Intel Arrow Lake Refresh: Core Ultra 200S Plus "Placeholder" Before Nova Lake
Tuesday, December 23, 2025Intel Arrow Lake Refresh: Core Ultra 200S Plus "Placeholder" Before Nova LakE
Intel's initial Core Ultra 200S launch was a difficult moment for "Team Blue." Hampered by early microcode issues and aggressive competition from AMD’s Ryzen 9800X3D, the lineup struggled with consumer adoption. To bridge the gap, Intel is preparing the Arrow Lake Refresh—officially branded as the "Core Ultra 200S Plus" series.
At a Glance
- The Mission: A tactical placeholder to stabilize the LGA 1851 platform before the "Nova Lake" architecture arrives in late 2026.
- The Flagship: Core Ultra 9 290K Plus (Successor to the 285K) with 5.8 GHz TVB.
- Memory Boost: Native support jumps from DDR5-6400 to DDR5-7200 (CUDIMM).
- Launch Date: Officially slated for a CES 2026 reveal.
1. The Architectural Strategy: Why a Refresh?
The Arrow Lake Refresh is essentially a "corrective" lineup. Intel’s leadership has indicated the refresh is intended to address the value proposition issues of the original 200 series. While it stays on the LGA 1851 socket, it introduces higher binning, faster DDR5 memory controllers, and a significant core-count reshuffle for the mid-range models.
2. Detailed SKU Breakdown: More Than Just Clocks
The biggest surprise in the Refresh is the addition of physical E-cores to the Ultra 7 and Ultra 5 tiers, narrowing the performance gap between tiers.
- Core Ultra 9 290K Plus: Retains 24 cores (8P+16E) but pushes the Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB) to 5.8 GHz. It features a massive 40 MB L2 cache and 36 MB L3 cache.
- Core Ultra 7 270K Plus: The standout upgrade. It moves from 12 E-cores to 16 E-cores, matching the flagship's total core count of 24. It also receives an L3 cache bump to 36 MB.
- Core Ultra 5 250K Plus: Gains four additional E-cores, bringing it to an 18-core configuration (6P+12E). This model now features a 28 MB L2 cache and 24 MB L3 cache.
| Model | Cores (P+E) | Boost (P/E) | L2/L3 Cache | Native RAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ultra 9 290K+ | 24 (8+16) | 5.8 / 4.8 GHz | 40MB / 36MB | DDR5-7200 |
| Ultra 7 270K+ | 24 (8+16) | 5.5 / 4.7 GHz | 40MB / 36MB | DDR5-7200 |
| Ultra 5 250K+ | 18 (6+12) | 5.3 / 4.7 GHz | 28MB / 24MB | DDR5-7200 |
3. Benchmark Analysis: Challenging the Flagship
Leaked Geekbench 6 scores for the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus show a significant 5% performance bump over the 265K. Intriguingly, its single-threaded score (3236) actually challenges the current 285K flagship. While it still trails AMD's X3D chips in raw gaming, the official 7200 MT/s memory support—enabled via a refined Integrated Memory Controller (IMC)—is expected to significantly reduce the latency issues that plagued the 2024 launch.
Summary & Timeline
The Arrow Lake Refresh represents Intel's "last hurrah" for the short-lived LGA 1851 socket. With Nova Lake transitioning to the LGA 1954 socket in late 2026/2027, the Core Ultra 200S Plus lineup is for the user who needs stability and core density right now, serving as a high-performance placeholder in the desktop market.