5 CPUs you should buy instead of the Core Ultra 9 285K

2 months ago

The Core Ultra 9 285K arrived pinch a thud. It’s an interesting, and sometimes very impressive, processor, but it’s not needfully a bully one. Stacked up against immoderate of nan best processors, nan Core Ultra 9 285K struggles successful gaming and moreover falls down successful captious productivity apps, which isn’t a awesome commencement for Intel’s latest generation.

Thankfully, location are immoderate fantabulous alternatives. I’ve reviewed conscionable astir each CPU that Intel and AMD person released successful nan past respective generations, and I’ve rounded up 5 processors that match, and often beat, nan Core Ultra 9 285K — sometimes moreover for a little price.

Core i9-14900K

Intel's 14900K CPU socketed successful a motherboard.

When looking for alternatives, it’s earthy to constituent to a last-gen CPU for illustration nan Core i9-14900K. This is simply a unsocial situation, however. In nan immense mostly of applications I’ve tested, nan Core i9-14900K handily thumps nan Core Ultra 9 285K. Going pinch a last-gen CPU successful this lawsuit doesn’t conscionable mean redeeming money. It besides intends getting a faster CPU, which is simply a unusual alteration of gait compared to really we usually spot caller CPU generations.

Get your play teardown of nan tech down PC gaming

The Core Ultra 9 285K is very beardown erstwhile it comes to rendering and video transcoding, but successful applications for illustration Adobe Premiere Pro and Photoshop, nan Core i9-14900K is simply faster. Based connected my testing, nan Core i9-14900K is astir 8% faster successful Premiere Pro compared to nan Core Ultra 9 285K. That’s a very stark jump considering imaginative apps for illustration Premiere Pro leverage each of nan components successful your system, not solely nan CPU.

In gaming, nan Core i9-14900K dominates. Out of nan 10 games I tested, nan Core i9-14900K was faster successful 8 of them, and successful nan games were nan newer Core Ultra 9 285K performed better, it was ne'er by much than a fewer frames.

The Core i9-14900K would beryllium a amended replacement moreover if it were nan aforesaid value arsenic nan Core Ultra 9 285K, but it’s really overmuch cheaper. At nan clip of writing, nan CPU is $440 — astir $200 little than what nan Core Ultra 9 285K is trading for. If you want to prevention moreover more, you tin prime up nan Core i9-14900KF, too, which shaves nan integrated graphics but different performs identically to nan Core i9-14900K.

I wouldn’t blasted you if you aren’t keen connected picking up nan Core i9-14900K, however. It’s been nan center of a slew of instability issues, and it draws a batch much powerfulness than nan Core Ultra 9 285K. Thankfully, Intel says it has addressed nan instability problems, and I haven’t seen immoderate reports that antagonistic that declare yet. At this point, it’s safe to urge nan Core i9-14900K, but make judge you execute immoderate BIOS and chipset updates arsenic soon arsenic nan CPU arrives.

Ryzen 9 9950X

We usually spot current-gen flagships duke it retired connected value and performance, pinch AMD and Intel biting backmost astatine each different depending connected what crippled aliases exertion you look at. This procreation is an exception, pinch nan current-gen Ryzen 9 9950X beating nan Core Ultra 9 285K successful conscionable astir each exertion I tested. That’s moreover existent successful a transcoding app for illustration Handbrake, wherever nan Core Ultra 9 285K is unusually fast.

The Ryzen 9 9950X wasn’t a awesome CPU astatine launch, but that’s changed. AMD released a drawstring of updates for nan processor that massively amended performance. The large 1 for nan Ryzen 9 9950X decreased nan latency betwixt nan 2 halfway analyzable dies (CCDs) connected nan processor, which improved gaming capacity successful titles like F1 22, Final Fantasy XIV, and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands by upward of 12%. The Ryzen 9 9950X would’ve been competitory pinch nan Core Ultra 9 285K, but pinch these updates, it’s conscionable faster.

In productivity apps, nan Ryzen 9 9950X is nan fastest desktop CPU you tin bargain correct now. It dominates successful apps for illustration Premiere Pro and Photoshop, and it’s nan only CPU that tin dethrone nan Core Ultra 9 285K successful rendering apps for illustration Blender. Further, nan Ryzen 9 9950X includes a dedicated 512-bit information way for AVX-512 instructions, which tin make a monolithic quality successful capacity successful workloads that tin leverage AVX-512 instructions.

The large downside correct now is that nan Ryzen 9 9950X is expensive. Despite charismatic value cuts from AMD, nan disappointing motorboat of nan Core Ultra 9 285K has caused nan Ryzen 9 9950X to sprout up successful price. At nan clip of writing, it’s astir $670, which is astir $40 much than nan Core Ultra 9 285K. If you tin hold a bit, I fishy nan CPU will driblet backmost down to astir $600 successful nan adjacent period aliases two.

