A new Geekbench run reveals promising performance gains for Intel's upcoming Core Ultra 9 290K Plus processor. The test results show roughly a 10% increase in performance compared to the Core Ultra 9 285K. The new chip was benchmarked on an ASUS ROG Strix Z890-E Gaming Wi-Fi board with 64GB of DDR5-6800 memory, showcasing its potential.

This performance bump signifies that the "Arrow Lake Refresh" could be a worthwhile upgrade for consumers. The 290K Plus maintains the same 24-core configuration as its predecessor, but with higher clock speeds. Rumors suggest boost clocks of 4.8 GHz for efficiency cores and up to 5.7 GHz during testing. The chips will likely use the same LGA 1851 socket.

Intel has confirmed the "Arrow Lake Refresh" is coming, with potential release dates in March or April. The fact that the new chips use the same socket means it should be a drop-in upgrade for current Z890 motherboards. However, the pre-release results may not reflect final performance. Third-party reviews will provide the ultimate assessment.

Ultimately, this is good news for PC enthusiasts. While this generation of Intel CPUs is primarily focused on efficiency, this performance boost could make the "Arrow Lake Refresh" a solid upgrade for users looking for a new CPU. We'll have to see how it stacks up against AMD's offerings.