The last word:
What about gaming?
We were determined to bring you a fuller gaming section, but our internet connection was a bit of a mess this week, with a 50 Mbps downlink, so we had to scale back the benchmarks we used. The latest COD MW3 update also weighed heavily on our results, without really understanding why. In short, it was a bit of a mess and we decided not to post anything, rather than just talk nonsense. Don’t panic, we’re busy updating everything so that we can ar least bring you the results for early November, with the new Ryzen 9000 X3D announced by AMD. We will then include the full range of games we use to evaluate graphics cards.
The performance of this new generation :
We thought Intel was very cautious when it launched the Intel Core Ultra 200S, announcing straight away that there would be no significant increase in performance compared to the 14th Gen, but that it would work on power consumption. Intel has fully won this bet, even though we found the performance of this new generation very interesting. Overall, the Core Ultra 9 285K does better than the i9-14900KS and takes the lead, sometimes by a short head, over the Ryzen 9 9950X. The Core Ultra 5 245K is also very interesting in terms of power consumption and performance, and doesn’t really have any direct competitors from AMD. We will also be adding the Core Ultra 7 265K to our benchmarks as soon as possible.
Power consumption is indeed more controlled, although we were not totally convinced by the Intel profiles present in the manufacturers’ BIOS. With the exception of AORUS, these profiles sometimes seem too identical. What’s more, an Intel Default Settings Performance profile can be quite different from one manufacturer to another in terms of power consumption. For some manufacturers, this will be close to 210/215 watts, while for others it will be around 250 watts, which will certainly be adjusted in the future by a BIOS update. We also have to admit that these profiles have had a significant impact on the performance of the 14th Gen, causing quite a few results to drop in our benchmarks.
As far as cooling solutions are concerned, we continue to advise you to opt for a liquid cooling system, despite the improvement in power consumption.
Intel Core Ultra :
The advantage of having already unveiled the Intel Core Ultra 200S range on 10 October is that they are already listed in the majority of online shops. So we have an overview of the various current offerings. Personally, as we’ve already said, we can’t imagine upgrading from Intel’s 13th or 14th Gen to Arrow Lake, as the benefits are very limited in terms of performance. Don’t forget that you’ll also need to buy a new motherboard, because the socket is different, as we’re moving from an LGA-1700 to an LGA-1851. We think the upgrade is worthwhile for those with a 12th Gen processor, as they’ll be able to keep their memory kit, but for 11th Gen and below, a DDR5 kit will be added to the bill.
Finally, its current competitor is almost certainly the Ryzen 9 9950X. Anyone looking to build a top-of-the-range configuration today is entitled to ask the question between Intel and AMD. At Top Achat, the Ryzen 9 9950X costs €699.99, while the Core Ultra 9 285K costs €729.99. The Ryzen 9000 generation also has a number of advantages that may make it worth buying these new Core Ultra systems.
As far as the Core Ultra 5 245K is concerned, the choice is much easier, since it still dominates the trade and has no direct competitor in the Ryzen 9000 range, since it does better than the 9700X, priced at almost the same level. It remains to be seen what the availability of the Core Ultra 200S will be on launch day.
Z890 motherboards :
Looking at the references tested today and searching for X870E equivalents, the ROG Maximus Z890 HERO is on pre-order at 829 euros and its equivalent on the AMD X870E chipset at 729 euros. The same applies to the ‘MASTER’ series, which is also priced higher on the Intel chipset. There’s no doubt that this is another factor to take into account, given that the cards use virtually the same technologies.
The biggest unknown when it comes to concluding is the life expectancy of the LGA-1851 socket. Intel has been asked this question on several occasions, but has never been willing to answer. Yet this is a very important question for future buyers. Would there only be one generation on this socket, given that AMD announced, at the launch of the Ryzen 9000, that its AM5 socket would last until at least 2027?
In conclusion, Intel has made the best choice of all by prioritizing improving the power consumption of its processors to the detriment of a significant increase in performance. The future of socket LGA-1851 and the price balance in the weeks to come will be the two points to watch. Thank you to Intel France for making this press kit available to us for testing. See you in a fortnight’ time for our big gaming comparison with the arrival of the new AMD Ryzen X3D.