It’s showtime, as we put Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and AMD Ryzen 9 9950X in the proverbial ring to determine which takes the 2024 crown – if any. Both Team Blue and Red have started a new chapter with this year’s offerings, shifting their focus to efficiency rather than outright performance uplifts.
One look at the specs tells you most of what you need to know, as Zen 5 runs away with it in most of our tests. The real question, then, comes down to value and upgrade paths to determine the best CPU upgrade for you.
Specs
| Intel Core Ultra 9 285K | AMD Ryzen 9 9950X | |
|---|---|---|
| Cores | 24 (8P+16E) | 16 |
| Threads | 24 | 32 |
| TDP (base/max) | 125W / 250W | 170W |
| L3 Cache | 36MB | 64MB |
| Base clock | 3.7GHz* | 4.3GHz |
| Boost clock | 5.7GHz* | 5.7GHz |
| Launch MSRP | $579 / £549 | $649 / £610 |
Both chips have plenty of similarities to their predecessors. AMD largely plays it safe, running with the same configuration it’s stuck with over the past two generations, including 16 cores and 32 threads. Intel brings back its four-tile design and 36MB of L3 cache, potentially leaving it in a precarious spot when it comes to gaming.
The only sense of unpredictability comes from Core Ultra 9 285K ditching hyperthreading, reducing its overall threads compared to its rival. That may not be a problem if the new P- and E-cores are powerful enough.
Debuting at $10 cheaper than the previous Core i9-14900K, Core Ultra 9 285K already has value in mind. The ace up its sleeve is the fact it undercuts the competition by an eye-watering $70. Ryzen 9 9950X prices continue to rise at the time of writing, reaching heights of $709 on Newegg and Amazon US, putting AMD in a hairy position from the outset.
Performance
Keeping this a fair bout means establishing some ground rules. Aside from Core Ultra 9 285K resting on Gigabyte Z890 Aorus Pro Ice and Ryzen 9 9950X using MSI MEG X670E Ace, there’s parity between everything else. We only use recommended TDPs with the latest BIOS on top of a freshly updated Windows 11 24H2.
The remaining components comprise an Arctic Liquid Freezer III 420 to keep the chips cool, be quiet! Straight Power 13 1,300W to keep it juiced, Zotac GeForce RTX 4090 for visuals, and 64GB (2x32GB) Kingston Fury Beast DDR5-6000 CL36 in the memory slots.
Productivity
Round one goes to Ryzen 9 9950X, which takes an impressive 23% lead over Core Ultra 9 285K in 7-Zip Compression tests. It’s not too surprising, given it’s a benchmark where AMD rules the roost.
AMD continues its warpath in Y-Cruncher, boasting a 20% quicker computation time than Arrow Lake’s best and brightest. In part, this is attributed to Intel ditching hyperthreading, while Team Red rests comfortably on more threads to race through mathematical equations.
Core Ultra 9 285K earns its first win in Geekbench 6 multi-core tests. Its eight extra cores only net it a 3% lead, but it’s enough to take pole position out of every CPU we’ve benchmarked. The reverse is true for single-core benchmarks, where AMD’s might prevails by 3%.
Only the Intel processor is armed with a baked-in NPU (neural processing unit) for AI workloads, priming it for float32, float16, and int8 data types. Geekbench 6 machine learning tests surprisingly focus on the CPU instead, and both chips handle it like a champ. Of the two, Core Ultra 9 285K surges ahead by 8%, making it the artificial intelligence victor.
Rendering
Credit where it’s due: Core Ultra 9 285K puts up a tough fight in Blender as the second-best processor for 3D rendering. However, none beat Ryzen 9 9950X, as AMD secures first spot with an 8% gap.
Just as Ryzen 9 9950X briefly dethroned Core i9-14900K, Core Ultra 9 285K topples AMD in Cinebench 2024, showing true moxie. You can’t go wrong with Zen 5, as Arrow Lake only touts a 6% lead in both single-core and multi-core scores, but there’s a clear winner regardless.
AMD flips the script when it comes to productivity. Although it’s practically neck and neck in Adobe Premiere Pro, Ryzen is 8% quicker in Corona 10 and a whopping 17% better in Photoshop.
