Intel Core Ultra 5 238V socket: BGA 2833

What the Core Ultra 5 238V is

The Core Ultra 5 238V is an eight-core, eight-thread mobile processor that Intel released on September 24, 2024 with Lunar Lake for thin AI laptops. Four Lion Cove Performance-cores and four Skymont Low Power Efficient-cores give 8 threads with no Hyper-Threading at 2.1 GHz base on both islands, boosting to 4.7 GHz on Performance-cores and 3.5 GHz on Efficient-cores. Cache is 8 MB of Intel Smart Cache with 2.5 MB of L2 per Performance-core and 4 MB per Efficient-core module. Processor base power is 17 W with turbo up to 37 W on TSMC N3B compute silicon.

On-package memory defines the design: 32 GB of LPDDR5X-8533 sits beside the tiles for short traces and low power, with no slots and no later expansion. An Intel AI Boost NPU adds up to 40 TOPS for 97 TOPS of total platform throughput with CPU and GPU, which clears the Copilot+ bar with memory to spare. Arc 130V graphics with 7 Xe-cores at up to 1850 MHz drive the display with Xe2 efficiency.

Against the Intel Core Ultra 5 236V below it the silicon matches exactly and only memory differs at 32 GB against 16 GB. Buyers who keep large models resident or multitask heavily should take the 238V, since nothing can be added later. The multiplier story is undocumented for V SKUs, so no unlocked claim appears here.

Workload fit is premium thin-and-light duty: executives, students and travelers who want all-day battery with AI features on tap. Eight cores cover office multitasking with margin while the NPU absorbs background effects, transcription and local assistants without waking the performance cores.

Socket and motherboard compatibility

The 238V fits the BGA 2833 soldered package at 27.5 × 27 mm with 2,833 contacts and on-package memory. Laptop makers solder processor and memory as one unit with cooling for the 17 W base and 37 W turbo envelope. There is no socket, no retention and no upgrade to either chip or memory.

Board designs assume fixed memory: 32 GB on this SKU with no SODIMM fallback. Makers build thin chassis around the 17 W class with fans tuned for 37 W bursts during AI and creation work. Display, radios and storage attach through the platform tile beside the compute die.

Shoppers comparing inside Lunar Lake meet the same package from the 226V through the 9-series V SKUs. Only memory size, graphics tier and NPU throughput vary between them, so the memory decision dominates the choice.

Memory, PCIe and cooling

On-package LPDDR5X-8533 at 32 GB across two channels is the whole memory story: fixed at purchase with no slots and no DDR options. Short on-package traces cut power per transfer against socketed designs, which stretches battery life in real use. Copilot+ features assume ample headroom, and 32 GB keeps large models resident beside everyday multitasking.

PCIe arrives as 4 lanes of Gen5 with 4 lanes of Gen4 from the CPU, 8 lanes in total. Thin laptops wire those lanes to NVMe storage and radios rather than discrete graphics, since the Arc 130V graphics cover display duty and light play. A fast Gen4 SSD saturates thin-laptop storage needs.

Cooling follows the thin chassis across the 8 to 37 W band with fans tuned for 17 W sustained operation. No cooler ships with the soldered processor. Long AI batch jobs settle at the sustained power the body rejects, so maker reviews of the exact model predict behavior best.

Upgrade paths

No processor or memory upgrade exists on a soldered BGA-2833 board. The buying choice inside Lunar Lake runs from the 16 GB Intel Core Ultra 5 236V to this 32 GB 238V and up to higher-tier V SKUs, chosen at order time for the years ahead. Storage is the only part that changes afterward.

Beyond Lunar Lake the replacement is a whole laptop on newer platforms such as Panther Lake designs. The LGA, PGA and BGA: CPU package types explained guide explains why soldered mobile packages never offered the desktop swap path.