Intel Core Ultra 5 245K Review – No Longer The Power Guzzler That It Was

The mid-range CPU segment welcomes a new challenger, Intel’s new Core Ultra 5 245K processor. This segment has been Intel’s strength in the past few years, so let’s see if the new chip continues that trend. (Editor’s note: for Core Ultra 9 285K’s review, click here.)

Specification & Comparison

Intel Core Ultra 5 245K

Here are the differences between the Core Ultra 5 245K chip, its 14th Gen Core counterpart, and its competition:
(Full specifications available at Intel specifications database.)

Processor	Intel Core Ultra 5 245K	Intel Core i5-14600K	AMD Ryzen 7 9700X	AMD Ryzen 5 9600X
Core Configuration	6P+8E 14 threads (tiled)	6P+8E 20 threads (monolithic)	8 cores 16 threads (1 CCD)	6 cores 12 threads (1 CCD)
Process Node	CPU: TSMC N3B SoC: TSMC N6 I/O: TSMC N6 GPU: TSMC N5 Base: Intel 22FFL	Intel 7 (formerly 10nm Enhanced SuperFin)	CCD: TSMC N4P IOD: TSMC N6
Microarchitecture	Arrow Lake P-Core: Lion Cove E-Core: Skymont	Raptor Lake Refresh P-Core: Raptor Cove E-Core: Gracemont	Zen 5 “Granite Ridge”
Boost Clock	P-Core: 5.2GHz E-Core: 4.6GHz	P-Core: 5.3GHz E-Core: 4.0GHz	5.5GHz	5.4GHz
Base Clock	P-Core: 4.2GHz E-Core: 3.6GHz	P-Core: 3.5GHz E-Core: 2.6GHz	3.8GHz	3.9GHz
Cache (L2+L3)	24+26MB	20+24MB	8+32MB	6+32MB
TDP	125W (PBP) 159W (MTP)	125W (PBP) 181W (MTP)	65W (88W PPT) *105W mode available via BIOS
Max Temperature (TjMax)	105°C	100°C	95°C
Memory Support	DDR5-6400 192GB dual-channel CUDIMM support	DDR5-5600 DDR4-3200 192GB dual-channel	DDR5-5600 192GB dual-channel
Onboard Graphics	Intel Graphics 4 Xe-Cores @ 1.9GHz	Intel UHD Graphics 770 32 EUs @ 1.55GHz	AMD Radeon Graphics 2 CUs (RDNA2) @ 2.2GHz
Neural Processor	Intel AI Boost 13 TOPS (INT8) peak	None
Usable PCIe Lanes	24x PCIe 5.0	16x PCIe 5.0 4x PCIe 4.0	24x PCIe 5.0
Socket Type	LGA1851	LGA1700	Socket AM5 (LGA1718)
Chipset Support	Intel 800 series	Intel 600, 700 series	AMD 600, 800 series

Test System

CPU	Intel Core Ultra 5 245K
Cooling	Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 Flux 30th Anniversary Edition Cooler Master MasterGel Maker
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Maximus Z890 Hero
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition
Memory	Kingston FURY RENEGADE RGB DDR5-6400 CL32 (2x16GB)
Storage	ADATA LEGEND 960 MAX 1TB
Power Supply	GameMax GX-1050 PRO BK (ATX 3.1) 1050W
Case	VECTOR Bench Case (Open-air chassis)
Operating System	Windows 11 Home 23H2

Benchmarks

All tests are conducted in out-of-the-box configuration – using default power limits of 125W/159W PL1/PL2 MTP in Performance power profile as specified per Intel Default Settings specification, unless otherwise specified. Windows Power Plan is set as ‘Balanced’ as per defaults.

Cinebench

First up is Cinebench, and here we see the Core Ultra 5’s single-core performance does fall behind its predecessor – though this result is based on stock settings using Balanced power plan in Windows (Intel recommends High Performance power plan). It’s likely that Thread Director needs the latter to fully stretch its legs, so you might have to go to the Settings app to make that switch if you want better performance. In any case, multi-core performance fared a lot better compared to competition thanks to beefier E-cores.

Power Draw & Thermals

All of that performance is done while pulling very little power – even when compared to AMD’s Ryzen chips, long known for their efficiency capabilities. Pretty surprising, to say the least, but it does prove that Intel is finally getting back on track to compete on efficiency fronts. The new IHS also proves to be very effective at transferring heat as well, registering just 60°C at 115 watts.

7-Zip

The compression and decompression performance of the Core Ultra 5 245K does seem to be underwhelming, partly due to its significantly higher memory latency we’ve observed from this new architecture (refer to our Core Ultra 9 review for more details). Is it due to the tile-based design? Hard to say, but having worse memory latency certainly doesn’t help memory-sensitive workloads like this one.

3DMark Time Spy (CPU)

Next up is 3DMark Time Spy, and the new Arrow Lake architecture doesn’t play the nicest with this benchmark in particular (though AMD’s Zen architecture famed much worse in comparison). Moving on.

Handbrake

When all 14 cores of the Core Ultra 5 gets to work, the performance is pretty solid, as evidenced by the Handbrake benchmark. Here, the new chip saved 12 seconds from the predecessor, while its superior core count makes easy work of AMD’s 6-core and 8-core offerings.

Gaming

Finally, our gaming benchmark results shows a bit of back-and-forth between the Zen 5, Raptor Lake and Arrow Lake. The Core Ultra 5 is especially good at games like Black Myth: Wukong, though the 14th Gen chip wins in latency-sensitive games like Hitman 3. Cyberpunk 2077 continues to favor Ryzens more, while Red Dead Redemption 2 is another small win for Arrow Lake.

Verdict

When the Core i5-13600K was released two years ago, we gave it a high praise thanks to its large number of cores that can be competitive against the likes of Core i9-12900K, two years later, can the Core Ultra 5 245K be seen as the best mid-range chip? Well, it depends.

From an efficiency standpoint, it looks like Intel has finally managed to keep the fire-breathing monsters in check, and still gained a small bit of multi-core boost despite that. If efficiency is what you’re looking for, this is the one that even Ryzens will have trouble competing against.

However, there’s some caveats. Looking at the performance, it’s a bit of a mixed bag, some of which can be thought as the “growing pains” of introducing a brand-new architecture. If gaming is what you look for, it’s going to be more or less on the same ballpark as its predecessor, but you do get the small bonus in terms of power savings.

Speaking of bonuses, you do also get an onboard NPU now, if you ever need that (think webcam effects and other tasks that lightweight AI models can do); and there’s also Thunderbolt 4 directly integrated into the chip, which means hopefully we can see mid-range motherboards (beyond creator or premium ones) starting to widely adopt the standard.

Lastly, the price: the Core Ultra 5 245K is now available for the price of $309, which is definitely a better deal compared to AMD Ryzen 9000 chips. However, it won’t be the same story for 14th Gen chips, or even 13th Gen chips if you can find them – both of these can still hold up to this day if you don’t mind some of the features it lacks.

Special thanks to Intel Malaysia for providing the Core Ultra 5 245K processor for this review.