After giving us a look at Intel Core Ultra 200H and HX chips, Intel is now ready to launch its Intel Core Ultra Series 2 chipsets to systems — set to ship later this month.
Announced at MWC 2025, Intel Arrow Lake-equipped PCs are shipping in late March, which include Intel Core Ultra 200U, 200H, 200HX and 200S CPUs. Along with this, Intel Core Ultra 200V series-powered systems with the Intel vPro (the company's business platform) are available now.
Intel named 2025 a "pivotal year for PC refresh" in the announcement, comparing the latest chips to 11th Gen processors. It states that compared to an Intel Core i7-1185G7 CPU, a Core Ultra 7 265H processor offers 2.84x higher multicore performance (in Cinebench 2024 tests), 1.39x faster performance (in Procyon office productivity tests) and up to 1.97x faster video editing performance.
Interestingly, Intel claims this chip is up to 15% faster than its rivals, including the AMD Ryzen AI 7 Pro 360. This includes benchmarks in Cinebench and Geekbench 6.3. It also beats the Snapdragon X Elite, according to Intel's tests.
These new AI PCs will also offer up Wi-Fi 7, up to Thunderbolt 5 connectivity and Bluetooth 5.4. Expect new computers from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo and more, with over 150 designs set to arrive.
“2025 is a pivotal year for PC refresh, and with Intel Core Ultra (Series 2) processors, we’re delivering the most advanced commercial systems to date,” said David Feng, vice president of the Client Computing Group and general manager of Client Segments at Intel.
Feng continues: “Our AI PC processors cater to every form factor — from thin-and-light productivity devices to high-performance workstations — all backed by Intel vPro, which sets the industry standard in business computing with unmatched manageability and security.”
Also arriving is Intel vPro Fleet Services for businesses, aiming to simplify IT operations. This SaaS (software-as-a-service) solution "offers businesses faster recovery from disruptions and reduces the steps required for activation from 24 to six – without the need for owned server infrastructure or added cost to end customers."
So, how do Intel's new Core Ultra chips compare to last year's 100 series? Let's get into the comparisons.
Intel Core Ultra 200 vs 100 series
While Intel didn't provide specific specs, we have an idea of how well the Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processors perform compared to previous Core Ultra 100 Series chips, including its 200U and 200H CPUs.
According to Intel, the Core Ultra 265U offers up to 1.13x improvements over the Core Ultra 7 165U in Geekbench benchmarks. But there are all-round performance gains in multiple areas.
When it comes to the 200H series, we're seeing the Intel Core Ultra 7 265H deliver up to 1.29x improvements over the Core Ultra 7 165H processor in Geekbench, which is great news for productivity.
We got the specs below for the Intel Core Ultra 200H series chips, and we know the 265H comes with 16 cores and threads, along with max speeds topping out at 5.4 GHz. Along with the rest of the lineup, these chips look to deliver brilliant performance over their predecessors.
Chip name | Cores and threads | Max speed (gigahertz) | GPU cores | GPU TOPS |
Intel Core Ultra 9 285H | 16 cores / 16 threads | 5.4 GHz | 8 | 77 |
Intel Core Ultra 7 265H | 16 cores / 16 threads | 5.3 GHz | 8 | 75 |
Intel Core Ultra 7 255H | 16 cores / 16 threads | 5.1 GHz | 8 | 74 |
Intel Core Ultra 7 235H | 14 cores / 14 threads | 5 GHz | 8 | 74 |
Intel Core Ultra 5 225H | 14 cores / 14 threads | 4.9 GHz | 7 | 63 |
Of course, we'll get to know these processors once we get our hands on Intel Core Ultra Series 2-equipped PCs, and it won't be long until we get to test them out. That said, we already have an idea about how powerful some of Intel's chips will be.
As spotted on PassMark, the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU became the best-performing laptop processor in a recent benchmark, even beating the AMD Fire Range Ryzen 9000HX CPUs, including the Ryzen 9 7945HX3D and Ryzen 9 7945HX chips.
If accurate, we're hoping to see laptops across business, gaming and productivity see a big boost over previous Intel Core Ultra chips (with some laptops like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 with an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H offering underwhelming performance).
With Nvidia RTX 50-series gaming laptops also arriving with Intel's new CPUs, there's a lot to look forward to in the land of PCs this year.
More from Tom's Guide
- AMD’s Ryzen AI Max: The silent killer of dedicated laptop GPUs? Let me explain
- I ditched my ultrawide display for this dual-monitor setup — here's what happened
- Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU is the best-performing laptop processor according to new benchmarks — but Apple still beats it in this key area
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