The upcoming Arrow Lake CPU series, particularly the flagship model, is not expected to deliver groundbreaking performance upgrades compared to its predecessor. Here’s a closer look at what users can anticipate.
Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus Offers Incremental Performance Boost Over 285HX
The mobile Arrow Lake lineup welcomes the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, which retains the 24-core, 24-thread configuration of its forerunner, the Core Ultra 9 285HX. As a mid-cycle refresh, the primary enhancements focus on clock speed rather than architectural changes. Although there are rumors regarding the cancellation of the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus for desktops, Intel remains committed to launching the mobile variant shortly.
Recent tests of the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus on Geekbench, a renowned benchmarking platform, provide insights into its performance capabilities. It’s essential to note that Geekbench scores can vary significantly across different tests. In the leaked benchmarks, the 290HX Plus achieved 3, 153 points in single-core tests and 21, 720 points in multi-core evaluations. Notably, these scores were recorded on an Acer Predator laptop equipped with 64 GB of RAM.
When comparing these scores to the Core Ultra 9 285HX, there is a modest performance improvement. The enhancements depend on the specific benchmarks used. For example, in comparisons against the Dell Pro Max’s Ultra 9 285HX, the 290HX Plus exhibits around a 6% increase in single-core performance and an 8% enhancement in multi-core performance. While differences may vary depending on the tasks, the overall observation indicates a slightly superior CPU without an increase in core count.
Benchmark Performance Summary
This isn’t the first instance of the 290HX Plus appearing in benchmarks; it was also tested on PassMark, which is generally regarded as more reliable. On PassMark, the 290HX Plus demonstrated up to a 15% improvement in multi-core performance over the 285HX, aligning closely with the desktop variant, Core Ultra 9 285K. Leaks indicate a maximum boost clock of up to 5.45 GHz, with Geekbench suggesting nearly 5.5 GHz, matching the 285HX. It’s prudent to approach these leaked specifications with skepticism until official details are confirmed by Intel.
News Source: BenchLeaks