Core Ultra 5 245K vs Ryzen 5 7600X

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The Core Ultra 5 245K and the Ryzen 5 7600X are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The Core Ultra 5 245K has 14 cores and 14 threads, and the Ryzen 5 7600X has 6 cores and 12 threads. The extra cores of the Core Ultra 5 245K help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 5.2 GHz and 5.3 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core Ultra 5 245K uses the LGA1851 socket and the Ryzen 5 7600X uses AM5, so they need different motherboards, and often different memory. When you compare prices, count the board as well as the chip.

Rated power is 125 W for the first and 105 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

At launch the Core Ultra 5 245K cost $309 and the Ryzen 5 7600X $299, which gives 23.9 and 24.7 points of gaming performance per $100. Today's prices will differ.

Which graphics cards each one can feed, and which to buy

At 1080p the Core Ultra 5 245K can feed a card up to the Radeon RX 9070 XT before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Ryzen 5 7600X reaches the Radeon RX 9070 XT. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core Ultra 5 245K if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Ryzen 5 7600X if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.