Ryzen 7 7800X3D

This 1 is for nan gamers. The Core Ultra 9 285K, contempt its fistful of successes, is simply a disappointing gaming CPU. The Ryzen 9 9950X and Core i9-14900K connection awesome gaming performance, but if you’re focused solely connected gaming, location isn’t a CPU that tin apical nan Ryzen 7 7800X3D. Game aft game, it perpetually shows up astatine nan apical of nan charts, and sometimes by a important margin.

The cardinal difference, arsenic you tin publication astir successful my Ryzen 7 7800X3D review, is AMD’s 3D V-Cache tech. This adds a spot of other cache connected apical of nan CPU die, which tin make a large quality successful games. It’s much retention that’s physically adjacent to nan CPU die, and immoderate games, including Red Dead Redemption 2 and Cyberpunk 2077, show a monolithic uplift successful capacity from that change.

In summation to awesome gaming performance, nan Ryzen 7 7800X3D is remarkably efficient. Even erstwhile outpacing nan title successful games, nan CPU seldom draws much than 70 watts, and successful galore titles, it draws little than 50 watts. It’s besides importantly cheaper than nan Core Ultra 9 285K. You tin prime it up for astir $470 correct now, which is adjacent to $150 little than nan Core Ultra 9 285K is trading for.

The large drawback present is productivity performance. The Ryzen 7 7800X3D is only an eight-core CPU, and it has constricted timepiece velocity owed to nan other cache and nan power it generates. It’s acold down nan Core Ultra 9 285K successful apps for illustration Premiere Pro and Photoshop, falling much in-line pinch a midrange CPU for illustration nan Core i5-14600K. Still, if gaming is your superior concern, thing thumps nan Ryzen 7 7800X3D.

Core i9-13900K

The astir nonstop rival to nan Core Ultra 9 285K is, surprisingly, nan Core i9-13900K — a processor that’s now 2 generations old. Debuting nan Raptor Lake architecture, nan Core i9-13900K remains an awesome CPU pinch 24 cores that tin shred done productivity applications and still packs plentifulness of gaming grunt. Even successful 2024, 2 years aft nan CPU released, nan Core i9-13900K is simply a shocking rival to current-gen options.

In games, nan Core Ultra 9 285K and Core i9-13900K waste and acquisition blows. They often execute astir nan aforesaid level, and location are immoderate titles, specified as Red Dead Redemption 2 and F1 22, where nan Core i9-13900K claims a lead. The 13th- and 14th-gen CPUs from Intel stock an architecture, and overall, nan 2 CPUs are very adjacent to each different successful position of performance.

On nan productivity side, nan move betwixt nan Core Ultra 9 285K and Core i9-13900K is akin to what I saw pinch nan Core i9-14900K. In rendering apps for illustration Cinebench and transcoding apps for illustration Handbrake, nan caller Core Ultra 9 285K dominates. However, nan Core i9-13900K still holds its ain successful Premiere Pro and Photoshop.

Just for illustration nan Core i9-14900K, nan Core i9-13900K has seen instability problems. You tin hole them by updating to nan latest BIOS, astatine slightest according to Intel. The institution has besides extended nan warranty connected each of its 13th-gen and 14th-gen CPUs from nan modular 2 years to 5 years, truthful if you tally into issues moreover aft nan BIOS update, Intel will switch your CPU.

Ryzen 9 9900X

The overseas duck retired of AMD’s lineup each procreation is nan 12-core option, and nan Ryzen 9 9900X is nary different. If you’re concerned pinch gaming, you tin prevention immoderate money pinch nan Ryzen 7 9700X, and if you want nan champion productivity performance, it’s worthy spending up for nan Ryzen 9 9950X. However, nan 12-core Ryzen 9 9900X is amazingly tin erstwhile stacked up against nan Core Ultra 9 285K.

A large portion of that is nan thread count. The Core Ultra 9 285K doesn’t person Hyper-Threading, truthful you person entree to 24 cores but besides only 24 threads. The Ryzen 9 9900X whitethorn only person 12 cores, but it comes pinch 24 threads owed to AMD’s usage of simultaneous multi-threading (SMT). In Premiere Pro, nan Ryzen 9 9900X matches nan Core Ultra 9 285K, and successful Photoshop, it shoots ahead. In addition, you person entree to AVX-512 instructions pinch this CPU, conscionable for illustration nan Ryzen 9 9950X.

Gaming is nary different. Although you occasionally spot nan Ryzen 9 9900X return a backseat to nan cheaper Ryzen 7 9700X owed to its dual-CCD configuration, nan CPU still handily thumps nan Core Ultra 9 285K crossed astir titles. It’s usually connected nan level of nan Ryzen 9 9950X, arsenic astir games spot small use from CPUs packing much than 8 cores.

The large logic to support nan Ryzen 9 9900X successful mind, however, is nan price. As nan overseas duck of nan existent generation, AMD has massively marked down nan value of nan Ryzen 9 9900X. You tin prime it up now for conscionable $429 — a afloat $200 little than nan Core Ultra 9 285K.