Intel’s next-gen Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake CPUs will offer a diverse set of IO configurations as revealed by @jaykihn0.
Intel’s Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake “Core Ultra 200” CPUs will have Gen5 support on all PC platforms
Intel is working on a diverse range of CPU platforms, ranging from high-end desktops to thin and light designs. These platforms will feature the upcoming Core Ultra 200 “Arrow Lake” and Core Ultra 200V “Lunar Lake” CPU families. We’ve already done a deep dive into the Lunar Lake architecture and also covered Arrow Lake extensively in the past, and now we have some more information when it comes to the IO capabilities of each respective chip platform.
Starting with the top-of-the-line Intel Arrow Lake-S desktop CPUs, the SOC Tile will have 16 PCIe Gen5 lanes dedicated to discrete graphics, the IOE Tile will have 4 Gen5 lanes and 4 Gen4 lanes dedicated to M.2 SSD while PCH (800- series) will offer up to 14 Gen4 lanes, 7 Gen4 for SATA and 2 Gen4 for dual GbE LAN connections. It will also have 13 USB2 and 10 USB3 lanes. The Arrow Lake-HX CPUs will be similar to the desktop offerings as they are based on a similar model. The only difference is an extra USB2 lane.
Moving down the lineup, we have the Intel Arrow Lake-H CPUs which will have 12 Gen4 lanes on the SOC board, 8 Gen5 lanes for discrete graphics, 8 Gen4 lanes for M.2 (x4/x4) on the IOE board, and with a combination of 10 USB2 plus 2 USB3 lanes on the PCH board. The lower-end Arrow Lake-U chips are not mentioned, but we can expect similar or slightly scaled-down IOs as the Arrow Lake-H SKUs.
Finally, we have Intel’s Lunar Lake CPUs which will feature all the IO capabilities on the SOC board. It will offer UFS (1×2), Gen4 (GBE x1), Gen4 (x3), Gen5 (x4), USB 3.2 Gen2x1 (x2), USB3 (x2) and USB2 (x6) lanes.
Intel Lunar Lake & Arrow Lake processor configurations:
| tablet | Arrow Lake-S | Arrow Lake-HX | Arrow Lake-S | Lunar Lake |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yogurt | PCIe Gen5 x16 | PCIe Gen5 x16 | PCIe Gen4 x12 | UFS 1×2 PCIe gen4 / GBE x1 PCIe Gen4 x3 PCIe Gen5 x4 USB 3.2 Gen2x1 x2 USB2 x6 USB3 x2 |
| IOE | PCIe Gen5 x4 PCIe Gen4 x4 |
PCIe Gen5 x4 PCIe Gen4 x4 |
PCIe Gen5 x8 PCIe Gen4 x8 (x4/x4) |
N/A |
| PCH | PCIe Gen4 x14 PCIe Gen4 / SATA x7 PCIe Gen4 / GBE x2 PCIe Gen4 / SATA / GBE x1 USB2 x13 USB3 x10 |
PCIe Gen4 x14 PCIe Gen4 / SATA x7 PCIe Gen4 / GBE x2 PCIe Gen4 / SATA / GBE x1 USB2 x14 USB3 x10 |
USB2 x10 USB3 x2 |
N/A |
In addition to the IO configurations, Jaykihn has also shared the pinout plan for the Intel LGA 1851 socket which is designed for Arrow Lake-S desktop CPUs. The LGA 1851 layout is very different from the existing LGA 1700/1800 socket and this is evident from the floor plan of both sockets. The new socket comes with 51 additional pins in the LGA format.
Intel LGA 1851 socket layout (Image source: @Jaykihn):
Intel LGA 1700 socket layout (Image source: @Igor’s Lab):
There are some other details listed by the user which can be seen in the post below:
Some Arrow Lake ARL-S details:
sapll 3.2 GHz, can go down to 1.6 GHz.
Core Pll may have a voltage offset.
soc d2d is the designated range from 1.5 GHz to 4 GHz.
GT slice and GT unslice may or may not share VR, it depends on the motherboard.— Jaykihn (@jaykihn0) July 1, 2024
Intel’s Lunar Lake CPUs will be the first Core Ultra 200 to hit retail with an expected September launch followed by Arrow Lake-S desktop CPUs for high-performance PCs in October . All remaining Core Ultra 200 CPUs will launch in early 2025 after CES. Expect more details at Intel’s Innovation event in September.