Intel delivers a value boost with its Core Ultra 200S PLUS CPUs
More cores and new tech – Intel launches new Core Ultra 200S PLUS series processors
Intel has officially unveiled its Core Ultra 200S PLUS series CPUs, promising boosted value within the desktop PC space. With these new CPUs, Intel boasts enhanced specifications, more CPU cores, and more performance per dollar than their non-PLUS series counterparts. Alongside these new CPUs, Intel has also unveiled new performance-boosting technologies that should give it an edge over AMD.
Compared with competing AMD Ryzen 9000-series CPUs, Intel has promised up to 2x the multi-threaded performance. This is thanks to Intel’s high CPU core counts.
Intel’s new Core Ultra PLUS series CPUs feature a refined version of Intel’s Core Ultra 200S architecture. These changes allow Intel to deliver boosted performance to users without a platform upgrade. These CPUs support today’s 800-series Intel motherboards and act as the “ultimate expression” of Intel’s Arrow Lake CPU architecture.
Intel Core Ultra 200 PLUS – Boosted Specifications
Intel’s Core Ultra 270K PLUS and 250K PLUS and their KF counterparts all feature four more E-cores than their older counterparts. These CPUs are new PLUS series replacements for Intel’s Core Ultra 265K and 245K. Alongside additional CPU cores, these CPUs feature higher maximum clock speeds and up to a 900 MHz boost in D2D frequency.
Intel’s D2D Frequency accelerated the link between Intel’s CPU and memory controller. By boosting this speed by almost 1 GHz, Intel has lowered memory latencies and boosted performance in affected applications. This has a notable impact on gaming performance, as you will see below. Note that these CPUs also support DDR5-7200 memory, which is an increase from the DDR5-6400 that standard Core Ultra 200S series CPUs support.
Strong multi-threaded performance
Compared to AMD’s Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X, Intel’s new Core Ultra 270K PLUS and 250K PLUS CPUs deliver much higher levels of multi-threaded performance. This is due to the high overall core counts of Intel’s CPUs, which feature a huge number of E-cores.
For productivity-based workloads, this places Intel’s new CPUs in a strong position in terms of performance/dollar. If your workloads benefits from high core counts, Intel’s newest Core Ultra CPUs will present excellent value.
Intel Core Ultra 200 PLUS means Boosted Gaming Performance
On average, Intel’s Core Ultra 270K PLUS CPU is 15% faster than the Core Ultra 265K in gaming workloads. Below, we can see that performance increases vary from 4% to 39%. This is largely due to Intel’s boostest D2D clock speeds on its Core Ultra PLUS series CPUs.
With the Core Ultra 5 250K we see a similar story, with an 8%-24% boost in gaming performance. Note that Intel compares different games in the charts above and below.
Intel’s secret sauce – Binary Optimisation Tool
Alongside their new Core Ultra 200S PLUS series CPUs, Intel has unveiled its new “Intel Binary Optimisation Tool” which aims to increase workload IPC (Instructions per Cycle) by optimising applications for Intel’s newer CPU architectures. This technology should enable Intel’s newest CPUs to perform more work per CPU cycle, improving performance and efficiency.
Intel says that this technology is part of their “long-term performance roadmap for enthusiasts”. Alongside new hardware advancements, this technology should help Intel boost the performance of applications through new optimisations. We expect to hear more about this new technology soon.
Pricing
At launch, Intel’s Core Ultra 270K PLUS and Core Ultra 250K PLUS will cost $299 and $199, respectively. Sadly, Intel has not confirmed the UK prices for these CPUs.
These CPUs are pitted against AMD’s Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X, respectively, promising higher multi-threaded performance. Sadly, Intel has not compared the gaming performance of these new CPUs with AMD’s Ryzen 9000 series CPUs. However, full performance comparisons will become available when these CPUs launch.
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