The next-gen EliteBook will likely feature one of Intel's mid-range Nova Lake chips, as leaked on the SiSoftware website. HP EliteBook X G3i 14-inch Laptop With a Possible 20-Core Nova Lake CPU Spotted; Features Up To 4.6 GHz and 18 MB of L3 Cache The current generation of HP EliteBook, known as EliteBook X G2i with a 14-inch display, features a Panther Lake-H CPU. The official website states Intel Core Ultra 7 356H, a 16-core processor with 18 MB L3 cache. However, a new EliteBook X laptop just appeared out of nowhere on the SiSoftware platform, revealing that HP is […]
Intel is going aggressive, and this is the first time we have seen this monstrous processor dropping under $200. Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus Drops Under $200 for the First Time Since Launch, Arming Users With Incredible Raw Power for Gaming and Productivity At this rate, most Intel Arrow Lake processors will drop below $200, including high-end offerings, but as of now, only the refreshed chips seem to be enjoying the lowest prices ever. If you remember, a few days ago, Intel slashed the prices of its newest Arrow Lake Refresh chips, including both the Core Ultra 7 270K […]
One of the best gaming CPUs has dropped by nearly $50 while another 10-core powerful CPU dropped below $100. Amazon Slashes $47 Off Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus, Making it the Best Gaming/Productivity Processor While Core Ultra 5 225F is Now the Cheapest 10-Core CPU This might be the biggest CPU deal this year as one of the fastest gaming processors has dropped way below its official MSRP. Just today, we published a deals post, which gives you the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus for lower than MSRP, but this Amazon deal […]
AMD has launched its first Zen 6 CPUs, the EPYC Venice, and we use them to analyze what we can expect from the Ryzen "Olympic Ridge" lineup. AMD Ryzen "Olympic Ridge" Desktop CPUs Analyzed Using EPYC "Venice" Specifications, Zen 6 Brings The Next Oomph To AM5 Desktops It is surprising how AMD has evolved its strategy over the years. When the first Zen architecture launched, it was released for desktop PCs. The 1st Gen EPYC family, codenamed Naples, wouldn't arrive till a few months later. This has been the case for all Zen launches so far: Ryzen launches first, followed […]
Almost every vendor is celebrating its 10th or 20th anniversary by releasing special edition products. ASRock Celebrates Taichi 10th Anniversary By Launching RX 9070 XT Taichi OC Special Edition Concept; Introduces Several New Special Edition Components If I remember correctly, we have seen the Radeon RX 9070 XT Taichi 16 GB OC 10th Anniversary edition before. ASRock already has the regular and white edition RX 9070 XT Taichi GPUs, but it has now launched a special edition to celebrate 10 years of Taichi, which debuted in 2016 with the X99 Taichi motherboard. The company continued the legacy with more Taichi […]
So, it's true that Intel increased the prices of these processors, but they didn't disclose the reason publicly. Intel Confirms Price Hike for Core Ultra 200S Plus Series by $30-$50; Says, "Rising Supply Chain Costs" and "Strong Demand" are the Reasons for the Hike Recently, we spotted changes in the recommended customer price for some Intel Arrow Lake chips, particularly the Core Ultra 200S "Plus" series. The price hike was sudden and unexpected. However, it wasn't a mistake on Intel's part, as it has finally confirmed that the price hike is official. That said, the new processors will now officially […]
The motherboard maker is introducing its proprietary memory optimization features for superior performance. Colorful Debuts Memory Tuning Mode, Claiming 4% Higher Average FPS in eSports Titles and Up To 10% Improvement in AIDA64 Benchmarks Major motherboard vendors have released their new memory and CPU optimization features for their motherboards. Colorful isn't lagging either and introduced a new memory optimization feature called Memory Tuning Mode. This specifically targets memory optimizations to improve performance in gaming and non-gaming workloads. As per IT Home, Colorful's Memory Tuning Mode is reserved for the Intel 800 series motherboards that are used by the Arrow Lake […]
