Intel made a surprising comeback in Amazon's CPU sales rankings today, with two of its processors breaking into the retailer's top 10 CPUs sold in the United States. This marks the first time in months that Intel has been among the top 10 choices for gamers across the country, as AMD continues to dominate the chart and holds most of the leading positions. However, the appearance of Intel's Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core i7-14700K signifies a notable shift from the situation over the past year. Intel was effectively absent from the top 10 during AMD's strongest periods, making the latest rankings an especially interesting development for the DIY market, particularly driven by value.

The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus has made the biggest jump, reaching sixth place after previously being much lower on the list. Intel's latest "Arrow Lake Refresh" processor combines 24 cores with strong single- and multithreaded performance, and aggressive pricing has made it significantly more attractive to buyers. The Core i7-14700K has also climbed into the top 10, with its appeal likely tied to its compatibility with both DDR4 and DDR5 memory during a particularly challenging time for PC DIY enthusiasts. That flexibility is becoming increasingly valuable as high DDR5 prices continue to influence system-building decisions. The older "Raptor Lake Refresh" chip remains a particularly capable option for users who want to reuse existing LGA 1700 hardware and DDR4 memory, which is also currently more affordable than any DDR5 platform.

At Computex 2026, we went hands-on with the latest gaming gear at the dedicated booth of Acer Predator. The star attraction is the new Acer Predator Atlas gaming handheld powered by the Intel Arc G3 Extreme processor, along with 24 GB of LPDDR5X memory and 1 TB NVMe storage. Perhaps its most striking feature is its 16:10 aspect-ratio, 1920×1200 120 Hz touchscreen. It comes with the PredatorSense custom interface that runs on top of Windows 11 Home. It lets you control all the hardware features of the Predator Atlas, as well as serves as a game organizer.

The Acer Predator Helios 18 AI is the company's enthusiast-segment gaming notebook powered by the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus "Arrow Lake Refresh" processor (8P+16E), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU, and a stunning display with 16:10 aspect-ratio, a Mini LED WQUXGA (3840×2400) panel with 1000 nits Calman-verified display. The cooling system uses Acer's AeroBlade 3D fans. The keyboard uses MagKey 4.0 low-profile mechanical switches.

COLORFUL at the 2026 Computex showed off its new prebuilt notebooks, desktops, and a stunning new prototype product. The company debuted the Epoch Air 14 Ultra, an ultraportable with a powerful set of hardware based on Core Ultra Series 3 processors. The company also showcased the Rimbook S1 Plus and L1 Plus thin-and-light notebooks in larger 16:10 screen formats. Other notebooks shown include the Evol X16 Pro, Evol P16 Pro, the Meow R16 Ultra, Meow R16 Pro, and a prototype gaming notebook with a liquid-cooling solution.

The company also showcased a wide range of iGame series pre-built gaming desktops, with a diverse set of hardware ranging from Core Ultra Series 2 Plus "Arrow Lake Refresh" processors, and Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" processors. The iGame Ultra Zero features an interesting floating PSU compartment concept along with curved glass panels along 3 sides—a design we're sure will catch on. It gets its name from a completely concealed cabling layout. The iGame Mini PC is about the size of an Xbox Series X, but packs powerful hardware, including the company's on Mini series SFF graphics cards.More pictures follow.

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus belongs to the Arrow Lake Refresh for Intel socket LGA1851 and delivers solid performance. With overclocking, the 270K Plus even surpasses the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, the former Arrow Lake flagship. And it does so with a significantly better price-performance ratio. The best everyday temperatures for both processors are achieved with a direct-die water block in combination with liquid metal as the thermal interface material (TIM) and a custom water-cooling loop with as much radiator surface area as possible.

Delidded processors with a warranty provided by TG
The TG Delidded CPU is a processor that has been delidded by our trained staff and subsequently validated. During delidding, or "removing the lid," the processor's heatspreader is removed. While delidding and the use of corresponding direct-die coolers can significantly reduce temperatures under load, delidding results in the loss of the manufacturer's warranty. In the case of the TG Delidded CPU, Thermal Grizzly offers a warranty in addition to the legally required seller warranty.

