On January 13th, reports surfaced indicating that Intel’s latest flagship CPU, the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, had made its debut on the Geekbench platform. The processor showcased impressive performance capabilities and is poised to claim the title of the fastest desktop processor for multi-threaded tasks. This new processor is part of Intel’s Core Ultra 200S Plus “Arrow Lake Refresh” series. It’s noteworthy for being the first model in the series to feature “Plus” in its name. Additionally, it represents the final product designed for the LGA1851 platform, as Intel will transition to the LGA1954 Nova Lake platform in the future.

In Geekbench benchmark tests, the Ultra 9 290K Plus operates at a base frequency of 3.70GHz, with the capability to reach a maximum turbo frequency of 5.80GHz. The processor achieved a score of 3,456 points in single-threaded tests and an impressive 24,610 points in multi-core tests. When compared to its predecessor, the Core Ultra 9 285K, the Ultra 9 290K Plus demonstrates a 7% improvement in single-core performance and a 9% enhancement in multi-core performance. Furthermore, when pitted against AMD’s current fastest processor, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, the Intel processor offers a 2% boost in single-core performance and an 11% increase in multi-core performance.