Intel's best value high-end CPU is 36% off at Amazon US (and 30% off at Amazon UK)
The 265K runs way cooler than the 14700K it replaces, and now it's really cheap too.
The Core Ultra 7 265K is the best value high-end Intel processor on the market, thanks to its beefy 20-core design and efficient nature, and now recent price cuts have made it worth considering versus the AMD Ryzen competition.
For instance, a weekend discount on Amazon US is still going on, taking this chip down to $259, or 36 percent off its $404 list price. In the UK, a similar deal brings the same CPU down from its £379 RRP to £266. For a high-end CPU, that's quite a deep discount.
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Intel Core Ultra 7 265K processor |
The Core Ultra 2 series of desktop chips debuted offering huge efficiency gains but only marginal performance gains over Intel's 14th-gen offerings, while sticking to a high price tag that made them much harder sells than their soaring AMD rivals. Intel price cuts in the last few weeks have made the chips a lot more competitive, and that's particularly true for the reduced 265K.
This processor comes with eight P-cores and 12 E-cores to provide a good blend of gaming and productivity power that's roughly similar to the 14700K chip that preceded it. With that price cut, it also becomes a more compelling choice in games against AMD's Ryzen 7 9700X. The real benefit of this chip against the 14700K is the fact it's a lot more efficient with its power, being able to offer similar results while eating up less watts. It also doesn't suffer from the thermal degradation that plagued Intel's 12th to 14th-gen parts.
Will has talked about the fact he's got this chip's bigger brother, the $530 Core Ultra 9 285K, in a small form factor PC and has been impressed with its power and thermals, putting this 265 in good stead with its slightly lower operating frequencies and four fewer cores. I'm going to be using this Core Ultra 7 265K chip in my own upcoming Mini ITX build for a test bench-style build, so I will report back soon on how well it performs.
If you are after a beefy 20 core processor for a bargain basement price, this Amazon Labor Day deal on the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is a seriously excellent option.