Intel's Core Ultra 5 250KF Plus is appearing in stores for $199.99, while the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus is retailing at $215, Tom's Hardware reported. The prices sit near Intel's Recommended Customer Price of $184 and follow a broader rollout of Arrow Lake Refresh chips.
The 250KF Plus is the same silicon as the 250K Plus but without an integrated GPU, which Tom's Hardware notes can matter for troubleshooting or temporary use without a discrete card. The outlet also reported early demand for the range, saying the higher-end Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is already out of stock in some stores.
Related reading
- Nvidia says the open versus proprietary AI debate is the wrong argument
- Meta and Arm to co-develop data centre chips built for AI workloads
- From Vera Rubins, Blackwell, Nemotron, NemoClaw, to Isaac and Cosmos - here's a whistlestop guide to NVIDIA's…
Performance comparisons in the piece highlight multi-threaded advantages: the 250KF Plus offers 18 cores with boosts up to 5.3 GHz and strong multitasking performance against lower-core competitors. As Zak Killian wrote for Tom's Hardware, users can "enjoy the multitasking horsepower of eighteen CPU cores cranking at 5.3 GHz," while the article contrasts the Intel chip with a six-core Ryzen 5 9600X for the same price.
Tom's Hardware also lists practical setup notes: faster memory improves results (7200 MT/s is ideal) and Intel's Platform Performance Package is required for Application Performance Optimization and binary optimizations. The review adds that Intel appears to have trimmed pricing to move inventory, making an 18-core processor available at $200.
The recap
- Core Ultra 5 250KF Plus reaches retail for $199.99
- Processor packs 18 cores with up to 5.3 GHz boost
- Core Ultra 7 270K Plus already out of stock in some stores
