Right, let's get this out of the way from the very start. Intel's Core Ultra 200S processors aren't the best Us for gaming—they're easily beaten by AMD's X3D models and Intel's previous 14th Gen Core chips. But thanks to a series of BIOS, microcode, and Windows updates, they're considerably better than they were at launch, to the point that they're now okay, rather than rubbish.
So why am I still recommending that it's worth buying one? Well, I've been using a Core Ultra 7 265K in my main rig for a while now (the KF version doesn't have an integrated GPU) and I can vouch for its all-round capabilities. And right now, thanks to a recent price drop from Intel and a Memorial Day sale, you can pick one up for $279 at Newegg.
Those E-cores are far better than the first generation of them, as used in the 12th Gen Core chips, and the 265K/KF sports eight P-cores and 12 E-cores, for a total of 20 threads (Arrow Lake processors don't simultaneous multithreading). If your workload involves using applications that demand lots of threads (in my case, it's compiling Unreal Engine builds), then the 265K/KF is a better choice than AMD's Ryzen 9700X, for example.
It's also a better choice than Intel's Core Ultra 285K. That's because the top chip in the Arrow Lake family only has four more E-cores than the 265K, and the maximum P-core clock speed is only 200 MHz higher. The additional E-cores do mean there's 6 MB more L3 cache, but when the whole caboodle is over $300 more expensive, it makes zero sense to choose the 285K over the 265K.
Sweetening this particular deal is a free 1 TB SSD, in the form of a Kingston NV3. It's not the fast NVMe storage you'll find, but hey—free is free, and who doesn't want free storage? Intel's also ing in with the goodies bundle by offering Civilization 7 and Dying Light: The Beast (when it launches later this year), too.
You can get the Core Ultra 7 265K for even less, $269 at Amazon, but that offer only includes Intel's gaming bundle. Newegg is essentially selling the 265KF for $220, when you think about it.
If you're currently using an Intel Core 13th or 14th Gen Core i7 or i9 processor, I wouldn't rush out to replace it with this deal, but if your gaming PC is quite a bit older and you still want to go down the Intel route, then this is the best road to follow.
You'll need a new motherboard and some DDR5 RAM, of course, and you can pick up Gigabyte's B860 Aorus Elite WiFi7 ICE for $140 at Newegg and a 32 GB kit of Team Group's DDR5-6000 CL32 for $75 at Newegg.
Believe it or not, the 265KF, motherboard, and RAM together are $95 less than the Core Ultra 9 285K by itself! Now that's a Memorial Day deal and a half.
👉 Shop all Newegg Memorial Day deals here 👈
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