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| The 12-core Intel Core 9 273PQE has been spotted in the wild. |
A tantalizing glimpse of the Core 9 273PQE on an ASUS Z790 motherboard has enthusiasts buzzing—and then immediately disappointed.
For months, PC builders with LGA 1700 motherboards have nursed a secret hope: that Intel might throw them a lifeline in the form of a new processor family. With Intel shifting to the new LGA 1851 socket for its Core Ultra 200 series, millions of users on 12th, 13th, and 14th-gen systems faced a dead-end upgrade path.
Enter the rumors of Bartlett Lake-S—a rumored family of CPUs that would breathe new life into the aging socket. The most exciting prospect? A return to pure performance-core designs, potentially offering up to 12 P-cores for gamers who never asked for the hybrid architecture's efficiency cores.
That dream now appears to be officially dead for consumers. But thanks to a leak, we've gotten our clearest look yet at what might have been.
The CPU That Refuses to Boot
In a twist that perfectly encapsulates the frustration surrounding this launch, an engineering sample of the flagship Intel Core 9 273PQE has surfaced in an unexpected place: an enthusiast's ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Apex motherboard.
As reported by VideoCardz, images shared by Overclock.net user Talon2016 show the mysterious processor installed in one of the most capable Z790 boards ever made. But there's one small problem—it doesn't work.
"Got the CPU in and on latest Apex BIOS, it basically goes straight to code 55," Talon2016 reported in the Overclock.net thread. "Tried 3 different ram kits all at cmos clear auto... Code 55. Goes yellow and just fails to initialize the CPU. What a shame."
The error code 55 typically indicates memory initialization failure—unsurprising given that no existing consumer motherboard BIOS includes the necessary microcode for this unreleased silicon. While industrial motherboard manufacturers like DFI have already rolled out support for Bartlett Lake-S on their embedded platforms, consumer boards from ASUS, MSI, and Gigabyte remain firmly in the dark.
A P-Core Monster That Never Was
So what exactly is this chip that enthusiasts are clamoring to run? The specifications are genuinely impressive.
According to leaked details from well-known leaker Jaykihn, the Core 9 273PQE sits at the top of the Bartlett Lake-S food chain with:
- 12 Performance cores, 24 threads (zero efficiency cores)
- 36MB of L3 cache
- Boost clocks up to 5.9 GHz
- 125W base power rating
For context, even Intel's flagship 14900KS only packs 8 P-cores alongside its 16 E-cores. A 12-core design built exclusively around high-performance architectures would have been a gaming beast, potentially offering better thread scheduling and lower latency for workloads that don't benefit from the hybrid approach.
The full leaked lineup includes a range of SKUs spanning Core 5, Core 7, and Core 9 tiers, with both standard and low-power "T" variants. Some configurations even retain the hybrid design with both P and E cores, but the all-P-core models are clearly the headliners.
Industrial-Only: A Business Decision That Stings
Why would Intel develop new silicon and then restrict it to edge computing and server applications? The answer, as with most things in the semiconductor industry, comes down to money and segmentation.
Bartlett Lake-S reportedly uses a mix of older Alder Lake and newer Raptor Lake dies, allowing Intel to utilize existing inventory while offering something "new" to industrial customers who value long-term platform stability. These buyers don't care about overclocking or DDR5-8000 memory—they want reliable, socket-compatible CPUs they can drop into existing systems for the next five years.
But for consumers, Intel has made its position clear. As VideoCardz notes, ASRock explicitly confirmed they won't support Bartlett Lake-S on consumer boards, and no other major vendor has stepped forward with BIOS updates.
The Modder's Challenge
Of course, where official support ends, the modding community often begins. Talon2016 isn't giving up easily.
"Microcode insertion is no big deal with USB flashback," they noted in the forum thread. "I've modded my Z890 and Z790 Asus boards and injected newer or older microcode into my BIOS and flashed no issue."
The theory is straightforward: if industrial boards from DFI and others already support Bartlett Lake-S, their BIOS updates contain the necessary microcode. In theory, enterprising users could extract that microcode and inject it into their consumer board's BIOS, potentially bringing these CPUs to life on high-end Z790 and Z690 motherboards.
But it's not guaranteed to work. Talon2016 discovered that even the latest Z790 Apex BIOS contains microcode files identical in name and size to those in BTL-S supporting boards—suggesting the barrier might be deeper than just microcode.
"Additionally looking through a few of the boards bios options, the latest BTL-S bios changed the max P cores enabled/disabled to 15 from 8," they explained. "This leads me to believe that maybe microcode isn't the only thing that needs to be changed."
What This Means for LGA 1700 Users
If you're still rocking a Z690 or Z790 board hoping for one last CPU upgrade, the message is increasingly clear: your final stop is 14th-gen Raptor Lake Refresh.
Intel's strategic decision to gatekeep Bartlett Lake-S behind industrial channels means the millions of LGA 1700 systems out there will never officially see these 12-core P-core wonders. While modders may eventually crack the code—and history suggests they often do—it's a far cry from the plug-and-play upgrade enthusiasts were hoping for.
For those willing to venture into the grey market of engineering samples and custom BIOS mods, the path forward involves risk: potential instability, lack of warranty, and the very real possibility of bricking expensive hardware.
But for one Overclock.net user with a Core 9 273PQE in hand and a Z790 Apex on their bench, that challenge is exactly the point. Sunday night can't come soon enough.
Have you considered modding your motherboard BIOS to support unsupported CPUs? Share your experiences in the comments below.
Bartlett Lake -S P-Core Only SKUs pic.twitter.com/2KmJh6UgdW
— Jaykihn (@jaykihn0) February 20, 2026