Introduction
The Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus was launched alongside the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus on March twenty sixth, 2026. Each of those latest CPUs are a part of the brand new Intel Core Ultra 200S Plus desktop CPU series “Arrow Lake Refresh” launched for current generation socket LGA1851 motherboards.
The Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus was launched with an MSRP of $199. Each of those CPUs are based on the identical Intel Core Ultra 200S Arrow Lake architecture, but have upgrades when it comes to extra E-Cores, Die-to-Die Frequency improvements, and the Intel Binary Optimization Tool. You may read our official announcement article with all of the juicy details here. Also, you’ll want to try our Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus vs Intel Core Ultra 7 265K Review.
In today’s CPU performance review, we’re going to directly benchmark the Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus versus the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K in each synthetic benchmarks and 14 games, with among the most up-to-date game releases including Crimson Desert and Resident Evil Requiem. The goal is to find out how much faster the Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus really is in comparison with the CPU it’s supplanting within the lineup.
Given the incontrovertible fact that the Intel Core Ultra 5 250K plus has upgrades when it comes to Die-to-Die frequency, 4 Extra E-Cores, and the brand new Intel Binary Optimization Tool, we wish to search out out what all this really means when it comes to a performance upgrade over the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K. That is the primary of several comparison reviews, in addition to full CPU reviews with AMD comparisons that we’ve got planned for the long run, so stay tuned for rather more.
Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus Processor
Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus
Before we dive into the benchmarks, let’s briefly discuss what’s latest with the Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus, and what its specifications are as compared to the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K.
The Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus has 18 total cores, while the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K has 14 cores. The Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus has 6 P-Cores, as does the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K. Where it differs is that the Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus has 12 E-Cores, while the 245K has 8 E-Cores.
The Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus receives a Boost Clock frequency upgrade as much as 5.3GHz for the P-Core Boost Clock, in comparison with the 5.2GHz on the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K. Otherwise, the E-Cores remain at the identical maximum clock of 4.6GHz between them, though there are 4 more of them now.
Other internal frequencies have also increased, in a single instance for instance the die-to-die frequency increases by +900MHz. On Intel CPUs, there are three other clock domains to pay attention to: the Ring/LLC Clock, the D2D Clock, and the NGU Clock, all of those are UP on the Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus.
The Ring/LLC Clock gets an upgrade as much as 3.9GHz in comparison with the 245K, which was 3.8GHz. The D2D Clock gets an upgrade as much as 3GHz in comparison with the 245K which was at 2.1GHz. The NGU Clock gets an upgrade as much as 3GHz in comparison with the 245K, which was at 2.6GHz.
Also, don’t overlook the incontrovertible fact that the Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus has a bigger shared 30MB of the L3 Smart Cache, in comparison with 24MB of shared L3 on the Intel Core Ultra 245K, this may make a difference. Otherwise, the TDP stays the identical at 125W with Max Turbo Power at 159W.
Intel Application Optimization Tool
Along with these upgrades, Intel is constant on the software front to offer optimization in games and applications. By means of the Intel Application Optimization Tool, Intel has a brand new ability called the Intel Binary Optimization Tool. This sits atop APO Optimations, and might be toggled manually off or on per-game supported. Now, once we set it up, we did find that while APO Optimization is enabled by default, the Intel Binary Optimization Tool toggles were DISABLED by default. Subsequently, you should manually enable them should you want to experience the performance advantages in the sport supports.
On our Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus, the list of supported games is far smaller than that of the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus. Though out of all of the games on the list, we’re only using 2 games on the list there that support Intel Binary Optimization Tool: Cyberpunk 2077 and Hogwarts Legacy. In truth, there aren’t any other games on this list that we’re using today; due to this fact, apart from the 2 games aforementioned, APO and Intel Binary Optimization Tool aren’t really doing rather a lot for our number of 14 games. Overall, for the Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus, there are a complete of 19 APO-supported games and 12 Binary Optimization Tool-supported games.
Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus Installation
Kingston Fury Renegade 7600MT/s
