Nintendo Switch vs Intel Core i5-1235U

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Nintendo Switch CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Core i5-1235U
Nintendo Switch Intel Core i5-1235U

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Nintendo Switch and the Intel Core i5-1235U and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Nintendo Switch 8 core processor released in Q1/2017 with the Intel Core i5-1235U which has 10 CPU cores and was introduced in Q1/2022.
NVIDIA Tegra (2) Family Intel Core i5 (331)
NVIDIA Tegra X1 (2) CPU group Intel Core i 1200P/1200U (21)
2 Generation 12
Cortex-A57/-A53 Architecture Alder Lake U
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor Intel Core i5-1335U

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Nintendo Switch is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz). The processor can compute 8 threads at the same time. The Intel Core i5-1235U clocks with 1.30 GHz (4.40 GHz), has 10 CPU cores and can calculate 12 threads in parallel.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Intel Core i5-1235U
8 Cores 10
8 Threads 12
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? No
1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz)
4x Cortex-A57
A-Core 1.30 GHz (4.40 GHz)
2x Golden Cove
1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz)
4x Cortex-A53
B-Core 0.90 GHz (3.30 GHz)
8x Gracemont

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.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Intel Core i5-1235U
-- 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.

NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) GPU Intel Iris Xe Graphics 80 (Alder Lake)
0.30 GHz GPU frequency 0.35 GHz
0.77 GHz GPU (Turbo) 1.20 GHz
1 GPU Generation 13
20 nm Technology 10 nm
1 Max. displays 4
2 Compute units 80
256 Shader 640
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
2 GB Max. GPU Memory 32 GB
12 DirectX Version 12.1

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.

NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) GPU Intel Iris Xe Graphics 80 (Alder Lake)
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP8 Decode
No Codec AV1 Decode
Decode Codec AVC Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 4 GB of memory in a maximum of 2 memory channels is supported by the Nintendo Switch, while the Intel Core i5-1235U supports a maximum of 64 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s enabled.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Intel Core i5-1235U
LPDDR4-3200 Memory LPDDR5-5200, LPDDR4X-4266, DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200
4 GB Max. Memory 64 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
25.6 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 83.2 GB/s
No ECC No
2.50 MB L2 Cache 6.50 MB
-- L3 Cache 12.00 MB
-- PCIe version 4.0
-- PCIe lanes 28
-- PCIe Bandwidth 55.1 GB/s

Thermal Management

The Nintendo Switch has a TDP of 5 W. The TDP of the Intel Core i5-1235U is 15 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Intel Core i5-1235U
5 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 15 W
-- TDP (PL2) 55 W
-- TDP up --
5 W TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Nintendo Switch has 2.50 MB cache and is manufactured in 20 nm. The cache of Intel Core i5-1235U is at 18.50 MB. The processor is manufactured in 10 nm.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Intel Core i5-1235U
20 nm Technology 10 nm
Chiplet Chip design Monolithic
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2
-- Socket BGA 1744
None Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
No AES-NI Yes
Operating systems Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux
Q1/2017 Release date Q1/2022
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Nintendo Switch to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 2.4 stars (7 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Intel Core i5-1235U to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.2 stars (61 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Nintendo Switch (13%)
Intel Core i5-1235U (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Nintendo Switch (11%)
Intel Core i5-1235U (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
270 (13%)
Intel Core i5-1235U Intel Core i5-1235U
10C 12T @ 4.40 GHz
2089 (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
702 (11%)
Intel Core i5-1235U Intel Core i5-1235U
10C 12T @ 2.50 GHz
6454 (100%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) @ 0.77 GHz
393 (26%)
Intel Core i5-1235U Intel Core i5-1235U
Intel Iris Xe Graphics 80 (Alder Lake) @ 1.20 GHz
1487 (100%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-1235U Intel Core i5-1235U
10C 12T @ 4.40 GHz
1668 (100%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-1235U Intel Core i5-1235U
10C 12T @ 2.50 GHz
7852 (100%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-1235U Intel Core i5-1235U
10C 12T @ 4.40 GHz
1479 (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-1235U Intel Core i5-1235U
10C 12T @ 2.50 GHz
5977 (100%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-1235U Intel Core i5-1235U
10C 12T @ 4.40 GHz
637 (100%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-1235U Intel Core i5-1235U
10C 12T @ 2.50 GHz
3321 (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-1235U Intel Core i5-1235U
10C 12T @ 2.50 GHz
13681 (100%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-1235U Intel Core i5-1235U
10C 12T @ 4.40 GHz
214 (100%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-1235U Intel Core i5-1235U
10C 12T @ 2.50 GHz
1128 (100%)

CPU performance per watt (efficiency)

Efficiency of the processor under full load in the Cinebench R23 (multi-core) benchmark. The benchmark result is divided by the average energy required (CPU package power in watts). The higher the value, the more efficient the CPU is under full load.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-1235U Intel Core i5-1235U
7,852 CB R23 MC @ 35 W
222 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Nintendo Switch Intel Core i5-1235U
Nintendo Switch HP 250 G9 (2022)
HP Pavilion 15-eg2000sf

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