Intel is reported to be eyeing a revival of its "Arrow Lake Refresh" desktop processor design—Golden Pig Upgrade disclosed this "strange" revelation via an updated Weibo blog post. Back in 2023, the Chinese hardware reviewer and leaker extraordinaire theorized that Team Blue's much-rumored shelving of "ARL-S/HX Refresh" came down to cost/benefit considerations relating to accommodating an upgraded NPU in the chip's tile-based design. Last September, reports suggested that Intel had put the final kibosh on a 14th Gen Core Ultra 8P+32E "Arrow Lake Refresh" processor series—leaked roadmaps had a launch window marked down for late 2025, going into 2026. Industry watchdogs have picked up on Golden Pig Upgrade's latest forecast—prompting further theorizing.

Intel has its mobile segment's future covered with Panther Lake (later in 2025) and Nova Lake (2026), but a notable gap exists in their desktop world. Nova Lake's desktop S-series is slated for launch at some point in 2026, so this year could be prime territory for a mild refresh of existing Arrow Lake-S processors—on the LGA1851 socket. Golden Pig Upgrade reckons that refreshes of ARL-S (desktop) and ARL-HX (high-end laptop) are back on Team Blue's upcoming product roadmap. Industry moles reckon that an updated NPU design—potentially similar to the one housed in Lunar Lake mobile chips—will be the only major upgrade lined up for the so-called "Core Ultra 300" processor series. Intel's current-gen flagship model—Core Ultra 9 285K—has NPU performance topping off at 13 TOPS. Refreshed Arrow Lake SKUs could be deployed with an improved NPU aspect, perhaps capable of hitting 48 TOPS.

IceGiant at the 2025 International CES showed us their ProSiphon TITAN series CPU coolers for workstations and gaming desktops. These are closed loop liquid CPU coolers based on the ProSiphon technology IceGiant innovated. It works on the fluid siphon technology, where a thermal gradient in the loop drives coolant instead of a pump. Heat dissipates more efficiently to the coolant, and there's no crackling noise from the pump. The only downside to this are that the siphon tubes are rigid and you have to plan your build well.

There were two models on display. The TITAN-TR 360 is designed for AMD Socket SP5 or sTR5, which seats Ryzen Threadripper 7000 series workstation processors, which is a testament to the technology. Some of the processor models in the Threadripper WX7000 series come with TDP as high as 350 W. The other cooler shown is the ProSiphon TITAN 360, which is designed for mainstream desktop CPU socket types, such as AM5 and LGA1851. The cooler can tame high-power flagship chips from Intel and AMD, such as the top-spec Ryzen 9 9000X3D series with their 170 W TDP and 230 W PPT, or the Core Ultra 9 285K with its 125 W base- and 250 W maximum turbo power. IceGiant is backing the coolers with lifetime warranty, although the included fans come with 6-year warranties. The company says that the cooler will outlast the fan, unlike in the case of pump-based CLCs that give in to pump wear and structural degradation over time.

be quiet! had plenty to show at their CES 2025 suite—TechPowerUp staffers took a look at a wide range of already announced power supplies and CPU coolers. The German hardware brand is making sure that its power supply product ranges are prepared—compatibility-wise—for the incoming NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5000 and AMD Radeon RX 9000 graphics card lineups. The Dark Power 13 PSU family was represented by the hefty 1600 W Pro model and relatively svelte non-Pro 1000 W option. be quiet! representatives re-confirmed that the whole Dark Power range (750 W - 1600 W) is ready for the new generation of GPUs.

TechPowerUp also spotted two Straight Power 12 models—the larger one being a range-topping 1500 W unit. The smaller demo model seemed to be the 1000 W variant—both are comfortably in the next-gen compatibility safe zone, but this also applies all the way down to be quiet!'s Straight Power 12 750 W model. A lone Pure Power 12 M 1000 W demonstration sample sat in between its Dark and Straight compadres. be quiet! stated that the Pure Power 12 M range is next-gen ready, going from the lowly 550 W all the way up to 1200 W.

