Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus review

Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus review | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Jump to: Gaming Content creation Power and thermals Verdict Don’t miss these Processors Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus review Processors Intel announces Arrow Lake ‘Plus’ desktop chips with more cores and clocks for less cash—and IPC-boosting ‘BOT’ tool Processors Best CPU for gaming in 2026: These are the chips I recommend for gaming, productivity, and peace of mind Processors Intel adds mobile chips to its updated Arrow Lake ‘Plus’ family with 8% more gaming performance despite no changes to core counts or their clock speeds Processors AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D CPU review Processors It’s 2026, CES is over, and there’s still no sign of Intel’s Arrow Lake refresh, but one hardware channel is adamant it’ll be here in the spring Processors Intel’s new top-end Core Ultra Series 3 mobile chips promise up to 77% faster iGPU gaming performance than Lunar Lake, and come with a whole host of friends Processors Intel Nova Lake CPUs on track for late 2026 as exec downplays shuffling capacity to meet datacenter demand: ‘We have important customers in both datacenter and client and that needs to be our priority’ Motherboards Best gaming motherboards in 2026: these are the AMD and Intel mobos I’d build a system around today Processors Intel’s ‘Serpent Lake’ rumoured to be its first chip developed in collaboration with Nvidia Motherboards New Intel 900-series leak suggests there are three upcoming motherboard chipsets gamers should care about Processors The rumour that Intel’s next-gen Nova Lake chips will consume up to 700 W of power is nothing to worry about—Core Ultra 400 gaming PCs aren’t going to be melting your house down Processors Intel VP says future sockets should last longer and support more CPU generations Graphics Cards Fast, feisty, fabulous: I’ve benchmarked Intel’s new Panther Lake processor and it’s dragging gaming laptop performance out of integrated graphics Processors The AMD Ryzen AI Max range gets two more entries, one of which looks perfect for the ultimate in handheld PC gaming Popular PC Gamer ClipsCrimson DesertMarathonBest PC gearGDCQuizzes Hardware Processors When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. 89 Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus review Arrow Lake’s redemption is here at last. Reviews By Nick Evanson published 23 March 2026 2 Comments Join the conversation (Image: © Future) Our Verdict For a ‘mere’ refresh, Intel has worked wonders with its Arrow Lake tiles, clocks, and configurations to make the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus. The performance and price tag are both very appealing, and it’s easily Intel’s best desktop processor. It also happens to be one of the best all-round chips you can buy. For Superb performance Outstanding all-rounder Very competitive price tag Against Ryzen X3D chips are still better for outright gaming A little bit power hungry Dead-end platform PC Gamer’s got your back Our experienced team dedicates many hours to every review, to really get to the heart of what matters most to you. Find out more about how we evaluate games and hardware. Jump to: Gaming Content creation Power and thermals Verdict Today’s best Intel Core Ultra 7 270K deals No price informationCheck Amazon No price informationCheck WalmartWe check over 250 million products every day for the best pricesThere’s nothing new about a processor architecture being ‘refreshed’, as AMD and Intel have been doing this for years, but where you’d normally expect a particular SKU line to get nothing more than some minor clock speed bumps and a sparkly new badge, Intel has done things a little differently for its Core Ultra 200S Plus chips, i.e. Arrow Lake Refresh.For a start, you’re only getting two new processors, the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus under review here, and the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus. In the case of the former, the family name (Ultra 7) would suggest that it’s merely a Core Ultra 7 265K with a bump to its clock speeds, but that’s not the case.The 270K Plus sports eight P-cores and 16 E-cores (i.e. a full Arrow Lake compute tile), exactly the same as the Ultra 9 285K, and has higher maximum clock speeds for the P and E cores: 5.5 and 4.7 GHz, respectively. The 265K’s figures are 5.2 and 4.6 GHz, so you’re getting no more than 6% faster P-cores and just 2% speedier E-cores.However, Intel has also given Arrow Lake’s other clocks a healthy bump, too. The maximum D2D (die-to-die) clock speed has been increased by an enormous 900 MHz (2.1 to 3.0 GHz), with the NGU (Next Generation Uncore) clock raised by a smaller, but still decently sized, 400 MHz (2.6 to 3.0 GHz).Core Ultra 7 270K Plus specs (Image credit: Future)Cores (P+E): 8+16Threads: 24Base clock: 3.7 GHz (P-core)Boost clock: 5.7 GHz (P-core)L3 Cache: 36 MBL2 Cache: 40 MB (Total)Unlocked: YesMax usable PCIe lanes: 24Graphics: Intel Graphics (4 Xe cores)Memory support (up to): DDR5-7200Processor Base Power (W): 125Maximum Package Power (W): 250Recommended customer price: $299/£299.99The latter controls the speed of the fabric inside the SoC tile, whereas the former is for the bridges between each tile in Arrow Lake. Oh, and the clock for the cache ring bus inside the compute tile is also a touch higher: where the 285K and 265K peak at 3.9 and 3.8 GHz, respectively, the 270K Plus and 250K Plus are 4.0 and 3.9 GHz.Additionally, Intel has given the integrated memory controller (IMC) a 400 MHz boost to its maximum clocks, hence why the 270K Plus supports DDR5-7200 without overclocking. It’s worth noting that the 200S Plus chips also support Intel’s 200S Boost mode, enabled via the motherboard’s BIOS, which raises the D2D and NGU clocks to 3.2 GHz and the IMC to support DDR5-8000.To achieve all of this, Intel says it tweaked a variety of things inside the architecture and was keen to stress that the new Ultra 200S Plus chips aren’t simply ones that have been picked out of a particular manufacturing bin. The compute tile is a fresh wafer design, albeit one that isn’t substantially different from before.The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware dealsKeep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms &amp