Intel Core 200S 265K Build Guide: White Ice Gaming

Intel’s newest lineup of desktop processors is officially here! There's a full breakdown of everything new from the Intel Core 200S lineup (aka Arrow Lake) right over here, but we got so excited about this new lineup of chips we had to immediately put together a new PC with them. Read on to learn more about the parts we picked and then be sure to watch the build video at the end.

To celebrate Intel’s Core 200S launch, we’ve put together a gaming build that matches Intel’s white-and-blue color scheme. A build like this will be able to handle gaming at 2K easily and can definitely dabble in 4K. There are a ton of parts that went into this build, so let’s break them down.

Intel’s Core Ultra 7 265K is the star of this show. With improved efficiency, a brand new NPU – or Neural Processing Unit – and the power to handle the latest and greatest gaming, how could it not be? There’s a ton more to say about the Ultra 7 265K, and you can read more over here and check out the benchmarks in the video below.

The NZXT Kraken 360 is, without a doubt, the perfect AIO for this build. Not only does it fit immaculately in the H9 Elite case, but integrates seamlessly with the RGB software for easy customization. And with a 360MM radiator and triple fan setup, it’s going to keep the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K nice and cool whether you’re gaming or working.

With a new socket type comes new motherboards. The Gigabyte Z890 AORUS Elite is an LGA 1851 motherboard, so you can be sure it will work with the new Core Ultra 200S Processors. It's also a gorgeous white and blue motherboard that blends nearly seamlessly with our case, keeping our aesthetic looking peak.

For the average gamers, 32GB of DDR5-6000 RAM is plenty. With room to spare, you can absolutely push this build even further by doubling or even tripling the RAM, but if you’re just looking to game, 32GB is more than enough. Plus, the white RAM from crucial looks clean, even without extra RGB.   

NVIDIA’s 40 Series of cards delivers some of the best performance on the market and this GeForce RTX 4080 Super from Zotac is no exception. When we tested its performance at launch, the 4080 Super wowed us with incredible performances across the board, scoring over 60,000 points in 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme. With this much power, the question of “can I run this” is a thing of the past.

SSDs are officially a must-have. We’ve recommended them as a boot drive for a while now, but as more games – Like Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart – start to require them, it’s a good idea to have an SSD big enough to fit a couple of games. This 2TB from WD’s Black line offers killer speeds, with up to 7,300MBps read/6,600MBps write, ensuring load times will be brief...if they’re there at all.

Our color theme extends to even the power supply.  NZXT’s 850W fully modular power supply delivers more than enough juice to power this gaming behemoth – in no small part thanks to the efficiency improvements made in Intel’s Core 200S chips – without a cavalcade of extra cables cluttering up an otherwise clean design.

Not only does the NZXT H9 make for the perfect case for this build, it’s one of the easiest cases we’ve had the pleasure of building in. With a white finish, the blue light from our NZXT F360 RGB fans reflect gorgeously. And thanks to a large, tempered glass window, you can easily show off your finished build.

Watch us build it:

 

• Intel's New Core Ultra 200S Processors Launch Today
  
• Intel Launches AI-ready Core Ultra Processors
• Intel's Lunar Lake Laptops: Everything You Need to Know  
• Intel 13th Gen Raptor Lake Processor Overview - Now at Micro Center! 

Sean Mekinda is Micro Center's Associate Editor, with three years of experience on The Micro Center Community and writing credits across the internet, including Polygon, 25YL, and 614 Magazine. He's been writing about and reviewing tech for over five years.