ASUS extended its line of motherboards at CES 2025, featuring a design that moves power connectors to the back of the board. The company calls this approach "BTF" (Back To Future), aiming to improve cable management in PC builds. The TUF GAMING B850-BTF WIFI and B860-PLUS WIFI models demonstrate this new design, which can deliver up to 600 watts through the motherboard to support modern graphics cards. The boards include Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, PCIe 5.0 support, and multiple M.2 slots for storage devices. In the high-end segment, ASUS presented the ROG Maximus Z890 HERO BTF, compatible with Intel's LGA1851 processors. This board features DDR5 memory support, dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, and tools like Q-Release for easier graphics card removal.

For professional users, ASUS released the ProArt Z890 CREATOR WIFI, equipped with Thunderbolt 4 ports and specialized cooling systems. The company also showed new gaming-focused models including the ROG Crosshair X870E APEX, for the fastest Ryzen 9000X3D series gaming processors. The motherboards share several technical features across different price points. All models support PCIe 5.0 for graphics cards and storage, while most include Wi-Fi 7 capabilities. ASUS has added tool-free installation mechanisms for M.2 drives across the lineup. ASUS has not yet announced pricing or specific release dates for the new motherboards. The BTF design represents a significant change in motherboard layout, though it will require compatible PC cases and power supplies to function as intended. This marks one of the first major changes to standard motherboard design since the ATX format became common in the 1990s.

Intel today launched "locked" 65 W variants of its Core Ultra "Arrow Lake-S" desktop processors in the Socket LGA1851 package. The company also announced more affordable motherboard chipset models, namely the Intel B860 mid-range chipset, and the Intel H810 value-ended chipset. The processor lineup is led by the Intel Core Ultra 9 285 (8P+16E, up to 5.60 GHz P-core boost), followed by the Core Ultra 7 265 (8P+12E, up to 5.30 GHz P-core boost); and the Core Ultra 5 245 (6P+8E, up to 5.10 GHz P-core boost). All three come with suitable boxed cooling solutions in the retail channel.

The Intel B860 chipset comes with a 4-lane DMI 4.0 chipset bus (half the bandwidth of the 8-lane chipset bus of the Intel Z890). The PCH puts out 14 PCI-Express 4.0 general purpose lanes, exactly half the number put out by the Z890. Storage connectivity, besides the configurability of the PCIe GPP lanes, include four SATA 6 Gbps ports. Networking includes a 1 GbE MAC, and Wi-Fi 6E integrated MAC, with Bluetooth 5.3. You can have up to 16 USB 3.2 lanes (each worth 5 Gbps), which can be configured as 5 Gbps, 10 Gbps, or 20 Gbps ports. The B860 lacks CPU overclocking support, but retains memory overclocking, including the ability to apply XMP 3.0 profiles.

Here are some of the first pictures of ASRock's upcoming Live Mixer series motherboards based on mid-range chipsets from AMD and Intel. The Live Mixer brand of motherboards has a similar positioning in ASRock's product stack as Steel Legend, but with a variation in product design, and a mid-range onboard audio solution that uses audio codecs such as the ALC1200 or ALC4080. There's nothing that particularly stands out in this audio solution (no fancy amp circuits or exotic I/O). The B850 Live Mixer Wi-Fi is an ATX board based on the AMD B850 chipset. This is essentially a re-brand of the popular B650, but with out-of-the-box support for the latest Ryzen 9000 series processors, including the 9000X3D series. The board offers three M.2 NVMe slots, one of which is Gen 5, and the others Gen 4. The WLAN solution is very likely Wi-Fi 6E.

Next up, is the ASRock B860 Live Mixer Wi-Fi. This Socket LGA1851 motherboard is based on Intel's mid-range chipset for its "Arrow Lake" processors, the Intel B860. Much like the previous generation B760, it is expected to lack CPU overclocking support. This board visually looks a lot similar to its AMD B850-based sibling, you could almost confuse the two if you're not looking at the CPU socket. You get three M.2 NVMe slots here, too; one of which is Gen 5, and doesn't eat into the x16 PEG slot. We expect this board to offer Wi-Fi 6E, just like the B850 Live Mixer Wi-Fi. Lastly, there's the B860M Live Mixer Wi-Fi, a Micro-ATX variant of this board, with mostly the same feature-set, it's just that the third M.2 slot is without a heatsink; and the second PCIe slot is physically x8 instead of x16, which shouldn't matter since the slot is likely electrical x4 on both motherboard models. Intel and AMD are expected to debut the B850 and B860 in January.