The Intel Binary Optimization Tool (BOT) has been launched alongside the "Arrow Lake Refresh" series of processors, which includes the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and Core Ultra 7 270K Plus models. While the tool is beneficial for gamers looking to extract a few extra frames from their setups, it may be a nightmare for makers of benchmarking tools like Geekbench by Primate Labs. Recently, Primate Labs testing found that BOT changes the way .exe applications run and concluded that Geekbench runs will now flag these BOT-enhanced runs. However, in deeper testing, Primate Labs discovered that Intel's BOT may deliver significant boosts in some applications like Object Remover and HDR, increasing performance by up to 30%. This is thanks to the deep vectorization that the BOT performs behind the scenes to optimize performance.

For example, Primate Labs used Intel's own Software Development Emulator (SDE) to measure how many instructions were executed and which types of instructions the program executed. Without BOT, Geekbench 6 required a total of 1.26 trillion instructions to finish, while a BOT-enhanced run completed with 1.08 trillion instructions. This is an impressive 14% reduction. However, when examining the execution by type, we see that BOT makes heavy use of vector instructions like SSE2 and AVX2. The number of scalar instructions needed to execute a program fell from 220 billion to 84.6 billion, while the number of vector instructions increased from 1.25 billion to 18.3 billion, a 13.7x increase. This means that Intel BOT finds a way to turn inefficient scalar code into vectorized instructions that are processed much more efficiently inside Intel CPUs. These techniques indicate a very complex behind-the-scenes process than was originally believed. The Geekbench v6.7 update will include a flag for BOT, allowing future Geekbench results to be easily distinguished as BOT-enhanced or not.

Following Intel's recent launch of the Core Ultra 200S Plus desktop CPUs, Maingear has announced three new MG-1 series pre-built desktop PCs based on the new Intel Arrow Lake Refresh CPUsf. All three PCs feature the same Maingear Epic 360 AIO cooler, MG-1 case, and case fan setup, consisting of 3× 120 mm RGB intake fans, 2× 120 mm exhaust fans, and 1× 120 mm RGB rear exhaust fan. Front I/O is also identical across all three models, featuring dual USB 3.2 Type-A ports, a single USB 3.2 Type-C port, and a 3.5 mm combo audio jack, and the MG-1 PCs all come with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. All three MG-1 systems also come with the same 32 GB of DDR5-6000 memory running in dual-channel configuration and a 2 TB T-Force A440 Gen 4 M.2 NVMe SSD, and are preloaded with "Bloatware Free" Windows 11 installations. Gamers also receive a free copy of Resident Evil: Requiem and the Intel Holiday Bundle, which offers the choice of Battlefield 6, Assassin's Creed: Shadows, Sid Meier's Civilization VII, or Dying Light: The Beast.

[Editor's note: Our in-depth review of the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus CPU is now live]

The Maingear MG-1 Emerald is the least expensive version of the Intel Core Ultra 200S series PCs, coming in at $2,549, and is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus with 18 cores (6 P-Cores, 12 E-Cores) and 18 threads in an MSI Z890 Gaming Plus WiFi motherboard, paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB GPU and an MSI 850 W I + Gold PSU. The $3,549 Maingear MG-1 Sapphire gets the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus with 24 cores (8 P-Cores, 16 E-Cores), an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 16 GB, and the same motherboard as the Emerald. The top-end Maingear MG-1 Amethyst keeps the same Intel Core Ultra 7 270K but bumps up the GPU to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 32 GB, with an MSI MEG Z890 Ace motherboard, a 1250 W 80+ MSI PSU, and a whopping $5,199 price tag. The MG-1 case used in the Amethyst, Emerald, and Sapphire pre-built PCs is compatible with Maingear's MG-1 Panels, which are themed front panels that can change up the look of a PC build.

When the rumor mill for Intel's "Arrow Lake Refresh" began, we expected three SKUs: Core Ultra 5 250K Plus, Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, and a flagship Core Ultra 9 290K Plus. However, we later discovered that Intel is not launching the flagship SKU and will only release the Core Ultra 5 and Core Ultra 7 models. Instead, Intel chose to focus on delivering value with its Core Ultra 7 270K Plus SKU, which features 8 P-Cores and 16 E-Cores with a maximum turbo boost of 5.5 GHz. For individual boosting frequency, P-Cores reach up to 5.4 GHz, with a base speed of 3.7 GHz. E-Cores have a maximum boost frequency of 4.7 GHz and a base speed of 3.2 GHz. The main reason for canceling the flagship SKU is product overlap, as the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus would have the same core configuration as the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, just with slightly higher clock speeds. Consequently, Intel decided not to launch this SKU. It has now been confirmed by Intel Germany for PC Games Hardware that Intel will definitely not introduce this SKU at any point in the future.

