Intel has unveiled its Core Ultra 200S Plus series with two new gaming CPUs priced at $200 for the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and $300 for the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus. These processors promise 15% faster gaming performance than current Core Ultra 2-series chips and support all existing 800-series motherboards.

Both CPUs feature significant core upgrades - the 250K Plus moves to a 6P+12E configuration while the 270K Plus offers 8P+16E cores. Intel claims the 250K Plus delivers double the multi-threaded performance of AMD's Ryzen 5 9600X in content creation tasks. The CPUs also support faster 7200 MT/s DDR5 RAM and include a new Binary Optimization Tool that optimizes game code for Intel's architecture.

Available March 26, these Plus CPUs represent Intel's most aggressive gaming pricing yet. The company also previewed upcoming motherboards supporting 4-Rank CUDIMM memory for up to 256GB total capacity. While gaming hardware prices remain high industry-wide, Intel's Plus series offers compelling performance upgrades without requiring motherboard swaps, making them attractive options for budget-conscious gamers looking to boost their systems.