Is it PC upgrade time (Is the intel Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF worth it?)

Posted by Own-Peach-5194@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 21 comments

Basically, I was in the store looking at CPUs and saw that they had an Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF on sale for $219. My current PC uses an Intel i9-9900K (an 8 year old processor), and while it works for web browsing and light gaming, I'd like a faster one since it bottlenecks my whole system.

- Pros: My PC would get 3x faster (according to PCBenchmark).

- Cons: I would have to upgrade the motherboard and power supply as well driving up the cost to $600 at least.

The reason I am considering an upgrade is that I think this could be a good deal and I'm worried that CPU costs are going to rise like all other PC parts have in the past 6 years. Is it worth it to buy now or should I hold off since my PC works for what I want it to.

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Holiday_Bug9988@reddit

You would also have to buy DDR5 RAM which would make it even more expensive.

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asswizzard69@reddit

Just bought combo pack yesterday at microcenter came with 270k, z890 mobo and 32gb ddr5 6400 all for $549. I looked today and it seems the price went up $50 to $599 but its still best deal to get a powerful system and ddr5

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alien-eh101@reddit

I bought this a few months ago and it is an amazing combo.

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asswizzard69@reddit

It’s a great cpu at great value proposition. And will be a good cpu for many years

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taenorobinson@reddit

wow that’s a steal!

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asswizzard69@reddit

Hell yea! They had a air cooler marked down to $9.99 so I bought that, since this is a 3rd build I’m doing don’t need anything fancy, but walked out only paying like $603 including tax. I’m loading windows on it now and 3d printing a open air case for it

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dertechie@reddit

That’s kind of the big thing.

$220 for a 265KF is a hella solid deal and they are considerably faster than 9th Gen, but everything around them kind of throws cold water on the CPU deal.

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Own-Peach-5194@reddit (OP)

Ugh so I NEED DDR5, I can't use the DDR4 currently in my system? If so, that's annoying.

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Disastrous_Style6225@reddit

Socket 1851 is AM5 only

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Own-Peach-5194@reddit (OP)

Annoying, I won't upgrade just for that since I have plenty of DDR4 and am definitely not spending the money to upgrade to DDR5.

Thank you all for your advice!

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Holiday_Bug9988@reddit

You could get a 14700k and B760 DDR4 version motherboard, it would still be quite an upgrade from your current CPU.

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Disastrous_Style6225@reddit

LGA 1700 ist the latest Socket with DDR4(and DDR5) boards

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X3m9X@reddit

ddr5 ram = 400
265kf = 219
Mobo = 120

so its roughly a 800 bucks to jump ship.

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heydanalee@reddit

I upgraded from a 9900K to a 265k and it is a noticeable upgrade for certain things I do. It’s a great deal imo. However, I do think the 9900K is still a fabulous processor and if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.

I don’t follow my own advice. So… take that as you will lol.

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gankernation@reddit

Do you have a microcenter nearby? You can grab the 270k bundle which runs a bit better

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potatogun@reddit

This is the answer if you've got one nearby. Or at least a comparison to measure against for other deals.

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BasedTaco_69@reddit

For $219 that won’t bottleneck you for a long time.

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CorrectEducation8842@reddit

Honestly the 9900K is still pretty decent unless you’re doing heavy modern AAA gaming, streaming, rendering, or CPU-heavy workloads. If your current setup already does what you want, I wouldn’t rush just because of benchmark numbers.

That said, $219 for a 265KF is actually a strong deal. The annoying part is exactly what you noticed: once you add motherboard + DDR5 + maybe PSU/cooler, it turns into a $600-800 upgrade fast.

I’d ask yourself this:

Are you actually frustrated using the PC right now?
Or are you getting upgrade itch because the sale looks good?

Because “future proofing” usually costs more than waiting. New CPU platforms move fast and prices always fluctuate. If the 9900K still handles your games/apps fine, holding off another year is completely reasonable.

But if you’re already seeing stutters, low 1% FPS, multitasking slowdowns, or planning a GPU upgrade soon, then yeah, this is probably the point where a platform jump finally makes sense.

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