Chinese media have revealed performance slides of the upcoming Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor before the embargo was lifted. One of the slides compares this processor to the previous-generation i9-14900K, based on the Raptor Lake Refresh architecture, while two other slides pit it against AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D and AMD 9950X processors. These comparisons highlight the performance of the Core Ultra 9 285K, both in gaming and in content creation.
1. Comparison with Core i9-14900K:
The first slide shows a direct comparison between the Core Ultra 9 285K and the Core i9-14900K in several 1080p games with high graphics settings. According to the benchmarks, the 285K excels, particularly in titles such as F123 ( 15%) and Civilization 6 ( 11%). However, some games show a slight drop in performance, such as FFXIV (-8%) and F124 (-7%).
- The Core Ultra 9 285K delivers superior performance in the majority of titles, with optimized power consumption (only 58W under certain conditions).
- Some games, however, show a slight drop in performance compared with the 14900K, such as FFXIV and F124.
On average, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K only slightly outperforms the i9-14900K in terms of performance. Intel seems to have opted for a strategy of maintaining performance rather than seeking to increase it significantly. This approach is mainly justified by lower energy consumption.
2. AMD Ryzen 9 9950X:
Compared with the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, the Core Ultra 9 285K shows a slight improvement in average performance in the games presented. There’s a significant gain in Baldur’s Gate III (28%), but similar or even inferior performance in titles such as Cyberpunk 2077, where the 9950X is 13% more powerful, and so on.
Although the Core Ultra 9 285K excels in certain scenarios, in the end, it’s virtually on a par with the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, the new processor based on the Zen 5 architecture. It’s important to remember that the 9950X is not a model equipped with 3D V-Cache technology (X3D). As with the i9-14900K, the new generation of Intel processors brings few performance gains, or in some cases none at all, underlining that this iteration focuses more on other aspects such as energy efficiency.
It should not be forgotten that, against the 9950X, Intel used APO (Application Optimization) software, which significantly boosts the performance of the latest Intel processors in play. This may give Intel an extra edge in gaming benchmarks, but it’s important to take it into account when making direct performance comparisons.
3. Against the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D:
In the comparison with the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D, the Core Ultra 9 285K takes a noticeable lead in content creation tasks.
Although the 7950X3D shows gains of 21% in Cyberpunk 2077 and 13% in F1 23, the Core Ultra 9 285K proves equivalent or inferior in the majority of games. However, it excels in multi-core scenarios, notably in benchmarks like Cinebench ( 21%) and software like POV-Ray ( 30%).
The Core Ultra 9 285K proves to be a real monster in multitasking, outperforming the AMD 7950X3D in the benchmarks and software presented. In terms of gaming, overall performance is to the 7950X3D‘s advantage, but the 285K stands out for its better optimization of multi-core creative tasks.
It’s important to remember that the 7950X3D is designed to balance gaming and multitasking. However, in professional applications, it can sometimes lag behind the non-X3D version due to the addition of the extra cache, optimized for gaming. This cache, while beneficial for gaming performance, can limit performance in certain professional tasks.