Intel’s latest-gen Core Ultra 5 245KF CPU drops well below $200 this Cyber Monday in Amazon deal
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We’ve spotted one of Intel’s latest processors at its lowest-ever price on Amazon for Cyber Monday. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF is a desktop processor that helped kick off Team Blue’s new ‘Core Ultra’ branding. Usually priced at $304.00, you can now snag the mid-range CPU for just $189.99.
If you’re searching for a gaming CPU right now, it’s fair to say that AMD’s Ryzen chips have emerged as the more popular choice. However, if you’re looking for better performance for multitasking, then Intel’s latest Core Ultra series processors remain an excellent option. And that’s not to say they’re bad at gaming either, as you can enjoy superb gaming performance, too.
Intel Core Ultra 5 Desktop Processor 245KF
What we like about the Core Ultra 5 245KF
There are a few things we want to highlight about this chip. Its close sibling, the 245K, has passed through the PC Guide testing lab, so we know a thing or two about how it will perform.
Excellent multi-core performance
We’ve reviewed the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K and have tested its performance for gaming and synthetic benchmarks. The ‘F’ suffix on the discounted model denotes that it lacks integrated graphics, but that’s not much of a problem if you have a graphics card. The performance of the two will be virtually identical – all you’re missing is the iGPU. You can see the performance of the 245K we tested below, where it pulls ahead of rival Ryzen chips for multi-core:
Intel Core Ultra 5 245K Cyberpunk 2077, Image by PC Guide
Intel Core Ultra 5 245K Blender, Image by PC Guide
Intel Core Ultra 5 245K temperatures, Image by PC Guide
Intel Core Ultra 5 245K average package power, Image by PC Guide
Intel Core Ultra 5 245K multi core synthetics, Image by PC Guide
Intel Core Ultra 5 245K single core synthetics, Image by PC Guide
Great efficiency and low temps
It’s fair to say that the 245KF is a no-thrills processor, offering strong multi-core performance for multitasking, while being nicely efficient with low temps in many tasks. Now that it’s less than $200, we think the 245KF is a fantastic option, particularly for productivity – less so for solely gaming. In our package power and temperature testing (also found in the graphs above), the 245K we tested was incredibly efficient, and the temperature was below 70 degrees Celsius, even when put under a lot of stress.
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*Prices and savings subject to change. Click through to get the current prices.
A solid, cheap CPU for AI workflows
The Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF comes with a built-in Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which helps boost performance for AI workflows. Intel says that the NPU allows this processor to offload AI tasks such as “background removal, audio optimization, and auto-framing,” which is handy for multitasking – like gaming while streaming.
Is this a good CPU deal?
Intel launched its new Core Ultra series processors just over 12 months ago, and we finally got to see them drop in price earlier this year, and then plummet in price as we approached Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales events. Right now, the 245KF is the lowest price it has ever been on Amazon US, so there has never been a better time to pick one up. The middle-of-the-pack processor is a solid budget pick, and the
More CPU deals this Cyber Monday
Whether you’re going for an AMD or an Intel build, there are plenty of processor deals to explore this Cyber Monday. Below you’ll find the latest options from both Team Red and Team Blue.
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU
Ryzen 7 9800X3D (Micro Center)
Intel Core Ultra 5 Desktop Processor 245KF
AMD Ryzen 5 9600X
AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D 16-Core Processor
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