Question RTX 5090 4K Gaming build - Core Ultra 265K tuned vs 9800X3D - Talk me out of or for returning my 265K parts and getting 9800X3D parts at microcenter

[Wolverine2349]

Money is little to no object in this case just to start off, but do not want to be too wasteful with money but really want more than 8 cores on one die not separate dies

Ok I sold off my Raptor Lake 14700K parts due to degradation fears months and months down the road as lots say even microcode update its just a band aide. And I really do not want to go through warranty garbage with Intel to repeat process again

Ok so I got a great deal on 265K for $239 as most places have good deals for $259 but MC has $20 off it and 9800X3D for $239.99 and $459.99 instead of $479.99 respectively. However I just spent $673 on an MSI Z890 Unify-X to ensure high quality stable 8400 RAM speed. But I returned that unopened to Amazon and returned the 8400 RAM for 8000 RAM and went with MSI Z890 Tomahawk instead.

Now I know I know all the benchmarks say 9800X3D slams the 265K in almost all games. I kind of wanted more than 8 cores even if all I mostly do is play games. I liked the extra headroom though maybe overthinking it. Like future proofing as it seems games may become more aware of more cores especially since the cores in 15th Gen are just as if not slightly more powerful than 9800X3D. Its just that 9800X3D has the huge L3 cache which gives it its advantage not that the lesser cores have better IPC or clocks.

Though numbers cannot really lie can they? Or can they. Many have stated well AMD feels less responsive and smooth? Though some succumb and say it is FUD.

Also hear AMD is more buggy especially X3D parts and AMD Drip and how NVIDIA drivers do not play nice especially with mouse polling on 9800X3D? Was that FUD or an issue and is it now fixed??

Also hear AMD more buggy and less reliable platform compared to Intel? Is that true or just more FUD?

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

Though numbers cannot really lie can they? Or can they. Many have stated well AMD feels less responsive and smooth? Though some succumb and say it is FUD.

FUD.

Also hear AMD is more buggy especially X3D parts and AMD Drip and how NVIDIA drivers do not play nice especially with mouse polling on 9800X3D? Was that FUD or an issue and is it now fixed??

Never heard of it, probably FUD or bad peripheral software.

Also hear AMD more buggy and less reliable platform compared to Intel? Is that true or just more FUD?

Also FUD.

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

8000 ram is probably not going to be plug and play.

9800X3D is "the world's fastest gaming processor" with no effort at all. Install relatively inexpensive, turnkey 6000C30 EXPO ram and its done.

 

[Markfw]

As said above the 9800x3d will blow away the 265k in games, and the various bad-mouthing of AMD is pure FUD.

Just one of the many gaming benchmarks

 

[Wolverine2349]

As said above the 9800x3d will blow away the 265k in games, and the various bad-mouthing of AMD is pure FUD.

Well I did have a 9800X3D system and it gave me so much trouble with RTX 5090. I heard drivers were bad for NVIDIA but they have improved. I had sold off parts thinking system was bad but same issues.

Intel was better

Then drivers improved and desktop issues weirdness seemed ok.

However during Red Dead Redemption 2, the birds flying seemed to stutter and lag a little and less smooth where as on 14700K much smoother and no stutter or lag on 14700K. Was that just a game specific issue with RDR2 and 9800X3D and interaction with NVIDIA drivers where as drivers interacted better with 14700K or was it less cores or what?

 

[Wolverine2349]

As said above the 9800x3d will blow away the 265k in games, and the various bad-mouthing of AMD is pure FUD.

Just one of the many gaming benchmarks

View attachment 129664

Will it blow it away even in 0.1% lows or just 1% lows. Also heard of AMD Drip. Is there a thing to it or just FUD?

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

Will it blow it away even in 0.1% lows or just 1% lows. Also heard of AMD Drip. Is there a thing to it or just FUD?

I think you're referring to the AMDip? It's a phenomenon perpetuated by a small contingent of people who claim to know "secret sauce tuning magic" for Intel platforms to make them magically run super fast ram and beat out X3D chips, which is only available from them by paying them money.

Typically they misconfigure the everliving hell out of an AMD system to get bad results and blame it on AMD sucking.

