Intel ’s new Core Ultra 9 285 K is eventually here , promise a boost in performance with a significant simplification in power requirements , at least according to Intel . As you may read in myCore Ultra 9 285 K review , Intel ’s operation claims are n’t as rosy as reality , especially when stacked up against what is unequivocally thebest processorfor gaming you may buy : AMD’sRyzen 7 7800X3D.

I threw both processor on the test judiciary to pit them promontory - to - foreland , looking at performance across productiveness and gambling apps , as well as thermals and efficiency . These central processing unit target different substance abuser , but there are still a lot of interesting comparisons we can seem at between them .

Specs

The Core Ultra 9 285 K and Ryzen 7 7800X3D are radically unlike CPUs , and that becomes clear when you liken their specs instantly . Although it ’s generally not a skilful idea to equate specs between two CPUs in the same course , the gap in specs here is so turgid that we can make some interesting observations . The main thing that ’s different between the two CPUs is core tally .

The Ryzen 7 7800X3D is a fairly straightforward micro chip in that regard . It amount with eight Zen 4 cores and a sum of 16 train of thought , and it can hike up up to 5GHz . That ’s not what ’s interesting about the CPU . It ’s the 104 MB of cache packed on top of the CPU die , split between 8 mebibyte of L2 hoard and 96 megabyte of L3 cache thanks toAMD ’s 3D Little Phoebe - Cachepackaging technical school .

The Core Ultra 9 285 K does n’t have any fancy 3D V - Cache , but it still has a few john of its own . It ’s a 24 - gist CPU , but unlike the Ryzen 7 7800X3D , it does n’t come with simultaneous multi - threading ( SMT ) . Each core only has a individual thread . In accession , Intel use its intercrossed architecture , commix together the Lion Cove P - core design with the Skymont E - core pattern . According to Intel , the E - cores are the main performance drivers here , unlike with theCore i9 - 14900 K , where the E - core were relatively weak .

With more cores and high clock amphetamine , it should n’t come as a surprise that the Core Ultra 9 285 K has much higher tycoon requirement . I ’ll come up to efficiency forthwith a bit low down in this comparison , but I can recite you now that , under a full load , the Core Ultra 9 285 K indeed draw and quarter doubly as much ( or more ) big businessman than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D — though usually with much good performance .

Pricing

The Core Ultra 9 285 K and Ryzen 7 7800X3D force you to reckon about pricing because , depending on what you ’re using your microcomputer for , you may economise quite a mo of money . The Core Ultra 9 285 K is unexampled , and it ’s the flagship chip from Intel ’s latest range , so you ’ll spend $ 589 if you want to pick it up now . The cost will drop over time — the Core i9 - 14900 K is about $ 450 a twelvemonth after releasing — but until we see the next generation from Intel , you could expect to expend over $ 500 .

The Ryzen 7 7800X3D is much garish at $ 450 , though I ’ve seen some strange price shifts with the CPU over the past several month . Just a few week before publishing this comparison , theRyzen 7 7800X3D was sell out everywhere , and prior to that , you could commonly happen it for around $ 320 . Now , at the sentence of publication , you ’ll come up it between $ 450 and $ 500 , but I expect the cost will drop very soon .

AMD has support that its next - gen 3D V - Cache CPU is arriving on November 7 , so depending on when you ’re read this , verify to check in on the price of the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. If the novel CPU is out by then , I expect we ’ll see the price drop to around $ 350 to $ 400 .

Even with its high Mary Leontyne Price , the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is importantly cheap than the Core Ultra 9 285 K — $ 139 cheaper , at least , and close to $ 239 sleazy if the Ryzen 7 7800X3D drops in price .

Productivity performance

Here ’s some quick cogent evidence that the Core Ultra 9 285 K and Ryzen 7 7800X3D are in wholly different weight grade . As you’re able to see from Cinebench R24 above , the Core Ultra 9 285 K is much faster than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D — it ’s not even close . Intel say this CPU is particularly stiff in a ray - traced renderer line Cinebench , but even if you dropped 10 % or 15 % of the carrying out from the Core Ultra 9 285 K , it would still be knot ahead of the Ryzen 7 7800X3D.

