Intel Core Ultra 7 251HX Arrow Lake CPU Is Official With 18 Cores and 3 Xe GPU Cores

In what appears to be a quiet launch, Intel has added the Core Ultra 7 251HX to its Arrow Lake HX lineup. The processor reportedly appeared on Intel’s website shortly after showing up in Lenovo Legion 5i 2026 and MSI Raider 16 HX listings. Unlike previous launches, there was no formal announcement.

The Core Ultra 7 251HX comes with 18 cores and 18 threads, split between 6 Performance cores and 12 Efficient cores. It sits between the Core Ultra 5 245HX and Core Ultra 7 255HX. Compared to the 255HX, it drops two P-cores and loses two threads but retains all 12 E-cores and 30 MB of Smart Cache.

TDP ranges remain the same, with a 55 W base and up to 160 W maximum turbo power. Max Turbo for the chip is 5.1 GHz, slightly lower than the 255HX, while the E-core base clock rises to 2.5 GHz and P-core base to 2.9 GHz. Memory support extends up to DDR5-6400.

The integrated GPU has three Xe3 cores running up to 1.8 GHz, down from four cores on the 255HX. This reduction also slightly lowers AI throughput from 33 TOPS to 30 TOPS. While not a huge difference, it may matter for workloads that rely heavily on AI acceleration.

Overall, the Core Ultra 7 251HX fills a mid-range slot in Intel’s Arrow Lake HX family. It sits above the 14-core Core Ultra 5 245HX and below the higher-end 20-core Core Ultra 7 255HX and 265HX models. For users building laptops or portable workstations, it offers a balanced mix of performance and efficiency. In a related news, Intel is also reportedly looking to hike CPU prices yet again in May. If the rumors are accurate, it would be Intel’s third price hike of the year.