Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus vs Ryzen 5 5600X
Short answer: which is best?
Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus is 88.9 % stronger than Ryzen 5 5600X. 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). Ryzen 5 5600X ranks #51 of 108 measured processors at WhatFPS (8,235 CPU score in its best run — best of 3 rigs, 3 verified runs). Each part is shown at its best run, picked from 27 verified WhatFPS runs — measured, not estimated, not self-reported.
Measured comparison
| Metric | Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus | Ryzen 5 5600X |
|---|---|---|
| CPU score, best run (the processor's own performance) | 15,558 | 8,235 |
| Best rig (GAMING — whole PC) | 10,383 | 10,117 |
| Integer (MT) | 14.6 Gop/s | 5 Gop/s |
| Single-thread (1T) | 0.94 Gop/s | 0.58 Gop/s |
| Draw calls/s (DX11) | 11,343,956 | 10,161,388 |
| Cores / threads | 24 / 24 | 6 / 12 |
| L3 cache | 36 MB | 32 MB |
Fragz' verdict
Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus has the higher CPU score, with an 88.9 % lead over Ryzen 5 5600X. Since single-thread usually sets the FPS ceiling in games, you get more performance here with 0.94 Gop/s compared to 0.58 Gop/s. The integer test shows this chip handles background load better at 14.6 Gop/s versus 5 Gop/s, while also providing 11,343,956 draw calls per second to feed your graphics card when a lot is on screen. You will also see higher performance in Supernova at 94.6 FPS compared to 84.7 FPS. Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus is highest in every performance test we ran.
Generated November 14, 2026 from the 27 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 Ryzen 5 5600X