The Core Ultra 7 270K was too good, so Intel scrapped the flagship Core Ultra 9 290K Plus — benchmarks of the 290K prototype find slim 2% faster performance in gaming and applications

Intel reportedly scrapped the unreleased Core Ultra 9 290K Plus after prototype benchmarks leaked.

A Chinese reviewer tested an engineering sample and found only about 1–2% improvement over the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus in most tests.

The chip did show a few larger gains in select workloads, but not enough to justify a new flagship.

The weak uplift likely explains why Intel dropped the top-end Arrow Lake refresh part.