Intel quietly worsens price/performance of its newest and excellent Arrow Lake Refresh CPUs

Intel released the Arrow Lake Refresh Core Ultra 200S Plus CPUs in March 2026 to critical acclaim. The Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus brought high gaming performance and incredible productivity performance at super attractive price points. Intel launched the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus with 18 cores/18 threads and a boost clock of 5.3 GHz for $199. The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus brought 24 cores/24 threads and a boost clock of 5.5 GHz for $299. Things seem to have taken a turn for the worse.

As noticed by @harukaze5719 on X, Intel appears to have quietly increased the prices of both the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus. The official product pages of both CPUs now mention the following revised prices:

• $219 to $229 for the Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus
• $339 to $349 for the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus

So, the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus seems to have officially gotten up to a 15% price increase, while the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus has suffered a 16% price gain.

At the time of writing, Amazon is selling:

• The Core Ultra 5 250K Plus for $219.99
• The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus for $309.99

Interestingly, the Core 7 270K Plus carries a list price of $357.12 on Amazon. So, the above-mentioned price is a 13% discount.

That said, we have to admit that, even with the price increases, the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus remain excellent budget-focused CPU options. While their gaming performance might not be enough to dethrone AMD, their multi-core/productivity performance is stellar. You can also often find the CPUs bundled with motherboards and RAM at retailers like Micro Center and Newegg, which makes them even better values.

Be sure to check out our full review of the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus to see how they stack up against options from AMD.