intel UHD Graphics 730 @ 1.40 GHz
538 (29%)

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 Ultra 5 125U Intel Core Ultra 5 125U
12C 14T @ 4.30 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i3-12100E Intel Core i3-12100E
4C 8T @ 4.20 GHz
1594 (100%)

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 Ultra 5 125U Intel Core Ultra 5 125U
12C 14T @ 1.30 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i3-12100E Intel Core i3-12100E
4C 8T @ 3.80 GHz
5884 (100%)

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 Ultra 5 125U Intel Core Ultra 5 125U
12C 14T @ 4.30 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i3-12100E Intel Core i3-12100E
4C 8T @ 4.20 GHz
2119 (100%)

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 Ultra 5 125U Intel Core Ultra 5 125U
12C 14T @ 1.30 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i3-12100E Intel Core i3-12100E
4C 8T @ 3.80 GHz
6984 (100%)

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 Ultra 5 125U Intel Core Ultra 5 125U
12C 14T @ 1.30 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i3-12100E Intel Core i3-12100E
4C 8T @ 3.80 GHz
13025 (100%)

Devices using this processor
Intel Core Ultra 5 125U Intel Core i3-12100E
Unknown Unknown

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