This Core Ultra 9 285K bundle includes a Gigabyte Z890 Aorus Master AI TOP motherboard and a 32GB kit of Corsair Vengeance DDR5-6400 CL36 memory for $620 off.
Although a good deal on memory is the main draw here, the lion's share of the price goes toward the high-end Core Ultra 9 285K and Gigabyte Z890 Aorus Master AI TOP motherboard. It's no secret that Intel's latest Arrow Lake offerings lag behind AMD's Zen 5 chips, but the Core Ultra 9 285K is still extremely fast, especially at this price.
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware) (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) As you can see from the results gathered in our Core Ultra 9 285K review , the main issue with this chip is its gaming performance. The X3D chips from AMD claim the top slots, unsurprisingly, but the Core Ultra 9 285K also underperforms compared to the Core i9-13900K, Core i9-14900K, and Core i7-14700K.
Although the Core Ultra 9 285K doesn't top the gaming charts, its performance drop is mostly relevant at 1080p. With such a high-end CPU and motherboard, this is a rig you'll probably pair with at least a 1440p monitor, and likely a 4K one. At those higher resolutions, the Core Ultra 9 285K's lagging gaming performance starts to disappear.
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware) (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) This isn't the bundle to buy if you're only concerned with gaming performance; however, the Core Ultra 7 265K offers marginally lower gaming performance for much less. The Core Ultra 9 285K earns its stripes with productivity performance. AMD's Ryzen 9 9950X still holds the top spot in multi-threaded performance, outpacing the Core Ultra 9 285K by a slim 5%. That's despite Intel ditching Hyper-Threading with its Arrow Lake chips, leaving its CPUs with far fewer threads to play with.
Looking at single-threaded performance, it's clear how big Intel's core advantage is. It's 7% ahead of the Ryzen 9 9950X, which is a sizable jump considering how radically different the Arrow Lake architecture is.
For the motherboard, we reviewed the older Gigabyte Z890 Aorus Master (sans AI TOP branding), which is identical to the one offered here. In our testing, the board delivered strong thermal performance for the VRMs and plenty of overclocking headroom, which is expected from a board that normally retails for $600.
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware) (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) Outside of the performance, the Z890 Aorus Master comes with loads of connectivity. You get 10-Gigabit Ethernet along with Wi-Fi 7 support, as well as dual Thunderbolt 4 ports and four M.2 slots with PCIe 4.0 x4 speeds. The board uses Gigabyte's EZ-Latch system for the PCIe and M.2 slots, allowing you to install your components without a screwdriver.
You can pick up the Core Ultra 9 285K bundle on Newegg for $849.99 now.
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/save-usd620-on-high-end-core-ultra-9-285k-bundle-with-32gb-of-ram-get-over-usd1-500-in-gear-for-less-than-usd800#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.