In an extraordinary promotion on the US retailer Newegg, some customers had the opportunity to receive an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K CPU absolutely free when purchasing 64GB of RAM. Specifically, the offer applied to a G.SKILL Ripjaws S5 DDR5 memory kit, consisting of two 32GB sticks, featuring a speed of 6,000 MT/s and a latency of CL36-36-36-96.
As of this writing, the deal is no longer active, suggesting it was a limited-time offer with a specific stock quota. It’s plausible that Newegg was clearing inventory of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor, especially given the recent introduction of the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K. The latter offers comparable performance at nearly half the price, making the 285K less appealing without such an aggressive promotion.
Unprecedented Deal: Purchase RAM and Get a High-Performance CPU for Free
Indeed, the 64GB G.SKILL Ripjaws S5 RAM kit was priced at $884.99. However, customers were automatically presented with the option to add an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor to their purchase completely free of charge. This bundled gift, a CPU typically valued at $593.49, effectively reduced the cost of the 64GB RAM to a mere $291.50 after subtracting the processor’s value. This represents an incredible bargain in today’s hardware market, though it’s worth noting that a year ago, similar prices for this RAM and CPU might have been considered expensive.
The Core Ultra 9 285K stands as Intel’s flagship processor. It boasts a 24-core configuration (8 Performance-cores + 16 Efficient-cores), a Turbo frequency of up to 5.70 GHz, a base TDP of 125W, and utilizes the LGA1851 socket. On paper, it’s a powerful chip, especially for gaming. However, AMD has significantly challenged Intel’s CPUs with its X3D processor variants. These AMD chips integrate substantial amounts of L3 cache, which games leverage to minimize slower calls to system RAM, thereby dramatically boosting performance. Intel is expected to emulate this strategy in its upcoming CPU generations.
The recent launch of the Intel Core Ultra 200S Plus processors further intensified this situation. Models like the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus deliver notable performance improvements over their predecessors, all while offering more competitive pricing. This development logically leads to stock clearance of older models that have been effectively cannibalized by these newer “Plus” variants. While stock clearance is common, practically giving away high-end processors in exchange for purchasing expensive RAM is an aggressive move. Nevertheless, anyone looking to upgrade their PC, or those with the foresight to buy and resell both components, undoubtedly profited from this exceptional deal.
