Forget the Ultra 7: Intel's Core Ultra 5 135H is the perfect CPU for the MSI Claw

[Redaktion]

MSI was right to go to Intel for the Claw A1M, but the Core Ultra 7 155H isn't the right move. The Core Ultra 5 135H has a trick up its sleeve — a top-end iGPU combined with a more efficient mid-range CPU.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Forget-the-Ultra-7-Intel-s-Core-Ultra-5-135H-is-the-perfect-CPU-for-the-MSI-Claw.800776.0.html

[Hotz]

Compared to the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, the Core Ultra 5 135H has two fewer performance cores — four P-cores on the Ultra 5 and six P-cores on the Ultra 7 — but the same eight Efficient-cores and two Low Power Efficient-cores. Despite lacking two P-cores, the Ultra 5 and Ultra 7 are not that different, after all.

Maybe it would be a better choice for Mini PCs as well. But only if it stays cooler than the 155H, or the Threadmanager from Intel gets less confused due to the lesser number of cores.

And yes, the 8 Xe-Cores are probably the most important, and it would also be a better choice than the 125 (which has 7 Xe Cores).

[NikoB]

for Mini PCs as well.

If this solution does not provide absolute silence in operation, as with a full desktop, it is a pointless waste of money compared to a laptop.

[Hotz]

I re-checked some announcements and it looks like the 135H will not become widespread for notebooks and mini-pcs. Most offer only the 155h and 125h. The 125h isn't that attractive though, because it only has 7 Xe graphics cores.

If I had to make a guess, then it would be that the 125H and 135H are both defective chips. Either with defective CPU or defective Graphics Core (compared to the 155h), and that Intel just disabled those parts of the chip and called it a day. Though I'm not entirely sure about that. But Nvidia also does the same to their lower end chips.

Fake-Edit: Just as I was writing this I made a google search about Intels i5 CPUs and people confirm that is exactly the way it was. At least with previous Intel CPUs. Not sure about the current one which is "tiled". But I guess it will be the same.

[julian.vdm]

I re-checked some announcements and it looks like the 135H will not become widespread for notebooks and mini-pcs. Most offer only the 155h and 125h. The 125h isn't that attractive though, because it only has 7 Xe graphics cores.

If I had to make a guess, then it would be that the 125H and 135H are both defective chips. Either with defective CPU or defective Graphics Core (compared to the 155h), and that Intel just disabled those parts of the chip and called it a day. Though I'm not entirely sure about that. But Nvidia also does the same to their lower end chips.

Fake-Edit: Just as I was writing this I made a google search about Intels i5 CPUs and people confirm that is exactly the way it was. At least with previous Intel CPUs. Not sure about the current one which is "tiled". But I guess it will be the same.

It's pretty common practice to repurpose silicon that didn't make the cut for the high-end in lower-tier chips. In some older AMD products, you could even flash firmware that unlocked the "defective" bits of the chip.

https://www.techpowerup.com/215001/some-amd-gcn-gpu-disabled-stream-processors-unlockable-via-software

Not so easy any more, unfortunately.