Can Intel finally beat ARM on performance per Watt?
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
Intel's new Core 5 320 chip matches or beats Apple Silicon's performance per watt in benchmarks.
Jeff Geerling's benchmarks show a Dell XPS 13 with Intel's Core 5 320 reaching 6.21 Gflops/W on HPL Linpack, beating a MacBook Neo's 5.38 Gflops/W. The Dell scored 127.91 Gflops at 20.6W versus the Mac's 57.012 Gflops at 10.6W. The XPS also outperformed M4 and M3 Mac Studios, trailing only the M4 Mac Mini at 7.57 Gflops/W. Idle and web browsing power draw matched the Mac. The results suggest ARM's efficiency edge may be more about chip design than architecture.
What commenters are saying
Commenters are cautiously optimistic but note important caveats. The Neo uses an iPhone-derived A-series chip, not Apple's top M5, and Intel's chip is from 2026 versus the Neo's 2024 silicon. GPUs remain weaker on Intel. Some argue the HPL benchmark favors Intel's FP64 and SIMD strengths, which matter little for everyday use. Two camps emerged: those celebrating Intel finally competing on efficiency, and those pointing out Apple remains 1-2 years ahead in both performance and ecosystem integration.
A few commenters highlighted Intel's 18A process and that the chip's efficiency comes from tuning clocks for power rather than peak performance, unlike past Intel designs.