Intel Core Ultra 7 265K: Often more efficient than Ryzen 7 9700X

Intel Core Ultra 7 265K in detail

Intel Arrow Lake desktop CPUs have undergone a significant change on many levels. Aside from the new performance (P) and efficient (E) core architectures, they are now chiplet-based and have stopped using Hyper Threading, for example. At the same time, the power consumption is lower and the Core Ultra 7 265K CPU is often more power efficient compared to the competition. This even in games, which we haven’t seen before.

Intel Core Ultra 7 265K in detail

After many years, the designation of Intel’s new processors is losing the letter “i”. This has been replaced by the word “Ultra” and the i7 thus becomes the Ultra 7 – Core Ultra 7 265K, which is the processor that will be the subject of this analysis.

Intel Core Ultra 200S (Arrow Lake) processors bring with them the new Intel LGA 1851 platform. It replaces the Intel LGA 1700 platform used since Alder Lake, the 12th generation of Intel Core processors. The new Intel Arrow Lake processors are also associated with a significant change in the structure of the processor itself. Instead of a monolithic design, now, along the lines of Meteor Lake (mobile Core Ultra 100), the processors are built on chiplets. The larger third (of the chiplets) use silicon chips manufactured in TSMC’s fabs.

The CPU cores are manufactured using almost the most advanced process node available today – the 3 nm TSMC N3B. The CPU is otherwise made up of four main chiplets, or tiles – a Compute tile (3 nm), two 6 nm tiles (SOC and IO Extender) and a 5 nm tile with the iGPU. The fifth piece of silicon is simpler –- 2 nm. This is a substrate layer/interposer.

For a detailed analysis of the new architectures of both the performance and efficient cores, see the separate articles on Lion Cove (P cores) and Skymont (E cores). The important information is that the P cores no longer have Hyper Threading. Thus, there are “only” 20 threads for the 20 (8 P and 12 E) cores of the tested Intel Ultra 7 265K processor.

The processor still uses a ring bus to interconnect the cores, just like Intel Raptor Lake processors, but it passes through both the Compute and SOC tiles. This likely causes increased memory latency, as indicated by our tests in Aida64.

The Ultra Core 7 265K is categorically the mid-range of the 125W TDP processors. That is, of those that came out in the first wave still in 2024. The lower-power 65-watt variants (without Ultra in the name, by the way) will traditionally not come out until early 2025.

The CPU’s characteristics in terms of heat transfer to the cooler are also changed. In addition to the change to the layout of the CPU into multiple chiplets, the individual cores are also arranged differently. While Raptor Lake (Refresh) CPUs have P cores next to each other and then a block of E cores next to them, Arrow Lake now has the P and E cores in an alternating layout. Such a layout could theoretically mitigate heat concentration under load. The consequence of this is that Arrow Lake creates different hotspots compared to Raptor Lake.

The connectivity on the Intel Z890 platform is also improved, with not only PCIe 5.0×16 for the graphics card, but also two separate interfaces of four lanes each for SSDs being brought out of the CPU. One of these natively supports PCIe 5.0 ×16. The previous LGA 1700 platform had only one PCIe 4.0 ×4 interface. At the same time, the processor also provides connectivity for two 40-gigabit Thunderbolt 4/USB4 ports.

A word about the iGPU: It has the Xe LPG architecture (as do the Arc graphics cards) with 512 shaders, which is a significant improvement over the graphics adapter in the Raptor Lake processors. In addition to HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR20 with a maximum resolution of 7680 × 4320 px is also supported.

Please note: The article continues in the following chapters.

* We do not have certainty on this parameter. AMD does not specify the maximum resolution and maximum refresh rate in publicly available materials. However, it is possible that it will be the same as for Ryzen 7000s, i.e. 3840 × 2160 px (60 Hz).

• Contents
• Intel Core Ultra 7 265K in detail
• Methodology: performance tests
• Methodology: how we measure power draw
• Methodology: temperature and clock speed tests
• Test setup
• 3DMark
• Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
• Borderlands 3
• Counter-Strike: GO
• Cyberpunk 2077
• DOOM Eternal
• F1 2020
• Metro Exodus
• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Total War Saga: Troy
• Overall gaming performance
• Gaming performance per euro
• PCMark and Geekbench
• Web performance
• 3D rendering: Cinebench, Blender, ...
• Video 1/2: Adobe Premiere Pro
• Video 2/2: DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Graphics effects: Adobe After Effects
• Video encoding
• Audio encoding
• Broadcasting (OBS and Xsplit)
• Photos 1/2: Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom
• Photos 2/2: Affinity Photo, Topaz Labs AI Apps, ZPS X, ...
• (De)compression
• (De)encryption
• Numerical computing
• Simulations
• Memory and cache tests
• Processor power draw curve
• Average processor power draw
• Performance per watt
• Achieved CPU clock speed
• CPU temperature
• Conclusion