The block diagram of Intel’s Arrow Lake-S “800-series” desktop CPU platform has leaked and reveals dedicated Gen5 lanes.
Intel Arrow Lake-S desktop CPUs will have support on the 800 series platform with up to 20 dedicated PCIe Gen5 lanes
Intel’s 800-series platform for desktop CPUs Arrow Lake-S is out once again. Previously, we had seen platform details come out in January (2024) and now we have a newer diagram of the platform that is a little less detailed than the previous one, but it looks like it was revealed in a partner presentation and released on the Chiphell Forums.
As for the platform, Intel will offer Arrow Lake-S Desktop CPUs in its new LGA 1851-socket motherboards with 800-series PCHs, including the Z890, H870, B860 and H810 series. The flagship motherboards will have up to DDR5-6400 memory, and the previous platform diagram revealed two additional SKUs with 6+8 and 6+16 configurations.
- 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)
The new Intel 800 series desktop platform will support much higher memory speeds natively with up to a claimed 6400 MT/s in a dual-channel configuration. The CPUs will have native x16 PCIe Gen5 dGPU and x4 PCIe Gen5 M.2 lanes plus an additional x4 Gen4 PCIe lane for M.2. Breaking down CPU and PCH I/O, we have:
Arrow Lake-S CPU input/output capabilities:
- DDR5 UDIMM/SODIMM – 6400 MT/s Native
- 1×4 eDP 1.4b
- DP2.0 UHBR20/HDMI 2.1
- 2x USB 4.0 + TBT4/DP
- 2.0/HDMI 2.1 Type-C
- Total 24 PCIe lanes
- 20 PCIe Gen5 lanes (1×16 + 1×4)
- 4 PCIe Gen5 lanes (1×4)
- 8 SATA III lanes
ARL-S PCH For 800 Series motherboards:
- DMI Gen4 1×8
- 24 Total PCIe Gen4 lanes
- 6 x4 controllers (maximum)
- 14 Root Ports (Max)
- 8 SATA III lanes
- 3x GbE Ports
- 10 USB 3.2 Gen2 x1 ports (Each two ports can be used as a single USB Gen 3.2 Gen2x2 port, maximum 4 supported)
- 14 USB 2.0 ports
- 802.11ax R2 w/TDBC (160+80), BT6/WIFI7
- 1x CSME SPI
- 2 x TCH SPI
What’s interesting is that Intel’s Arrow Lake Desktop CPUs will have 20 usable PCIe Gen5 lanes while AMD’s Ryzen 9000 desktop CPUs will have 24 usable PCIe Gen5 lanes. So AMD has an advantage in the total number of Gen 5.0 lanes offered by the CPU. In terms of memory support, Arrow Lake CPUs will stick with native DDR5-6400 support while Zen 5 CPUs will stick with native DDR5-5600 support.
Intel Arrow Lake-S desktop CPUs will go into the next-generation LGA 1851 socket featured on 800-series motherboards with the following features:
- LGA 1851 socket lifespan planned until 2026
- Only compatible with DDR5, no support for DDR4
- It starts with 800 Series motherboards
- Memory support up to DDR5-6400 (Native JEDEC)
- Increased PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes through CPU and PCH
- Supports Arrow Lake-S First Desktop Family
- Arrow Lake-S CPUs have 3 MB of L2 cache per P-Core
- The Arrow Lake-S CPUs feature Alchemist’s refreshed iGPU
- Arrow Lake-S CPUs feature integrated “Adamantine” LLC for GPU boards
- Arrow Lake-S CPUs have 8+16, 8+0, 6+8 CPU SKUs
- Launch in 2H 2024
At Computex 2024, all of Intel’s motherboard partners unveiled their next-generation models based on the Z890 PCH and LGA 1851 socket. Although none of the manufacturers listed the boards as Z890 products, they are easy to find distinguished as labels were engraved on heatsinks and IO plates. Below is our coverage of the Z890 motherboard from the event:
Intel’s Arrow Lake-S Desktop CPUs are positioned to launch for gaming platforms such as desktop PCs later this year (October) and will compete against Zen 5-based CPUs from AMD Ryzen 9000 “Granite Ridge” which will be released later this month (July 31). Stay tuned for more information.
Comparison of generations of Intel desktop CPUs:
| Processor family | Processor architecture | Processor process | Processor Cores (Max) | Platform chips | Platform slot | Memory support | TDPs | PCIe support | Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Coffee Lake | Coffee Lake | 14nm++ | 6/12 | 300-Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | 35-95 W | PCIe 3.0 | 2017 |
| Intel Coffee Lake Refresh | Coffee Lake | 14nm++ | 8/16 | 300-Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | 35-95 W | PCIe 3.0 | 2018 |
| Intel’s Comet Lake | Comet Lake | 14nm++ | 10/20 | 400-Series | LGA 1200 | DDR4 | 35-127 W | PCIe 3.0 | 2020 |
| Intel Rocket Lake | Rocket Lake | 14nm++ | 10/20 | 500-Series | LGA 1200 | DDR4 | 35-125 W | PCIe 4.0 | 2021 |
| Intel Alder Lake | Golden Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) |
Intel 7 | 16/24 | 600-Series | LGA 1700 | DDR5/DDR4 | 35-150 W | PCIe 5.0 | 2021 |
| Intel Raptor Lake | Raptor Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) |
Intel 7 | 24/32 | 700-Series | LGA 1700 | DDR5/DDR4 | 35-150 W | PCIe 5.0 | 2022 |
| Intel Raptor Lake Refresh | Raptor Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) |
Intel 7 | 24/32 | 700-Series | LGA 1700 | DDR5/DDR4 | 35-150 W | PCIe 5.0 | 2023 |
| Intel’s Meteor Lake | Redwood Cove (P-Core) Crestmont (E-Core) |
Intel 4 | 14/20 | 800-Series | LGA 1851 | DDR5 | 35-65 W | PCIe 5.0 | 2024 (SP only) |
| Intel Bartlett Lake | Raptor Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) |
Intel 7 | TBD | 700-Series | LGA 1700 | DDR5/DDR4 | TBD | PCIe 5.0 | 2024 |
| Intel Arrow Lake | Cougar Cove (P-Core) Skymont (E-Core) |
Intel 20A TSMC N3 |
24/24? | 800-Series | LGA 1851 | DDR5 | 35-125 W | PCIe 5.0 | 2024 |
| Intel Panther Lake | Cougar Cove (P-Core) Skymont (E-Core) |
Intel 18A | TBD | 900-Series | LGA 1851 | DDR5 | TBD | TBD | 2025 |
News source: HXL (@9550pro)