ZoomPhoto 1 of 1Intel
Intel Core 5 120U
A January 2024 refresh of Raptor Lake-U rebranded under Intel's simplified Core naming, pairing two Performance cores with eight Efficient cores at a 15W base and 80EU Iris Xe graphics. Built for browsing, office work and streaming in budget laptops rather than sustained multi-core loads.
Pros
- Cheap, efficient 15W chip well suited to office and web work
- 5.0GHz single-core boost keeps light tasks responsive
- 10 cores/12 threads handle background multitasking reasonably well
- 80EU Iris Xe graphics outperform older UHD-class iGPUs
Cons
- Only two Performance cores caps sustained multi-core throughput
- Multi-core Cinebench and PassMark scores trail Meteor Lake U-series rivals
- 80EU Iris Xe iGPU is not suited to modern gaming
Average
Computed from specs & benchmarks via our public methodology.
Full specifications
Everything we track for the Intel Core 5 120U
General
- Announced
- 2024
- Process
- 10 nm
- Base TDP
- 15 W
- Max TDP
- 55 W
Cores & Clocks
- Cores
- 10
- Performance cores
- 2
- Efficiency cores
- 8
- Threads
- 12
- Base clock
- 1.4 GHz
- Boost clock
- 5 GHz
- L3 cache
- 12 MB
Integrated GPU
- iGPU
- Intel Iris Xe (80 EU)
- iGPU clock
- 1,300 MHz
Memory
- Memory support
- LPDDR5X-5200 / DDR5-5200 / DDR4-3200 / LPDDR4X-4267
- Max memory
- 96 GB
Benchmarks
- Geekbench 6 (single)
- 2,469Bottom 50%
- Geekbench 6 (multi)
- 9,070Bottom 33%
- Cinebench R23 (single)
- 1,757Top 45%
- Cinebench R23 (multi)
- 6,659Bottom 19%
- PassMark
- 14,877Bottom 30%
Quick answers
Is the Intel Core 5 120U good in 2026?
The Intel Core 5 120U earns an Inno Score of 51.6/100 (“Average”) based on its specs and benchmark results. A January 2024 refresh of Raptor Lake-U rebranded under Intel's simplified Core naming, pairing two Performance cores with eight Efficient cores at a 15W base and 80EU Iris Xe graphics. Built for browsing, office work and streaming in budget laptops rather than sustained multi-core loads.
Does the Intel Core 5 120U count as "Core i7 or equivalent"?
Its PassMark CPU Mark average is 14,877 (cpubenchmark.net, retrieved Sep 26, 2026), which puts it in Tier C of our CPU tier checker: older or low-power Core i7, and many recent Core i5 chips. Requirement pages word this differently, so check the exact wording with your department.
What are the key specs of the Intel Core 5 120U?
Cores: 10 · Threads: 12 · Boost clock: 5 GHz · Base TDP: 15 W
What are the closest alternatives to the Intel Core 5 120U?
Its closest rivals on InnoReviews are Intel Core i7-13620H, Intel Core i7-1360P, Intel Core Ultra 7 155U — open the comparison pages for a spec-by-spec breakdown.
