Intel Core Ultra 9 285

Written analysis

Intel Core Ultra 9 285 at a glance

The Intel Core Ultra 9 285 is based on the Arrow Lake-S architecture and is manufactured using the 3 nm process at TSMC. It uses the LGA 1851 socket with Z890, B860, W880, Q870, H810 chipsets, PCIe Gen 5, 20 Lanes (CPU only), and DDR5 memory up to 6400 MT/s across Dual-channel memory. This is a hybrid design with 8 performance cores at 2.50–5.60 GHz and 16 efficiency cores at 1.90–4.60 GHz, for 24 threads. Cache is 3072 kB L2 and 36 MB L3.

This is a Desktop processor using consumer memory and expansion standards. Its workload suitability is better described by the measured application and gaming scores below than by core count alone.

Base TDP is 65 W and maximum package power is 182 W. Use a high-capacity air or liquid cooler if the system will hold boost clocks under long workloads.

Integrated graphics: Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU with 4 GPU cores at 0.30–2.00 GHz. That is enough for display output, desktop work, and lighter games without a discrete GPU.

Best fit: Balanced everyday systems that benefit from usable display output without requiring a discrete GPU.

Application performance

Intel Core Ultra 9 285 is an upper mid-range CPU, at 77.43% of the dataset’s best application performance. It handles professional work well, just not at flagship speed.

Application value is 35.2 performance per dollar. You are paying for peak performance, not efficiency.

Gaming performance

Intel Core Ultra 9 285 is a mid-range gaming CPU, at 78.26% of the dataset’s best 1080p CPU-limited gaming. Match it with a mid-range GPU.

Gaming value is 23.4 performance per dollar. Nearby CPUs in the table are often better buys for gaming.