Meteor Lake refresh leaks — Intel finally has a counter to X3D

Refreshed P-cores and a new 3D-cache variant in the leaked Core Ultra 200 SKUs. The on-package cache strategy finally arrives from Intel.

Meteor Lake refresh SKU leaks confirm Intel is finally shipping a 3D-cache competitor to AMD X3D. The Core Ultra 285K3D is the headline part — refreshed P-cores, new on-package L3 expansion, and gaming benchmarks that finally close the X3D gap. Launch window is Q3 2026.

The structural read is that Intel needed something concrete on the gaming front to stop the AM5 platform momentum. The 285K3D is not a clear win over the 9700X3D or 9800X3D, but it is competitive — and that has not been the Intel story for two years.