For more of a mixed - use bench mark , take a flavour at Geekbench 6 . The Core Ultra 9 285 K still run away with multi - core performance , but the individual - core delta is much smaller . And despite the decipherable leading in multi - core performance , that gap is smaller , too . Throughout my testing , one thing became clear — the Core Ultra 9 285 K is really debauched in sealed applications , but that performance does n’t apply everywhere .

A large representative of that is Photoshop . You ’d acquire that the cutting multi - core advantage of the Core Ultra 9 285 K would mean it obviously wins against the Ryzen 7 7800X3D , but that ’s not the case . In fact , the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is faster in Photoshop based on my testing . That ’s not unspoilt considering the price and specification col between these two CPUs . You ’d expect the Core Ultra 9 285 K to mop the floor with the Ryzen 7 7800X3D across all productivity applications .

In Premiere Pro , the Core Ultra 9 285 K reclaim a dominant spot , but it really should n’t be this close . Not only is the Core Ultra 9 285 K a much more capable C.P.U. , it also has access to QuickSync in Premiere Pro , which speeds up performance importantly . The fact that these two CPUs are even competitive in Premiere shows how the operation of the Core Ultra 9 285 K can be disappointing in certain apps .

Gaming performance

play execution is where we see a more reproducible discrepancy . The Ryzen 7 7800X3D crushes . Across the 10 game I test , the Ryzen 7 7800X3D did n’t lose a exclusive one . Sometimes it ’s only showing a pocket-sized performance betterment , but in game likeF1 22andCyberpunk 2077,the Ryzen 7 7800X3D provides a transformative uplift in gaming carrying into action .

Not all game respond well to the extra cache on the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. As you’re able to see from title likeAssassin ’s Creed MirageandBlack Myth : Wukong , there ’s some other factor limiting the carrying into action of the processor — in most cases , your graphics card . However , other games can leverage the additional cache in quite a bighearted way , as picture off byFinal Fantasy XIV , Tiny Tina ’s Wonderlands , and evenRed Dead Redemption 2 .

For the Core Ultra 9 285 K , it can only trust to mate the Ryzen 7 7800X3D , and in most games , it ’s not even close to doing that . If you ’re pore mainly on gaming , there ’s really no contest here . The Ryzen 7 7800X3D absolutely crushes the Core Ultra 9 285 cat valium , and it ’s significantly cheaper .

Thermals and efficiency

Another area where the Ryzen 7 7800X3D leads is efficiency . It not only has much lower rated power , it can also deliver higher carrying out in game while wipe out less power . you could see that in legal action in the chart above . Looking only at eyeshade power haul during these game , the Ryzen 7 7800X3D stayed much more effective under a heavy workload .

That ’s not be decisive of Intel . As you’re able to see from the Core i9 - 14900 K , Intel made massive efficiency improvement this genesis , and it ’s often able to deport similar performance under 100 watts . But it ’s still more top executive than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D , which rarely goes above 50 watts in games .

Temperature is a different story . On medium , the Core Ultra 9 285 K was a bit cool than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D while playing game . It ’s not a massive difference , but I test with a 360 mm all - in - one liquid cooler . In a small form agent PC , those temperature differences can really add up , and the Core Ultra 9 285 K is mark up to plow a more thermally constrained surroundings substantially .

It ’s important to remember the pattern of 3D V - Cache CPUs . The hoard is stacked directly on top of the cores , serving as an insolating bed between the cores and the mix heat spreader ( IHS ) . That ’s why the Ryzen 7 7800X3D , and other 3D V - Cache CPUs , lean to run a bit hotter and why they are n’t unlocked for overclocking .

The gaming king reigns supreme

There ’s really no contest here if you ’re a gamer — the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is the room to go . It ’s much quicker , and it ’s chintzy , and although productivity public presentation lag , the CPU still put up a surprisingly telling fight in apps like Premiere Pro and Photoshop .

The natural counter to that is productivity operation . If that ’s what you like about , the Core Ultra 9 285 K is the way of life to go . However , the inconsistent execution I saw with Intel ’s latest processor is worth keeping in nous . If you want serious productivity performance and gaming in adequate stride , I ’d push you toward Intel’sCore i9 - 14900Kor AMD ’s latestRyzen 9 9950Xinstead , the former of which is uncommitted for around $ 450 .