Intel ’s latest Arrow Lake CPUs have n’t been off to a big kickoff . What look like competitors to thebest processorsmoney can buy have morphed into a letdown , as discrepant performance and a sodding lack of gaming gains have left the CPUs in the dust compared to the AMD competition and evenIntel ’s own last - gen selection . And regrettably , the value - focused Core Ultra 5 245 K is n’t above those issues .

This socio-economic class of CPU is normally a workhorse — a note value - packed chip that can deliver great gambling performance , solid productiveness prowess , and power efficiency for around $ 300 . There are some productivity gains here , and power efficiency is excellent . However , there are also big regressions in gaming , puddle the Core Ultra 5 245 1000 toughened to justify , even stacked up against the problematic 14th - gen options from Intel .

Intel Core 5 245K specs

The Core Ultra 5 245 K features Intel ’s latest Arrow Lake architecture , which is build up around the same two center design as the mobile Lunar Lake chips . you may read all about Arrow Lake and how it works in myCore Ultra 9 285 K inspection , but the shortstop of it is that Intel stuck with a hybrid architecture combining carrying out ( phosphorus ) essence and effective ( E ) cores , but it ditched its long - standing Hyper - Threading engineering science , giving each magnetic core access to only a undivided screw thread .

As you’re able to see from the table below , the Core Ultra 5 245 K and the last - genCore i5 - 14600Kboth come with 14 core , split up across six atomic number 15 - cores and eight E - cores , but the Core Ultra 5 245 K only has access to 14 threads . The individual cores on the Core Ultra 5 245 honey oil are more herculean , however , with the E - cores being the principal driver on carrying into action . As I ’ll get into with my testing below , the Core Ultra 5 245 K does n’t fight with heavily - thread lotion .

Elsewhere , the comparisons are more interesting . First , cache . Intel actually cut the total amount of hoard on the Core Ultra 5 245 K compared to the previous generation , potential to save power and space . Cache describe for a big portion of die space . It might be a overbold move for efficiency , but as we ’ve seen with CPUs like theRyzen 7 7800X3D , more cache has big implications for gaming — an area where the Core Ultra 5 245 K has serious problems .

The efficiency angle makes gumption when you reckon at the superpower requirement . Both C.P.U. come with the same 125 watts of base power , but the Core Ultra 5 245 K top out at 159W. The new Arrow Lake mountain range is very efficient ground on my examination , but that ’s only in the circumstance of Intel ’s more recent power - hungry C.P.U. like the Core i5 - 14600 K andCore i5 - 13600K. compare to the competition from AMD , Intel is provide interchangeable tycoon efficiency .

Test configurations

I kept to identical trial run configurations for all of the CPUs I test for this revaluation , only swapping out the motherboard and CPU . That entail the same graphics card , the same outfit of store , the same cooler , and even the same SSDs and power supplying . Although I did all of my examination for the Core Ultra 5 245 cat valium on the Asus Z890 ROG Maximus Hero , I also spot - checked the chip on the MSI Z890 Unify - XTC to verify performance was similar .

All of the data point in this reexamination is fresh — even for older CPUs , I rerun all of the exam to account for the latest Windows and BIOS update .

There are a couplet of things to keep in mind here . First , the Core Ultra 5 245 K scales well with higher - speed remembering . DDR5 - 6000 memory is still the most vulgar ( and toll - effective ) memory you ’ll find , but fresh CUDIMMs enable much higher upper , and the Core Ultra 5 245 K shows some carrying into action improvements in sure apps with the faster memory .

In addition , I screen with the recent BIOS updates for the LGA 1700 CPUs . If you recall , high - end Intel CPUs like the Core i9 - 14900 K and Core i9 - 13900 K struggled withinstability issue for months , and the most late BIOS update aimed at come up to those issues can trim performance . The carrying out drop cloth is n’t big — less than 5 % at most , and only in some apps . gratefully , that should n’t sham the Core i5 - 14600 K much considering it was n’t majorly impacted by the instability problem .

Productivity performance

Just like the Core Ultra 9 285 K , the Core Ultra 5 245 K has a moderately all-inclusive chain of mountains of performance . As you may see above in Cinebench R24 , there are work load where the Core Ultra 5 245 K seems to draw off the out of the question , outclassing a current - gen central processing unit like the Ryzen 7 9700X for $ 100 chinchy . But then there are others where the central processor ca n’t even come up enough strength to flap its last - gen twin , the Core i5 - 14600K.

On that side , you have apps like Photoshop and Premiere Pro . The Core Ultra 5 245 K is able to outclass the six - essence Ryzen 5 9600X due to a higher core tally , but it still settle little of the Ryzen 7 9700X , and regretful , the Core i5 - 14600 K in Premiere Pro . And in Photoshop , it ’s a bloodbath , with the Core Ultra 5 245 K falling behind every other processor I tested .

