Intel has lifted the review embargo for the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and things are not looking good. According to the third-party benchmarks that came out, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K is a major flop in terms of PC gaming performance.
According to PCGamesHardware, this new Intel CPU is noticeably slower than the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D or the Intel Core i9 14900K in Baldur’s Gate 3. In F1 24, it can barely beat the Intel Core i9 12900K. Yep, you read that right. This new CPU is way slower than both the 13900K and the 14900K. At least in Starfield, the Intel Core 9 Ultra 285K can match the performance of the previous high-end Intel CPU, so that’s something.
WCCFTech claims that the Intel Core 9 Ultra 285K cannot match the performance of the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D in Cyberpunk 2077 or in Forza Horizon 5. However, in Doom Eternal or in Battlefield 5, it can put a fight with AMD’s high-end CPU.
TechpowerUp has tested a lot of games at 720p. At stock settings, the Intel Core 9 Ultra 285K is slower than the Intel Core i7 13700K and 14700K. It’s also slower than the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X or the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. So, that’s a big L for Intel, no matter how you read the charts.
Cowcotland also reports similar results. The new Intel CPU is slower than AMD’s offering in Far Cry 6 or The Callisto Protocol.
Finally, HardwareUnboxed claimed that in the 14 PC games they benchmarked, the Intel Core 9 Ultra 285K matches the performance of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X. And, as all the other sites reported, the new Intel CPU is significantly slower than the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D.
All in all, this is a disappointing release. Yes, the Intel Core 9 Ultra 285K may be more efficient than the Intel Core i9 14900K. However, in terms of performance, this is a big flop. And even without releasing the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, AMD retains the crown for the fastest gaming CPU!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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