Approaching the end of 2024 we have seen two new CPU generation releases from both Intel and AMD.
The AMD 9000 series was actually released back in late August 2024 however it was almost October before stock availability got to decent levels here in the UK.
The new Intel chips, called the Core Ultra 200 series (more about that later), were released at the end of October and only towards the end of the year have stock levels risen to semi decent levels.
What Are The Changes?
I’ll talk about the AMD chips first as they are the easiest to understand.
Essentially AMD have moved from their 7000 series chips to the 9000 series, this is a next generation increase for their full desktop processor range, and each CPU has seen a performance jump over their older counterparts.
There has been no motherboard change so people with an existing 7000 series setup could switch to a 9000 chip without rebuilding their entire PC.
What this really means is that motherboard availability (and pricing) is good from day 1 of the release.
In terms of performance increases, the raw single thread speed has jumped on all chip options by about 10%, and the multi-threaded (multi-tasking) capabilities has increased between 4 – 8% across the range.
Nothing to write home about really if I’m honest but if you are upgrading from a much older computer then the 9000 series are definitely the better option over the AMD 7000 series.
Intel – Big Naming Changes, Smaller Performance Changes…
For some reason only known to them, Intel have scrapped their Core i3, i5, i7, and i9 naming scheme, something which has been in place for since 2010 and worked pretty well.
The new naming scheme? Intel Core Ultra 200 series…
So instead of an i5, we now have a Core Ultra 5. An i7 is now a Core Ultra 7. And you’ve guessed it, the new i9’s are now Core Ultra 9 processors…
Likewise they have scrapped the generation naming scheme. So whilst the last Intel chips were the 14th generation, which followed the 13th generation, the new chips are allegedly not to be called the 15th generation.
They are the Core Ultra 200 series.
You can think of them as the 15th generation though, I won’t tell Intel if you don’t.
So, with big name changes you’d maybe expect big performance changes? Well, not so much actually.
The new chips do perform better than the 14th generation ones, but due to the fact you need a completely new motherboard to run them, and you are now forced to use the faster (but more expensive) DDR5 RAM the pricing on them has actually increased a fair bit.
So whilst the new Core Ultra 5 chip (basically a new i5) has similar performance levels as the older 14th generation i7, the price is also similar to the older i7.
The new Core Ultra 7 (i7 level) offers almost identical performance levels as the older i9 but again the pricing is pretty much the same too.
The top Core Ultra 9 is a step up over the older i9 but there is currently a large price increase to go with it.
One thing the new Core Ultra chips do work out better at is power efficiency, they consume less power than the 14th generation chips (and the AMD’s) and therefore cost less to run, generate less heat, and end up running cooler and quieter because of it.
In-Depth Performance Comparisons
If you want to see exactly where the AMD’s and Intel Core Ultra’s stack up against each other and the existing 14th generation Intel processors we’ve put together an article comparing performance levels across three different pricing tiers for them all.
Want To Buy?
If you’ve been holding off on purchasing a new PC whilst these new chips were released, then I’m pleased to let you know we have all options live and for sale now.
Our Trader Pro PC offers both the Intel 14th generation and the new Intel Core Ultra chips as processor options.
If you are looking for the AMD 9000 series then our Extreme PC is the one for you, it has the full AMD range, along with the Intel 14th generation and the new Intel Core Ultra chips.
Written by Darren @ Multiple Monitors
Last Updated: December, 2024