Here are some of the first pictures of the retail boxes of the Intel Core Ultra 200-series "Arrow Lake-S" 65 W desktop processors. Intel debuted the series with Unlocked K-series SKUs in October 2024, and will expand it in January 2025 with 65 W models that lack unlocked multipliers. The unlocked models lack any included stock cooling solution, while the 65 W models come with them. There's no word on what the coolers look like, but if we were to guess, Intel will reuse its Laminar series fan-heatsinks that it debuted with its 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake."

The new Socket LGA1851 retains cooler compatibility with the previous LGA1700, which is why the company could reuse the Laminar series. The Core Ultra 9 65 W retail box appears the largest, and so it could include the Laminar RH1 cooler that's capable of cooling the processor as it draws its maximum turbo power. This cooler comes with some blue LED illumination. The Core Ultra 7 and Core Ultra 5 65 W retail boxes appear to have the same thickness, which means the two could include the mid-tier Laminar RM1 cooler. The RM1 has a slightly thinner heatsink, but comes with an illuminated ring along the bore of the fan-frame. If Intel launches a Core Ultra 3 series (successor to the Core i3), Intel will likely include the Laminar RS1, the lightest variant, which lacks any lighting. The first three pictures (below) show boxes of the standard variants of the 65 W SKUs, the 4th and 5th pics show the boxes of the "F" SKUs which lack integrated graphics.

JONSBO today introduced the TH line of all-in-one liquid CPU coolers. These feature conventional cylindrical pump-blocks capped with an LED 7-segment display that puts out CPU temperature, framed by an ARGB diffuser. The highlight with these coolers are their included compound fans. A compound fan is a single frame with multiple impellers (fanlets), which reduces the cable clutter that comes with having multiple individual fans. It takes in a single cable for the 4-pin PWM and 3-pin ARGB connections. The sides of the frame and the impeller hubs feature ARGB diffusers.

There are four models in the JONSBO TH-series depending on the color and radiator size—the TH-240 Black, the TH-360 Black, the TH-240 White, and the TH-360 White. Each 120 mm fanlet in the compound fan turns at speeds ranging between 700 and 2,400 RPM, pushing between 21.46 and 62.40 CFM of airflow; at between 21.3 and 37.3 dBA of noise output. The company didn't put out static pressure numbers. Among the CPU socket types supported are LGA1851, AM5, LGA1700, and AM4. The company didn't reveal pricing.

The desktop version of AMD's next-generation "Zen 6" microarchitecture will retain Socket AM5, Kepler_L2, a reliable source with hardware leaks, revealed. What's more interesting is the rumor that the current "Zen 5" will remain AMD's mainstay for the entirety of 2025, and possibly even most of 2026, at least for the desktop platform. AMD will be banking heavily on the recently announced Ryzen 7 9800X3D, and its high core-count siblings, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and possible 9900X3D, to see the company through for 2025 against Intel. The 9800X3D posted significantly higher gaming performance than Intel, and the 9950X3D is expected to be at least faster than the 7950X3D at gaming, which means its gaming performance, coupled with multithreaded application performance from its 16-core/32-thread count should be the face of AMD's desktop processor lineup for at least the next year.

It wouldn't be off-character for AMD to launch "Zen 6" on AM5, and not refresh the platform. The company had launched three microarchitectures (Zen thru Zen 3) on Socket AM4. With "Zen 6," AMD has the opportunity to not just increase IPC, but also core-counts per CCD, cache sizes, a new foundry node such as 3 nm, and probably even introduce features such as hybrid architecture and an NPU to the desktop platform, which means it could at least update the current 6 nm client I/O die (cIOD) while retaining AM5. A new cIOD could give AMD the much-needed opportunity to update the DDR5 memory controllers to support higher memory frequencies. The Kepler_L2 leak predicts a "late-2026 or early-2027" launch for desktop "Zen 6" processors. In the meantime, Intel is expected to ramp "Arrow Lake-S" on Socket LGA1851, and debut the "Panther Lake" microarchitecture on LGA1851 in 2025-26.

Cooler Master, a leading provider of PC components, gaming peripherals, and tech lifestyle solutions, today announced that a select range of thermal solutions will be compatible with Intel's latest Core Ultra 200S Series processors. Cooler Master remains committed to providing high-performance cooling solutions that ensure optimal thermal management for Intel's cutting-edge CPUs, delivering enhanced performance and reliability.

