Intel Arrow Lake: new flagship tops the performance rankings, beating AMD and Apple

Intel has solidified its lead in the single-threaded performance race, with its new Core Ultra 9 285K (Arrow Lake-S) processor topping PassMark’s benchmark rankings, beating out competitors from AMD and Apple. PassMark Software provided performance data on the new chip in its benchmark, noting that the processor may still be an engineering sample, but the results are already impressive.

Intel Core Ultra 9 285K: single-threaded performance leader

According to PassMark, the Core Ultra 9 285K outperforms the best processors available on the market, such as the Intel Core i9-14900KS and various versions of the Apple M3. Moreover, it also significantly outpaces the Ryzen 9 9950X, AMD’s flagship. For those who want to see the full comparison, a chart showing the current results of this chip has been tweeted.

A chart showing the current results of this chip has been published.

These results represent great news for fans of «blue team» Intel, especially when considering single-threaded performance, where Arrow Lake-S has a solid lead. However, in the PassMark multi-threaded test, the results are not quite as impressive.

The results are not as impressive.

Multi-threaded performance: potential and limitations

In multi-threaded tests, the new Arrow Lake-S processor scored 46,872 points, which puts it between the Core i9-13900 and i7-13700K processors. In comparison, the Core i9-14900KS processor scores 62,502 points. By those scores, Intel’s new flagship doesn’t look all that impressive, especially if it plans to replace the Raptor Lake Refresh series of processors.

So far, the new flagship from Intel doesn’t look that impressive.

The reason for the relatively weak multi-threaded performance may lie in the thread deficit: the Arrow Lake-S features 24 cores and 24 threads, while the Raptor Lake Refresh has a 24C/32T configuration. This limitation may explain the difference in the benchmark results.

Multi-threaded performance may be the reason for the difference.

Technical specs and leaks on HP Omen 35L

An important coincidence happened this week: Twitter user momomo_us discovered a listing for an HP Omen 35L gaming PC that utilizes an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K. That listing confirmed some of the processor’s specs, including up to 5.70GHz in Turbo Boost mode, 36MB of cache, and 24 cores with 24 threads.

A few of the processor’s specs were confirmed.

Although the result of the multi-threaded testing looks inconclusive, it’s worth bearing in mind that this is just a sample processor at this stage. It’s possible that the results will improve with motherboard tweaks, BIOS updates, and customization of all components.

The results of the multi-threaded testing are inconclusive.

The potential of Arrow Lake: upgrades and room for improvement

It should be noted that Arrow Lake-S is still under development, and the current result is only a preliminary assessment. Significant customization improvements can be made, both at the BIOS and hardware level, until these processors are ready for mass production. Since this is still an engineering sample, we should expect improved results when fully optimized.

In addition, Arrow Lake-S processors are expected to be released in October with the new LGA 1851 socket and 800-series motherboards, including the top-of-the-line Z890. So, despite the potential challenges and current limitations, Intel is poised for a major push into the desktop processor market.

And despite the challenges and current limitations, Intel is poised for a major push into the desktop processor market.

Looking to the Future: What Does Arrow Lake Mean for Intel?

For Intel, the new Core Ultra 9 285K processor was a significant achievement in single-threaded performance, delivering an excellent result that exceeds current offerings from AMD and Apple. However, the company must continue to work on improving multi-threaded performance to remain competitive in this area as well.

The new Core Ultra 9 285K is a significant achievement in single-threaded performance.

Arrow Lake-S promises to be a significant milestone for Intel as it seeks to solidify its leadership in the desktop processor market. With engineering samples already showing such results, it’s possible that the final version of the processor will be a breakthrough that can impose competition not only at the single-threaded level, but also at the multi-threaded performance level.

Arrow Lake-S promises to be a significant milestone for Intel, which is looking to strengthen its leadership in the desktop PC market.