Just a few days ago I had the chance to test a laptop powered by the Intel Core i9-12900H processor, a chip that falls into the high-performance range, and as we told you in our analysis of the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR G17, its performance was simply fabulous, both in single and multi-thread.

There is no doubt that Intel did an amazing job with Alder Lake, and which has also been successful in bringing its hybrid design to the portable realm.

Intel Alder Lake-P and U: Uncompromising capability

Intel Alder Lake-P and U processors maintain each and every one of the key values with which the chip giant made the difference, introducing both the hybrid design, with high-performance cores and high-efficiency cores, as well as support for next-generation standards, such as LPDDR5 memory.

The Intel Alder Lake-P series has an identical package to the H series models, but reduces TDP from 45 to 28 watts, which makes its integration into much faster and more robust equipment.

For its part, the Intel Alder Lake-U processors will be available in 2 editions, one configured with a maximum TDP of 15 watts and another with a TDP of only 9 watts.

As we can see in the attached image, the size of their casings will be smaller, something that, together with their low energy consumption, will make their use viable to create very fast, thin and solid laptops.

They can also be used to make new designs and components in a way.

Intel Alder Lake-P processors guarantee improve performance up to 70%, are aimed at those customers who want to enjoy the best of both worlds, that is, a high level of capacity, a new generation interface and optimal graphics performance without having to give up, for this reason, faster and thinner ultra-portable designs.

In the image below you can see the layout of the elements that make up an Intel Alder Lake-P processor. Yes, there are so many of them that it would be much more accurate to call it a “SoC” directly.

In its most powerful version, an Alder Lake-P chip integrates a configuration of 6 high-performance cores, based on the Golden Cove architecture, and 8 high-efficiency cores, based on the Gracemont architecture, which gives us a total of 14 cores and 20 threads.

The coordination of these cores is done by the Intel Thread Management system.

The GPU inside employs the Xe architecture and can have up to 96 execution entities.

As for the rest, we can highlight the memory support DDR4-DDR5 and LPDDR4-LPDDR5, such as support for the Wi-Fi 6E standard.

The image that you will find just above these lines shows us each and every one of the keys to the Intel Alder Lake-U processors in its 2 variations, one with a TDP of 15 watts that has a casing of 50 x 25 x 1.3 mm, and another 9 watt one whose casing is much smaller (28.5 x 19 x 1.1 mm).

The two editions show visible differences, but we note that the essentials are still present in the 9-watt version, which works with LPDDR4 and LPDDR5 memory, accepts 2 Thunderbolt 4 connectors and comes with Wi-Fi 6E.

These processors will come with configurations of up to 2 high-performance cores and 8 high-efficiency cores, which translates into a maximum of ten cores and 12 threads, an astonishing number considering that we are talking about chips with a TDP of between 9 and 15 watts, and that these also come accompanied by a next-generation graphics solution.

In both images that I leave just above these lines you can see the peculiarities of the different models that the chip giant plans to publish in its Intel Alder Lake-P and U series, including the Pentium and Celeron, which are going to have a very curious configuration: 1 high-performance core and 4 high-efficiency cores, without HyperThreading.

These collect your professional data, introducing the proportion of execution units that the GPU of each model brings, its consumption both in normal mode and in turbo mode, the cache amounts and the working speeds that they can achieve.

The next image shows us a comprehension with each and every one of the keys that integrates the new interface that use Intel Alder Lake-P and U processors.

As we can see, we have everything necessary to enjoy a perfect and new generation experience.

This ensures, again, that Intel has known how to create value by going beyond barbaric performance.

We can especially highlight the support of Wi-Fi 6E, which we have mentioned previously, the 5G, the connectors Thunderbolt 4 and the technologies of image optimization in video calls.

The next image is also very interesting.

In it we have a summary with the important elements that seek to ensure the third generation Evo interface:

• Much more capable collaboration.
• A much more consistent answer.
• Much more than 8 hours of real autonomy.
• Restore in less than a second from sleep mode.
• Fast charging: at least 4 hours of autonomy with just 30 minutes of charging.

Intel Alder Lake-P and U performance

We now move on to discuss the performance of the latest Intel Alder Lake-P and U processors.

The first graph It shows us that optimization of up to 70% multi-thread performance which we referred to previously, and in the other graphs we can consult much more specific results in different apps, which allows us to get a very clear idea of the leap that these new processors represent compared to previous generations.

In the last image we have multiple Gaming performance tests using the Intel Iris Xe GPU that the new Intel Alder Lake-P processors include, and it is clear that the results are very good, so much so that they claim that we will be able to use these built-in resolutions to have fun with guarantees in 1080p.

I remind you that you can enlarge each and every one of the images by clicking on them.

My conclusions, after investigating all this information, are very clear. Intel Alder Lake-P processors are undoubtedly a very interesting alternative for those who want to enjoy a prominent level of performance and of a good level of mobility and autonomy, while the Intel Alder Lake-U processors are ideal for those who need Prioritize mobility, although they do not want to give up optimal performance or the benefits of a new generation interface for this reason.