Memory
You won’t find a better mainstream desktop CPU for memory read speeds than Core Ultra 9 285K, but there’s little separating the two when it comes to write performance. There seems to be an issue with AIDA’s reporting when it comes to latency, otherwise Arrow Lake leaves a lot to be desired. Fortunately, it’ll be tough to spot the difference in real-world applications.
Gaming
Paired with Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, all processors we’ve tested sit in the same ballpark when it comes to 3DMark Speed Way. This includes mid-range chips all the way to the top brass.
AMD Ryzen 9 9950X admittedly didn’t impress much in gaming compared to its previous-gen X3D counterparts. However, it exceeds Core Ultra 9 285K’s efforts in Assassin’s Creed at every resolution, likely because of its beefier L3 cache. This only really matters at HD, where there’s a 13fps gap, as performance tapers off the higher you go.
Cyberpunk 2077 largely prefers AMD hardware, as Ryzen 9 9950X runs away with an average of 23fps more at HD and 16fps at QHD. What makes this a more impressive feat is that it includes results using Arrow Lake’s performance-boosting APO feature.
It’s the same story with Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, as 9950X runs circles around its rival with 26fps headroom at HD. Competition is closer at higher resolutions, with just a couple of frames in it, but AMD makes it clear that this is Team Red’s playground.
Forza Motorsport marks a less decisive victory with no more than 5fps in it between the chips, but the ball is still firmly in AMD’s court.
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is one of the more interesting tests, as real-time strategy (RTS) games are always a dab hand at putting CPUs through their paces. It’s the only game where Core Ultra 9 285K shines, taking a small lead at QHD, even if it falls behind at other resolutions.
Efficiency
Intel’s shortcomings start to make more sense when factoring in its slim power consumption. With just 306W under load, it claims its title as the most efficient current-gen flagship. That’s a 5% lead over the best AMD has to offer.
Siphoning less power doesn’t translate to cooler temperatures in this instance. Core Ultra 9 285K running at 80°C is nothing to scoff at, keeping it away from dreaded thermal throttling, but it’s not as comfortable as Ryzen 9 9950X’s 74.8°C. Thankfully, neither will heat the room up too much under a good cooler.
Value
In order to get the Club386 CPU Efficiency Rating, we divide Cinebench 2024 multi-core results by the respective power draw. This is where Intel’s power consumption comes in handy, making it 15% more efficient regarding the performance you get out of it.
Using the same equation but swapping power consumption for a device’s launch price, we get the Club386 CPU Value Rating. This battle is a lot closer, although still favours Core Ultra 9 285K by 8%.
With just two months under its belt, Ryzen 9 9950X hasn’t been out long enough to see any price cuts that’ll change the tide. In fact, I’ve spotted several instances where prices have risen to $709 on Newegg and Amazon US. This decreases its rating to 3.2, making it the worst value of all 2024 processors thus far.
Conclusion
Coming out on top in most of our tests, AMD Ryzen 9 9950X establishes itself as the best performer of the two, with its rival mostly struggling to keep pace. The only exception is memory read speeds, where Intel takes a healthy lead. That said, you’ll get more bang for your buck with Core Ultra 9 285K, as it stays mindful of its launch price.
Based on a new LGA1851 socket, you’ll need to purchase a new motherboard to house Arrow Lake. Intel hasn’t yet acknowledged whether it’ll support this with future releases, but all signs point to it lasting until 2026. Meanwhile, Zen 5 is good to go on current AM5 platforms, which is a blessing for Zen 4 owners, and will officially support CPUs right the way through until 2027. Confirmed compatibility alone perhaps makes the extra cost of AMD’s flagship worth it.
Gamers should probably hang fire a little longer as Ryzen 9 9800X3D looms on the horizon and should have no trouble topping the frame-rate charts given the current climate. Otherwise, this is your lot for the year and the pendulum swings in the direction of current Ryzen chips, if not the previous Ryzen 7000 Series.
Intel Core Ultra 9 285K
Borrowing its multi-tile design from the lauded Lunar Lake architecture, Arrow Lake focuses more on efficiency while minimising sacrificed performance. Read our review.
AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
Conservatism is the name of the game with Zen 5’s best and brightest, affording performance without guzzling all the watts. Read our review.