The following Cooler Master advanced cooling technologies have been specifically engineered to complement Intel's latest CPUs, ensuring the best temperature management and sustained performance.

Thermal Grizzly, a high-performance cooling solutions provider, unveils a new line-up of products specifically designed for Intel's LGA 1851 socket, the latest Intel Core Ultra 200 Arrow Lake CPUs. The product line consists of four new solutions tailored to the improvements of 15th generation CPUs, including a CPU contact frame, a direct die water block, a CPU delidding tool and a delidding heater. Today, three of these products are now officially launched and available for purchase on the Thermal Grizzly web shop and through its Partner Reseller Network.

Intel 1851 CPU Contact Frame V1
In addition to a new internal contour for the contact surface, the new Intel 1851 CPU Contact Frame V1 considers the position of the socket on the motherboard. The thermal hotspot has shifted with the Arrow Lake CPUs and is now located further north compared to its predecessor. With a slight shift of Socket 1851 compared to LGA1700, Intel has attempted to counter the hotspot shift. Thus, CPU coolers designed for Socket 1700 can also be used with Socket 1851. The shift in the socket makes previous contact frames for Socket 1700 incompatible with 1851, which is why Thermal Grizzly now offers the Intel 1851 Contact Frame V1.

Cryorig today introduced the Monster XX, a premium dual fin-stack (D-type) CPU cooler. The cooler's claim to fame is its thermal capacity of 300 W, rivaling 240 mm AIO CLCs. It measures 120 mm x 133 mm x 159 mm (WxDxH). Its design involves a copper base, from which ten 6 mm-thick copper heat pipes arranged in two rows emerge, and pass through the two aluminium fin-stacks, each with 86 fins. The heatsinks are ventilated by a pair of included 120 mm ARGB-illuminated fans, arranged in a push-pull configuration.

Each of the two included 120 mm fans turns at speeds ranging between 800 and 1,800 RPM, pushing up to 58.47 CFM of airflow at 1.35 mm H₂O of static-pressure, and up to 31.5 dBA of noise. The fan takes in 4-pin PWM for its main function, and 3-pin ARGB for lighting. Among the CPU socket types supported are the new LGA1851, LGA1700, AM5, AM4, and LGA1200/115x. The company didn't reveal pricing.

We are pleased to announce that all of our current coolers and All-in-One (AIO) liquid cooling systems, which are already compatible with the Intel LGA1700 socket, will also support the upcoming Intel LGA1851 socket without the need for any additional brackets or adjustments. LGA1700 compatible equals LGA1851 compatibility. Without the need for any additional brackets.The compatibility list follows.

BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, IPC solutions, and storage devices, is excited to introduce the all-new Z890A-SILVER motherboard designed for the latest Intel Core Ultra series-2 processors. Based on Intel Z890 single-chip architecture, this new SILVER series motherboard brings cutting-edge features, fine-tuned to deliver top-notch performance tailored for gamers, content creators, and casual users.

The BIOSTAR Z890A-SILVER motherboard supports up to 192 GB of DDR5 memory across 4 DIMM slots, providing exceptional bandwidth and enhanced performance for multitasking, which is ideal for high-performance computing setups. Furthermore, the Z890A-SILVER motherboard supports PCIe 5.0 M.2, delivering blazing-fast storage speeds for faster load times and overall system responsiveness. With 2.5 GbE LAN support, it ensures high-speed and stable network connectivity, while the inclusion of USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C provides versatile and fast data transfer options. The motherboard is also ready for Wi-Fi 7 and 6E modules (no Wi-Fi card included), allowing for the latest wireless connectivity standards.

As a quick follow-up to last week's "Arrow Lake-S" de-lidding by Madness727, we now have a line-up of a de-lidded Core Ultra 9 285K "Arrow Lake-S" processor placed next to a Core i9-14900K "Raptor Lake-S," and the Core i9-12900K "Alder Lake-S." The tile-based "Arrow Lake-S" is visibly larger than the two, despite being made on more advanced foundry nodes. Both the 8P+16E "Raptor Lake-S" and 8P+8E "Alder Lake-S" chips are built on the Intel 7 node (10 nm Enhanced SuperFin). The "Raptor Lake-S" monolithic chip comes with a die-area of 257 mm². The "Alder Lake-S" is physically smaller, at 215 mm². What sets the two apart isn't just the two additional E-core clusters on "Raptor Lake-S," but also larger caches—2 MB of L2 per P-core, increased form 1.25 MB/core, and 4 MB per E-core cluster, increased from 2 MB/cluster.

