Key Takeaways
1. Intel has launched the Core Ultra 200S Plus Arrow Lake Refresh series, featuring the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and Core Ultra 9 290K Plus processors, but canceled the latter.
2. The leaked Core Ultra 9 290K Plus showed impressive Geekbench scores, achieving 3,747 (single-core) and 26,117 (multi-core), indicating a significant performance upgrade over the Core Ultra 9 285K.
3. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus reportedly offers a 15% improvement in single-core and a 20% enhancement in multi-core performance compared to the Core Ultra 9 285K, outperforming the Ryzen 9 9950X in both metrics.
4. The cancellation of the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus may be due to financial reasons, as the more affordable Core Ultra 7 270K Plus competes closely with the Ryzen 9 9950X at a much lower price point.
5. The Core Ultra 200S Plus processors are a solid choice for users seeking performance upgrades while using the new LGA1851 socket, especially until the upcoming Nova Lake series arrives.
Intel has unveiled its new desktop CPUs called the Core Ultra 200S Plus Arrow Lake Refresh. This series includes just two processors: the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus. It seems that Intel has decided to cancel the high-end Core Ultra 9 290K Plus. A leaked Geekbench benchmark shows that the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus would have provided a significant upgrade when compared to the Core Ultra 9 285K.
Performance Insights
A user named HXL on X discovered that the 24-core Core Ultra 9 290K Plus achieved impressive scores on Geekbench 6.5, with single-core and multi-core results of 3,747 and 26,117, respectively. Like other processors in the Arrow Lake Refresh series, the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus had a boost clock speed of +100 MHz (5.8 GHz) over the Core Ultra 9 285K and utilized the new Intel Binary Optimization (IBOT) technology.
Comparison to Previous Models
In our own tests, the Core Ultra 9 285K reached single-core and multi-core Geekbench 6.5 scores of 3,260 and 21,688. The leaked Core Ultra 9 290K Plus reportedly shows a 15% improvement in single-core performance and a 20% enhancement in multi-core performance. This also indicates that the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus outperforms the Ryzen 9 9950X by 10% in single-core and 22% in multi-core Geekbench 6.5 tests.
Market Implications
If Intel had launched the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus together with the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, it would have easily outperformed the Ryzen 9 9950X in both single-core and multi-core tests. The reason for the cancellation of the flagship Arrow Lake Refresh model remains unclear; it might have been due to financial reasons, as the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus competes closely with the Ryzen 9 9950X at a much lower price point. The Ryzen 9 9950X is currently priced around $513 on Amazon, whereas the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is available for just $299, making it over $200 cheaper.
In conclusion, the Intel Arrow Lake Refresh CPUs are solid additions to the market. If you’re using the new LGA1851 socket and are looking for a significant performance boost to tide you over until Nova Lake arrives, the Core Ultra 200S Plus processors are definitely worth considering.
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