'The fastest desktop gaming processors Intel has ever built': new Arrow Lake Refresh CPUs are priced to sell, and AMD should be worried | Tech Radar

Overview

'The fastest desktop gaming processors Intel has ever built': new Arrow Lake Refresh CPUs are priced to sell, and AMD should be worried

Meet the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus

Details

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

That face when you discover you own your games on GOG (Image credit: Shutterstock)

They are the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus

Both offer core count increases compared to their Arrow Lake predecessors — and a sizeable boost in gaming performance to the tune of 15%

Intel has released a pair of new desktop processors, which are refreshed models that are a step forward for the firm's current Arrow Lake range.

Tom's Hardware reports that these Arrow Lake Refresh chips are the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus. These are pepped-up models of the existing Core Ultra 7 265K and Core Ultra 5 245K CPUs, respectively.

Intel's Robert Hallock, VP, Client Computing Group, General Manager, Enthusiast Channel Segment, boasts: "First, the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Ultra 5 250K Plus are the fastest desktop gaming processors Intel has ever built. Second, they nearly double the content creation performance of our competitor. And, thirdly, they're arriving with exciting new technologies that revolutionize the setup and optimization roadmap for Intel gaming platforms. These chips are a value that's hard to beat."

Intel launches new Core Ultra series 3 chips for laptops at CES 2026

Newegg just made the Core Ultra 7 265K the fastest CPU under $300 - with a free Battlefield 6 game

Intel Core Ultra 5 225F hits

That's some big talk, so what's new exactly with these CPUs?

Intel has beefed up the core count, so the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus has eight performance cores plus 16 efficiency cores, which is an extra four efficiency cores compared to the 265K. The same treatment has been given to the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus with an extra four efficiency cores, meaning it now has 12 efficiency cores to go along with its six performance cores.

As for clock speeds, these remain essentially the same as their predecessors, save for minor changes — you do get 100MHz more boost with the 250K, but the 270K maintains the same 5.4GHz for the performance cores as seen with the 265K.

Intel has brought in performance boosts elsewhere, though, notably with an up to 900MHz increase in the die-to-die speed of these new processors. That means lower system latency and a boost for PC gaming, Intel observes.

There's also support for faster RAM — up to 7200 MT/s DDR5 (up from 6400 MT/s on current Arrow Lake chips) — which will help performance, and a new Intel Binary Optimization Tool or i BOT.

Intel explains that i BOT is "a first-of-its-kind optimization technology" which will "increase processor instructions per cycle (IPC) and user performance".

We're told that this tool can increase IPC in certain games — think of that as a different way of upping performance aside from clock frequency increases — and this holds even if the game has been optimized for a different platform (like a console).

The Intel Core Ultra series 3 processors look impressive enough, but the Arc B390 i GPU is the real game-changer here

Intel sells the fastest sub-$200 CPUs that you can buy right now and AMD can barely keep up, even with a Ryzen 9 5900XT — so I have to ask, is Intel the new AMD?

AMD is slowly turning into Intel of yesteryear as

The proof will be in the (independent) game benchmarks, of course, but Team Blue is already calling i BOT a "key aspect of Intel's long-term performance roadmap for enthusiasts".

In terms of the game benchmarks for launch, Intel's claiming 15% faster gaming performance for the 270K Plus versus the 265K based on the average frame rates over 38 games (at 1080p resolution, high details, with the i BOT tool enabled where supported).

The price of the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus processor is

Intel has a lot of work to do to gain favor again in the world of PC enthusiasts and gamers, because Arrow Lake wasn't well-received by the gaming community, and before that, we had those nasty stability issues with 13th and 14th-gen CPUs (which weren't well-received by anyone). However, this Core Ultra 200S Plus refresh — albeit that it's a modest two-chip effort — is an important step towards rebuilding Intel's desktop reputation.

The gaming performance jump with the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a sizeable one, with the extra cores, die-to-die speed boost, and complementing tech providing some serious extra power. When you consider those gains through the lens of the asking prices — which are actually lower than the old models these refreshes succeed — you've got a potent recipe for success, frankly.

Hallock's PR boasts aren't hollow by all accounts, and the refreshed Arrow Lake CPUs here have been a pleasant surprise for the gaming community and PC enthusiasts alike.

The only thing missing is a flagship refresh, with no 290K Plus model. That means the flagship 285K is in an odd position, seeing as the new 270K Plus is its equal in core count and almost matches the former's clocks (it's 100MHz shy in the boost stakes, but that's not a big deal at all).

More eyes, however, are likely to be on the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus, because at $199, this looks like an excellent value proposition, and a much-needed breath of fresh air at a time when many PC components are getting depressingly expensive (RAM and storage, of course, and also GPUs).

➡️ Read our full guide to the best computers

1. Best Windows: Dell Tower Plus
2. Best Mac: Apple Mac mini M4
3. Best Mac AIO: Apple i Mac 24-inch (M4)

Follow Tech Radar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course, you can also follow Tech Radar on You Tube and Tik Tok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on Whats App too.

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for Tech Radar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

1 This rugged phone has hardware to rival some i Phones — and it only needs to be charged once a month

2 Mercedes-Benz just launched the Rolls-Royce of the minivan world

3 Why does the Mac Book Air M5 keyboard look different? Blame your i Phone

4‘Anthropic’s Claude models are no longer available’: US State Department ditches Claude on the orders of Trump – while Senate approves Gemini, Chat GPT, and Co Pilot for use

5 Camcorders are back – but read this before backing the $200 Yashica Journey 4K

Tech Radar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Key Takeaways

• 'The fastest desktop gaming processors Intel has ever built': new Arrow Lake Refresh CPUs are priced to sell, and AMD should be worried

• Meet the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus

• When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission

• That face when you discover you own your games on GOG (Image credit: Shutterstock)

• They are the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus