15 specifications

Intel Core Ultra 7 256V vs Intel Core Ultra 7 268V

On paper, the Intel Core Ultra 7 268V boosts higher. Specifications describe what each chip is designed to do; how much of that either one holds under continuous load is a separate question.

12 specifications · 1 with a higher side

Full specifications

Intel Core Ultra 7 256V

Intel · Core Ultra 200V (Lunar Lake) · Laptop

Full specifications

Intel Core Ultra 7 268V

Intel · Core Ultra 200V (Lunar Lake) · Laptop

Cores and clocks

Cores

Threads

Base clock

2.2 GHz

Boost clock

4.8 GHz

5.0 GHz

Cache and power

L3 cache

12 MB

TDP

17 W

Maximum turbo power

37 W

Minimum assured power

8 W

Platform

Socket

FCBGA2833

Process

3 nm

Integrated graphics

Intel Arc 140V GPU

Launched

Q3'24 (quarter)

A check marks the higher figure only on rows where higher is unambiguously better. Rows without one are not ties; they are specifications where “better” has no meaning.

Reading the table

What the difference means.

The same generation

Both are Core Ultra 200V (Lunar Lake) parts, so their figures can be read against each other directly: the same kind of core, the same memory support, the same platform. The differences in the table are the whole difference.

Boost clock

The Core Ultra 7 268V boosts to 5 GHz against 4.8 GHz, 4 percent higher. Within one generation that is a fair guide to single-core speed. Boost is also a peak: it is held for seconds to minutes, on one or two cores, while the cooling and the power limit allow. What either chip settles at under a long load is lower, and it depends on the cooler and the motherboard as much as the chip.

Power and cooling

Both are rated at 17 W, so they ask the same of a cooler and a power supply. The rating is the heat to be moved for the chip to hold its speed; both draw above it in short bursts, and either one slows down rather than fails when the cooling falls short.

Platform

Laptop processors are soldered to the board, so this is a choice between machines, not between chips you can swap. What differs between two laptops with these parts is mostly the power limit and the cooling the maker gave each one.

What no table says

How much of its speed a processor keeps after the first minute depends on the cooling and the power limit of the machine it is in. If you own one of these, measure it: the test is free and runs in this browser.

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Questions

Is the Core Ultra 7 256V better than the Core Ultra 7 268V?: On the specifications they are closely matched. No specification says how much speed either one keeps under a long load; that depends on the cooling and the power limit of the machine it is in, and it is what a sustained test measures.
Do the Core Ultra 7 256V and the Core Ultra 7 268V use the same socket?: Laptop processors are soldered in place, so neither can be swapped for the other.
Does the Core Ultra 7 256V or the Core Ultra 7 268V have integrated graphics?: Both do: Intel Arc 140V GPU on the Core Ultra 7 256V and Intel Arc 140V GPU on the Core Ultra 7 268V.

More comparisons

Every figure on this table is a design target. None of it is a measurement.

Nothing above describes how a processor behaves twenty minutes into a sustained workload, which is where two chips with nearly identical specifications routinely diverge. A boost clock is a ceiling the vendor permits, not a rate the chip sustains, and whether it holds depends on the cooling, the case, the power profile and the room. None of those appear on a specification sheet.

We deliberately do not reduce these figures to a single score. A composite invented from specifications would look authoritative and measure nothing, and choosing the weights would be choosing the winner.

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