Core Ultra 7 164U vs Core i7-8700

The Core Ultra 7 164U packs 12 cores / 14 threads, while the Core i7-8700 offers 6 cores / 12 threads — the Core Ultra 7 164U has 6 more cores. Boost clocks reach 4.8 GHz on the Core Ultra 7 164U versus 4.6 GHz on the Core i7-8700 — a 4.3% clock advantage for the Core Ultra 7 164U (base: 1.1 GHz vs 3.2 GHz). The Core Ultra 7 164U uses the Meteor Lake-U (2023) architecture (7 nm), while the Core i7-8700 uses Coffee Lake-S (2017−2018) (14 nm). In PassMark, the Core Ultra 7 164U scores 12,625 against the Core i7-8700's 12,747 — a 1% lead for the Core i7-8700. Cinebench R23 multi-core: 8,766 vs 7,969 (9.5% advantage for the Core Ultra 7 164U). Geekbench 6 single-core — the metric most relevant to gaming — records 2,131 vs 1,535, a 32.5% lead for the Core Ultra 7 164U that directly translates to higher frame rates. Multi-core Geekbench: 8,973 vs 6,200 (36.6% advantage for the Core Ultra 7 164U). L3 cache: 12 MB (total) on the Core Ultra 7 164U vs 12288 kB on the Core i7-8700.

The Core Ultra 7 164U uses the FCBGA2551 socket (PCIe 5.0), while the Core i7-8700 uses LGA1151 (PCIe 3.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Maximum memory speed reaches LPDDR5x-6400 on the Core Ultra 7 164U versus DDR4-2666 on the Core i7-8700 — the Core Ultra 7 164U supports 22.2% faster memory, which can translate to measurable gains in memory-sensitive workloads. The Core i7-8700 supports up to 128 GB of RAM compared to 64 GB — 66.7% more capacity for professional workloads. Both feature 2-channel memory with ECC support. PCIe lanes: 12 (Core Ultra 7 164U) vs 16 (Core i7-8700) — the Core i7-8700 offers 4 more lanes for additional GPUs or NVMe drives. Chipset compatibility: Meteor Lake-U (Core Ultra 7 164U) and 300-series (Core i7-8700).

Neither processor supports overclocking. Both support VT-x, VT-d virtualization. Both include integrated graphics — Intel Arc (Core Ultra 7 164U) and UHD Graphics 630 (Core i7-8700) — useful as a fallback for troubleshooting or display output without a dedicated GPU. Primary use case: Core Ultra 7 164U targets Enthusiast, Core i7-8700 targets Gaming. Direct competitor: Core Ultra 7 164U rivals Ryzen 7 7840U; Core i7-8700 rivals Ryzen 5 2600.