‘It embarrasses the 9700X’: Reviewer raves about one of Intel’s best CPU releases in years as Core Ultra 200S series pummels similarly priced AMD rivals
- Intel Core Ultra 270K Plus improves Adobe Premiere workflows by 15% over 9700X
- Rendering in Cinebench and Blender achieves up to 23% faster results
- 250K Plus outperforms previous-generation AMD CPUs by roughly 35%
Intel’s latest Core Ultra 200S Plus series has drawn attention for delivering performance that is difficult to ignore, especially compared to older Intel models and some similarly priced AMD processors.
In testing by Puget Systems, the 270K Plus and 250K Plus both increase E-core counts, boost clocks, and raise maximum memory speeds, creating a tangible improvement over prior generations.
While AMD’s Ryzen 9 X3D chips remain strong in certain workloads, the new Intel chips close gaps in many professional applications.
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Performance in rendering and content creation
In CPU-based rendering in applications like Cinebench, V-Ray, and Blender, the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus demonstrates impressive results, performing up to 9% of the higher-priced 9950X3D, while frequently outpacing other CPUs in the same price bracket by up to 23%.
The 250K Plus also shows substantial gains, often matching or beating older high-end AMD chips, with improvements of about 35% over the 245K.
These performance improvements tie not just to additional cores but also to enhancements in memory latency and bandwidth.
In Adobe Premiere, the 270K Plus performs as well as or slightly better than previous high-end Intel models, offering a 15% advantage over the 9700X.
This trend continues across intraframe codecs (13% faster than 245K), RAW processing (30% faster than 9700X), and QuickSync-accelerated workflows.
After Effects shows a slightly mixed picture: while the 270K Plus handles 2D tasks efficiently, 3D and tracking workloads favor AMD’s Ryzen chips.
DaVinci Resolve shows a similar balance, with the 270K Plus leading marginally in several CPU-bound tasks while GPU-bound processes show little difference between models.
In Unreal Engine shader compilation and Visual Studio builds, AMD’s 3D V-Cache processors maintain some lead, but the 270K Plus outperforms older Intel models by up to 100% in some cases.
Compilation times in particular show major gains over the 9700X, with improvements ranging from 15% to nearly 100% depending on the test scenario.
The 250K Plus also shows strong relative performance, often outpacing CPUs that were previously considered superior at the same price point.
Tests using Llama and MLPerf benchmarks reveal modest CPU-level improvements – and while the integrated NPU could not be directly assessed, the 270K Plus consistently handles small-model inference faster than earlier Intel offerings.
This trend is consistent across content creation and professional workloads, where the new chips deliver strong performance gains without commanding a premium price.
Considering its $299 price and the improvements in memory and E-core architecture, the 270K Plus makes the 9700X, which retails at around $340, look underwhelming.
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Intel Core Ultra 270K Plus improves Adobe Premiere workflows by 15% over 9700X Rendering in Cinebench and Blender achieves up to 23% faster results 250K Plus outperforms previous-generation AMD CPUs by roughly 35% Intel’s latest Core Ultra 200S Plus series has drawn attention for delivering performance that is difficult to…