Florian Maislinger, Tech Communication Manager, Intel GermanyIntel is excited to deliver exceptional value with our Intel Core Ultra 200S Plus series processors. The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus are positioned to deliver outstanding gaming performance and incredible value compared to our competition. Our objective was to maximize performance for the desktop SKUs that are most widely available. As a result, Intel is not launching a U9 290K Plus SKU.

Alongside "Arrow Lake Refresh," Intel released a new Binary Optimization Tool, available for Core Ultra 270K Plus and 250K Plus SKUs. However, since the tool essentially changes the way .exe applications run, scores on popular benchmarking applications may be deemed invalid. According to Primate Labs, the developer behind Geekbench, the use of Intel's binary optimization tool will result in a special flag on Geekbench scores. Reportedly, as the tool modifies the instruction sequence that the CPU exhibits, benchmark scores will deviate from the standard range. In a standardized benchmarking environment, this is a massive negative consequence, as the inner workings of the Binary Optimization Tool are unknown and resemble a black box that benchmark makers like Primate Labs have to deal with. To combat the use of this tool, Geekbench will now display the message "This benchmark result may be invalid due to binary modification tools that can run on this system" as a warning.

In TechPowerUp's own testing of the Binary Optimization Tool, we found that Intel's Binary Optimization Tool boosts Geekbench v6 single-core performance by 8.2%, while the multi-core score has risen by 7.8%, resulting in about an 8% average uplift in Geekbench testing. Games like Cyberpunk 2077 experience smaller uplifts, while some select titles like Shadow of the Tomb Raider can see up to a 22% increase using the Binary Optimization Tool. In reality, Intel only supports 12 games for now, which will expand further as the company labs release more optimizations. For gamers, this is fantastic news as the performance uplift is essentially free without any drawbacks, but for benchmarks, it is a potential issue as it represents an execution mystery since no one outside Intel knows exactly how the tool runs and how the code paths get modified.

Today, at HP Imagine 2026, HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) announced its next evolution of high-performance gaming with the new HyperX OMEN MAX 45L, HyperX OMEN 35L, expanded OMEN AI game support, and new OMEN Gaming Hub capabilities. Together, these innovations combine advanced hardware, intelligent optimization, and creative tools to elevate how gamers play, compete, and create. The lineup brings HyperX's vision for the future of play to life across hardware and software, enhancing both player and machine capability to unlock greater potential. From elite desktop power and modular expandability to AI-driven optimization, HyperX continues to deliver high-end gaming experiences that are more adaptable, more personal, and more capable.

"At HP, we put gamers first in everything we build," said Josephine Tan, Senior Vice President and Division President of Personal Systems Gaming Solutions at HP Inc. "With the new HyperX OMEN desktops, OMEN AI, and OMEN Gaming Hub experiences, we're bringing together powerful hardware and intelligent software to deliver more performance, simpler optimization, greater control, and more fun."

Intel today announced the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and Core Ultra 7 270K Plus desktop processors in the Socket LGA1851 package. These chips are drop-in compatible with existing Intel 800-series chipset motherboards, with some boards needing UEFI firmware updates. Both chips are based on the current "Arrow Lake" microarchitecture, and are carved out of the "Arrow Lake-S" disaggregated silicon that uses TSMC N3B (3 nm) foundry node for its Compute tile containing the CPU cores, TSMC N5 (5 nm) for its Graphics tile, and TSMC N6 (6 nm) node for its SoC and I/O tiles.

Both the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus ($199) and Core Ultra 7 270K Plus ($299) processor models are designed to push the current Core Ultra 5 245K and Core Ultra 7 265K, respectively, down from their current price-points. The two come with increased E-core counts, larger L3 caches, slightly increased P-core maximum boost frequency, and a 900 MHz faster die-to-die I/O frequency among the Compute and SoC tiles, which essentially makes these chips have "200S Boost Mode" out of the box. The new Core Ultra 5 250K Plus comes with a 6P+12E core configuration compared to the 6P+8E of the Core Ultra 5 245K. Its shared L3 cache has been enlarged to 30 MB, up from the 24 MB on the 245K. The P-core maximum boost frequency is up to 5.30 GHz from 5.20 GHz.

