The first performance glimpse of Intel's Arrow Lake HX is here. It presents a complex picture. Excitement surrounded Intel's new CPUs at CES 2025. However, hard numbers were notably absent from Intel's presentation. Now, a leaked Cinebench R23 benchmark of the Core Ultra 9 275HX provides a clearer, though not entirely positive, perspective.
Single-Core Letdown, Multi-Core Glint
Leaked on X (@94G8LA), the Core Ultra 9 275HX achieves a single-core score of 2,161 points in Cinebench R23. This score is slightly lower than the Core i9-14900HX (Raptor Lake). The 14900HX typically scores around 2,181 points in benchmarks. A generational leap in single-threaded performance is not apparent.
Multi-core performance tells a different story. The Core Ultra 9 275HX reaches 35,481 points in multi-core tests. Arrow Lake demonstrates its strength here. It delivers an 18% performance increase over Raptor Lake in multi-threaded workloads. This uplift is significant for tasks like video editing and content creation.
Gaming Performance in Question
While BIOS updates and optimizations might improve scores, initial results raise questions, especially for gamers. Single-threaded performance is often crucial for gaming. If Arrow Lake HX does not significantly outperform, or even lags slightly behind, Raptor Lake in this area, real-world gaming improvements may be less impressive than anticipated. Notably, many premium gaming laptops announced at CES 2025 are expected to feature the Core Ultra 9 275HX.
The Curious Case of the Core Ultra 9 285HX
Intel also has a higher-spec chip, the Core Ultra 9 285HX. Its absence from announced devices is notable. It is unclear why laptop manufacturers prefer the 275HX. Reasons could include pricing, availability, or strategic decisions yet to be understood.
Final Thoughts
These leaked Cinebench R23 scores present a mixed view of Intel's Arrow Lake HX launch. Multi-core gains are positive. However, flat single-core performance might temper expectations, particularly for gaming. Future performance of retail chips and potential software/firmware optimizations remain to be seen. The Arrow Lake HX story is still developing.
