Product on Review: Core Ultra 9 285K
Manufacturer: Intel
MSRP: $589 USD
Competition is hotting up in the desktop PC space this week as Intel end their protracted Arrow Lake tease and take the wraps off the Core Ultra 200-series CPUs. A new set of performance processors for gaming and enthusiast platforms, the Ultra 200-series will go head-to-head with AMD’s 'Zen 5' Ryzen 9000-series this holiday season.
A fresh naming scheme is far from the only new aspect to these designs. A new processor architecture, socket, motherboard chipset and featureset are all key parts of this autumn launch that for the first time also integrates discrete hardware to accelerate AI workloads known as an ‘NPU’. In other ways the launch will be familiar, particularly to those who have kept their knowledge of Intel’s 12th-14th gen processors up-to-date.
A new CPU architecture doesn’t always come with a new socket layout but it has in this case. LGA 1851 takes over from LGA 1700 as the new Intel desktop socket, cooler-compatible with the older design but boasting a new ILM that should eliminate some of the issues present for 12th, 13th and 14th Gen chips. As we’ll see later, that’s going to be critical for Arrow Lake’s long-term durability as well as temperature-limited frequency-boosting performance.
Intel are launching Arrow Lake on desktop with five SKUs representing three discrete performance tiers with and without iGPU. While we’re reviewing the flagship Core Ultra 9 285K, the Core Ultra 7 265K/F and Core Ultra 245K/F models will also be available as mainstream and enthusiast gaming options at considerably lower price points. Ultra 7 models will fuse off an E-core cluster but retain 8 P-cores, while the Ultra 5 model also reduces the number of P-cores by two.
The Ultra 9 285K is a 24-core, 24-thread processor composed of 8 Performance Cores (P-Cores) and 16 Efficiency-Cores, similar to the previous generation flagship. Both core types have been redesigned however, optimising for a new CPU packaging process and the retirement of Hyperthreading technology.
Intel are signalling a focus on processor power efficiency for the new generation following concerted criticism of the 13th and 14th Generations power demands (and the eventual pitfalls that brought). Performance is intended to be on-par with the 14th Generation predecessors (and by implication similar to 13th and 12th gen counterparts) while drastically reducing power draw and associated temperatures. Part of that is possible thanks to the adoption of TSMC’s 3nm production process over Intel’s in-house node, but as much or more will be due to the re-engineered cache structures and data handling in the new architecture.
As well as the new socket, Intel Z890 motherboards bring optional support for WiFi 7, Thunderbolt 5 and 2.5GbE in addition to the overclocking tools necessary to push the new K-class chips to their limit. This launch also coincides with the reveal of new CUDIMM packaging for DDR5, high-speed memory with an on-board clock driver and improved voltage regulation. This new memory may be clocked at over DDR5-8000MT/s (some models boast as much as 10000MT/s) for greatly improved memory bandwidth.
Neither CPU nor motherboard is backwards compatible with the prior generations of chips, and Intel have made no move to assure end-users of platform longevity. We should probably expect to see at least two generations from LGA1851 but, unlike AMD’s AM5, Intel have no explicit or implied obligation to maintain socket compatibility across generations going forward.
At $589 the Core Ultra 9 285K will stack up against AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X - recently reduced in price to a post-launch MSRP of $599 - with the 9900X also likely to offer stern competition. AMD’s 7800X3D is a fading wild card due to ballooning prices and low stock levels, but the red team have yet to play their Ryzen 9000X3D-embossed joker. Expect that bombshell to land in early November.
Suitably introduced, let’s take a closer look at the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K.