Intel's upcoming "Nova Lake-S" has been spotted in the wild for the first time. During the Embedded World 2026 event, German media outlet ComputerBase spotted an Intel Core Ultra 400 series "Nova Lake-S" mini-PC, featuring Intel's upcoming B960 chipset and support for DDR5 memory running at 8,000 MT/s. This suggests that Intel is upgrading its integrated memory controller on the "Nova Lake" platform to support these DDR5 speeds before any XMP and factory-overclocked memory are used. The support for higher-speed memory indicates that even Intel's current memory controller, which reportedly achieves DDR5 speeds of 7,200 MT/s in the upcoming "Arrow Lake Refresh," will receive an upgrade alongside the new core IP and configuration.

Speaking of configurations, ComputerBase confirmed that the 52-core top SKU of "Nova Lake" will have a TDP of 175 W, while other configurations with a TDP of 65 W will also be available. This is a significant boost of the base TDP rating that Intel is delivering, as the current flagship "Arrow Lake" Core Ultra 9 285K carries a base TDP of 125 W, a whole 50 W less. As this CPU is a 52-core model in its top-configuration, boost frequencies are going to push the power usage much higher as the processor runs a heavier load. Graphics output is powered by Xe3P GPU IP, as previously rumored, confirming that Intel's next-generation graphics is there. For AI capability, "Nova Lake" will deliver more than 100 TOPS using the 8-bit INT8 data type, thanks to the onboard NPU and the powerful Xe3P GPU IP.

Intel's Core Ultra 7 270K Plus was recently leaked in an upcoming HP prebuilt desktop PC, ostensibly once more confirming the imminent launch of the new Arrow Lake Refresh desktop CPUs. Now, the Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus has appeared in PassMark's benchmark charts, potentially both confirming the specifications of the mid-range Arrow Lake Refresh and setting expectations of performance for the new CPUs. According to PassMark, the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus scored 50,478 points in the CPU benchmark, coming out around 16% faster than the 14-core Core Ultra 5 245K and Core Ultra 5 245 KF that preceded it.

That benchmark score, although based on a single benchmark, puts the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus almost exactly halfway between the Core Ultra 5 245K and Core Ultra 7 265K, which is not a terrible place to be. According to previous leaks, now somewhat validated by this benchmark score, the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus will add four additional E-cores over the original 14-core Core Ultra 5 245 CPUs, for a total of 18 cores and 18 threads—6 P-cores and 12 E-cores.

Intel's upcoming "Arrow Lake Refresh" Core Ultra 7 270K Plus processor has made its debut on HP's website, as discovered by @momomo_us. HP has installed this unreleased processor in its HyperX OMEN desktop gaming PC. The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus represents the pinnacle of the "Arrow Lake Refresh" generation, featuring 8 performance cores and 16 efficiency cores, along with 36 MB of shared L3 cache. However, it operates at slightly lower clock speeds than the flagship Core Ultra 9 285K. Recently, a new rumor suggested that Intel might unveil the full specifications of these chips on March 11, with reviews following on March 23. Retail availability of the new generation is expected shortly after.

This is the top SKU that will appear with the "Arrow Lake Refresh," as Intel has reportedly decided not to launch the rumored "Core Ultra 9 290K Plus," which would have been a more powerful version of the 285K with even higher clock speeds. The main reason for canceling this SKU is product overlap. The flagship Core Ultra 9 290K Plus would have had the same core configuration as the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, just with slightly higher clock speeds. Additionally, Intel already offers a Core Ultra 9 285K SKU from the regular "Arrow Lake" family, which means the company would have three similar SKUs at the top of the stack. By maintaining only two products, Intel can simplify manufacturing and supply chain logistics, allowing more focus on preparing for the next-generation "Nova Lake" launch later this year.

We've known for a while now, that Intel's early-2026 refresh of its Core Ultra series-2 "Arrow Lake" desktop processor lineup could see a refresh with the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, with reviews tentatively going live on March 23. VideoCardz reports that the company could unveil these chips close to two weeks earlier than that, on March 11. This would probably be when the company announces the two chips and reveals some of their specs. Reviews could remain on track for March 23, with retail availability of the chips shortly after. There's no confirmation yet on whether the two chips have "KF" variants lacking integrated graphics, but that's fairly likely.

