- Intel’s sub-$200 CPUs now deliver performance once reserved for much more expensive processors
- Core Ultra 5 chips push AMD by pairing clocks with multicore results
- AMD’s Ryzen 9 5900XT struggles to justify prices against newer Intel alternatives
I’ve seen something interesting at the low end of the desktop CPU market—right now, some of the fastest processors you can buy for around $200 come from Intel, not AMD, and the performance gap is uncomfortable enough to raise an intriguing question: Is Intel starting to look like old AMD, the company that wins by offering more performance for less money?
The clearest example here is Intel’s Core Ultra 5 245KF. For a penny under $220 on Amazon, it delivers performance that would have seemed impossible at this price not too long ago.
With 14 cores across six performance cores and eight efficiency cores, boost clocks up to 5.2GHz and a PassMark score of around 43,000, it outperforms many older high-end chips that once cost far more.
Intel offers better value
Even better for buyers looking for value, this performance level sits close to the $200 mark rather than drifting towards $300 or above.
There’s also a slightly more expensive alternative in the Core Ultra 5 245K, which adds integrated Intel Graphics and moves to the newer LGA1851 platform. At a penny under $230 at Newegg, it undercuts most competing high-core-count CPUs while offering modern features like PCIe 5.0 support and large cache sizes.
It’s the kind of balance that users building general-purpose systems, workstations, or mid-range gaming PCs really want.
In comparison, AMD’s Ryzen 9 5900XT tells a completely different story. It’s a capable processor with 16 cores and 32 threads, but based on the older Zen 3 architecture and limited to DDR4 and PCIe 4.0.
It retails for $309 at Amazon, and even discounted from its $349 list price, it struggles to justify the premium when newer Intel chips offer comparable or better day-to-day performance for far less money.
That price pressure means something. AMD built its comeback years ago by undercutting Intel with aggressive core counts and solid value.
Now Intel is doing something similar, flooding the lower price tiers with CPUs that deliver strong multi-threaded performance without demanding flagship prices.
For everyday work, creative tasks and heavy multitasking, the numbers increasingly favor Intel.
Newer Ryzen platforms still compete well at higher price points, and of course platform longevity remains a big strength for AMD, but in the sub-$200 to $230 range, Intel is currently setting the pace.
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