Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 Desktop Processor 265K 20 cores (8 P-cores + 12 E-cores) up to 5.5 GHz

Intel’s Core Ultra 7 265K is a bold step into the Arrow Lake generation, blending high efficiency with solid multi-core muscle. With 8 performance cores and 12 efficient cores, it’s built for demanding productivity tasks and moderate gaming, though it doesn’t quite dethrone the competition in every category. Performance Highlights: Boosts up to 5.5GHz on P-cores and 4.6GHz on E-cores, delivering snappy responsiveness. 30MB of L3 cache and improved L2 cache per core help with multitasking and heavy workloads. Great for rendering, encoding, and synthetic benchmarks—especially in multi-threaded scenarios. Gaming Caveats: While capable, it trails behind AMD’s X3D chips and even Intel’s own 14th-gen CPUs in some titles. Performance can vary depending on BIOS optimization and Windows scheduling—some games show noticeable dips. Efficiency & Thermals: Built on TSMC’s 3nm process, it runs cooler and draws less power than its predecessors. Stays under 85°C with a decent cooler, even under full load. Platform Notes: Requires a new LGA1851 motherboard, which adds to upgrade costs. Compatible with existing coolers, but benefits from faster DDR5 RAM and PCIe Gen 5 support. Some may see this as sub standard to the X3D CPU's but when you're running at high resolutions like 4K, the difference is not noticeable with modern GPU's (I'm running a 5080). For other tasks aside from gaming, this thing really covers all angles. Easy to install, typical for Intel.

Been running the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K in my new build for a while now, paired with an MSI Tomahawk Z890, 32GB DDR5 6400MHz RAM, and an RTX 5080, and I’ve got to say — this chip is seriously impressive. From the first boot, it’s been nothing but smooth. No random crashes, no odd temps, and everything just works. I’ve got Intel 200S Boost and XMP enabled, and it runs my RAM at the full 6400MHz with zero issues — no drop-offs, no instability. That’s rare these days. Performance-wise, it’s a beast. My Cinebench R26 multi-core score came in around 34,900, and Steel Nomad hit just over 9,000, all while temps stayed below 80°C. I haven’t even bothered with manual overclocking — it performs that well on its own. Gaming’s been flawless too. I mainly play Red Dead Redemption 2 and a few other demanding titles, and this CPU just flies through them. No bottlenecks, no stutter — just pure, consistent performance. What I really like is how balanced it feels. It’s got the power to handle anything I throw at it, but it stays cool and quiet the whole time. No drama, no noise — just proper stability and speed. If you’re building a serious gaming or high-end PC and want something reliable, quick, and efficient without needing to mess around too much, the Ultra 7 265K is a brilliant choice.

Blistering. Upgrade from 8th gen i5 and it’s a different world. Amazing frame rate on Minecraft, even with built in graphics. Zipped through office work. Quick processing video. Probably overkill if you don’t game, or do video/audio editing. Really pleased with value for money. Really easy to fit into a Gigabyte z890

Excellent CPU. After 10 years of building systems with AMD, I decided to try Intel, and oh my goodness, it's another world. Way better, great value per pound, excellent thermals.

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265k Processor that I purchased, combined with the Asus Prime Z890-P WiFi Motherboard gives not only fantastic speeds but runs very cool on my pc. Great value CPU, good all-rounder and easy to install. Highly recommended.

Fast for productivity not so good for gaming (until DDR5 CUDIMM of 8000 and higher become available at reasonable price). Great for video editing tasks. Personally I can't tell between 250fps and 300fps ;)

Amazing CPU. Only had to upgrade my gen 1 noctua DH15 air cooler to the new DH15 G2 as the old one during stress test kept temps at around 100-103 degrees and new one at 90-95.

This processor is working just fine in a new pc I have just built. This is new technology to me having just built legacy machines before. Although the new pc is capable of being a gaming machine I am just using it for normal business activity. I am using the intel graphics within the processor via the hdmi port on the motherboard and the quality of the image is superb. Installation was easy and I have used a water cooling setup with it. I'm not really stressing it so running temperatures are low and the noise level is so low I can't detect any even with 4 fans. It's pretty fast too so very happy with it.