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Last year, we first heard about the Core Ultra 3 205 , a low-end OEM chip from the Arrow Lake family, part of the Core Ultra 200S lineup, but it was never released. We even got a full review of a non-retail unit of the CPU before it was ever announced. Fast forward to 2026, and it has finally reappeared online, listed at a French retailer called PC21 . It's priced at 158 Euros after tax, or roughly $182, but there are no units in stock.
To be clear, the Core Ultra 3 205 has been listed before — at the same vendor, funnily enough — but that was over 7 months ago, and it hasn't popped up since. Current speculation points toward it being an OEM-exclusive part, reserved for system integrators, but we haven't seen any prebuilt with it either. In fact, Intel has not launched any Core Ultra 3-branded desktop SKU for Arrow Lake at all.
Specs-wise, we're looking at an eight-core chip (4P + 4E) that can boost up to 4.9 GHz, and has 2 Xe cores for integrated graphics. Rated at just 57W, the Core Ultra 3 205 actually surpassed its previous-gen Core i5 counterpart and scored 30% higher in multi-core benchmarks compared to the Core i3-14100. It has been poised to become the new entry-level champ ever since it entered the rumor mill.
You may like Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus makes its Geekbench debut with 5.3 GHz boost clocks Intel's upcoming Core Ultra 9 mobile CPU outperforms most desktop counterparts in new benchmark Intel's upcoming Core Ultra 9 290K Plus posts ~10% better Geekbench scores than current flagship The PC21 listing confirms some of these specs, though it could just be getting them from leaks in the first place, like 15 MB of L2 cache and the aforementioned 4.9 GHz boost clocks. The part number used for this SKU is AT8076806773, which Intel used in its own documentation more than a year ago. The processor was also found at a German retailer in December of 2025, listed for 148 Euros without tax.
Since Intel has already updated its Arrow Lake family with the Core Ultra 200K Plus refresh, it's unlikely that a formal launch for this Core Ultra 3 SKU is in the cards anymore. It's unfortunate that Intel never officially listed this CPU or gave it a proper, boxed release because it's clearly a great value for money. The listing on PC21 mentions it as a "tray" chip, which pretty much confirms it's not intended for a mainstream release, but at least we know it's out there.
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Key considerations
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/intels-long-rumored-core-ultra-3-205-cpu-finally-appears-for-sale-at-french-retailer-priced-at-usd182-early-listing-confirms-previously-known-specs-for-the-chip#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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