No reputable reviewer or source has ever managed to reproduce this phenomenon. As far as I'm concerned, it's a completely fabricated narrative to drive sales of this small group of people peddling "magic intel tuning" products, like FrameChasers.

It helps anti-AMD and pro-Intel people on the internet latch onto it and propagate this.

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

Well I did have a 9800X3D system and it gave me so much trouble with RTX 5090. I heard drivers were bad for NVIDIA but they have improved. I had sold off parts thinking system was bad but same issues.

Intel was better

Then drivers improved and desktop issues weirdness seemed ok.

However during Red Dead Redemption 2, the birds flying seemed to stutter and lag a little and less smooth where as on 14700K much smoother and no stutter or lag on 14700K. Was that just a game specific issue with RDR2 and 9800X3D and interaction with NVIDIA drivers where as drivers interacted better with 14700K or was it less cores or what?

Considering you don't have the system anymore and there's no way to get more information or test it, you've just got an anecdotal report we can't really make much out of.

Maybe it was early AGESA, maybe it was early chipset drivers, maybe it was Windows, maybe it was nvidia drivers, maybe it was the game, maybe you had some bad config you set in the UEFI since you seem like you're more familiar with Intel.

 

[Wolverine2349]

Lets put it this way. For all the people whi say oh its FUD AMD is fine and good with reliability now and no AGESA issues and they are all fixed.

Well ok is it just as reliable at firmware chipset and driver level as Intel. Obviously more reliable hardware than the Intel 8 + 16 Raptor Lake die which degrades so easily and is defective design. But that is one stepping and others from oth AMD and Intel seem fine.

Now how is AMD reliability now compared to Intel at firmware, driver and chipset level compared to 20 years ago?

AMD was kicking intel badly even far worse in 2003-early 2006 than they are Intel now because without 3D vcache AMD really is not kicking intel that bad in desktop space for gaming.

Back then K8 kicked Intel all over the place in gaming and even productivity its IPC was so far ahead of Netburst. Intel would not come back on top until Conroe release late July 2006 which spanked everything and Intel was on top by far for more than 13 years.

What was more reliable back in 2004-2005 AMD or Intel at chipset, firmware and driver levels. I mean you had NVIDIA build AMD chipsets back then? Were they more reliable back then then there own as NVIDIA does appear to always make good drivers through history until the early RTX 5090 ones which were rare crap.

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

Lets put it this way. For all the people whi say oh its FUD AMD is fine and good with reliability now and no AGESA issues and they are all fixed.

Well ok is it just as reliable at firmware chipset and driver level as Intel. Obviously more reliable hardware than the Intel 8 + 16 Raptor Lake die which degrades so easily and is defective design. But that is one stepping and others from oth AMD and Intel seem fine.

Now how is AMD reliability now compared to Intel at firmware, driver and chipset level compared to 20 years ago?

AMD was kicking intel badly even far worse in 2003-early 2006 than they are Intel now because without 3D vcache AMD really is not kicking intel that bad in desktop space for gaming.

Back then K8 kicked Intel all over the place in gaming and even productivity its IPC was so far ahead of Netburst. Intel would not come back on top until Conroe release late July 2006 which spanked everything and Intel was on top by far for more than 13 years.

What was more reliable back in 2004-2005 AMD or Intel at chipset, firmware and driver levels. I mean you had NVIDIA build AMD chipsets back then? Were they more reliable back then then there own as NVIDIA does appear to always make good drivers through history until the early RTX 5090 ones which were rare crap.

At this point I don't even know what you're looking for out of this thread.

The initial question of "9800X3D or 265K for gaming" the vast majority of people would advise you to, rightfully, go with the 9800X3D because Arrow Lake is a complete dog and bombed gaming performance.

 

[Wolverine2349]

Considering you don't have the system anymore and there's no way to get more information or test it, you've just got an anecdotal report we can't really make much out of.

Maybe it was early AGESA, maybe it was early chipset drivers, maybe it was Windows, maybe it was nvidia drivers, maybe it was the game, maybe you had some bad config you set in the UEFI since you seem like you're more familiar with Intel.

Well I generally use latest chipset drivers and have my BIOS updated and this was in May 2025.

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

Well I generally use latest chipset drivers and have my BIOS updated and this was in May 2025.

