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Something to look forward to: Intel's next-generation Arrow Lake CPUs are expected to offer significant performance gains over Raptor Lake. The company also claims that these new processors will be more power-efficient and stable than their predecessors. Intel, often referred to as Chipzilla, has assured users that the changes made in its microcode BIOS update to address instability issues won't affect the processors' overclocking abilities.
According to Intel's statement at a press event in China, Arrow Lake CPUs will not only be significantly faster than Raptor Lake but will also consume "at least" 100 watts less power than the current lineup. This is good news for consumers, as Raptor Lake's higher power requirements and voltage imbalances were identified as the primary causes of the stability issues affecting many 13th- and 14th-gen Core CPUs.
The report also claims that Intel confirmed its Battlemage GPUs will arrive later this year. An earlier leak suggested that the company aims to release its next-gen GPU architecture by fall 2024, in time for the holiday shopping season. If accurate, this means Battlemage will hit the market around the same time that Nvidia is expected to launch its RTX 50-series graphics cards.
While Intel did not confirm the exact power configurations of its Arrow Lake SKUs, a leak from a notable tipster provides some insight into their power consumption. According to Jaykihn, Intel's Arrow Lake-S Desktop CPUs will come in 8+16, 8+12, 6+8, and 6+4 core configurations. All of these, except for the 6+4 models, are expected to have power ratings of up to 125W for the unlocked "K" series SKUs. The other chips in these lineups are said to have either 65W or 35W PL1 ratings.
– Jaykihn (@jaykihn0) August 9, 2024
The flagship chip with an 8+16 configuration, rumored to be marketed as the Core Ultra 9 285K, will reportedly feature an "Extreme" mode in addition to the standard "Performance" and "Baseline" modes. It is tipped to have a 125W PL1 and 295W PL2 rating in Extreme mode, a 125W PL1 and 250W PL2 rating in Performance mode, and a 125W PL1 and 179W PL2 rating in Baseline mode.
Interestingly, the Arrow Lake lineup was initially expected to include a couple of 40-core (8+32) and 32-core (8+24) chips, but those have reportedly been canceled. Instead, the lineup now mentions a pair of entry-level 8-core (4+4) models that are expected to launch alongside their more powerful counterparts. One of these is said to have a 65W PL1 rating, while the other could have a 35W TDP.