Intel’s next-generation desktop processors, the Arrow Lake-S series, are expected to debut later this year, so engineering test samples and qualification samples have been available to PC manufacturers and motherboard makers for some time, which means more and more can expect more and more product leaks in the coming weeks. This time around, the latest information comes from the top-of-the-range Core Ultra 9 series model, which is expected to feature 24 cores capable of running on a maximum of 24 threads, as the P-Core section no longer receives support for hyper-threading.
The recently released qualification sample, which is already very close to the final commercially available samples, in terms of clocks, can expect a maximum boost clock of 5.7 GHz for the P-Core section, in case the system loads only 1 or 2 processor cores, and when all P-cores are loaded, the maximum boost clock can reach 5.4 GHz. In comparison, the E-Core section can use a maximum boost clock signal of 4.7 GHz, at least in the case of the qualification sample.
Arrow Lake-S processors are planned to use a P-Core section based on the Lion Cove architecture and an E-Core section based on the Skymont architecture. Based on previous information, it is already known that the Lion Cove architecture also used in the Lunar Lake series can show a 14% increase in IPC compared to the Redwood Cove processor cores used in Meteor Lake, which are running on board the Meteor Lake series, that is, much more per clock capable of performing an operation.
Based on the tests, the Raptor Cove processor cores used in Redwood Cove, Raptor Lake and Raptor Lake Refresh processors have a similar IPC rating, according to which Lion Cove used in Arrow Lake-S processors is expected to show a 14% increase. IPC increase compared to Raptor Cove compared to Of course, it is worth noting that Arrow Lake-S will no longer use Hyper-Threading support, which was still available for Raptor Lake and Raptor Lake Refresh models, but tests show that HT/SMT support is not even a critical aspect for modern games, as long as the number of processor cores is at least 8. In other applications, the situation will be different, as the first independent tests will show.
By the way, gaming performance can be helped by the fact that in the case of Arrow Lake-S processors, the cache subsystem is evolving, which means that the P-Core section can have 3MB of L2 cache per core, and the shared L3 cache is 36MB, which is also shared with the four Skymont E-Core quad-core clusters.
It seems that the top-end Arrow Lake-S model could use a lower maximum boost clock than we saw with the Raptor Lake-Refresh models, as there was 6 GHz for the Core i9-14900K and 6.2 GHz for the Core i9-14900KS. Impact in the P-Core department. Of course, it is worth noting that the Arrow Lake-S processor in question will most likely carry the Core Ultra 9 285K designation, i.e. a faster member may arrive above it as we are used to with the previous generation, where in the case of the last few generations, the “KS” version has ascended the throne. If this is the case, we could see the maximum boost clock signal above 5.7 GHz later, if enough chips with good and fault-free tuning capabilities are gathered, which are quite stable even at a higher boost clock signal.
Based on current information, the Core Ultra 9 285K may debut with a 125W TDP, and another 24-core version may also arrive in the form of the Core Ultra 9 275, which has already been produced in a double-locked version, running at lower clock rates, but with only 65W power instead and having a TDP.