Both SKUs see increases in CPU core counts and L3 cache sizes compared to current SKUs leading the Core Ultra 5 and Core Ultra 7 brand extensions. The Core Ultra 5 250K Plus is a 6P+12E chip, with a generous 30 MB of shared L3 cache; while the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus maxes out the "Arrow Lake-S" silicon, enabling all 8 P-cores, and all 16 E-cores, with all 36 MB of shared L3 cache available; albeit with slightly lower clock-speeds than the flagship Core Ultra 9 285K. Intel reportedly dropped plans to launch the fabled "Core Ultra 9 290K Plus," which would have been a supercharged variant of the 285K with even higher clock speeds.

Intel's oft-leaked Core Ultra 200 Plus "Arrow Lake Refresh" processor series is expected to launch in March or April, according to rumors floated just after the conclusion of CES 2026. This past weekend, HXL/9550pro weighed in with a more focused timeframe—they propose that Team Blue will lift an important review embargo on March 23, at a very specific 6 a.m. (PST) morning slot. Evaluations of incoming Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, Ultra 5 250K, and Ultra 5 250KF desktop models are reportedly due for publication on that Monday. Oddly, the latest leak does not allude to an imminent embargo lift affecting "-HX" variants for the laptop/notebook market. Many Intel enthusiasts were looking forward to a major "Arrow Lake Refresh" unveiling at last month's CES trade show, but company leadership decided to go all-in with the introduction of "Panther Lake-H" mobile chips.

Throughout early 2026, Team Blue has kept quiet about forthcoming "Arrow Lake-S Refresh" desktop processors, but an official mid-January announcement—courtesy of the ASUS social media account—indicated a readying of BIOS support updates, in advance of an eventual retail launch. Up until recently, the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus model has been the most mysterious of Intel's "ARL-S Refresh" parts—a sudden increase in pre-release benchmarking activity and premature e-tail listings has occurred in parallel with whispers of a non-arrival of its flagship sibling. Late last week, two anonymous sources—in correspondence with VideoCardz—posited that Intel had removed the 24-core Ultra 9 290K Plus SKU from its near future "Arrow Lake-S Refresh" launch lineup. This past weekend Tom's Hardware (via momomo_us) spotted prematurely published pricing information, regarding the remaining Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, Ultra 5 250K, and Ultra 5 250KF models. An unspecified webstore listed price tags of $357.12, $245.92, and $227.38 (respectively).

Intel's upcoming Core Ultra Series 2 "Arrow Lake Refresh" desktop processors are confirmed to bring CPU E-core count and L3 cache uplifts at their given price-points, recent benchmark leaks confirm. The series was originally rumored to consist of three SKUs, the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus, the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, and the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus. The company was later reported to have cancelled the 290K Plus, and will proceed to launch the 250K Plus and 270K Plus very soon (details in our upcoming article).

The Core Ultra 5 250K Plus is significantly spruced up from the current Core Ultra 5 245K. The company has given this chip a 6P+12E core configuration, up from 6P+8E of the 245K. With three "Skymont" E-core clusters at its disposal, the chip also gets an increase in L3 cache, now increased to 30 MB, from the 24 MB of the 245K. There's also a nominal increase in frequency, with the P-cores boosting up to 5.30 GHz, a 100 MHz increase over the 245K. The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is essentially a downclocked Core Ultra 9 285K. It maxes out the "Arrow Lake-S" silicon, enabling all 8 P-cores, all 16 E-cores, and the entire 36 MB L3 cache present, but has clock speeds resembling the Core Ultra 7 265K, with a maximum P-core boost frequency of 5.50 GHz, compared to 5.70 GHz of the 285K. The 270K Plus could also lack Thermal Velocity Boost available in the 285K. The 270K could come at an attractive price-point below that of the 285K.

Intel's upcoming Core Ultra 5 250K Plus desktop processor has appeared in the Geekbench database, according to a post by Benchleaks on X. The CPU is part of Intel's Core Ultra 200S Plus "Arrow Lake Refresh" lineup, which is expected to launch next month. The Core Ultra 5 250K Plus features an 18-core configuration with 6 Performance cores and 12 Efficiency cores, up four E-Cores from the Core Ultra 5 245K 6P+8E layout. The processor runs at a 4.2 GHz base clock and 5.3 GHz boost. Cache specifications include 6 MB of L2 cache and 30 MB of L3 cache. Compared with the 245K, the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus keeps the same power ratings with a 125 W base power and a 159 W maximum turbo power, despite the higher core count and slightly increased boost clocks. P-core turbo frequencies are up by 100 MHz compared to the 245K, while E-core clocks reportedly remain unchanged at up to 4.7 GHz.

