Intel's New Mobile CPUs

The refresh adds only two Plus SKUs — Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and Core Ultra 7 270HX Plus — and multiple OEMs including Dell, Lenovo, HP, ASUS and Acer have already announced laptops using them. (newsroom.intel.com). (newsroom.intel.com) Intel’s published numbers claim the 290HX Plus delivers up to +8% gaming and up to +7% single‑thread gains versus the previous Core Ultra 9 285HX, and upgraders from the Core i9‑12900HX may see up to +62% faster gaming and up to +30% faster single‑threaded performance. (newsroom.intel.com). (newsroom.intel.com) The chips achieve those gains largely through a platform tweak: Intel raised the die‑to‑die interconnect frequency by up to 900 MHz — effectively increasing the CPU/memory‑controller link by nearly 1 GHz to lower system latency. (newsroom.intel.com). (newsroom.intel.com) Intel introduced an “Intel Binary Optimization Tool,” described as a binary translation‑layer optimizer intended to increase IPC for existing game binaries (Intel’s materials and external coverage compare it to tools like LLVM BOLT), and early reporting says the tool may require UEFI/firmware support to run. (newsroom.intel.com) (phoronix.com). (newsroom.intel.com) Platform I/O was also bumped: Intel lists support for Thunderbolt 5 (80 Gbps bidirectional), Intel Wi‑Fi 7, and Bluetooth 5.4 as part of the HX Plus platform feature set. (newsroom.intel.com) (pcmag.com). (newsroom.intel.com) The HX family’s integrated NPU remains modest at roughly 13 TOPS, a level industry analysts and trade coverage note is well under the ~40 TOPS often cited for Microsoft Copilot+ compatibility, which partly explains why reviewers expect these HX machines to be paired with discrete GPUs for heavier local AI or workstation workloads. (aecmag.com) (techpowerup.com). (aecmag.com)