Intel is once again down for another Refresh for its Raptor Lake series and as per the report, it's set to launch it next year. Intel Aims for DDR4 Abundance in the Market Through Releasing New Raptor Lake Refreshes Alongside Nova Lake CPUs Intel Raptor Lake has witnessed multiple refreshes in recent years. After the success of the 13th-gen Raptor Lake family, Intel followed up with the 14th-gen Raptor Lake Refresh. Even after the release of Intel's Arrow Lake, aka Core Ultra Series 2 processors, Intel re-released the Raptor Lake Refresh with a different naming convention (Core Series). According to […]
The newer Arrow Lake processor doesn't trail behind CPUs with more cores, and surprisingly delivers results that are on par with them. Intel Core Ultra 7 251HX Delivers Slightly Higher Single and Multi-Core Performance Than Ultra 7 255HX and Ultra 7 265HX in PassMark The Intel Core Ultra 7 251HX is one of the latest additions to the Arrow Lake-HX family, if you remember our recent posts on the processor. Previously, it was spotted in a Cinebench R23 benchmark, where it was delivering superior results at sub-100W TDPs. The processor launched nearly two months ago and sits between the Core […]
Sparing no expense, Dell's flagship workstation laptop, the Pro Max 16 Plus, aims to deliver as much performance as is possible in a 16-inch laptop while still being modestly portable
Just like AMD, Intel keeps releasing refreshed Raptor Lake CPUs, but this time, both CPUs are devoid of any integrated graphics. Intel Launches 10 Core, Core 7 230H and 8 Core, Core 5 205H "iGPU-Less" Processors Quietly in the Raptor Lake Family Remember our post from last month about Maxsun motherboards that deliver the "unannounced" Raptor Lake chips on board? Yes, they are real and have finally been officially announced by Intel. The company just silently introduced the new budget Raptor Lake mobile chips, but there is a catch. Both CPUs have their integrated graphics disabled, as spotted in the […]
Intel has reportedly started shipping engineering samples of its next-generation Nova Lake CPUs, which bring a massive performance increase. Intel Nova Lake Engineering Samples Rumored To Be Shipping Now, Major Performance Uplifts Expected Intel's Nova Lake CPUs are expected to launch in the second half of this year. The desktop family, Nova Lake-S, will be the first to hit shelves, offering a big bump in performance thanks to enhancements in the architecture and core design. As per SiliconFly, Intel has begun shipping the first ES samples of its Nova Lake CPUs. No details are being mentioned as to what core […]
Looking at the role of compilers in SPEC CPU 2026 performance, we have tested the benchmark suite on LLVM 22. The newest compiler provides a meaningful improvement to benchmark scores for multiple architectures
Unlike conventional DDR5 memory modules that need to push to 8000 MT/s manually, the GeIL Spear V can reach 8000 MT/s out of the box. GeIL Announces Spear V DDR5 Memory Ahead of Computex, Rated at 8000 MT/s Under Official JEDEC Standards Memory maker, GeIL, has reached a major milestone by achieving what conventionally was possible only through manual overclocking. Since the debut of the DDR5 memory standard, enthusiasts have been trying to push the DDR5 memory speeds beyond the official JEDEC standards, but the new GeIL Spear V DDR5 memory breaks that constraint. With the announcement of Spear V […]
After nearly a decade, SPEC has released a new version of its industry-defining CPU benchmark, SPEC CPU 2026. We take a look at what's new, as well as the new benchmark's performance on a modern AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA CPU trio
The Intel LGA 1700 platform was launched three years ago in 2021, and it has since seen a total of 3 generations of CPUs: Alder Lake (12th Gen), Raptor Lake (13th Gen), and Raptor Lake Refresh (14th Gen). We have seen at least three generations of motherboards, first with the 600-series, which had Z690 as the top SKU, and then two generations of 700-series based on the top Z790 chipset, which included a soft refresh for the 14th Gen lineup. In late 2024, Intel introduced its next-generation 800-series chipsets, and with the Core Ultra 200S CPU series, the company also […]
Intel Arrow Lake launched late in 2024 and landed with a dull thump of disappointment. After some serious rework by Intel, the processors moved from ‘awful' to ‘interesting' but today's launch of the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and Core Ultra 7 270K Plus shows us just what we missed out on during 2025. These new processors offer both performance and good value for money and come as a breath of fresh air.
