On March 29th, 2025, in Beijing Intel hosted the "Intel® Core™ Ultra 200HX New Product Showcase” unveiling 20 high-performance laptops from 10 OEMs, offering a wider selection for gaming enthusiasts and high-performance professional users. Leveraging the Intel Core Ultra 200HX processor's impressive 24 cores, 5.5GHz Turbo Boost frequency, and exceptional power efficiency, OEM partner systems are delivering an incredible experience for gamers and professionals alike. The event also highlighted how ISV partners are utilizing the processor’s NPU – a first for the HX-series – to provide gamers with AI gaming assistants, companion assistants, and other enhancements.
Gen on Gen Performance Improvement of 200HX
Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX vs. Intel Core i9-14900HX:
- Delivers 10% single-core and 19% multi-core performance improvement¹.
- Reduces power consumption by 38% at the same performance level².
- Boosts power efficiency by 40% at the same power consumption².
- Enhances POV-Ray performance by 31% for design workloads³.
- Combined with the new NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 50 series laptop GPUs, delivers up to 11% gaming performance boost, enabling smooth high-framerate gameplay in demanding AAA titles4.
- Introduces independent NPU support in Intel gaming laptops for the first time, unlocking AI-powered gaming experiences.
- Features the new Intel AI Gaming Assistant, providing personalized game guidance and companion features.
- Upgrades APO (Application Optimization) technology, supporting 13 popular games with one-click performance boosts of up to 10%5.
- Features 3 types of hardware acceleration units, enhancing content creation performance by 51% and productivity performance by 21%6.
- Offers 24 direct PCIe lanes, supporting 2 M.2 SSDs directly connected to the CPU for lower read latency, faster program loading, and more device connections.
- Supports Thunderbolt 5 with data transfer speeds up to 120Gbps. Intel Wi-Fi 7 eliminates network lag, ensuring smooth wireless gaming and effortless multi-device collaboration.
For mobile workstations, Intel Core Ultra 200HX-series processors enable over 50% gen-on-gen performance improvement in workflows involving AI, machine learning, energy, and financial services7. It also delivers over 20% performance boost in areas like multimedia production, life sciences, and data science7.
Quiet Performance, Elevated Gaming
The new Intel Core Ultra 200HX-series processors can help enable a significantly quieter experience – a live demo of Civilization VI showcased the stark difference in noise levels versus prior gen HX-series systems – 31 decibels and 46 decibles – while providing the same performance8. This quiet operation not only eliminates the 'airplane takeoff' sound of laptop fans during intense gaming sessions but also minimizes interference with the game's native sounds, music, and even voice communication.
The quietness of gaming laptop fans stems from the Intel Core Ultra 200HX-series processors significantly improved power efficiency. In a test with Counter Strike 2 (CS2), the processor achieved maximum gaming performance at a mere 75W power consumption, even outperforming the previous generation processor at 125W power consumption8. With the power setting on 'Balanced mode,' CS2 saw a performance boost of up to 39%, while Total War: Troy experienced an 18% performance increase in 'Best Performance' mode8.
AI Powers Up Gaming
Beyond silence and battery life, AI advancements are another innovative experience delivered by Intel Core Ultra 200HX-series processors. Thanks to the XPU architecture, high-performance, high-throughput, and low-power AI workloads are distributed efficiently, allowing specialized engines to handle the most suitable tasks. This distribution between the CPU-GPU-NPU powers the AI Gaming Assistant's interactions: the NPU accelerates game scene recognition, the CPU handles audio and real-time processing, and the iGPU facilitates LLM inference and RAG retrieval interactions. On-site demonstrations showcased the AI Gaming Assistant's functionalities, enabling players to fully immerse themselves in the joy of gaming through AI assistance.
Additionally, Intel will soon release a Gaming Assistant SDK (Software Development Kit), empowering OEM and ISV partners to develop their own AI-powered gaming assistants.
Precision Tuning, Soaring Performance!
Beyond architectural advancements, Intel Core Ultra 200HX-series processors support Intel's APO technology for game optimization. This technology analyzes the specific requirements of different games and dynamically adjusts the processor's core configuration and power management for maximum gaming performance. For games that support APO, the optimizations happen automatically through the APO application – and Intel is continuously working on expanding the list of APO-supported games.
For overclocking enthusiasts, Intel Core Ultra 200HX-series processors offer comprehensive overclocking options, including:
- Finer-grained clock frequency control that gives users more control over their tuning than ever before
- Independent core clock frequency adjustments that provide a wider range of adjustable parameters
- Die-to-die and fabric overclocking that introduces greater flexibility and customization in overclocking profiles
- Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU), giving enthusiasts a one-click overclocking experience.
Intel’s Core Ultra 200HX-series processors deliver improved power efficiency and AI capabilities to high-performance laptops, unlocking greater potential and possibilities for OEM and ISV partners. To date, Intel has collaborated with over 200 partners to support over 400 AI features, including over 40 local AI applications like one-click PowerPoint generation for enhanced productivity, Multimodal content summarization, and AI-powered work assistants to name a few examples.
Looking ahead, Intel will continue its collaboration with industry partners to further push the compute performance of its Intel Core Ultra 200HX-series processors – supporting the high-performance demands of gaming enthusiasts and professional users across the world.
Small Print:
1 Based on performance comparisons between the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX and Intel Core i9 14900HX processors using Cinebench 2024 single-core and multi-core benchmarking tools. Different test systems may result in variations in power, performance, configuration, and other uncertain factors, leading to differing test results. For detailed information, please visit intel.com/performanceindex.
