In the beginning, the article was without sources, and void. But the sun rose upon the sleeping Intel fans, and hope stirred once more within their souls. The editor’s mouse shifted, links were copied and pasted, as shown below:
Indeed, after years and years of disappointment and ridicule, including the horrible Arrow Lake launch, Intel is getting back to form with the Arrow Lake Refresh. This refresh is made from 2 CPUs:
- Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus (6P / 12E for $200)
- Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus (8P / 16E for $300)
And how do they fare?
The Good
- Both CPUs perform brilliantly in multi-threaded applications, easily beating everything in their price range, and getting quite close to much more expensive options.
- The single-threaded performance is good too, but single-threaded performance is quite good in all CPUs above a certain price range.
- What makes these CPUs stand out is that the price is very competitive. You are getting last week’s performance for $100 to $200 cheaper. Excellent value!
The Meh
- Single threaded performance has improved in the refresh, but gaming performance is still tied. A tie is better than a loss, but it is not a win.
- Despite being on a smaller lithography node, there are no power savings here. The CPUs are not power hogs, so it is still alright, but it would have been nice to see Intel back in the efficiency game.
- The naming scheme was a joke two generations ago, but Intel seems hellbent on stretching our capacity for tolerance. With 12 syllables generously spread across 5 words, the name just rolls off the tongue.
- It is not as big a deal as the forums make it seem, but it still must be noted: This is the last stand of the LGA 1851 socket. You will not be upgrading these CPUs without upgrading the motherboard.
The Bad
- The last time Intel had a launch that we called a proper win was in 2022. Intel is four years late! AMD has been eating Intel’s lunch, and the marketshare shows it. Let us hope that Nova Lake is not delayed too.
- There is no competition for AMD’s 3D king-of-the-hill CPUs. There is also nothing new in the budget tier. If you have $200-$300 for a CPU, you are good. Higher or lower budgets are not getting much love from Intel.
Going Forward
We will be adding these Arrow Lake Refresh CPUs to our chart, and making the following edits:
- Ultra 5 250K and Ultra 7 270K will be added to the Superb, Excellent, Outstanding and Exceptional tiers.
- Those tiers will have compatible Z890 motherboards.
- The R5 9600X will replace the R5 7600 (no X) in the Great tier.
- The R9 9900X will be removed from Enthusiast and Extremist.
These changes are already live in the USA chart, and will roll out to other countries soon.