The new Intel's ultra mobile core processors bring AI closer to data sources

Intel unveiled several new processors designed to address the specific challenges of Edge Computing, a decentralized environment that brings computing power closer to information sources and is used in a variety of sectors, from smart cities to connected healthcare, Industry 4.0 and retail.

Presented at CES 2025, they mark an important step in the democratization of artificial intelligence and data processing closer to users and connected objects. These processors are available in several series: the Core Ultra 200H/HX and 200U (Arrow Lake) for mobile devices and the Core Ultra 200V with vPro technology for businesses. By the way, the Core Ultra 200S range for desktop computers also welcomes a few new members.

Intel Core Ultra (Series 2): processors designed for the Edge

The H and U series integrate Performance cores (P-cores), Efficient cores (E-cores), low-power Efficient cores (LP E-cores), as well as a neural processing unit dedicated to AI acceleration, allowing optimized workload management and low energy consumption. The different series vary in the number of cores, going up to 24 cores for the HX series, offering computing power adapted to a variety of scenarios. They are also equipped with an Intel Arc graphics engine for multimedia applications. All of these new processors use Intel's 18A process.

	Core Ultra 265U	Core Ultra 255U	Core Ultra 235U	Core Ultra 225U
P-cores	2
E-cores	8
LP E-cores	2
Smart Cache (L3)	12 MB
Freq. P-Core Base/Turbo	1.8/5.3 GHz	1.8/5.2 GHz	1.6/4.9 GHz	1.8/4.8 GHz
Freq. E-Core Base/Turbo	1.5/4.2 GHz	1.5/4.2 GHz	1.3/4.1 GHz	0.9/3.8 GHz
Freq. max iGPU	2.1 GHz	2.1 GHz	2.05 GHz	2 GHz
iGPU cores	4 Xe-Cores LPG 64 EUs
Consumption	12W Min, 15W Base Power, 28W Max

The U series focuses on balancing performance and power efficiency for mobile users, while the S series targets desktop performance with optimized power consumption. The V series (Lunar Lake), on the other hand, is designed for businesses, with advanced security and management features. All of these processors support up to 64GB of DDR5-6400 or DDR5-LPDDR5x-8400 memory, except the HX series which supports up to 192GB of memory.

	Core Ultra 9 285H	Core Ultra 7 265H	Core Ultra 7 255H	Core Ultra 5 235H	Core Ultra 5 225H
P-cores	6			4
E-cores	8			8
LP E-cores	2			2
Smart Cache (L3)	24 MB			18 MB
Freq. P-Core Base/Turbo	2.5/5.4 GHz	1.2/5.3 GHz	1.2/5.1 GHz	1.3/5 GHz	1.2/4.9 GHz
Freq. E-Core Base/Turbo	1.9/4.5 GHz	0.9/4.5 GHz	0.9/4.4 GHz	1/5 GHz	0.9/4.3 GHz
Freq. max iGPU	2.35 GHz	2.3 GHz	2.25 GHz	2.25 GHz	2 GHz
iGPU cores	8 Xe-Cores LPG+ 128 EUs				7 Xe-Cores LPG+ 112 EUs
Power Consumption	45W Base Power, 115W Max	20W Min, 28W Base Power, 65W Max

The NPU of the U and H series has an AI computing power of 11 TOPS, while that of the HX series peaks at 13.1 TOPS: in any case, this is insufficient for these models to be Copilot+ certified. But some H and HX models still peak at 99 TOPS if we combine the CPU, GPU and NPU capacities. The V range is a notch above, with an NPU with a maximum power of 48 TOPS, and a GPU composed of 8 Xe-Cores totaling 67 TOPS. Overall, we are still a little disappointed for processors supposedly designed for “Edge Computing”…

	Core Ultra 9 285HX	Core Ultra 9 275HX	Core Ultra 7 265HX	Core Ultra 7 255HX	P-cores	8				6
E-cores	16				8
Smart Cache (L3)	36 MB		30 MB		24 MB
Freq. P-Core Base/Turbo	2.8/5.5 GHz	2.7/5.4 GHz	2.6/5.3 GHz	2.4/5.2 GHz	3.1/5.1 GHz	2.9/5.1 GHz
Freq. max iGPU	2 GHz	1.9 GHz	1.9 GHz	1.85 GHz	1.9 GHz	1.8 GHz
iGPU cores	4 Xe-Cores 64 EUs
Consumption	55W Base Power, 160W Max

The first machines equipped with a Core Ultra 200V Series processor are already available on the market. However, we will have to wait until next month to discover the first platforms based on a CPU from the H or U ranges. Laptops with a Core Ultra 200HX processor will not see the light of day for a few months.