80
Jacob Roach
Digital Trends
“Intel is finding its footing with the Core Ultra 9 285K — for better and worse.”
Critical Assessment
What Critics Praise
- Strong multi-core productivity performance
- Improved power efficiency and lower thermals
- Support for DDR5‑CUDIMM memory
- First Intel desktop with an NPU
- Runs very cool in games
- Dedicated AI silicon
Points of Contention
- Higher price relative to AMD
- Expensive to upgrade
- NPU feels underutilised and largely pointless for most users
- Mixed CPU test results
Professional Reviews
6 reviews from 6 critics80
Michael Justin Allen Sexton
PCMag
“This allows the Core Ultra 9 285K ($589) to cleanly outperform its predecessor and stand out as a big step in the right direction for Intel at its sub-$600 introduction price.”
75
Alex Estevez
PCWorld
The Core Ultra 9 285K delivers meaningful performance improvements and better power efficiency for content creators, but falls behind AMD's Ryzen 9 9950X in gaming benchmarks. It represents a solid upgrade for professionals prioritizing productivity and energy savings, though it is not a game-changer for gamers.
70
John Loeffler
TechRadar
“the new Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and Intel Core Ultra 5 245K really aren't any better than the chips they are replacing, and their efficiency gains are too modest to justify investing in a whole new platform.”
60
Paul Alcorn
Tom's Hardware
The Core Ultra 9 285K delivers strong multi-core productivity performance and improved power efficiency, but suffers from a gaming performance regression compared to the previous generation. Its higher price point makes it less competitive against AMD's Zen 4 X3D chips for gamers.
60
Jacqueline Thomas
IGN
“The Ultra 9 285K, and its little sibling, the Ultra 5 245K offer a sizable increase in creative workloads, but ultimately fall short when it comes to gaming performance.”
