Core i9-13900K vs Core Ultra 9 285K

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The Core i9-13900K and the Core Ultra 9 285K are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The Core i9-13900K has 24 cores and 32 threads, and the Core Ultra 9 285K has 24 cores and 24 threads. Core counts are the same, so cache size and clock speed decide the difference. Boost clocks are 5.8 GHz and 5.7 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core i9-13900K uses the LGA1700 socket and the Core Ultra 9 285K uses LGA1851, 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 125 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

At launch the Core i9-13900K cost $589 and the Core Ultra 9 285K $589, which gives 14.4 and 14.1 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 i9-13900K can feed a card up to the GeForce RTX 5080 before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core Ultra 9 285K reaches the GeForce RTX 5080. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core i9-13900K if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Core Ultra 9 285K if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.