Intel Core Ultra 5 245K CPU Review

How Much Does it Cost?

The new CPUs are the latest flagships for the Intel range, and obviously their performance, features and core counts are reflected in the price tags. The Intel Core U5 245K is the cheapest of the bunch that we’ve tested today, coming in at just $309/£278.99. The faster Intel Core U7 265K is a little more expensive at $394.00, and of course, the flagship Intel Core U9 285K is the most expensive at $589.00. However, I do think the price gap is quite a leap to the i9, but no doubt more CPUs will hit the market to fill out the pricing stacks, below and in between these CPUs. You can check for up-to-date stock and prices from Scan.co.uk here.

Conclusion

While these new CPUs are not a huge departure from their predecessors in terms of raw performance, there is certainly a lot going on here that’s worth considering. Firstly, Intel is seemingly calling this the first generation of Intel Core Ultra rather than the 15th Generation of the i-series processors; however, it is true that they are, in fact, both of these things.

HyperThreading

One of the biggest changes is the removal of HyperThreading, which has been a key component of CPU design for many years now. The results are a bit of a mixed bag, with some software having little to no performance impact, while others have clearly been impacted in a noticeable way. However, this is a trend that would likely shift over time, as software developers leverage the CPUs in a new way, rather than relying on Hyperthreading, and that may be as simple as some software updates, or a much more complicated process that will take months or years to roll out for the majority of popular applications.

This also relates to games, as some games clearly are impacted by this new approach, while others faired absolutely fine. Most notable was Cyberpunk, which suffered noticeably, and from our friends in the industry sharing whispers, our results are similar to what others are seeing in their own testing. Again some software updates in the near future will likely sort that out, and we look forward to retesting.

Increased Cost

The overall cost of upgrading to this generation is significant. It’s not just the CPU price, but the new chipset and socket, and the need for new high-speed DDR5 memory that all add to the expense. While previous generations could use more affordable DDR5-7600, this one needs DDR5-8200 for optimal performance, which essentially doubles the memory cost compared to a typical DDR5-7200 kit. This significantly inflates the total system price, making it a major hurdle for potential buyers.

The enthusiast PC gamers out there likely will swallow the cost of the upgrade, as they’ll often go to any lengths for the latest technology, but your average consumer is likely going to sway towards the last generation just on price alone.

First Gen

The general vibe of these First Gen Intel Core Ultra CPUs is that they’re what the 14th Gen should have been. They give largely similar performance, behind in some tests, broadly equal in many, and a little ahead in some, not unexpected really given past CPU launches. However, the more refined power delivery is a big step up, resulting in lower power usage, and lower temperatures and that’s going to make both cooling requirements easier, as well as high-end performance stability much easier, as you can push boost clocks without turning your PC into a small furnace. Intel even said in their own press briefing that we should think of this as a fresh starting point for the future. Building a base of efficiency, fast I/O and faster memory is a great place to start, there’s no doubt about that.

Retesting?

What is clear is that Intel has created a few problems by dropping HyperThreading, but I’m sure their intentions will benefit us in the near future as games and software catch up to the changes. Furthermore, while it’s not worth diving into right now, the recent release of Windows updates gave us a world of headaches, resulting in us rolling back the update for testing. However, this is a good indication that in a few weeks, we will retest all of this, as I think there’s performance left on the table.

Should I Buy One?

Intel has changed a lot here, but largely ended up with a broadly similar end-user experience. As more software starts to leverage the AI boosting features, the larger caches, and lack of HyperThreading, etc, we expect to see some big improvements. The U5 may not be the most potent of the new stack, but the lower power usage, lower temperatures, and the improved chipset all add up to a solid platform with plenty of potential for around £280, but may be a hard sell due to the cost of new motherboards, RAM, etc.