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Intel Core i5-10210U
One of the most widely used budget laptop chips of 2019-2021, pairing four Hyper-Threaded cores with a 4.2GHz single-core boost in a 15W envelope. It handles browsing, office work and light multitasking comfortably, but its Comet Lake-U design is well behind current entry-level chips in both efficiency and multi-core throughput.
Pros
- 4.2GHz single-core boost keeps everyday use responsive
- Hyper-Threading yields 8 threads from 4 cores
- Extremely common, so parts and laptops are cheap and easy to find
- Broad memory support (DDR4, LPDDR3, LPDDR4)
Cons
- Only four cores and 6MB cache, less than pricier 10th-gen U-series chips
- 24-EU UHD Graphics is entry-level even for its time
- 14nm process trails current chips heavily in efficiency
- Multi-core throughput lags well behind modern budget chips
Below average
Computed from specs & benchmarks via our public methodology.
Full specifications
Everything we track for the Intel Core i5-10210U
General
- Announced
- 2019
- Process
- 14 nm
- Base TDP
- 15 W
- Max TDP
- 25 W
Cores & Clocks
- Cores
- 4
- Threads
- 8
- Base clock
- 1.6 GHz
- Boost clock
- 4.2 GHz
- L3 cache
- 6 MB
Integrated GPU
- iGPU
- Intel UHD Graphics (24 EU)
- iGPU clock
- 1,100 MHz
Memory
- Memory support
- DDR4-2666, LPDDR3-2133, LPDDR4-2933
- Max memory
- 64 GB
Benchmarks
- Geekbench 6 (single)
- 1,449Bottom 8%
- Geekbench 6 (multi)
- 4,080Bottom 6%
- Cinebench R23 (single)
- 974Bottom 8%
- Cinebench R23 (multi)
- 3,321Bottom 8%
- PassMark
- 6,012Bottom 10%
- 3DMark Time Spy Graphics (iGPU)
- 389Bottom 8%
Quick answers
Is the Intel Core i5-10210U good in 2026?
The Intel Core i5-10210U earns an Inno Score of 35.6/100 (“Below average”) based on its specs and benchmark results. One of the most widely used budget laptop chips of 2019-2021, pairing four Hyper-Threaded cores with a 4.2GHz single-core boost in a 15W envelope. It handles browsing, office work and light multitasking comfortably, but its Comet Lake-U design is well behind current entry-level chips in both efficiency and multi-core throughput.
Does the Intel Core i5-10210U count as "Core i7 or equivalent"?
Its PassMark CPU Mark average is 6,012 (cpubenchmark.net, retrieved Sep 26, 2026), which puts it in Tier D of our CPU tier checker: legacy Core i7 and budget chips, slower than recent Core i5 chips such as the i5-1235U. Requirement pages word this differently, so check the exact wording with your department.
What are the key specs of the Intel Core i5-10210U?
Cores: 4 · Threads: 8 · Boost clock: 4.2 GHz · Base TDP: 15 W
What are the closest alternatives to the Intel Core i5-10210U?
Its closest rivals on InnoReviews are Intel Core i7-10710U, Intel Core i7-8550U, Intel Processor N250 — open the comparison pages for a spec-by-spec breakdown.