Again, if you don't have the system anymore and can't test or gather more information, it's just an anecdote and nothing of value.

How do you expect us to magically divine what was happening to the system that no longer exists in May 2025?

 

[Dr_Web]

Money is little to no object in this case just to start off

Ok I sold off my Raptor Lake 14700K parts due to degradation fears months and months down the road as lots say even microcode update its just a band aide. And I really do not want to go through warranty garbage with Intel to repeat process again

Ok so I got a great deal on 265K for $239 as most places have good deals for $259 but MC has $20 off it and 9800X3D for $239.99 and $459.99 instead of $479.99 respectively. However I just spent $673 on an MSI Z890 Unify-X to ensure high quality stable 8400 RAM speed. But I returned that unopened to Amazon and returned the 8400 RAM for 8000 RAM and went with MSI Z890 Tomahawk instead.

Now I know I know all the benchmarks say 9800X3D slams the 265K in almost all games. I kind of wanted more than 8 cores even if all I mostly do is play games. I liked the extra headroom though maybe overthinking it. Like future proofing as it seems games may become more aware of more cores especially since the cores in 15th Gen are just as if not slightly more powerful than 9800X3D. Its just that 9800X3D has the huge L3 cache which gives it its advantage not that the lesser cores have better IPC or clocks.

Though numbers cannot really lie can they? Or can they. Many have stated well AMD feels less responsive and smooth? Though some succumb and say it is FUD.

Also hear AMD is more buggy especially X3D parts and AMD Drip and how NVIDIA drivers do not play nice especially with mouse polling on 9800X3D? Was that FUD or an issue and is it now fixed??

Also hear AMD more buggy and less reliable platform compared to Intel? Is that true or just more FUD?

Most of the AMD buggy unreliable talk you hear is exaggerated FUD. The 7000-series X3D chips did have an early issue with BIOS voltage limits, but that was fixed quickly with AGESA updates. On modern boards with updated BIOS, the 7800X3D/9800X3D run very stable.
The big cache L3 is why the X3D chips dominate in gaming benchmarks even against higher core count Intel parts. For pure gaming, you’ll feel smoother performance on the 9800X3D. If you want more cores for productivity + gaming balance, the 265K is still solid, but for gaming only the X3D wins.
In short: stability is fine now, drivers are mature, and mouse polling issues are not a real-world concern anymore.

 

[gdansk]

So it sounds like you are bending over backwards to buy a worse chip. Would you like help with that? Go ahead and do it.

But Arrow Lake platform is also pretty iffy and buggy in my experience. Not sure who is to blame but many board settings don't seem to do anything or don't stick.

 

[DaaQ]

Money is little to no object in this case just to start off

Ok I sold off my Raptor Lake 14700K parts due to degradation fears months and months down the road as lots say even microcode update its just a band aide. And I really do not want to go through warranty garbage with Intel to repeat process again

Ok so I got a great deal on 265K for $239 as most places have good deals for $259 but MC has $20 off it and 9800X3D for $239.99 and $459.99 instead of $479.99 respectively. However I just spent $673 on an MSI Z890 Unify-X to ensure high quality stable 8400 RAM speed. But I returned that unopened to Amazon and returned the 8400 RAM for 8000 RAM and went with MSI Z890 Tomahawk instead.

Now I know I know all the benchmarks say 9800X3D slams the 265K in almost all games. I kind of wanted more than 8 cores even if all I mostly do is play games. I liked the extra headroom though maybe overthinking it. Like future proofing as it seems games may become more aware of more cores especially since the cores in 15th Gen are just as if not slightly more powerful than 9800X3D. Its just that 9800X3D has the huge L3 cache which gives it its advantage not that the lesser cores have better IPC or clocks.

Though numbers cannot really lie can they? Or can they. Many have stated well AMD feels less responsive and smooth? Though some succumb and say it is FUD.

Also hear AMD is more buggy especially X3D parts and AMD Drip and how NVIDIA drivers do not play nice especially with mouse polling on 9800X3D? Was that FUD or an issue and is it now fixed??

Also hear AMD more buggy and less reliable platform compared to Intel? Is that true or just more FUD?

If money is little to no object, then why are you not looking at the 9950X3D? Just curious. You saved half on a 265k instead of going for a 285k why?

