Friday, January 16th 2026 Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus in MSI Laptop Stomps 285HX in Leaked PassMark Run by Cpt.Jank Friday, 22:46 Discuss (8 ) Despite no-showing at CES 2026, leaks still predict that Intel will launch the Arrow Lake Refresh mobile CPUs sometime in March or April 2026, and one of the CPUs slated to launch then is the mobile flagship Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, which has incidentally showed up in a recent PassMark CPU benchmark (via X86isdeadandback on X). According to the PassMark listing, the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, which was supposedly tested in an MSI laptop equipped with an RTX 5090 and 32 GB of Samsung DDR5-5600 memory, the upcoming CPU will handily outpace the former flagship mobile CPU by around 7.5% in single-thread performance and a healthy 12.8% in the multicore benchmark. If the Core Ultra 9 285HX is anything to go by, there may still be some performance on the table with faster DDR5-6400 memory. The Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus scored 66203 in the multicore benchmark and 5009 in the single-core benchmark. This performance puts it less than 2% away from the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K desktop CPU (which scored 67430 and 5093, respectively), which is certainly an impressive feat. Of course, all the usual caveats apply when it comes to early CPU benchmarks—especially leaked benchmarks. For starters, the official launch is still a while away, and clock speeds and microcode may not be entirely dialed-in yet. This is also a sample size of one, and CPU performance can often vary greatly between different configurations. The new CPU first appeared in a previously leaked Geekbench benchmark of an Acer Predator laptop, which also revealed that the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus will use the same P-core and E-core layout as the older 285HX, meaning eight P-cores and 16 e-cores. 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Have not laughed for a good time. :D #5 Frizz Only 2% behind the 285k that is actually amazing, with TBT5, modular liquid cooling and external GPU dock. Desktop replacements are for real this time 🤩. Plug into External Cooler and GPU at home --> mobile 5090 everywhere else, the future is cool 😎 #6 Space Lynx Astronaut kondamin4 extra p and e cores on arrow lake are going to make the arrow lake chip more powerful.all laptop cpu's overheat and throttle down hard, but 18a node panther lake might run cool enough it doesn't do this. we will just have to wait for reviews of future gaming laptops #7 rattlehead99 kondamin4 extra p and e cores on arrow lake are going to make the arrow lake chip more powerful.In a laptop you want efficiency above all. Otherwise get a mini PC or a desktop. #8 TheinsanegamerN rattlehead99In a laptop you want efficiency above all.No, YOU want efficiency above all else, that is your use case. If you are lacking Theory of Mind, you may believe everyone else thinks like you do, but newsflash, they do not. Also, efficiency is relative. The 290hx is very efficient relative to its performance.rattlehead99Otherwise get a mini PC or a desktop.I can only assume you have used PCs to play games and nothing else, because there are entire industries that do work on the go, or need a quick set up. Go ahead and bring a mini PC to a server room to work on installations, see how well that goes. You know what desktops dont have? Built in displays. Mice. Keyboards. Even the bulkiest 10+ pound laptops are significantly easier to set up then a mini PC and use less room too. And they're PORTABLE. Show me a mini PC you can pick up with one hand and take across a building without turning it off. The laptops carrying a 290hx are either high power gaming laptops or they're mobile workstations/servers where being a portable all in one PC with a built in battery backup is the entire selling point.FrizzOnly 2% behind the 285k that is actually amazing, with TBT5, modular liquid cooling and external GPU dock. Desktop replacements are for real this time 🤩. Plug into External Cooler and GPU at home --> mobile 5090 everywhere else, the future is cool 😎I look at it as the possibility that someone will get the bright idea to put a mobile 5090 and a 290hx into a mini PC that is sub 5l, like those 2.85L zotac boxes. That would be a sweet LAN rig.
