Intel’s next flagship desktop chip has surfaced in another performance leak, and the early numbers suggest a modest but noticeable step up from the current top model. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, expected to lead the Core Ultra 200S Plus “Arrow Lake Refresh” lineup, reportedly delivers up to an 11% performance boost over the Core Ultra 9 285K in fresh benchmark results.
According to the leak, the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus sticks with the same overall design approach as the existing Arrow Lake-S desktop parts. That means the same 24-core, 24-thread layout (8 performance cores plus 16 efficiency cores), but with higher clock speeds and potentially higher power limits depending on final tuning. In other words, this looks like a clock-and-optimization refresh rather than a major architectural overhaul.
The benchmark run was reportedly conducted on an ASUS ROG STRIX Z890-E Gaming WIFI motherboard paired with 64GB of DDR5-6800 memory. In Geekbench 6, the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus posted 3,535 points in the single-core test and 25,106 points in the multi-core test.
When compared with the Core Ultra 9 285K, those scores translate to about a 10% uplift in single-core and an 11% uplift in multi-core performance. That’s a bigger improvement than earlier leaked comparisons that pointed to roughly 7% single-core and 9% multi-core gains, suggesting Intel may be squeezing a bit more out of the refresh than initially expected.
The leak also compares the 290K Plus against AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D, with the Intel chip reportedly coming in around 4% ahead in single-core and 13% ahead in multi-core performance in this specific benchmark scenario. As always, it’s worth remembering that synthetic benchmarks don’t tell the full story across real applications, and results can vary based on memory, motherboard settings, and firmware.
For gamers, expectations should be tempered. Even if the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is faster on paper than the 285K, gaming performance may not shift dramatically from the current flagship experience. AMD’s 3D V-Cache processors are still widely expected to maintain their strong advantage in many game titles, where cache design often matters more than small clock-speed bumps.
Looking at what’s been rumored for the wider Core Ultra 200S Plus family, the lineup appears positioned as a final round of desktop chips for the current platform before Intel moves on to its next major socket transition. Industry chatter points to Nova Lake-S arriving later with a new LGA 1954 socket, which would make Arrow Lake Refresh a shorter-term upgrade for buyers already committed to 800-series motherboards.
Here’s a snapshot of the leaked/speculated specs for the Arrow Lake and Arrow Lake Refresh desktop stack, including the “Plus” refresh models:
Core Ultra 9 290K Plus: 24 cores / 24 threads (8P+16E), up to 5.8 GHz P-core boost and 4.8 GHz E-core boost, 36MB L3 and 40MB L2 cache, DDR5-7200 support, 125W base power with up to 250W turbo (pricing TBD)
Core Ultra 9 285K: 24 cores / 24 threads (8P+16E), up to 5.7 GHz P-core boost and 4.6 GHz E-core boost, 36MB L3 and 40MB L2 cache, DDR5-6400 support, 125W / 250W, listed at $589
Core Ultra 7 270K Plus: 24 cores / 24 threads (8P+16E), up to 5.5 GHz P-core boost and 4.7 GHz E-core boost, 36MB L3 and 40MB L2 cache, DDR5-7200 support, 125W / 250W (pricing TBD)
Core Ultra 7 265K: 20 cores / 20 threads (8P+12E), up to 5.5 GHz P-core boost and 4.6 GHz E-core boost, 30MB L3 and 36MB L2 cache, DDR5-6400 support, 125W / 250W, listed at $394
Core Ultra 7 265KF: 20 cores / 20 threads (8P+12E), up to 5.5 GHz P-core boost and 4.6 GHz E-core boost, 30MB L3 and 36MB L2 cache, DDR5-6400 support, 125W / 250W, listed at $379
Core Ultra 5 250K Plus: 18 cores / 18 threads (6P+12E), up to 5.3 GHz P-core boost and 4.7 GHz E-core boost, 24MB L3 and 26MB L2 cache, memory support listed as DDR5-7200 (some details unclear), 125W / 159W (pricing TBD)
Core Ultra 5 245K: 14 cores / 14 threads (6P+8E), up to 5.2 GHz P-core boost and 4.6 GHz E-core boost, 24MB L3 and 26MB L2 cache, DDR5-6400 support, 125W / 159W, listed at $309
Core Ultra 5 245KF: 14 cores / 14 threads (6P+8E), up to 5.2 GHz P-core boost and 4.6 GHz E-core boost, 24MB L3 and 26MB L2 cache, DDR5-6400 support, 125W / 159W, listed at $294
With more leaks likely as launch windows get closer, the key takeaway so far is simple: the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus appears to be a higher-clocked Arrow Lake refresh that improves both single-core and multi-core results, but may not meaningfully change the gaming hierarchy—especially against cache-heavy competitors.
