Leaked Intel Arrow Lake chipset diagram show more PCIe lanes, no support for DDR4 — new chipset boasts two M.2 SSD ports connected directly to CPU

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New tech arrives, and old tech has to be left behind.

Intel Core Ultra CPU
(Image credit: Intel)

Intel’s next generation of CPUs, its Arrow Lake-S processors, is set to launch in the third quarter of 2024. The chipmaker will host a series of events to showcase the new 800-series motherboards to support Arrow Lake-S, and a diagram reportedly prepared for those events confirms much of what we already suspected about the upcoming CPU and chipset. Consider DDR4 and PCIe 3.0 relegated to the annals of history, if the leak is correct.

The upcoming events will be for distributors and board partners, introducing them to Intel’s upcoming LGA-1851 platform. The chipmaker previewed the 800-series motherboards at Computex, including the Z890, but did not explicitly name the chipset or the motherboards. ChipHell obtained an image of the Arrow Lake diagram and it’s spread from that forum to X (formerly known as Twitter).

As previously leaked, the new diagram reveals the Arrow Lake-S CPU and motherboards will support 16 dedicated PCIe 5.0 lanes for graphics cards. They will offer four additional PCIe 5.0 lanes for storage, and a PCIe 4.0 x 4 interface for the slower standard. While the chipset omits PCIe 3.0 support, that’s unlikely to bother anybody and the new configuration allows computer makers to avoid sacrificing PCIe 5.0 lanes for GPUs and storage.

Leaked diagram detailing new Arrow Lake and Z890 chipset specifications (Image credit: ChipHell)

The LGA-1851 platform also abandons support for DDR4 memory, something that was threatening to be an unpopular decision early on in the leak lifecycle. Since DDR5 prices have dropped over the past two years, though, the clamor for retaining DDR4 support has died down considerably.

Digging deeper, we also see that the new CPUs will integrate Thunderbolt 4 controllers, supporting up to four displays through integrated Arc Xe-LPG graphics. Users will be able to choose from DisplayPort 2.1 or HDMI 2.1 when using the integrated GPU. 

The diagram also confirms support for USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20G), USB 3.2 Gen 2x1 (10G), and USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5G) connections. There are no details yet on the number of each type of port supported, but we can probably assume it will at least equal the Z790 support: five USB 20G ports and 10 each of USB 10G and USB 5G connectors.

For networking, expect 1GbE support and an optional 2.5GbE port. The diagram also confirms the new chipset will support Wi-Fi 7, which has enjoyed optional support since the Z790 chipset. Last but not least, remember that leaks of this nature need to be taken with a small pinch of salt.

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Jeff Butts
Jeff Butts
Contributing Writer

Jeff Butts has been covering tech news for more than a decade, and his IT experience predates the internet. Yes, he remembers when 9600 baud was “fast.” He especially enjoys covering DIY and Maker topics, along with anything on the bleeding edge of technology.

63 Comments Comment from the forums
  • This is not the first time an Arrow Lake-S chipset diagram, or any platform detail has been shared between distributors, partners, AIB members though. There have been discussions going on before as well, but the info wasn't made public unlike this one.


    But anyway, as an example, here is one slide taken from MSI's recent Dragon Shield "Wuhan" event in Asia. Arrow Lake-S "Core Ultra 200" Desktop platform was also teased. The series could feature a brand new DDR5 memory controller, with an updated IMC.


    https://i.imgur.com/cERlgBx.jpeg


    Well, since this article is about "Arrow Lake" CPU lineup, let me point this out here itself. This leak also applies to the upcoming LUNAR LAKE CPU series as well. This is NOT any rumor. But official specs confirmation directly from INTEL.

    Anyway, as we know the upcoming 'Arrow and 'Lunar Lake' CPU lineup would be sporting new "Lion Cove" P-core, and "Skymont" E-core architectures, a recent Intel presentation targeted at PC OEMs highlighted one important aspect of the "Skymont" E-cores.

    The slides are too small and blurry, and the original media post also got deleted, but we have few details.

    "Skymont" E-core is said to offer a double-digit IPC gain over the "Crestmont" E-core powering the current "Meteor Lake" processor lineup. Not much surprising though.

    This double-digit IPC gain over "Crestmont" is achieved through an improved branch prediction unit, a broader 9-wide Decode unit compared to the 6-wide Decode unit of "Crestmont," and an 8-wide integer ALU, compared to 4 Integer ALU on its predecessor.

    There is also a dependency optimization in the out-of-order engine, and deeper queuing across the engine, just to name a few optimizations.

    Skymont E core:

