Intel’s latest offering, the Core Ultra 9 285K, has made its debut amid a chorus of mixed reviews, primarily due to its performance metrics that have left enthusiasts wanting more. However, a glimmer of hope emerges for users willing to explore alternative operating systems: a transition to Linux may enhance the 285K’s capabilities significantly.
Performance Insights
According to recent findings from Phoronix, the Core Ultra 9 285K demonstrates an average performance increase of 6% when operating on Ubuntu 24.10, compared to its performance on Windows 11 with the 24H2 update. This improvement is further amplified with an upgrade to the Linux kernel version 6.13, which propels the performance by an additional 2%, culminating in an impressive 8% boost when utilizing this combination.
A closer examination of the benchmarks reveals specific areas where the 285K falters under Windows. Notably, tasks such as rendering, ray tracing, compression and decompression, encoding, and even certain chess simulations present challenges for the processor. In a striking example, during an encoding test using the SVT-AV1 program, the 285K exhibited nearly double the speed on Ubuntu compared to its performance on Windows. Many other benchmarks echoed this trend, showcasing double-digit percentage gains when switching to the Linux environment.
Interestingly, while the 14900K, a model from two years prior, slightly outperformed the 285K in Phoronix’s review, the absence of gaming tests is notable. This omission is understandable, given the limited availability of native Linux ports for many popular games.
Phoronix also noted a surprising outcome regarding Intel’s P-State performance governor, which is akin to the high-performance power plan found in Windows. Contrary to expectations, the 285K did not see a speed enhancement when this governor was employed. Typically, the default powersave governor yields lower performance, yet in this instance, the anticipated performance boost did not materialize.
The Core Ultra 9 285K is not alone in its Linux performance advantages; Intel’s new Battlemage B580 GPU also benefits from improved performance in a Linux setting, although it still lags behind Windows in gaming scenarios.