The test system used an ASUS PRIME Z890-P WIFI motherboard with 32 GB of memory. The processor scored 3,113 points in the single-core test and 15,251 points in the multicore test. As with most early database entries, performance may improve with final firmware and retail silicon. Intel is expected to position the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus in the sub-$300 segment, offering a modest upgrade over the Core Ultra 5 245K, which currently sells for around $200-215. The processor will be compatible with LGA 1851 motherboards and is part of what is expected to be the final CPU family for the socket, ahead of Intel's transition to LGA 1954 with the upcoming Nova Lake architecture later this year.

Intel's "Arrow Lake Refresh" has not even been released, but the company has already canceled its flagship SKU planned for this refresh cycle, according to a report from VideoCardz. Two sources close to the media note that Intel's flagship Core Ultra 9 290K Plus might not roll out at all, despite the massive hype and leaked benchmarks indicating that Intel is releasing this CPU SKU as part of the "Arrow Lake Refresh" generation expected to arrive in March or April. Reportedly, Intel will instead focus on delivering value with its Core Ultra 7 270K Plus SKU, which carries 8 P-Cores and 16 E-Cores and a 5.5 GHz maximum turbo boost. For individual boosting frequency, P-Cores top out at 5.4 GHz, while the base runs at 3.7 GHz. For E-Cores, the boost frequency is set to a maximum of 4.7 GHz, while the base is set at 3.2 GHz.

As for a possible reason why Intel would cancel this SKU, the sources close to VideoCardz note that product overlap is the main issue, as the flagship Core Ultra 9 290K Plus would have the same core configuration as the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, just with slightly higher clock speeds. Additionally, Intel already maintains a Core Ultra 9 285K SKU from the regular "Arrow Lake" family, meaning that the company would have three similar SKUs at the very top of the stack. This way, it would only have to maintain two products, which would simplify manufacturing and supply chain logistics, allowing Intel to spend more time preparing for the next-generation "Nova Lake" launch later this year.

As February has just started, Valve finished processing data for the January edition of the Steam Hardware and Software Survey. One of the few interesting takeaways is that for the first time in months, Intel's share of consumer CPU usage has seen an uptick, instead of the slow decline it has been experiencing. According to the January update, Intel's CPU share among Steam platform users has grown to 56.64%, representing a small but pleasant increase of 0.25% over the December data. On the other hand, AMD recorded a slight decrease of 0.19%, now standing at 43.34% of the market. This means that Intel's market share has increased for the first time in months, as data from September reported a market share of 58.61%, then October showed 57.82%, 57.30% in November, and 56.39% in December. The chain of declining share has finally stopped, suggesting that Intel could have a chance to rebound in the consumer market section.

On the contrary, AMD's CPU market share has been rising for months, moving up from 41.31% in September to 43.53% in December, with a small correction now standing at 43.34%. This indicates that many new CPU purchasing decisions were made in favor of AMD, driven by the massive popularity of its Ryzen 9000X3D series, which has been well-received by PC enthusiasts. In contrast, Intel's latest "Arrow Lake" launch has faced some initial challenges with less-than-expected gaming performance, but besides discounts and firmware updates improving the situation, the community is now anticipating the launch of the "Arrow Lake Refresh" scheduled for March or April, which is expected to address these issues by shipping with higher out-of-the-box frequencies and additional tuning.

Intel's upcoming "Arrow Lake Refresh" are weeks away from the final release, but new listing suggests that there might be more SKUs getting a refresh makeover than we initially thought. In the latest listing by a Romanian retailer, there is a new SKU called Core Ultra 5 250KF Plus, with a code number BX80768250KF. The SKU is supposed to be the first version of the ARLR family with a "KF" mark, meaning that there won't be an integrated GPU in this processor Instead, only the CPU is provided, meaning that a GPU is mandatory, much like the previous KF SKUs. In the listing there is a mention of 4.2 GHz frequency, which aligns with the previously rumored Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and its P-core base speed of 4.2 GHz. This means that other specifications will remain similar to the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus, like the E-Core base speed of 3.5 GHz, E-Core turbo of 4.7 GHz, and P-Core boost frequency of 5.3 GHz. The only difference will be the lack of iGPU, as it has been a case with previous KF SKUs.