Then returned higher binned RAM and motherboard for a "downgrade" again why?

What is less responsive and smooth? It's subjective I know but what are the actual concerns?

What kind of mouse polling are you looking for? I don not have an Nvidia card anymore. But I do remember Nvidia's Latency Mon issues.

What are the bugs of the 9 series X3D? The few reported cases of "the burning socket"? Motherboard manufacturers (at least some) accepted responsibility for that.

I have a 7900xtx, I have not had any buggy issues with the drivers. I have not had any board issues. Except some OC failures, that are completely recoverable. Even bricked vbios of nitro+ flashing to aqua extreme, recovered.

I can run some tests if you would like. But I am not OC to the wall, and don't have a strong IF controller. 49" MSI QD-OLED SUW 1440p main and Nixeus Edge 34"(?) VA UW 1440p 2nd display. I don't think I have updated sig. 128GB 6000 32cas RAM 2 sticks.

 

[Thunder 57]

This thread is FUD and makes my brain hurt.

I thought you were waiting for Bartlett Lake 12 P core? Well you've been waiting so long for that which seemingly isn't coming may as well keep waiting for Zen 6 with its 12 core CCD. You will find exactly zero people who will tell you to use a 265k if your primary purpose is gaming.

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

This thread is FUD and makes my brain hurt.

I had considered this. I didn't look at OP's post history, but the presentation and responses seem pretty loaded.

 

[Wolverine2349]

Money is little to no object in this case just to start off

Ok I sold off my Raptor Lake 14700K parts due to degradation fears months and months down the road as lots say even microcode update its just a band aide. And I really do not want to go through warranty garbage with Intel to repeat process again

Ok so I got a great deal on 265K for $239 as most places have good deals for $259 but MC has $20 off it and 9800X3D for $239.99 and $459.99 instead of $479.99 respectively. However I just spent $673 on an MSI Z890 Unify-X to ensure high quality stable 8400 RAM speed. But I returned that unopened to Amazon and returned the 8400 RAM for 8000 RAM and went with MSI Z890 Tomahawk instead.

Now I know I know all the benchmarks say 9800X3D slams the 265K in almost all games. I kind of wanted more than 8 cores even if all I mostly do is play games. I liked the extra headroom though maybe overthinking it. Like future proofing as it seems games may become more aware of more cores especially since the cores in 15th Gen are just as if not slightly more powerful than 9800X3D. Its just that 9800X3D has the huge L3 cache which gives it its advantage not that the lesser cores have better IPC or clocks.

Though numbers cannot really lie can they? Or can they. Many have stated well AMD feels less responsive and smooth? Though some succumb and say it is FUD.

Also hear AMD is more buggy especially X3D parts and AMD Drip and how NVIDIA drivers do not play nice especially with mouse polling on 9800X3D? Was that FUD or an issue and is it now fixed??

Also hear AMD more buggy and less reliable platform compared to Intel? Is that true or just more FUD?

I do not like dual CCD setups with one having cache and not the other. I also I also have 0 need for 24 cores. Money not much of an issue but I try not to be too wasteful.

I used to be an e-core hater but have come around to liking them. With more than 16 cores with no SMT/HT in 8 + 12 config is excellent.

20 cores especially since Arrow Lake Skymont are such strong e-cores in IPC that match Zen 4 8 + 12 no HT is excellent.

As for AMD 9800X3d seems maybe best set and forget it, but just cannot get myself around to going with only 8 cores at today's IPC levels with an RTX 5090. But part of me tinks well ok. If there was a 10-12 core modern IPC CPU on one die then I would have gone with it, but no buno and maybe e-cores lots of them no HT is better anyway for gaming than 10-12 with HT.

So going Intel and going to overclock and tune it and not have a ticking time bomb 8 + 16 B0 stepping that degrades and starts BSOD in no time.

 

[Markfw]

Seems like even though the title say "talk me out of" , you have blown off all recommendations with everyone saying go AMD, you you say you are going Intel.

I am done with this troll thread....

 

[Wolverine2349]

Well it said talk me out of or for.

Not sure which it is.

I am already constructing and unless problems are bad do not feel like parting out and returning and partung in yet again. The effort is a lot.

