Analyzing Intel Core M Performance: How 5Y10 can beat 5Y71 & the OEMs' Dilemma
by Brett Howse & Ian Cutress on April 8, 2015 8:00 AM EST3DMark Sky Diver Results
Most of the previous benchmarks were day to day tasks. Some involved the GPU, but it was never the focus. We will now move on to benchmarks which focus on GPU performance to see what kind of an effect this can have. Remember, the TDP of Core M is 4.5 watts including the integrated graphics, so any thermal room needed for graphics is going to come at the expense of the CPU. 3DMark Sky Diver is aimed for gaming laptops and mid-range PCs, so it is a bit too much load for integrated graphics. But it does feature DirectX 11 and includes both graphics and physics tests. The benchmark is around five minutes long.
We can see that the Core i5 continues shrugging off these tests. While the SoC did heat up, the GPU frequency was flat throughout the results. This is quite a bit different than all of the Core M processors, which had to throttle both the CPU and GPU as needed. It is very interesting especially in the UX305 results to see that the GPU is throttled on high CPU workloads to give more headroom for the CPU, which you can see on the third heat spike in its graph. This would be the physics test, which relies heavily on the CPU. The Dell Venue 11 and Yoga 3 Pro had very different temperature curves, and the Yoga 3 Pro had to throttle the GPU quite a bit to stay at its target SoC temperature.
Looking at the average CPU frequencies reaffirms what we have seen in previous results. The ASUS, despite having the lowest turbo frequency, has the highest average for the Core M devices. But it is the GPU frequencies which are the most important in this test.
All of the Core M devices had to throttle the GPU to some extent, but the ASUS did the least. The Yoga 3 Pro and Dell Venue 11 Pro were basically tied in average GPU frequency for the duration of this test. GPU workloads can pull a lot of power into the SoC, which can raise temperatures as we will see in the next graph.
Looking at the SoC temperatures explains the results. The Yoga 3 Pro has an average of 65.2°C, which is the target temperature for the Yoga. This means it was not able to leverage the breaks in workloads to ramp up its higher turbo frequencies when needed. The Dell Venue 11 is at almost 90°C for the benchmark, and that is also its limit. The ASUS, with its better cooling, manages to basically mirror the Core i5 for SoC temperature.
The excellent cooling of the ASUS form factor shines in the GPU tests. For the overall score, it comes very close to the Core i5. Both of the 5Y71 devices struggle under sustained GPU workloads, as the scores confirm.
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OneCosmic833 - Friday, April 10, 2015 - link
I don't really understand, why don't the manufacturers put a little bigger heatsink with a FAN of bigger diameter into these portable devices, is it such a problem??? Production costs reduction or bad engineering? I think it would be also possible to keep the same weight if they cut some bulk mass from somewhere else of the device. Simply this throttling is not acceptable for me and an i7 should not have lower performance than i5 in sustained load...This is very very sad for us consumers, like how the manufacturers skimp us ! ! !metayoshi - Friday, April 10, 2015 - link
Great article!I'm very interested in this, though, after reading the whole article: I noticed the Asus laptop with the metal chassis was the one with the 5Y10, and the two devices that are usable as a tablet/is a tablet are the two devices with the 5Y71. However, I know that the Venue 11 Pro comes with a 5Y10 for its base configuration, so it would be interesting to see how that 5Y10 version compares vs the 5Y71 version, knowing it is thermally handicapped compared to the Lenovo, with its fan, and the Asus, which is a laptop with a metal chassis.
I was originally eyeing the Venue 11 Pro, but I jumped on the preorders of the less powerful but still capable Surface 3 with the new Atom SoC. I'm really intrigued by Core M, but all these stories of throttling and whatnot are keeping me away for now.
serendip - Friday, April 10, 2015 - link
Intel has a decent mobile chip with Atom. Core M, not so much. I would rather have a slower Atom chip that costs a lot less and can turbo for long periods than a Core M with much higher performance that isn't accessible to the user thanks to constant throttling. Maybe there should be a caveat on Core M devices like "2.4 GHz processor (for 10 seconds only), base 1 GHz". That way consumers know what they're really in for.ahfei - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
Is 2.6GHz the maximum turbo speed for M-5Y71 for 2 cores, judging from the graph? Cannot find that info anywhere and some even stated the maximum 2.9GHz is for both cores!Brett Howse - Sunday, April 19, 2015 - link
I have never seen them go over 2.6 GHz for both cores. 2.9 GHz seems to be just for a single core.boe_d - Saturday, April 18, 2015 - link
I like the Sony Vaio Z approach - balls the walls hardware, fast processing power, fast storage, fast video and LIGHT. Still lighter than most laptops 5 years later and faster than many of them too! Battery power wasn't great but it had an easy to replace battery.RanBuch - Saturday, July 18, 2015 - link
I own a Lenovo yoga 3 pro. Can I configure the SoC temperature from 65°C to a higher value? I use the device as a "desktop" more often then a tablet and would love to get more juice from my machine even at the expense of the device "overheating" a little bit.HP - Wednesday, August 5, 2015 - link
These processors are perfectly decent. But at the same time, really novel due to the fact that no active cooling is required to run them. This in my view is a positive progression in CPUs together with the SoC philosophy. To have everything integrated into a smaller space. Many users might complain about performance but I bet they don't use their i5 or i7 machines to the fullest potential either. Core-M performance is perfectly decent. Granted, the only slow downs I have experienced is when compiling a Linux kernel say or running multiple FHD videos. But such tasks are run on a less than regular basis so a slight slow down in speed during these exercises is acceptable. The rest of the tasks get carried out very well in a thin, light and quiet design.Atreyiu - Tuesday, February 2, 2016 - link
I know many will disagree with me, but I am a regular user and I hate when my Venue 11 Pro 7140 (5Y10, 64 Gb, 04 Gb RAM) is heated so much that I can not put my right hand in it, that temperature is unbearable from 55 ° C upwards. Should not rise beyond what your skin can handle. This happens pretty and very quickly, then to lower spend enough time. I'm thinking let go of it and look for an alternative. I wanted a balanced team between productivity and way of life, but these temperature rises disenchanted me and the only thing that bothers me because it is fast and has no crashes or anything like that.SandraGok - Tuesday, June 9, 2020 - link
I'm not just inviting you! But it will be interesting for sure loveawake.ru