    9-wide Decode8 integer ALU
    Two-digit IPC
    https://www.techpowerup.com/img/DOORGuW7SmHtxhHd.jpg
    https://www.techpowerup.com/img/cAACdk0rSThXyUYX.jpg
    Reply
  • mac_angel
    I really wish all the tech companies would normalize and use 10G ethernet. Consumer based ethernet has been stagnant for decades. Every other type of component has doubled many times over since released, except ethernet.
    Reply
  • endocine
    mac_angel said:
    I really wish all the tech companies would normalize and use 10G ethernet. Consumer based ethernet has been stagnant for decades. Every other type of component has doubled many times over since released, except ethernet.
    Yeah 2.5G really isn't that great compared to 10G, its gotta be cost still, which after a decade+ is a bit strange. By the time you put in a GPU into the consumer motherboard, there is only one slot left (if you are lucky) and that's gotta handle the 10G NIC.
    Reply
  • ezst036
    Yeah but even with more lanes, they'll still keep removing PCI-e slots off of motherboards.
    Reply
  • in_the_loop
    ezst036 said:
    Yeah but even with more lanes, they'll still keep removing PCI-e slots off of motherboards.
    What I get is that there are now only two "extra" PCI-e slots available (X4) besides the normal X16, or is it?
    For me considering adding another PCI-e card (and additional PRO audio card for DAW that has a special multicard driver) to my current motherboard with three extra PCI-e slots, where one of the slots can't be used since the grapchis card extends over it.
    If it is the same with an upcoming 890 chipset, it will mean that I can't use the extra PCI-e card if I buy it now.
    That is, if there are only two extra PCI-e slots and one of them would be hindered by my graphics card...
    Reply
  • Metal Messiah. said:
    This is not the first time an Arrow Lake-S chipset diagram, or any platform detail has been shared between distributors, partners, AIB members though. There have been discussions going on before as well, but the info wasn't made public unlike this one.

    Here are some of the previously leaked slides, although they are a bit old.

    These were more detailed and informative than this newly shared slide, which is light on info. It would appear this new 800-series desktop platform will support much higher memory speeds natively with up to 6400 MT/s, in a dual-channel config.

    Rumor: Arrow Lake-S (Lion Cove P-Core) - 3 MB L2 Cache Per Core, so that's up to 50% larger L2 cache
    Arrow Lake-S 8+16 (24 Cores / 32 Threads)Arrow Lake-S 6+16 (22 Cores / 28 Threads)Arrow Lake-S 6+8 (14 Cores / 20 Threads)

    https://i.imgur.com/aL5NqCA.jpeg

    https://i.imgur.com/HPY4gE3.jpeg

    https://i.imgur.com/2mgLj0u.jpeg
    Reply
  • DS426
    mac_angel said:
    I really wish all the tech companies would normalize and use 10G ethernet. Consumer based ethernet has been stagnant for decades. Every other type of component has doubled many times over since released, except ethernet.
    I fully agree. At a minimum, 2.5G should be the standard on the lowest-cost boards, with 10G being the standard on mid-range and up. Wi-Fi 6 can already have real-world throughput of over 2.5G, and Wi-Fi 6E only pushed that further. Seriously, when did wired networking becoming slower than wireless became acceptable?

    I know it's not a sexi selling point unless you can specifically utilize the higher speeds today, and yes, 10G PCIe adapters have been around for awhile, but it shouldn't have to be "add-in" at this point.
    Reply
  • mac_angel
    endocine said:
    Yeah 2.5G really isn't that great compared to 10G, its gotta be cost still, which after a decade+ is a bit strange. By the time you put in a GPU into the consumer motherboard, there is only one slot left (if you are lucky) and that's gotta handle the 10G NIC.
    yea, but cost can't really be used as an excuse. 1Gb Ethernet was released in 1998, over 25 years ago. And most computers, routers, etc are still mostly released with 1Gb. Some odd high end routers may have one or two 2.5Gb or 10Gb, but that's it. If they had kept up with the rest of technology, and kept up with mass production, cost wouldn't be an issue. We now have ISP's offering above 1Gb service, but a huge majority can't utilize those speeds (other than being shared, but realistically, you'd have to have multiple people trying to saturate the Internet all at the same time for it to matter. And even home networking, file transfers from computer to computer or NAS, storage speeds have gone way up that the bottleneck is always going to be ethernet, even at 2.5Gb. Just a good SATA SSD can write faster than those speeds, let alone RAID or m.2 drives.
    Reply
  • An Arrow Lake desktop CPU benchmark has been leaked which shows up to 20% faster single-thread uplift versus 14900K/KS.

    Fake or real you judge ?

    Appears to be an i5 variant though, sporting a 6+8 core config running on the Z890 motherboard (as claimed by the tester/leaker). 6 P-Cores and 8 E-Cores.

    1807808541010591796View: https://x.com/negativeonehero/status/1807808541010591796
    Reply
  • in_the_loop
    Metal Messiah. said:
    Here are some of the previously leaked slides, although they are a bit old.

    These were more detailed and informative than this newly shared slide, which is light on info. It would appear this new 800-series desktop platform will support much higher memory speeds natively with up to 6400 MT/s, in a dual-channel config.

    Rumor: Arrow Lake-S (Lion Cove P-Core) - 3 MB L2 Cache Per Core, so that's up to 50% larger L2 cache
    Arrow Lake-S 8+16 (24 Cores / 32 Threads)
    Arrow Lake-S 6+16 (22 Cores / 28 Threads)
    Arrow Lake-S 6+8 (14 Cores / 20 Threads)

    https://i.imgur.com/aL5NqCA.jpeg

    https://i.imgur.com/HPY4gE3.jpeg

    https://i.imgur.com/2mgLj0u.jpeg

    Two big surprises here:

    1. Hyperthreading still seems to be there.
    2. The i7 now gets only 6 P-cores instead of 8 but 16 e-cores instead of 12.

    So if hyperthreading is still there, then the totally new architecture will be "hyperinteresting" (no pun intended) with these gains in IPC.
    But what about the i7? Isn't it unbalanced with 6 p-cores and the same 16 e-cores ass the i9?
    Don't know how to judge it. Against the i5 it gets double the e-cores.
    Against the i9 it loses only two p-cores.
    Reply