Intel's Arrow Lake Refresh Flagship Scores Big on Geekbench

Intel's upcoming Arrow Lake Refresh lineup continues to leak ahead of its expected March-April launch, with the flagship Core Ultra 9 290K Plus making a notable appearance on Geekbench. The processor, which will succeed the current Core Ultra 9 285K, was tested on an Asus ROG Strix Z890-E Gaming Wi-Fi motherboard paired with 64 GB of DDR5-6800 memory, delivering impressive performance figures that place it at the top of Geekbench's processor rankings.

(Image credit: Future)

The single-core performance of the 290K Plus reached 3,535 points, representing a 10.5% improvement over its predecessor's 3,200 points. This score not only demonstrates the modest but meaningful clock speed enhancements expected from the refresh but also positions the chip as the current leader in Geekbench's single-core processor benchmarks. The multi-core performance was equally impressive, with the 290K Plus scoring 25,106 points - an 11.29% increase over the 285K and enough to surpass every other consumer Intel processor in Geekbench's database.

While these numbers come from a single run rather than an averaged sample, they align with expectations for Intel's refresh strategy. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is rumored to maintain the same 24-core configuration (8 performance cores plus 16 efficiency cores) as its predecessor, along with identical power limits of 125W PL1 and 250W PL2. The performance gains appear to come primarily from clock speed increases: E-Core boost has been enhanced by 200 MHz (from 4.6 GHz to 4.8 GHz), while P-Core Turbo and Thermal Velocity Boost each receive 100 MHz increases.

This refresh strategy follows Intel's established pattern of providing modest performance improvements while maintaining platform compatibility. The Arrow Lake Refresh will be Intel's final release on the current LGA 1851 socket, making it a drop-in upgrade option for many existing systems. Earlier Geekbench listings for the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus showed similar ~10% performance improvements, suggesting consistent gains across the refreshed lineup.

Intel confirmed the Arrow Lake Refresh during its CES showcase last month, though specific SKU details and official performance metrics remain unannounced. As with all pre-release benchmarks, these Geekbench results should be viewed as preliminary indicators rather than definitive performance assessments. The true evaluation of these processors will have to wait until their official release and broader independent testing.

The timing of this leak is particularly interesting given Intel's recent focus on its next-generation Panther Lake architecture at CES. While Panther Lake may have captured the spotlight at the show, the Arrow Lake Refresh represents Intel's immediate strategy for maintaining competitiveness in the desktop CPU market, offering tangible performance improvements to users who may not be ready to transition to entirely new platform architectures.

The March-April timeframe suggested by leaks would position the Arrow Lake Refresh as a timely upgrade option for enthusiasts and professionals looking to maximize performance on existing LGA 1851 platforms before Intel transitions to its next socket generation.