2 Based on performance comparisons between the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX and Intel Core i9 14900HX processors using Cinebench 2024 multi-core benchmarking tools. Different test systems may result in variations in power, performance, configuration, and other uncertain factors, leading to differing test results. For detailed information, please visit intel.com/performanceindex. These results are based on testing conducted on January 3, 2025. CPU: Core Ultra 9 285HX, Internal Engineering System. PL1 =55W, memory, DDR5-6400 64GB; Storage: Samsung SSD PM9A1 NVMe 512GB; Display: 2880x1800; OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 26100.2314(24H2); Intel Arc Graphics Pre-Production Driver; NPU Driver: Pre-Production driver; BIOS: Pre-production; Power Plan Setting: Balance Mode, Power Mode: Best Mode. CPU: Intel Core i9-14900HX ; Internal Engineering System, PL1 =55W, Memory: DDR5-6400 64GB; Storage: Samsung SSD PM9A1 NVMe 512GB ; Display:3840x2160; OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 26100.2314(24H2); Intel Arc Graphics 32.0.101.6129; NPU Driver: NA; BIOS: E1822IMS.116 ; Power Plan Setting: Balance Mode, Power Mode: Best Mode
3 Results may vary depending on usage, configuration, and factors. For detailed information, please refer to intel.com/performanceindex and the appendix for performance notes.
4Based on SKU1 & SKU2, Geomean results on 1080P and multi-round testing. Test gaming, including: League of Legends, Counter-Strike 2, Watch Dogs: Legion, Cyberpunk 2077, Forza Horizon 5, and Total War Saga: TROY。SKU 1: OEM engineering device, CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX; Memory: DDR5 - 6400 64GB; Storage: YMTC SSD PC411 2TB; Resolution: 2560 x 1600; Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 26100.3476; NVIDIA GeForce RT X5080 Laptop GPU Driver 32.0.15.7272; BIOS: N.1.10MRO05; DTT Driver 9.0.11905.54373, IPF Driver 2.2.10204.8, PPM Driver 1.0.0.97, Power Plan Set to Balanced, Power Mode Set to "Best Performance", Display Mode is dGPU, only OEM Cooling Mode is High Energy Berserk Mode, Connected to Water Cooling, Water Cooling is in Balanced Mode. SKU 2: OEM engineering device, Processor: Intel Core i9 14900HX; Memory: DDR5 - 5600 32GB; Storage: YMTC SSD PC411 1TB; Display Resolution: 2560 x 1600; Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 26100.3476 NVIDIA; GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU 32.0.15.7272; BIOS: N.1.09MRO07; DTT Driver 9.0.11703.48565, IPF Driver 2.2.10000.2, PPM Version 1003.20230524 Power Plan Set to Balanced, Power Mode Set to "Best Performance", Display Mode is dGPU only, OEM Cooling Mode is Berserk Mode, Connected to Water Cooling, Water Cooling is in Balanced Mode
5Based on Far Cry testing, 3rd party benchmark tool, APO on and off, recording the situation of 1% and 0.1% low frame rate. Test system: CPU: Intel ARL-S BGA 1DPC Board, CPU U9-285HX, GPU: GeForce RTX 4070S; dGFX Driver Version 32.0.15.7247; ME Version: 19.0 Build 1948, BIOS Version: MTLSFWI1.R00.5083.D81.2502221753; 内存 32G DDR5-6400; Memory timing 52.51.51.102; SAGV ON; SSD Lexar LUN790X002T-2T; Operating System Windows 11 24H2; Operating System Version Number 26100.2605; DTT driver version 9.0.11905.54373; IPF driver version 2.2.10204.8; Power Plan Balanced/Best Performance; VBS OFF; VT-D ON; Resizeable BAR ON; Performance Preferences intel default settings; PL1/PL2:75/75; Tau (seconds): 1S.
6Based on Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX vs. Intel Core i9 14900HX, testing on UL Procyon Office Productivity. Different systems may result in various power, performance, configuration and other factors. Result may vary. Details at intel.com/performanceindex. The result is based on the test on 01/03/2025. CPU: Core Ultra 9 285HX, internal engineering device. PL1 =55W, memory: DDR5-6400 64GB; Storage: Samsung SSD PM9A1 NVMe 512GB, Display resolution: 2880x1800; OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 26100.2314(24H2); Intel Arc Graphics Pre-Production Driver, NPU Driver: Pre-Production driver; BIOS: Pre-production; Power Plan setting Balance Mode, Power Mode setting the Best Mode. CPU: Intel Core i9-14900HX ; Internal engineering device. PL1 =55W ，内存: DDR5-6400 64GB; Storage: Samsung SSD PM9A1 NVMe 512GB; Display: 3840x2160; OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 26100.2314(24H2); Intel Arc Graphics 32.0.101.6129; NPU 驱动: NA; BIOS: E1822IMS.116 ; Power Plan setting Balance Mode, Power Mode setting the Best Mode.
7 Intel® Core™Ultra 9 275HX vs Intel® Core™i9 14900HX, Professional Application Performance improvement - SPEC workstation® 4.0 test, results may be varied by usage, configuration and other factors. Details at intel.com/performanceindex.
8 Results may be varied by usage, configuration and other factors. Details at intel.com/performanceindex.
AI features may require software purchase, subscription or enablement by a software or platform provider, or may have specific configuration or compatibility requirements. Details at intel.com/AIPC. Results may vary.
Altering clock frequency or voltage may void any product warranties and reduce stability, security, performance, and life of the processor and other components. Check with system and component manufacturers for details.