Intel is now really pulling out all the stops to get gamers to buy a Core Ultra 7 265K. Not only has the price now plummeted from $394 to just $299.99, but that price now even includes the new Intel Builders Bundle, netting you 32GB of G.Skill DDR5 memory and two games, including Civilization VII. At that price, and with those inclusions, it’s now a genuine bargain, even if it’s not the fastest CPU for gaming.
In my initial Core Ultra 7 265K review I criticized this Intel chip’s disappointing gaming performance, and the launch was also immediately overshadowed by the release of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D. However, a new Cyberpunk 2077 performance boost has appeared since then, as well as more free performance from the new Intel 200S overclocking feature, and it’s now a better chip for gaming.
All of which adds up to a genuinely good deal with this bundle. In particular, the inclusion of the memory is a great addition, significantly reducing the cost of upgrading from a DDR4 system. It’s really good RAM too, with this deal netting you 32GB (2 x 16GB) of G.Skill Ripjaws M5 RAM, complete with RGB lighting, and it runs at 6,000MT/s as well. You then just need to check our best gaming motherboard guide to find a board to run your new CPU and RAM.
Meanwhile, the games bundle not only includes Civilization VII, but also gets you Dying Light: The Beast when it comes out. Civilization VII alone costs $69.99, and the memory usually costs $97.99, which means this CPU effectively only costs just $132.01, and that doesn’t even factor Dying Light: The Beast into the equation.
While there were fair criticisms to aim at the gaming performance of this CPU when it first came out, it’s an outstanding bargain at this price, and I found it’s also remarkably cool-running and power-efficient in my tests. What’s more, thanks to its eight P-Cores and 12 E-Cores, it can handle heavily multi-threaded work, such as video encoding and 3D rendering, incredibly well, easily outperforming the eight-core Ryzen 7 9800X3D in these workloads.
You’ll need to be quick, though, as this bundle is listed as being available for a limited time only. To grab this Intel CPU, G.Skill RAM, and games, you just need to click on this link here, and make sure you click the Add Free Gift Offer button, which will get you the RAM and games as well.
Once you’ve got your upgrade, check out my guide on how to install a CPU, which takes you through the whole upgrade process, from fitting the chip to applying thermal paste. You can also read my guide to the best gaming CPU to see your other options.
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