The Intel Core Ultra 200 series launch is mere weeks away, so most of the new chips have long since been revealed, and are even up for pre-order at some retailers. However, a new leak is suggesting there's a whole new CPU in the lineup that hasn't been spotted before. The Intel Core Ultra 9 295K is the model in question, and it could be the fastest chip of the whole lot.
You can read up on everything we know so far about the 285K and other Intel Core Ultra 200 CPUs in our Intel Arrow Lake guide, which explains the architecture the chips are built on and the models you can expect to see available to buy in shops soon. Meanwhile, we've already seen how the company has accepted that the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D beats the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K. However, this leak could hint that Intel was only willing to admit defeat with the 285K because it knew it had the 295K waiting in the wings.
To recap, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K is essentially the direct successor to the Intel Core i9 14900K, making it the conventional flagship chip of the range, using the fullest capabilities of the Arrow Lake architecture on which it's based. That means a total of 24 cores, comprising eight P-Cores and 16 E-Cores, with an unlocked multiplier allowing for the chip to be overclocked too.
However, Intel has in the past also made slight variants of its flagship chips, in the shape of its KS and KF series. The former of these is an absolutely maxed-out version of the K series with boosted clock speeds, such as with the 14900KS. Meanwhile, the KF series is the same chip but without integrated graphics. The latter aren't generally cranked to higher clock speeds out of the box than the K series, but they do allow you to save some money if you partner your chip with one of the best graphics cards.
Back to the 295K leak, then, and this new chip has suddenly appeared on Intel's website, in the support section discussing which processors ship without an included heatsink (spotted by regular tech leaker @momomo_us on X [formerly Twitter]).
Along with clarifying that "All Intel Core and Intel Core Ultra Desktop Processors that have the letters K, KF, KS, XE, or X in their number are not shipped with Intel Thermal Solution (fan heatsink)," Intel also lists some examples of Intel Core Ultra chips that don't include coolers. In this list we see the previously discussed 265KF and 245K but then the mystery new 295K is also mentioned.
What makes the prospect of a 295K chip that performs in a similar manner to a KS chip so exciting is that it could push AMD's new 9800X3D and other 9000X3D CPUs when it comes to gaming performance, meaning we might see a mini price war as the two companies battle it out.
However, despite this leak being a posting on the official Intel website, we suspect this is more likely to be a typo than a new chip reveal, especially seeing as the 285K isn't mentioned on the site. Also, wouldn't Intel just call an equivalent to a 285K with KS-like clock speed a 285KS? Whether this chip turns out to be a typo or a real product, we would certainly hope and expect a KS-class chip to arrive from Intel at some point and we can't wait to see what it can do.
In the meantime, you can find our current recommendations for the best gaming CPU in our guide that includes a wide range of options at different prices and from both AMD and Intel.