Intel Announces Intel Core Ultra 200S Series Desktop Processors

As a seasoned PC enthusiast with years of experience under my belt, I must say that Intel’s Core Ultra 200S Series is shaping up to be quite the game-changer. The integration of an NPU for AI capabilities is a bold move and one that could potentially revolutionize the way we interact with our PCs.

Intel has formally unveiled its latest Intel Core Ultra 200S Series processors, set to hit stores on October 24th. This debut marks the arrival of Intel’s Arrow Lake CPU family, initially offering five new processors. These new choices will provide customers with a variety of options for the upcoming generation.

The prices of the Intel Core Ultra 200S Series processors range from $294 for the low-end Core Ultra 5 245KF up to $589 for the high-end Ultra 9 285K.

Spec	Core Ultra 9 285K	Core Ultra 7 265K	Core Ultra 7 265KF	Core Ultra 5 245K	Core Ultra 5 245KF
Cores	24 (8P+16E)	20 (8P+12E)	20 (8P+12E)	14 (6P+8E)	14 (6P+8E)
Threads	24	20	20	14	14
Cache	36 Smart 42 L2	30 Smart 36 L2	30 Smart 36 L2	24 Smart 26 L2	24 Smart 26 L2
Base Clock	3.2 GHz	3.3 GHz	3.3 GHz	3.6 GHz	3.6 GHz
Max Clock	Up to 5.7 GHz	Up to 5.5 GHz	Up to 5.5 GHz	Up to 5.2 GHz	Up to 5.2 GHz
Graphics	Intel Graphics	Intel Graphics	N/A	Intel Graphics	N/A
GPU Cores	4	4	N/A	4	N/A
NPU	13 TOPS	13 TOPS	13 TOPS	13 TOPS	13 TOPS
RAM Speed	DDR5-6400	DDR5-6400	DDR5-6400	DDR5-6400	DDR5-6400
Max RAM	192GB	192GB	192GB	192GB	192GB
Power (Base/Max)	125W/250W	125W/250W	125W/250W	125W/159W	125W/159W
Price	$589	$394	$379	$309	$294

Intel Core Ultra 200S Series CPU Features

As per Intel’s claims, the Core Ultra 200S series boasts approximately double the graphic rendering capability and a multithread performance boost of over 10%, all while consuming less power compared to its predecessors.

According to Robert Hallock, Vice President of the Client Computing Group and General Manager of AI Technical Marketing, the main aim of this project was to achieve significant enhancements in energy efficiency,” is a natural and easy-to-read paraphrase.

Intel’s Arrow Lake CPUs are claimed to reduce power consumption by up to 58% in certain scenarios when compared to the previous generation, Raptor Lake. This reduction in power usage is accompanied by a modest enhancement in overall performance.

In terms of gaming, Arrow Lake experiences a decrease in total system power of up to 165 watts compared to its previous generation. Specific games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and F1 24 have even seen over 50 watts reduction. Assassin’s Creed Mirage witnessed nearly an 80-watt decrease. Additionally, this power drop results in improved cooling efficiency.

Intel Announces Intel Core Ultra 200S Series Desktop Processors

As a dedicated gamer, I’ve been impressed by the difference using the Core Ultra 9 285K has made. According to Intel, this bad boy can lower temperatures up to an astounding 17 degrees Celsius while I’m immersed in my gaming sessions!

In terms of overall gaming performance, the latest CPUs are generally competitive with the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X. Some specific games such as Total War: Warhammer 3 and Age of Mythology Retold run better on the Core Ultra 200S. Conversely, Intel’s own tests suggest that games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Red Dead Redemption 2 may run slightly worse compared to these processors.

The Core Ultra 285K isn’t limited to gaming; when matched against the 9950X, it showed significant improvements in numerous rendering tasks generally. However, Intel’s data reveals that it falls slightly behind in CPU-only rendering tasks within Blender, photo editing, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Lightroom Classic.

Intel’s latest CPU generation brings about the debut of its 800 Series chipset, which boasts 48 PCIe lanes and supports PCIe 5.0 technology. This new chipset offers built-in support for Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and Thunderbolt 4. In addition to these features, it is capable of supporting future technologies such as Wi-Fi 7, Thunderbolt 5, and Bluetooth 5.4. Furthermore, it includes Thunderbolt Share functionality, enabling swift file sharing, PC-to-PC screen sharing, and even storage sharing.

As an enthusiastic fan, I’m thrilled to share that three of the new product launches – the Core Ultra 9 285K, Ultra 7 265K, and Ultra 5 245K – will come equipped with integrated graphics. Each of these models boasts 4 GPU cores, with the 285K and 265K reaching a maximum frequency of 2 GHz, while the 245K offers a slightly lower but still impressive 1.9 GHz max frequency.

In terms of memory, the Intel Core Ultra 200S Series can handle speeds up to DDR5-6400 MegaTransfers per second and has a maximum capacity of up to 192 Gigabytes when using as many as 48 Gigabytes per module.

Intel Is Coming For AI PCs

Intel Announces Intel Core Ultra 200S Series Desktop Processors

Currently, the term AI is quite popular with computers, and it appears that the Intel Core Ultra 200S series is no exception. This latest line of processors is being marketed as “Intel’s inaugural AI PC designed for enthusiasts” due to its first-ever built-in Neural Processing Unit (NPU) specifically for AI purposes.

The latest Arrow Lake CPU lineup, as Intel states, boasts capabilities of up to 36 platform Tera Operations per Second (TOPS). This impressive performance is largely due to its built-in Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which can deliver up to 13 TOPS on its own. The NPU will enable simultaneous handling of larger-scale tasks, such as creating video effects, audio processing, and even gaming. To illustrate the AI capabilities of these new processors, Intel mentioned an example like NPU-enhanced auto framing and background segmentation during their briefing. They further explained that by delegating tasks to the NPU, the GPU can concentrate on delivering smoother gameplay with potentially higher frame rates. They also noted that distributing various tasks could potentially recover up to 15% of the frame rates in games.

Intel is collaborating with over a hundred independent software vendors to expand the functionalities of the NPU. This partnership aims to offer approximately 300 AI-related features to users. Moreover, Intel indicates that there are over 500 distinct AI models compatible with it, covering areas like object detection, language processing, instance segmentation, and many others.

Intel claims that the Core Ultra 200S processors deliver approximately double the speed in overall AI performance compared to AMD, notably up to 50% faster when it comes to Scene Edit Detection within Adobe After Effects. However, most enhancements were found to be between 15% and 20%.

Alongside the Core Ultra 200S collection, Intel has indicated that information about their upcoming Core Ultra H and HX Series processors for mobile devices will be unveiled during the initial quarter of 2025. Further details regarding these processors will be shared at a later time.

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