Intel’s Arrow Lake Refresh launch delivered new Core Ultra 7 and Core Ultra 5 processors with noticeable spec upgrades, but one name was conspicuously absent: the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus. This chip was widely rumored to be the next flagship in the refreshed lineup, yet it didn’t appear in Intel’s official rollout. The exact reason for the omission hasn’t been explained, and chatter has even suggested it may have been cancelled. Still, benchmark sightings keep surfacing—and the latest results make the missing flagship look even more impressive.
A new Geekbench listing for the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus shows it scoring 3,747 points in the single-core test and 26,117 points in the multi-core test. That’s a sizable leap compared to typical Core Ultra 9 285K results, widening the gap far beyond earlier sightings. In prior Geekbench appearances, the 290K Plus was already showing roughly a 10–11% advantage over the Ultra 9 285K. This newest entry pushes the uplift higher, positioning the unreleased chip as a clear step up from Intel’s current top-tier offering in this family.
While Geekbench isn’t a perfect tool for measuring real-world performance—especially since its multi-core scaling becomes less efficient beyond 16 cores—the repeated improvements across multiple benchmark entries are hard to ignore. Based on the recent trend, the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is now hovering at around a 17% lead in both single-core and multi-core performance versus the Core Ultra 9 285K, though the exact margin will vary depending on which benchmark result you compare.
The single-core result is particularly attention-grabbing because that’s where modern CPUs often flex their responsiveness, application snappiness, and performance in lightly threaded workloads. On that front, the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus looks extremely competitive against other current flagship-class processors. The multi-core number also reinforces the idea that this chip is designed to be a heavy-duty workhorse—especially for creators and professionals running demanding productivity workloads.
For buyers focused more on gaming value than top-end productivity muscle, the spotlight shifts to another Arrow Lake Refresh option: the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus. At a reported $199 price point, it stands out as a strong pick in the refreshed lineup for performance per dollar, while the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus appears aimed more at users who need maximum throughput for creator and professional tasks.
For now, though, the big question remains unanswered: if the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus can deliver this kind of performance uplift, why wasn’t it part of the launch—and will Intel ever release it to the mainstream market? As things stand, there’s no clear sign that Intel is preparing an official debut, even as benchmarks continue to hint at what could have been Arrow Lake Refresh’s most powerful chip.
