Intel just dropped two new flagship laptop processors aimed squarely at the high-end gaming crowd. The Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and Core Ultra 7 270HX Plus represent the chipmaker's latest Arrow Lake Refresh lineup, packing 24 cores and 20 cores respectively - both without hyperthreading. Like the desktop Plus models Intel unveiled earlier this month, these laptop chips come loaded with the company's Binary Optimization Tool, promising performance boosts in select games for enthusiasts willing to pay premium prices.
Intel is making its play for the premium gaming laptop market with two new processors that push performance boundaries for mobile enthusiasts. The Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and Core Ultra 7 270HX Plus arrive as the company's latest Arrow Lake Refresh chips, designed specifically for high-end gaming notebooks where price takes a backseat to raw power.
The flagship Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus brings 24 cores and 24 threads to the table, while its slightly smaller sibling, the Core Ultra 7 270HX Plus, offers 20 cores and 20 threads. Both chips notably skip hyperthreading, a design choice Intel's been making across its recent lineup as it focuses on core count and efficiency improvements instead.
What makes these chips interesting isn't just the core counts. Intel's bundling them with its Binary Optimization Tool, the same software enhancement the company introduced with its recently announced desktop CPUs. The tool promises to improve native performance in select games, though Intel hasn't specified exactly which titles benefit or by how much.
"These chips deliver meaningful, real-world performance gains so users can experience smoother gameplay, faster creation workflows, and more," Intel's Josh Newman stated, according to The Verge. It's the kind of language you'd expect from a product launch, but the real test will come when these processors hit actual gaming laptops and reviewers put them through their paces.
The timing here is notable. Intel's been fighting to maintain relevance in the gaming laptop space as AMD's Ryzen mobile chips continue gaining ground with OEMs. By pushing these "Plus" branded chips as enthusiast-focused options, Intel's essentially creating a premium tier within its already high-end HX lineup. It's a strategy that mirrors what the company's doing on desktop, where the Plus branding signals maximum performance without concern for power efficiency.