Interestingly, the Romanian retailer is also listing the Core Ultra 250K Plus (BX80768250K) and Core Ultra 270K Plus (BX80768270K), while the flagship Ultra 9 290K Plus is not yet listed. This doesn't necessarily mean the SKU won't exist, but rather that this preliminary listing is incomplete for now. For the Core Ultra 5 250KF Plus, the retailer listed it at 1,049 Romanian Leu, which is about $243. As previous leaks suggest a March or April release of the ARLR family, we can expect the information and listings to intensify in the coming weeks. Some early benchmark runs also point to a 10% performance boost in flagship SKUs with the new refresh, so we have to wait and see how these mid-range chips perform in more testing.

Intel's next desktop "Arrow Lake Refresh" CPU upgrade is inching closer to reality. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has been spotted in a new Geekbench run, adding to the evidence that the "Arrow Lake Refresh" will indeed offer a meaningful performance improvements over its predecessors. The test system used an ASUS ROG Strix Z890-E Gaming Wi-Fi board with 64 GB of DDR5-6800 memory. The processor achieved scores of 3,535 in the single-core test and 25,106 in the multicore test. Compared to the Core Ultra 9 285K's typical scores of around 3,200 and 22,560, this represents improvements of approximately 10.5% and 11.3%, respectively. These results place the 290K Plus at the top of Intel's consumer CPU rankings in Geekbench's database. An earlier leak on different hardware showed slightly lower results, suggesting that this newer test run benefits from better optimization rather than just faster memory.

The 290K Plus SKU keeps the same 24-core layout as its predecessor with 8 P-Cores and 16 E-Cores, plus identical power limits of PL1 of 125 W and PL2 of 250 W. The gains come from higher clock speeds. According to rumors, the efficiency cores now boost to 4.8 GHz, up 200 MHz, while the performance cores get an extra 100 MHz on both turbo and thermal velocity boost. The benchmark registered the chip running at 5.7 GHz during testing. Intel has confirmed the ARLR is coming but has stayed quiet on specific models and dates. Leaks suggest a March or April release, and since these chips use the same LGA 1851 socket, they should work as drop-in upgrades for current Z890 motherboards. As with any pre-release numbers, may not reflect final CPU performance, so final performance data and gaming results that come from third-party reviews will show the real-world situation.

Intel is preparing to launch its Core Ultra Series 4 "Nova Lake" processor generation toward the end of 2026, CEO Lip-Bu Tan confirmed. This processor generation would span various form-factors, including importantly, desktop. Intel is building its next-generation "Nova Lake-S" desktop processor around the new Socket LGA1954 platform that replaces the current LGA1851. The company is planning to release Core Ultra Series 3 "Arrow Lake Refresh" for LGA1851 in the run-up to "Nova Lake-S" by yearend.

With "Nova Lake," Intel is expected to make fundamental changes to its processor design to help the company claw back performance leadership over AMD in the desktop segment. These changes include a doubling in CPU core counts going up to 16P+32E, a new iGPU based on the Xe3 "Celestial" graphics architecture, a new NPU that meets Copilot+ requirements, and the introduction of special SKUs with BLLC (big last-level cache), Intel's answer to AMD's 3D V-Cache. Intel will update the CPU complex with new "Coyote Cove" P-cores, and "Arctic Wolf" E-cores, both of which are expected to improve IPC over the current "Lion Cove" and "Skymont" combo. "Coyote Cove" does not feature HyperThreading, something the Intel CEO wants to see restored on the company's P-cores, but "Nova Lake" will make up for it with a numerical increase in P-core counts.

Intel did not introduce its oft-leaked "Arrow Lake Refresh" desktop and laptop CPU ranges at CES 2026, despite plenty of pre-event activity suggesting a near future arrival at retail. Almost two weeks after the conclusion of new product promotional activities in Las Vegas, ASUS has just started to hype up its own "in advance" preparations for Team Blue's inevitable release of "ARL-S Refresh" desktop chips. A few hours ago, the Taiwanese hardware manufacturer's main social media account proudly declared: "ready for the future of Intel! ASUS W880, Z890, Q870, B860 & H810 motherboards are BIOS READY—rolling out in late January." Leaked "Core Ultra 200 Plus" nomenclature suggests that Intel has kept its slightly upgraded designs within the Core Ultra Series 2 generation. Previously, their refreshment of "Raptor Lake" was deemed worthy of becoming a new processor generation: 14th Gen Core.