Timestamps
00:00 start
01:07 A brief recap
02:00 Leo talks to Intel
03:48 The Processors
06:56 Changes
07:23 Intel Binary Optimisation Tool
08:25 Memory support
10:03 Hardware setup
11:02 Some quick runs
12:10 Geekbench 6.6 Multi Core
13:14 Geekbench 6.6 Single Core
13:42 Cinebench Multi Core
14:02 7-Zip V26 Benchmark
14:43 AIDA 64 Memory Bandwidth
15:02 Far Cry 6 (1080p)
15:39 Far Cry 6 (1440p)
16:01 Assassins Creed Mirage (1080p)
16:40 Assassins Creed Mirage (1440p)
16:55 Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p)
17:17 Cyberpunk 2077 (1440p)
17:47 Total War Pharaoh (1080p)
18:32 Total War Pharaoh (1440p)
19:02 Pricing
Testing and Performance
Test systems CPUs: Intel Core Ultra 200S RAM: 32GB G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-7200 C34 Motherboard: MSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk WiFi II
Common components: CPU cooler: Phanteks Glacier One 360 Graphics: MSI RTX 4090 Ventus 3X 24GB SSD: Crucial T700 Gen 5 M.2 NVMe Power Supply: Antec Signature 2200 Platinum
Geekbench 6.6 Multi Core
In Geekbench 6.6 Multi Core we get a welcome surprise with the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus beating every other CPU. In addition we see a healthy boost when we engage Binary Optimisation and this gives us hope the new Intel Plus CPUs will deliver the goods.
7-Zip v26
7-Zip v26 is a test of pure CPU grunt and naturally we see the Ryzen 9 9950X leap to the top of the chart. Even so, the new Core Ultra 7 270K Plus does very well and the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus also puts in a good showing.
Far Cry 6 1080p
In Far Cry 6 at 1080p with the Ultra Preset we see Intel improving on their previous results by about 30fps. AMD wins this gaming test with their mighty Ryzen 7 9850X3D, but there is no doubt that Intel has made some serious improvements with Plus.
Cyberpunk 2077 1440p
Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p is a sterner gaming test but once again the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus does well and matches the previous Intel champion, the Core i9-14900K. Having said that, AMD still takes the top honours with the Ryzen 7 9850X3D.
Closing Thoughts
When we first reviewed Intel's Core Ultra 200S processors we wrote off the Core Ultra 9 285K for being too expensive and the Core Ultra 5 245K for being unimpressive. We grudgingly gave the Core Ultra 7 265K the nod as the least bad CPU of the bunch. Over time we have seen the prices drift downwards but our views remained unchanged until today's launch of these Plus CPUs.
We are impressed with the budget Core Ultra 5 250K Plus which kicks the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X all over the shop. The star of the show is the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus which is clearly a new and improved Core Ultra 9 285K that has been delivered at a much lower price and is very, very good. The only obvious downside is that you have to select this one specific Intel CPU as an alternative to a choice from an entire family of AMD Zen 5 CPUs.
Core Ultra 7 270K Plus will be £299.99 inc VAT. Core Ultra 5 250K Plus will be £209.99 inc VAT.
Pros:
The two Plus CPUs deliver a welcome boost to performance.
Core Ultra 7 Plus replaces Core Ultra 9 and offers excellent value.
Software installation is incredibly straightforward.
Cons:
LGA1851 motherboards have no upgrade path after Core Ultra 200S.
Intel has nothing to offer that can compete with Ryzen 3D.
Intel Application and Binary Optimisation are unpredictable.
KitGuru says: Intel has done a superb job with their new CPUs and the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus comes as a welcome relief in these gloomy times.
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