Intel introduced its new Arrow Lake refresh processors a couple of weeks ago, namely the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus desktop CPUs, positioning them as “Intel’s fastest gaming desktop processors ever”. If you’re clued into Intel’s latest generation, these are essentially improved versions of the Core Ultra 7 265K and Core Ultra 5 245K, but with even lower MSRPs.

It’s an interesting refresh considering there’s no natural follow-up to the flagship for the 200S series (the Core Ultra 9 285K), as reports about the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus being canceled turned out to be true. This may actually make the new 270K Plus model the most desirable gaming chip in Intel’s arsenal, especially since its gaming performance outdoes the Intel Core i9-14900K.

270K Plus and 250K Plus reviews and benchmarks are live

Reviews are live ahead of the March 26 release date revealed by Intel in its official announcement post. As such, consumers have a few days to dive into a few reviews and benchmarks if they’re interested in picking up a new Intel CPU. As far as gaming benchmarks go, tests show that the 250K Plus can deliver i9-14900K-level performance, while the 270K Plus even sits above one of AMD’s Ryzen X3D chips. It’s no surprise, however, to see Team Red’s Ryzen 7 X3D processors remain at the tippy top.

The 270K Plus and 250K Plus will retail for $299 and $199, respectively, positioning themselves (particularly the former) as great-value options. PC Gamer calls the new Ultra 7 option an “outstanding all-rounder” with a “very competitive price tag,” highlighting its excellent content creation test scores, placing just above AMD’s flagship Ryzen 9 9950X3D.

Refreshed Arrow Lake chips aren’t without their drawbacks, however. We’d say the biggest problem is the LGA 1851 platform, meaning you’ll need to pick up an Arrow Lake-compatible motherboard as part of your upgrade. It’s a dead-end platform, as Intel is expected to switch to yet another socket (LGA 1954) once next-gen Nova Lake comes around. AMD, on the other hand, continues to power forward with AM5 and continues to deliver its ‘socket longevity’ promise, just like it has done with AM4.

ComputerBase’s benchmarks also reveal that the 270K Plus outperforms the 285K by 4% in multi-core application performance (Intel bumped the 265K’s 20 cores up to 24 for the 270K Plus), but the 285K remains on top by 2% as far as single-core goes.

We’d be interested to see how much more power Intel could have squeezed from its Ultra 9 option, though we’re sure the company has its reasons for canceling the CPU. Either way, it’s a strange release when the lower number = more performance within the same generation. We suppose the ‘Plus’ suffix helps hammer home the extra boost Intel gave these chips.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.