Curiously, today's ASUS announcement labels the latest mid-gen refresh as next generation: "all set for Intel Arrow Lake Refresh! Upgrade smoothly. Next-gen power is coming!" Gaming CPU market segment trackers believe that the "Plus/+" designation will only turn up on three new SKUs: Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, Core Ultra 9 270K Plus, and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus. This seemingly sparse lineup is expected to keep Team Blue's LGA 1851 platform propped up for a little bit longer, until the successive and truly next-gen "Nova Lake-S" desktop family rolls up with its matching LGA 1954 socket. About a week ago, Golden Pig Upgrade predicted that Intel would launch Ultra 200 Plus desktop and laptop/notebook (HX) products within a March/April window. Coinciding with ASUS readying BIOS updates for 800-series motherboard later this month, Intel and its hardware partners will be unleashing Core Ultra 300 "Panther Lake-H" mobile processors.

Despite no-showing at CES 2026, leaks still predict that Intel will launch the Arrow Lake Refresh mobile CPUs sometime in March or April 2026, and one of the CPUs slated to launch then is the mobile flagship Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, which has incidentally showed up in a recent PassMark CPU benchmark (via X86isdeadandback on X). According to the PassMark listing, the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, which was supposedly tested in an MSI laptop equipped with an RTX 5090 and 32 GB of Samsung DDR5-5600 memory, the upcoming CPU will handily outpace the former flagship mobile CPU by around 7.5% in single-thread performance and a healthy 12.8% in the multicore benchmark. If the Core Ultra 9 285HX is anything to go by, there may still be some performance on the table with faster DDR5-6400 memory.

The Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus scored 66203 in the multicore benchmark and 5009 in the single-core benchmark. This performance puts it less than 2% away from the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K desktop CPU (which scored 67430 and 5093, respectively), which is certainly an impressive feat. Of course, all the usual caveats apply when it comes to early CPU benchmarks—especially leaked benchmarks. For starters, the official launch is still a while away, and clock speeds and microcode may not be entirely dialed-in yet. This is also a sample size of one, and CPU performance can often vary greatly between different configurations. The new CPU first appeared in a previously leaked Geekbench benchmark of an Acer Predator laptop, which also revealed that the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus will use the same P-core and E-core layout as the older 285HX, meaning eight P-cores and 16 e-cores.

Recent Geekbench Browser database entries have outed test scores and basic specifications for two of Intel's upcoming "Arrow Lake Refresh" flagships. On January 13, a not-yet-launched Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus mobile unit was tracked in a new Acer Predator Helios gaming laptop. A few hours earlier, Team Blue's Core Ultra 9 290K Plus desktop chip entered the fray onboard a test rig built around Gigabyte's top-level and world record-holding Z890 AORUS TACHYON ICE mainboard configured with 48 GB DDR5-8000 of system memory. This leak shows the future 24-core "Arrow Lake Refresh" range topper posting overall scores of 3456 single-core and 24610 multicore points in Geekbench 6.5 test scenarios. Naturally, news reports have quickly compared the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus to a nearby non-refreshed "Arrow Lake" part—Core Ultra 9 285K.

The newcomer managed to build upon the current flagship's officially ranked achievements (based upon multiple entries); doing 7% better in single-core stakes, and 9% in multicore tests. When compared to AMD's fanciest "Granite Ridge" desktop offering—Ryzen 9 9950X3D—the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is 2% faster in terms of single-core results, and 11% above in multicore. Interestingly, the lesser Core Ultra 9 270K Plus model was Geekbenched in December—producing 3235 (single-core) and 21368 (multicore) tallies. The flagship "Arrow Lake-S Refresh" SKU is about 7% and 15% faster (respectively) than its (also) 24-core sibling. According to Geekbench diagnostic data and other specification leaks, the two (8P + 16E) siblings feature minor differences in core clock speeds, so it is possible that Team Blue engineers have tuned the more expensive option to a greater degree. Golden Pig Upgrade has proposed a March/April launch window for the Core Ultra 200 Plus desktop family, consisting of the two aforementioned models and an 18-core (6P + 12E) Core Ultra 5 250K Plus SKU.