The Core Ultra 7 265K is the mainstream desktop offering from Intel in the Arrow Lake lineup of CPUs. It replaces the outgoing Raptor Lake-based Core i7-14700K as the high-end gaming CPU in Intel’s arsenal. Both of these CPUs can be found right around the $300 mark, but which one should you actually go for?
With the Core Ultra lineup of CPUs, Intel decided to shake up its desktop CPU stack along with a change in naming scheme. You can think of the Core Ultra 200 series of CPUs as the 15th-Gen desktop chips in spirit. More importantly, Intel has shifted from the Intel 7 production process to TSMC’s 3nm process, which is a huge leap, at least on paper.
Does the Core Ultra 7 265K provide any tangible benefit over the Core i7-14700K, or should you just stick to the tried-and-tested Raptor Lake platform for now? We tested these two CPUs thoroughly and put them head-to-head in our 6-round gauntlet to help you make the best purchase decision.
Features and Specifications: Intel Core i7-14700K vs Intel Core Ultra 7 265K
Both the Intel Core i7-14700K and the Core Ultra 7 265K maintain Intel’s hybrid architecture with P-cores and E-cores, and both CPUs have a total of 20 cores (8 P-Cores and 12 E-Cores). The main difference between these two is the number of threads. Intel has eliminated Hyperthreading on its Arrow Lake processors, so the new Core Ultra 7 265K only has 20 threads compared to the 28 on the Core i7-14700K.
The Core i7-14700K is part of the 14th Generation Intel desktop CPU family, which is a refresh of the Raptor Lake architecture, and is built on a 10nm Enhanced SuperFin process, called Intel 7. The Core Ultra 7 265K marks Intel’s transition to TSMC’s advanced N3B process node on the compute tile, which is a massive leap from the aforementioned 10nm production process. This jump allows for significant improvements in transistor density and efficiency.
Moreover, there is another architectural change in the new Arrow Lake processors. Intel has shifted from a monolithic to a chiplet-based design, which further separates the 265K from its predecessor. The new Core Ultra CPUs employ separate dies for CPU cores, the GPU, and the SoC functions connected through Foveros Interconnect technology.
The decision to eliminate Hyperthreading helps push the base clocks higher, which is why the Core Ultra 7 265K has base frequencies of 3.9 GHz on the P-core and 3.3 GHz on the E-core. On the other hand, the Core i7-14700K operates with base frequencies of 3.4 GHz on the P-core and 2.5 GHz on the E-core. At full boost, the Core Ultra 7 265K reaches a P-core frequency of 5.5 GHz and an E-core speed of 4.6 GHz, compared to the 5.6 GHz P-core and 4.3 GHz E-core frequency of the 14700K.
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Swipe to scroll horizontally Header Cell - Column 0 Core Ultra 7 265K Core i7-14700K Cores (P + E) / Threads 20 (8 + 12) / 20 20 (8 + 12) / 28 P-Core Base / Boost Clock 3.9 GHz / 5.5 GHz 3.4 GHz / 5.6 GHz E-Core Base / Boost Clock 3.3 GHz / 4.6GHz 2.5 GHz / 4.3 GHz Cache (L2 + L3) 66MB (36MB + 30MB) 61MB (28MB + 33MB) TDP / MTP 125W / 250W 125W / 253W Memory DDR5-6400 DDR5-5600 / DDR4-3200 Lithography TSMC N3B Intel 7 Architecture Arrow Lake Raptor Lake Refresh
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