GoKawiilThe tech industry faces unprecedented challenges as the continued disruption from AI-driven shortages has driven pricing to record highs and supplies to record lows.
However, even amidst the damage we've seen in the PC market, the industry is still moving forward, giving us plenty of new devices over the last year that continue to push the bar higher.
The continued industry advancements give us several new picks for our annual Tom's Hardware Innovation Awards: a set of products that set or expand the standard for others. This year's list includes devices ranging from CPUs from Intel and AMD to motherboards with support for a new type of memory to the newest line of budget laptops from Apple, among many others. Given the state of the industry and stagnation in a few key areas, we also have a few dishonorable mentions as well.
Latest Videos From Tom's Hardware Watch full video here:
CPU: Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
Both of Intel’s Arrow Lake Refresh CPUs are excellent, but the 20-core Core Ultra 5 250K Plus hits a special sweet spot for value. At $220, or as little as $155 on sale, it delivers solid midrange gaming performance while competing with chips that are a tier up in pricing and branding in applications. Against the backdrop of re-releases like the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, it’s hard to choose anything other than Arrow Lake Refresh when we think about CPU innovation over the past 12 months.
The Core Ultra 5 250K Plus taking center stage comes down to how much horsepower you’re getting for around $200. There’s nothing else close. It matches that Core i5-14600K in multithreaded performance, but that CPU is $260 right now. In AMD’s camp, the closest CPU is the $185 Ryzen 5 9600X. The Core Ultra 5 250K Plus is 5.6% faster than that chip in single-threaded performance and 70% faster in multithreaded performance based on our testing.
The weak link with Arrow Lake has always been gaming, and the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus carries some of those issues forward. However, it benefits from Intel’s iBOT feature in select titles, as well as a 900 MHz die-to-die frequency boost that broadly benefits games. Gen-on-gen, the 250K Plus is in lockstep with the Core i5-14600K, and it matches the Ryzen 5 9600X. However, for pure gaming rigs, the Ryzen 5 7600X3D is around the same price and 10% faster (though much slower in other applications).
Read More: Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus review
... continue reading