Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus Provides Exceptional Value For Linux Users
Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus Provides Exceptional Value For Linux Users
https://www.phoronix.com/review/intel-core-ultra-5-250k-plus
Publish Date: 2026-04-27 11:06:00
Source Domain: www.phoronix.com
After looking at the new Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus processor earlier this month with its nice performance evolution for Arrow Lake on Linux, today we are looking at the other new Intel desktop CPU offering: the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus that retails for just $219 USD.
Up for review and performance benchmarking under Linux today is the Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus as the other new “Arrow Lake Refresh” processor recently launched by Intel. Due to only receiving the review samples post-launch and then with re-testing all the existing CPUs under the new Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus Linux testing is now wrapped up and it’s performing nicely with very great value at just above $200.
The Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus features 18 cores between six P cores and 12 E cores. Like the entire Arrow Lake line-up, there is no SMT/HT support. The Core Ultra 5 250K Plus features a 4.2GHz base frequency on the P cores and 3.3GHz base frequency on the E cores while the P cores can boost up to 5.3GHz. The Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus has a 30MB L2 cache, 125 Watt base power rating, and a 159 Watt rated turbo power. Like the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus supports up to DDR5-7200 memory. So with these CPUs tests were done at both DDR5-6400 and DDR5-7200 speeds for evaluating the benefits of DDR5-7200 support with the Core Plus processors.
The Core Ultra 5 250K Plus launched with a recommended customer price of $189~199 USD, but as of writing all the major Internet listings in the US put it at $219 USD, which still provides excellent value for an 18-core x86_64 processor. In this review are more than 300 benchmarks looking at how this processor performs as well as performance-per-Watt and performance-per-dollar metrics.
The processors all freshly tested under Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and based on what I have available for benchmarking included:
– Intel Core Ultra 5 245K
– Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus w DDR5-7200
– Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus
– Intel…
