Core 5 210H: CPU benchmarks and laptop guide

The Intel Core 5 210H is the mainstream 45-watt H-class chip of the 2024–2026 budget-gaming wave — 29 catalog models carry it. An 8-core design from the Raptor Lake family, it meets the recommended CPU requirement in 36 of the 69 games the catalog tracks. This guide covers where the chip sits among laptop CPUs, what it brings, and which laptops ship with it.

Where the Core 5 210H sits in 2026

A catalog score of 52.7 places the chip 241st of 741 scored laptop CPUs — just above the middle of a table spanning two decades of silicon. The neighborhood is tight and mixed: the Core i7-1360P, Ryzen 5 8540U and the 2017-era Core i7-7820HK (all 52.7) alongside, the Ryzen AI 7 445 and Core Ultra 5 228V (both 52.6) and Core i7-8705G (52.3) just below. Sitting level with a modern i7-1360P under the refreshed Core branding is exactly where a 2024 mainstream H-class part belongs.

What the chip brings

The catalog lists the Core 5 210H as an 8-core, 12-thread design on a 10 nm-class process rated at 45 W: 2.2 GHz base and up to 4.8 GHz boost. Memory and integrated-graphics details were not captured for this chip, so the table above sticks to what the catalog verifiably holds: a PassMark overall score of 18,331 — a clear step over the previous generation's budget H-class parts.

Games: CPU-side readiness

Measured purely as a processor, the chip clears the recommended CPU tier for 36 of 69 cataloged games — Dying Light 2, Far Cry 5, Diablo 4, Flight Simulator 2020, Doom Eternal and God of War among them. Another 26 sit at the minimum tier: Counter-Strike 2, PUBG, Metro Exodus, Cyberpunk 2077, Hogwarts Legacy and The Witcher 3 all list the chip above their minimum but below their recommended CPU requirement. Seven ask for more processor — Starfield, Helldivers 2, Baldur's Gate 3, Elden Ring and Fortnite among them. These verdicts are CPU-only — the 210H's laptops ship with dedicated gaming GPUs, which decide the actual experience.

Laptops that carry it

The 29-model roster spans 2025–2026 budget gaming with a consumer tail. Acer's Nitro V 15, Nitro V 16 AI and Nitro V 16S AI and ASUS's TUF Gaming F16 hold the $1,440 line; Gigabyte's A18 Pro and HP's HyperX Omen 15 step to $1,800; the Alienware 16 Aurora tops the sheet at $2,220. The everyday side runs through ASUS Vivobook S14 and S16 at $765. Roster medians describe the fleet: office comfort at a perfect 100, energy efficiency 90 — strong for a gaming roster — gaming index 64, photo/design 76 and a games-at-recommended median of 32, against portability 38.2.

Bottom line

The Core 5 210H is the current-era replacement for the budget-gaming i5: recommended-CPU clearance for half the catalog, a modern efficiency profile, and machines from $765 Vivobooks to $1,440 Nitro and TUF gaming laptops. It is not the chip for Starfield-class CPU loads, but paired with the GPUs its roster carries, it is a sensible heart for a 1080p-first gaming budget.