Best CPUs for office work and study 2026

For documents, a browser with a dozen tabs and video calls, raw power is not the point. What matters is efficiency: longer laptop battery life and a quiet PC.

#	CPU	Type	Task score	TDP	Score
1	Core Ultra 7 258V	Laptop	100.0	17 W	32.53
2	Core Ultra 5 226V	Laptop	94.0	17 W	30.58
3	Ryzen AI 9 HX 370	Laptop	90.0	28 W	48.22
4	Core Ultra 7 255H	Laptop	88.6	28 W	47.48
5	Ryzen 5 7530U	Laptop	88.6	15 W	25.42
6	Core Ultra 7 155H	Laptop	70.8	28 W	37.91
7	Ryzen AI 7 350	Laptop	70.6	28 W	37.84
8	Ryzen AI Max+ 395	Laptop	67.1	55 W	70.63
9	Core Ultra 9 275HX	Laptop	64.7	55 W	68.09
10	Core i9-13980HX	Laptop	64.5	55 W	67.93
11	Core Ultra 9 285H	Laptop	62.0	45 W	53.36
12	Core i9-14900HX	Laptop	60.3	55 W	63.51
13	Ryzen AI 5 340	Laptop	59.5	28 W	31.88
14	Ryzen 9 7945HX	Laptop	59.3	55 W	62.37
15	Core Ultra 5 125H	Laptop	58.7	28 W	31.46
16	Core i7-13700H	Laptop	51.7	45 W	44.49
17	Core Ultra 9 185H	Laptop	50.0	45 W	43.03
18	Ryzen 9 8945HS	Laptop	49.6	45 W	42.68
19	Ryzen 7 8845HS	Laptop	48.2	45 W	41.53
20	Ryzen 7 9700X	Desktop	46.9	65 W	58.31
21	Core i7-14650HX	Laptop	45.7	55 W	48.06
22	Core i7-13620H	Laptop	44.4	45 W	38.24
23	Core i7-12700	Desktop	41.8	65 W	52.02
24	Ryzen 9 7940HS	Laptop	41.3	35–54 W	42.68
25	Ryzen 7 7700	Desktop	40.3	65 W	50.07

Compare the top two: Core Ultra 7 258V vs Core Ultra 5 226V →

How we rank

Formula: our score divided by TDP (speed per watt), among CPUs that are not too slow (score 25 or more).

The score is our own estimate from the specs (cores, threads, clocks, architecture generation), not a benchmark run. 100 = the fastest CPU in our database.