Intel reportedly axes Core Ultra 290K Plus to avoid overlap

Intel is reportedly thinning out its upcoming Arrow Lake-S Refresh (Core Ultra Series 2 Plus) lineup before it even hits the shelves. According to recent reports, the previously rumoured flagship Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has been cancelled. Despite earlier Geekbench leaks suggesting a 10% performance jump over the current 285K, Intel has supposedly decided to scrap the “halo” chip to simplify its product stack and focus on more distinct upgrades within the series.

According to VideoCardz, the primary driver of this cancellation is product overlap. The 290K Plus was expected to feature the same 24-core (8P+16E) configuration as both the existing Core Ultra 9 285K and the supposedly upcoming Core Ultra 7 270K Plus. Differentiating three nearly identical top-end SKUs solely by minor clock-speed bumps would have been complicated, particularly when the performance difference between a 270K Plus and a 290K Plus would likely be minimal for the average consumer.

With this potential flagship chip out of the picture, the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus reportedly becomes the new star of the refresh. This chip is expected to be a significant upgrade over the non-refresh 265K by adding four additional efficiency cores to match the 24-core count of the i9 tier. Leaked specifications suggest the 270K Plus will feature a maximum turbo boost of 5.5 GHz, with P-cores reaching 5.4 GHz and E-cores hitting 4.7 GHz. Beyond the core count, the refresh's main selling points appear to be improved platform tuning, including native support for DDR5-7200 memory and advanced “Intel Performance Optimizations” (IPO).

This approach also aligns with Intel's broader 2026 roadmap. With the massive Nova Lake architecture expected for a late 2026 launch on the new LGA-1954 socket, a leaner Arrow Lake Refresh allows Intel to maintain momentum on the current LGA-1851 platform without over-investing in a generation that will only be relevant for a few months.

KitGuru says: Launching a “KS” flagship so close to the end of a socket's lifespan rarely makes sense, especially when the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus already offers the same core density.

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