Intel rumor: Core Ultra 9 290K Plus 'Arrow Lake Refresh' CPU cancelled, 270K and 250K coming

Intel is reportedly set to launch its new Core Ultra 200S Plus "Arrow Lake Refresh" desktop CPUs next month, with the flagship Core Ultra 9 290K Plus cancelled, and the new Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus reviews going live on March 23.

We'll also see the KF variants of these two Arrow Lake Refresh processors, sans their integrated graphics, while the K series models keep the integrated GPU. Intel hasn't announced its Core Ultra 200S Plus processors to the public just yet, but the latest leaks suggest a March 23 embargo for Intel and its board partners for its new Arrow Lake Refresh processors.

Rumors from the last couple of weeks have suggested that Intel has nixed its upcoming Core Ultra 9 290K Plus processor, which would've featured the same 24-core CPU with 8 P-Cores and 16 E-Cores as the current Core Ultra 9 285K processor, but with higher CPU clocks and a higher Intel Thermal Velocity Boost peak.

However, the new Core Ultra 7 270K Plus also has 24 cores according to the recent leaks, with the same *P+16E configuration as the 290K Plus and 285K, so there would've been too much internal competition for Intel to release another flagship (that most people wouldn't want to buy over the 285K + 270K Plus anyway).

Intel is making bigger changes to its upcoming Ultra 7 and Ultra 5 SKUs of its new Core Ultra 200K Plus processors, with the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus replacing the Core Ultra 7 265K, also retaining its 8P+16E CPU core configuration, the same as the flagship Core Ultra 9 chips. But, the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus will feature higher 5.5GHz Turbo Boost Max clock speeds, and 5.4GHz P-Core Turbo, which is closer to the 265K, but with more CPU cores across the board.

Intel's upcoming Core Ultra 5 250K Plus also receives a CPU core increase with 6P+12E compared to the 6P+8E on the Core Ultra 5 245K, with P-Core Turbo speeds increased to 5.3GHz from 5.2GHz on the 245K, while E-Core speeds stay at 4.7GHz. The same 125W base and 159W max turbo ratings are on the 250K Plus, meaning the additional cores and CPU clocks are given without increasing the power... an interesting move from Intel.