Thanks to high quality die-shots of the "Arrow Lake-S" by Madness727, we have our first die-area estimations by A Hollow Knight on Twitter. The LGA1851 fiberglass substrate has the same dimensions as the LGA1700 substrate. This is to ensure the socket retains cooler compatibility. Using geometrical measurements, the base tile of the "Arrow Lake-S" is estimated to be 300.9 mm² in area. The base-tile is a more suitable guideline for "die-area," since Intel uses filler tiles to ensure gaps in the arrangement of logic tiles are filled, and the chip aligns with the base-tile below. The base tile, built on an Intel 22 nm foundry node, serves like a silicon interposer, facilitating high-density microscopic wiring between the various logic tiles stacked on top, and an interface to the fiberglass substrate below.

ENERMAX, an industry-leading force dedicated to designing high-performance computer hardware and cooling solutions, announced that its CPU cooler product line now supports the new generation Intel processor socket, LGA1851. The new generation of Intel CPUs utilizes the LGA1851 socket, which is compatible with existing LGA1700 CPU coolers. Therefore, users with ENERMAX CPU coolers can directly upgrade to the new generation Intel platform.

ENERMAX provides a comprehensive range of CPU cooling solutions with a maximum thermal design power (TDP) of up to 420 W, successfully unleashing CPU performance and enabling fast processing capabilities during multitasking.

MSI liquid coolers are fully compatible with Intel's Core Ultra Processors. As Intel's latest CPU approach promises unprecedented power and innovation, we understand that many users are looking into system upgrades. MSI liquid coolers are equipped to support this latest development, ensuring users are prepared for Intel's latest processors without the need for a complete liquid cooler replacement.

If you upgrade to Intel Core Ultra CPUs, consider MSI liquid coolers for a seamless transition. All MSI liquid coolers will support Intel's LGA1851 socket, which will be already prepared in the box.

Noctua today confirmed that all its CPU coolers and mounting-kits that support Intel LGA1700 also support the new LGA1851 socket of the upcoming Core Ultra desktop processors (Series 2), also known under the code name Arrow Lake-S. Mounting upgrade kits for older heatsink models that do not yet support LGA1700 and LGA1851 will be provided to customers free of charge.

"We have offered free-of-charge mounting upgrade kits to our customers ever since AMD introduced AM2 in 2006, and we're proudly continuing this tradition with the upcoming Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processors and their new LGA1851 socket", says Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). "While all our current multi-socket coolers already support LGA1851 out of the box and don't require any updates, customers will be able to upgrade most older coolers at no additional cost, so even the very first Noctua coolers from 2005 can be used on the latest Intel processors!"

Colorful Technology Company Limited, a leading brand in gaming PC components, gaming laptops, and HiFi audio products, introduces its lineup of Intel Z890 motherboards to the newly launched Intel Core Ultra 200 Series processors. The new Intel Z890 motherboards feature several technological improvement including 40 Gbps USB4 connectivity, Wi-Fi 7, and higher DDR5 memory support among others. Upon launch, COLORFUL presents seven Z890 motherboards designed to cater a wide range of users from casual desktop users to more demanding users such as gamers and content creators.

For high-end PC builders, COLORFUL introduces the iGame Z890 VULCAN X/W, iGame Z890 FLOW and iGame Z890 ULTRA motherboards. The iGame Z890 VULCAN X/W is the flagship motherboard, packed with premium features designed to deliver performance and aesthetics - available in black and white models. For mainstream users, the CVN Z890 ARK FROZEN, CVN Z890M GAMING FROZEN and BATTLE-AX Z890M-PLUS motherboard offer a great balance of features and latest technologies.

MSI liquid coolers are fully compatible with Intel's Core Ultra Processors. As Intel's latest CPU approach promises unprecedented power and innovation, we understand that many users are looking into system upgrades. MSI liquid coolers are equipped to support this latest development, ensuring users are prepared for Intel's latest processors without the need for a complete liquid cooler replacement.

