This model is powered by a 22 nm, 64-bit "Fourth Generation" Intel Mobile Core i7 "Haswell/Crystalwell" (17-4980HQ) processor which includes four independent processor "cores" on a single silicon chip. Each core has a dedicated 256k level 2 cache, shares 6 MB of level 3 cache, and has an integrated memory controller (dual channel).

This system also supports "Turbo Boost 2.0" which "automatically increases the speed of the active cores" to improve performance when needed (up to 4.0 GHz for this model) and "Hyper Threading" which allows the system to recognize eight total "cores" or "threads" (four real and four virtual).