 

[Thunder 57]

Well it said talk me out of or for.

Not sure which it is.

I am already constructing and unless problems are bad do not feel like parting out and returning and partung in yet again. The effort is a lot.

You were just looking for someone to validate your questionable decision and no one did so now you are taking your toys and going home.

You make a post talking about using a 265k for gaming and "talk me out of it" then go on to mention AMD instability, AMDip, etc. If that isn't trolling, I don't know what is.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Why did you even post this thread? You already have one going on TPU https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...rts-and-getting-9800x3d-parts-instead.340641/

You don't need rationalization to choose Intel for gaming, build it because you want to. That's the only good reason to do it. Seriously, the only good reason. Because there is no chance a 265K is ever going to be faster than a 9800X3D for gaming beyond some rare outlier. Post #61 in your thread there nails it - https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...ing-9800x3d-parts-instead.340641/post-5582978 He has multiple posts in that thread that are the voice of reality from beyond the distortion field.

In the end, the biggest reason I would not build Arrow Lake is the lack of longevity. AM5 is the only live platform. Whatever you can juice out of a 265k? That's it, you are done. I can drop in Zen 6 3D to replace my 7800X3D and smoke your doors off with a bios update and 5 minute CPU swap. Sell my old CPU and recoup 50% or more of the cost. The talking pont for that one is " Longevity does not matter. I only do a build every 5 years" Had they built AM4 or AM5 when it came out, that would just mean swapping CPUs. To use my favorite malaphor, it ain't rocket surgery.

Well it said talk me out of or for.

Not sure which it is.

I am already constructing and unless problems are bad do not feel like parting out and returning and partung in yet again. The effort is a lot.

Again, preferring Intel is cool, nothing wrong with liking things. Build it because you want to. Not because you want others to gaslight you.

 

[Thunder 57]

Again, preferring Intel is cool, nothing wrong with liking things. Build it because you want to. Not because you want others to gaslight you.

Well said.

 

[Wolverine2349]

Why did you even post this thread? You already have one going on TPU https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...rts-and-getting-9800x3d-parts-instead.340641/

You don't need rationalization to choose Intel for gaming, build it because you want to. That's the only good reason to do it. Seriously, the only good reason. Because there is no chance a 265K is ever going to be faster than a 9800X3D for gaming beyond some rare outlier. Post #61 in your thread there nails it - https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...ing-9800x3d-parts-instead.340641/post-5582978 He has multiple posts in that thread that are the voice of reality from beyond the distortion field.

In the end, the biggest reason I would not build Arrow Lake is the lack of longevity. AM5 is the only live platform. Whatever you can juice out of a 265k? That's it, you are done. I can drop in Zen 6 3D to replace my 7800X3D and smoke your doors off with a bios update and 5 minute CPU swap. Sell my old CPU and recoup 50% or more of the cost. The talking pont for that one is " Longevity does not matter. I only do a build every 5 years" Had they built AM4 or AM5 when it came out, that would just mean swapping CPUs. To use my favorite malaphor, it ain't rocket surgery.


Again, preferring Intel is cool, nothing wrong with liking things. Build it because you want to. Not because you want others to gaslight you.

I kind of prefer intel.

Though in reality is Intel's situation now as bad as AMD's was with Bulldozer in CPUs?

Some have mentioned that on other blogs. Some say not even close??

Of course AMD was way worse financially with Bulldozer than Intel is now. But how baout just raw top end CPU performance. While AMD wins is the gap as bad as Intel vs Bulldozer 10-13 years ago?

 

[Abwx]

You were just looking for someone to validate your questionable decision and no one did so now you are taking your toys and going home.

You make a post talking about using a 265k for gaming and "talk me out of it" then go on to mention AMD instability, AMDip, etc. If that isn't trolling, I don't know what is.

When someone make a bad choice he often try to find any urban legend or hearsay
to justify his buys.

Computerbase use a 9800X3D to test GPUs, and that s for a reason, notice the RAM speed for each CPU :

CPU-Benchmark: Prozessor-Vergleich 2025

Welche CPU für Games und Apps kaufen? ComputerBase leistet Kaufberatung mit Intel Core Ultra, AMD Ryzen 9000 und 7000 auf Basis von Tests.

www.computerbase.de