• Better for most builds

  AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

  Cores

  8

  Threads

  16

  Architecture

  Zen 5

  Process

  TSMC 4nm, 6nm

  Socket

  AM5

  Base Clock Speed

  4.7 GHz

  The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is one of the stars of AMD’s new Zen 5 chip lineup, and it’s been hailed as the best gaming CPU on the market right now. It doesn't outperform the Core Ultra 7 265K in most benchmark tests and it lacks any NPU cores, so it's not as good for productivity. However, its 3D V-Cache technology makes it the better choice for gaming, which is what most PC builders are after.

  Pros & Cons

  • 3D V-Cache is great for gaming
  • Excellent multi-core performance
  • Considerably more energy efficient

  • Not as good for productivity tasks
  • No neural processing cores

  $479 at Amazon
• Still trailing behind

  Intel Core Ultra 7 265K

  Cores

  8P / 12E

  Threads

  20

  Architecture

  Arrow Lake

  Process

  TSMC N3B

  Socket

  LGA 1851

  Base Clock Speed

  3.9 GHz / 3.3 GHz

  The Core Ultra 7 265K is a powerful chip that brings some noteworthy improvements to Intel’s CPU arsenal. Its refreshed architecture addresses some of the problems with previous-gen Intel chips, and in benchmark tests, this thing is a serious performer. Nonetheless, it lags behind the 9800X3D in both gaming performance and thermal efficiency, making it harder to recommend to most PC builders.

  Pros & Cons

  • Superior performance in benchmark tests
  • Neural processing for AI support
  • Better price

  • Not as good for gaming
  • Lags behind AMD in efficiency

  $400 at Amazon

The never-ending CPU arms race rages on, and there’s no denying that Intel—once the king—has fallen behind AMD in recent years. Intel seeks to remedy that with its new Core Ultra 7 265K processor, the chip maker’s apparent answer to AMD’s beefy new Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU. These are strong contenders for the best CPU of 2024, but can the Core Ultra 7 265K issue a worthy challenge to the vaunted gaming performance of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D? Let’s take a look.

Price, specs, and availability

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Core Ultra 7 265K were released in October 2024. The Core Ultra 7 265K is part of Intel’s Arrow Lake desktop CPU series, whereas the Ryzen 7 9800X belongs to AMD’s Zen 5 lineup (dubbed “Granite Ridge”).

Neither processor is what you’d call cheap, with the Core Ultra 7 265K carrying a $400 sticker price and the Ryzen 7 9800X costing $479 at retail. Both are available through their official websites and third-party retailers such as Newegg, Amazon, and Best Buy.

• 	AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D	Intel Core Ultra 7 265K
  Socket	AM5	LGA 1851
  Cores	8	8P / 12E
  Threads	16	20
  Base Clock Speed	4.7 GHz	3.9 GHz / 3.3 GHz
  Boost Clock Speed	5.2 GHz	5.4 GHz / 4.6 GHz
  PCIe	5.0	5.0
  Cache	104 MB	30MB L3 + 36MB L2
  RAM support	DDR5-5600	DDR5-6400
  Graphics	AMD Radeon Graphics	Intel Graphics
  Architecture	Zen 5	Arrow Lake
  Process	TSMC 4nm, 6nm	TSMC N3B
  TDP	120W	125 W
  Power Draw	~150W	~250 W
  Price (MSRP)	$479	$400

Architecture and design

Both bring something new to the table

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Core Ultra 7 265K bring some significant changes to the AMD and Intel designs. The 9800X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread AM5 CPU with 3D V-Cache technology. It's nothing too groundbreaking, but AMD changed things a bit this time by moving this "second-gen" 3D V-Cache below the Zen cores rather than on top of them. This architectural redesign improves thermal efficiency and addresses one of the major pain points of the first-gen 3D V-Cache Zen chips. The 3D V-Cache technology is also interesting, but we'll analyze that more later as it relates to gaming performance.

The Core Ultra 7 265K is an even bigger departure from previous generations. It has a much larger 66MB on-chip cache (although not as large as the 9800X3D's 104MB 3D V-Cache), improved thermal efficiency, and excellent support for high-speed RAM. It's a 20-core, 20-thread CPU, with those 20 cores divided between eight performance and 12 efficiency cores. Both processors support PCIe 5.0 SSDs, so either is good to go with the latest high-speed M.2 storage drives.

It's hard to say which design is better. They're different chips in a similar price and performance bracket, and each brings some interesting new changes to their respective lineups—changes no doubt driven by this decades-long rivalry. If you don't already prefer Intel or AMD, it makes more sense to dive into how well these CPUs perform and at what tasks.

Winner: Tie

Performance and efficiency

It depends on what you want

In our benchmark tests, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K generally outperformed the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, sometimes by quite an impressive margin. However, there is more to determining practical performance than looking at benchmark tests, which aren't always a good indicator of how a CPU operates on a daily basis. The Core Ultra chip's 20 cores are geared towards productivity and general use. On top of that, it has neural processing cores, which the 9800X3D completely lacks, an obvious sign that Intel is leaning hard into the AI trend. If you're concerned with support for generative AI, that could be a major point in Intel's column.

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is no slouch in our tests, but it truly shines with gaming. Its 104MB 3D V-Cache lets the CPU store data directly without relying on RAM. Bypassing traditional memory caching speeds things up, and this is evident in the excellent gaming performance that this Zen 5 chip delivers. It's a great CPU for 1440p and 4K gaming rigs. The GPU is still the critical factor of any PC gaming build, but the CPU is hardly irrelevant, and the 9800X3D is a superb choice if that's your aim.

If gaming is on the menu, there's no compelling reason not to consider the Ryzen 7 9800X3D over the Core Ultra 7 265K (or any other Intel CPU). Admittedly, the Intel option is better for running productivity software, handling generative AI, and other non-gaming applications. But let's face it: most people build a desktop PC to play games. Practically speaking, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the obvious choice here. Furthermore, Intel seems to still be working out some kinks in its Arrow Lake chips, which makes us reluctant to recommend them until the problems are fixed.

Where efficiency is concerned, AMD has all but set the new standard, and Intel is still playing catch-up. That said, the Core Ultra 7 265K is a worthy attempt. It offers notable thermal performance and power efficiency improvements over its 14th-gen Core predecessors, which didn't win any awards here. The 9800X3D also manages power draw and thermals quite well, although it's not the most efficient of the new Ryzen 7 chips by a long shot. Whichever one you go with, ensure you have a good cooler to keep those temperatures in line.

Winner: Ryzen 7 9800X3D

Which CPU is right for your build?

Although the Core Ultra 7 265K is an impressive new effort from Intel, we were more impressed with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D overall. This is due to its excellent gaming performance (via AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology) and superior energy efficiency compared to Intel’s current offerings. If you’re among the majority of PC builders putting together a desktop for gaming, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the better choice.

Despite all that, the Core Ultra 7 265K is an excellent chip and an impressive effort from a struggling Intel. Although it lags behind the 9800X3D in gaming and energy efficiency, the Core Ultra 7 265K outpaces the Ryzen competition in most single- and multi-core tests, and features neural processing cores for AI tasks. That makes this CPU a better choice than Ryzen for a PC built with productivity, rather than gaming, in mind. You might want to wait for Intel to fix the issues with Arrow Lake before you commit, though.