Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus vs 11th Gen Core i5-11400 @ 2.60GHz
Short answer: which is best?
Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus is 123.8 % stronger than 11th Gen Core i5-11400 @ 2.60GHz. Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus ranks #2 of 108 measured processors at WhatFPS (15,558 CPU score in its best run — best of 2 rigs, 24 verified runs). 11th Gen Core i5-11400 @ 2.60GHz ranks #71 of 108 measured processors at WhatFPS (6,951 CPU score in its best run — 1 rig, 4 verified runs). Each part is shown at its best run, picked from 28 verified WhatFPS runs — measured, not estimated, not self-reported.
Measured comparison
| Metric | Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus | 11th Gen Core i5-11400 @ 2.60GHz |
|---|---|---|
| CPU score, best run (the processor's own performance) | 15,558 | 6,951 |
| Best rig (GAMING — whole PC) | 10,383 | 5,940 |
| Integer (MT) | 14.6 Gop/s | 4.9 Gop/s |
| Single-thread (1T) | 0.94 Gop/s | 0.53 Gop/s |
| Draw calls/s (DX11) | 11,343,956 | 8,386,736 |
| Cores / threads | 24 / 24 | 6 / 12 |
| L3 cache | 36 MB | 12 MB |
Fragz' verdict
The Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus has the higher CPU score, with a 123.8 % lead over the 11th Gen Core i5-11400 @ 2.60GHz. Since single-thread usually sets the FPS ceiling in games, you get much better performance here with 0.94 Gop/s compared to 0.53 Gop/s. You will also notice the difference in integer performance for things like streaming and background load, where this chip hits 14.6 Gop/s against the 4.9 Gop/s of the older model. The 11th Gen Core i5-11400 @ 2.60GHz has only been measured in a single rig, so that number is less certain. Because it fails to lead in any category, including draw calls per second and the Supernova test, it simply cannot keep up. Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus is highest in every performance test we ran.
Generated November 14, 2026 from the 28 verified runs available then. The verdict is never silently rewritten — new numbers get a new verdict.
What the numbers mean
The headline score is the part's best measured run, and the measurements under it come from that same run. It shows what the part has been proven to do — not what an average rig gets out of it. The CPU score is the processor's own performance — that is what we rank on. GAMING is the whole rig's score in the best PC we measured the processor in, and leans heavily on the graphics card. A strong processor in a weak PC gets a low GAMING score without being worse. We show both and never mix them.
All numbers come from our benchmark suite: four hand-built 3D scenes written directly against the graphics APIs in Rust, the same load on every PC. The methodology is open at https://whatfps.com/metodik
All measurements for Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus · All measurements for 11th Gen Core i5-11400 @ 2.60GHz