Intel's unannounced Core Ultra 7 254V Lunar Lake chip leaks out in new benchmarks — scores worse than entry-level Core Ultra 5 228V in early multi-core tests, but on par in single-core

Spotted by @x86isdeadandback, the Core Ultra 7 254V is purportedly the lowest-end SKU in its category. The Core Ultra 7 254V, which Intel has yet to announce, made an appearance on the PassMark benchmark.

PassMark evaluates the overall performance of your system, and the Cotr ultra 7 254V score is relatively modest, with 17,327 points in the multi-core test. Compare that to the 256V and 258V in the same test, and you're looking at a 12.8% and 3.6% reduction in compute, respectively. That's lower than even the Core Ultra 226V, which is the lowest-end SKU in the entire Lunar Lake lineup.

Intel released its lineup of Lunar Lake mobile chips last year, focusing on efficiency rather than brute-force performance. There were a variety of SKUs targeting different price points, including four models part of the Core Ultra 7 family — essentially the "Core i7" of Lunar Lake, following Intel's rebrand. These represent the sweet spot between the most expensive flagship chips and the midrange-oriented Ultra 5 series, and today we have another one joining the family. This will mark the fifth Core Ultra 7 SKU and the tenth overall Lunar Lake chip.

Glancing at the single-core test, the 254V scored 4,089 points, which is in line with the scores of other Ultra 7 SKUs. So, even though these results did not reveal clock speeds that significantly impact evaluation, we can ascertain that this is no secret ace up Intel's sleeve; instead, it is a binned-down version of the existing 256V, meant for even cheaper laptops. However, that's not a bad thing at all.

Lunar Lake is generally a well-received platform with enough power and versatility to handle every menial task on a laptop and most resource-intensive ones as well. It can game if you want (and if you're patient), and, again, if you opt for a top-end variant, then you might not even be able to tell you have an efficiency-focused chip inside. While achieving impressive battery life, which is usually associated with only ARM-based laptops from Apple or Qualcomm. The Core Ultra 254V, if it comes out, will slot nicely as an entry-level to the high-end Lunar Lake experience.

Moreover, if we inspect these PassMark results, they also give insight into the specs of the 254V. It has eight cores—like every other Lunar Lake chip—and shares the same cache pool as other Core Ultra 7 and 9 chips, despite being positioned closer to the bottom-tier Core Ultra 5 offerings. Refer to the table below for a clearer understanding. What we didn't find out, however, was how much memory the 254V will come with. For those unaware, Lunar Lake features RAM integrated within the SoC package, rather than externally on the PCB. So far, Intel has packed 32 GB with every 2x8V chip and 16 GB with every 2x6V chip. The introduction of a new 2x4V suffix suggests a lower memory configuration, but only time will tell.

We're slowly approaching the one-year anniversary of Lunar Lake, and that might be the release window Intel is considering for the 254V. It's the only chip that the company did not announce last year, given that some other secrets SKUs are not to leak all of a sudden. Intel is also reportedly preparing an answer to AMD's gaming-focused Strix Halo APUs, but that's a very uncertain situation. What's more likely to happen is the Nova Lake mobile lineup, which also recently leaked despite being a whole generation away. It's clear that, juxtaposed to the news cycle, the Blue Team still makes processors!

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