What ’s interesting , and disappointing , is that the Core Ultra 5 245 K execute well in some very specific applications , such as video transcoding . you’re able to see in Handbrake above that the Core Ultra 5 245 K not only tucker the competition from AMD , it absolutely crushes every other CPU I try out . The same is true in Blender , which is a renderer like Cinebench where the Core Ultra 5 245 K really reflect .

And in a multi - faceted test like Geekbench 6 , the Core Ultra 5 245 K barter a bit of single - magnetic core performance that we can see with the Ryzen 9000 central processing unit for much serious multi - core performance , even outclass the last - gen Core i5 - 14600 K — an telling exploit considering the public presentation I ’ll dig out into in the next section .

Although telling , looking at some other mental test like 7 - Zip and Y - Cruncher paints a different scene . The performance of the Core Ultra 5 245 K is all over the plaza . It has some advantages , particularly in transcoding and rendering , but both the Ryzen 9000 competition and the last - gen Core i5 - 14600 K ply much more logical carrying out across apps , even if that intend sacrifice a fleck of stop number in specific tasks .

Gaming performance

The Core Ultra 5 245 super C is really hard to justify . When look at a flagship , you’re able to equilibrize gaming carrying out with productivity performance , but for a processor in this price range , the exercising weight to a great extent swings in the direction of gaming . That ’s not to say there are n’t shopper who want productiveness public presentation on a budget , but rather that buy a flagship from a match of generations back will generally pull more weight than a novel midrange processor like the Core Ultra 5 245K. These processors really earn their band with play operation .

Or , at least , that ’s what usually happens . It ’s not the case here with the Core Ultra 5 245 K , which is embarrassingly boring in games . TakeCyberpunk 2077as a prime instance . The Core i5 - 14600 K is 13 % faster , and it ’s still the second - low-pitched performing artist out of the CPUs I tested . Even worse , the $ 330 Core Ultra 5 245 G is 17 % slower than the Ryzen 5 7600X — a six - centre mainframe that you’re able to pick up for $ 215 right now .

cyber-terrorist 2077isn’t a cherry - picked example , either . you could see the Core Ultra 5 245 kB at the bottom of the pile inFinal Fantasy XIV , and inHitman 3,the Core Ultra 5 245 K beats the Ryzen 5 7600X but still falls short of its last - gen opposite number . That ’s risky word . you may get hold the Core i5 - 14600 K for around $ 250 — that ’s a CPU that ’s $ 80 cheaper and supply better gaming performance .

Things are a mo better inF1 2022,where the Core Ultra 5 245 KB pull off to at least match the last - gen Ryzen 5 7600X and actually beat the Core i5 - 14600K. looking at at theRyzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 7 9700Xfrom the current generation , however , the Core Ultra 5 245 K gets curbed .

Ashes of the Singularityis similarly unsatisfying . Once again , the Core Ultra 5 245 K is able to claim a lead over the Ryzen 5 7600X , but it falls short of its last - gen vis-a-vis .

The only game where the Core Ultra 5 245 K showed any sort of leading execution wasTiny Tina ’s Wonderlands , but it ’s only a profits on a trifle . The Core Ultra 5 245 K , Core i5 - 14600 K , and Ryzen 5 9600X are all within a few frame of each other — I would call the performance identical . Still , the Core Ultra 5 245 K technically won , so I should let the central processor have its peak .

Rounding out the list areReturnal , Assassin ’s Creed Mirage , andBlack Myth : Wukong . These are all graphically - intensive games , so there ’s very little apparent movement when isolating the CPU . The Core Ultra 5 245 K wins in some title and loses in others , but the carrying out windowpane in these plot is very minute and mostly comes down to your graphics card .

Not the value punch

Even in a coevals where Intel delivers a sidelong movement in performance , such as fourteenth - gen CPUs , the Core i5 class is usually a good testimonial based purely on the ratio between price and performance . That ’s not the case here . The Core Ultra 5 245 K takes big swings , as do all Arrow Lake CPUs , and unfortunately it misses more often than it hits .

The Core i5 - 14600 K roundly outperforms the Core Ultra 5 245 special K , and it ’s available for near to $ 80 less . Similarly , the Ryzen 7 9700X and even the weaker Ryzen 5 9600X crack better performance across apps , which are both militant with Intel on price . Usually I can find out an edge case where even a weak CPU is worth buy , but that just is n’t the pillowcase here . From both Intel and AMD , there are good options than the Core Ultra 5 245K.