If you upgrade to Intel Core Ultra CPUs, consider MSI liquid coolers for a seamless transition. All MSI liquid coolers will support Intel's LGA1851 socket, which will be already prepared in the box for the MEG CORELIQUID S Series, MPG CORELIQUID D Series, MAG CORELIQUID M Series, MAG CORELIQUID R V2 Series, MAG CORELIQUID E Series, and MAG CORELIQUID I Series.

ASRock has a pretty comprehensive lineup of upcoming Socket LGA1851 motherboards based on the top Intel Z890 chipset, which the company will launch alongside the new Intel Core Ultra 2-series "Arrow Lake-S" desktop processors later this month. The company's Z890 lineup has been leaked to the web by VideoCardz. The lineup covers nearly every brand extension by ASRock, addressing a wide category of PC users, from the entry level that just wants an office desktop to harness the CPU power of the new processors, to the two distinct classes of the enthusiast segment—one which overclocks, and the other that needs every possible premium I/O from this platform, with the bulk of the lineup targeting gaming PC builders across price-segments.

At the very top are ASRock Z890 Taichi OCF and the ASRock Z890 Taichi. The Taichi OCF is the spiritual successor to the OC Formula series by ASRock targeting professional overclockers. It has the strongest possible CPU VRM solution from the company, the largest selection of overclocker-friendly features, and a 1 DIMM per channel (1DPC) memory configuration, for the highest possible memory overclocks. The Taichi OCF has most if not all of the I/O goodies ASRock has to offer. For this, you'll have to seek out the regular ASRock Z890 Taichi, with its four DDR5 memory slots, nearly the same overclocking feature-set as the Taichi OCF, but some added toys, such as Thunderbolt 4. The Z890 Taichi Lite is an interesting product—it has nearly all features that place it into the high-end segment, such as that 8-layer PCB, a strong CPU VRM, and premium onboard audio, among others; but skips on the bulk of the dramatic flair of the Z890 Taichi.

Intel will soon be releasing the new Arrow Lake processors on the LGA1851 socket. ARCTIC customers do not need to worry about incompatibility. All LGA1700 compatible ARCTIC coolers can be used without restriction for Intel's new LGA1851 socket. According to current information, the mechanical dimensions remain unchanged. Regardless, ARCTIC has assured customers since last year that all coolers purchased from October 23 onwards will support the new socket. ARCTIC customers can therefore switch to the new system without any worries and can always rely on the highest performance and maximum service.

Canadian online retailer ShopRBC put up listings of unreleased Intel Core Ultra 200-series "Arrow Lake-S" desktop processors. While the availability listed is zero, you can backorder these chips at the prices listed, so they are shipped when available. The flagship Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (8P+16E) processor is listed at CAD $852 (around USD $628). There is no "KF" variant of this part unlike with past generations of Intel flagship SKUs. The Core Ultra 7 265K (8P+12E) is next up, at CAD $589 (USD $435). Its KF variant, which lacks integrated graphics, is up for CAD $22 less than that (CAD $567 or USD $418).

Intel's middle-of-the-market part for this generation, the Core Ultra 5 245K (6P+8E) is next up, listed at CAD $450, or USD $331. You can back-order its KF variant for CA $23 less, at CA $427 (USD $315). The Core Ultra 200 "Arrow Lake-S" introduces the new Socket LGA1851, and so online retailers around the world should begin putting up compatible motherboards based on the Intel Z890 chipset, which is rumored to be the only chipset option available with these chips until Q1-2025, when Intel fleshes out the series with non-K SKUs and value chipsets such as the B860.

Intel is expected to launch its next-generation Core Ultra 200 "Arrow Lake-S" desktop processors on October 24, 2024, and since these chips introduce the new Socket LGA1851, they launch alongside new motherboards. The first wave of Core Ultra 200 series processors will be "K" or "KF" SKUs targeting gamers and enthusiasts, and the first compatible motherboards will be based on the premium Intel Z890 chipset. Intel is reportedly being extra careful not to repeat the "Raptor Lake" fiasco that saw motherboards power its 13th- and 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" processors with elevated voltages, causing their irreversible physical degradation over time. To this effect, Intel is reportedly getting its motherboard partners to ship their Intel Z890 chipset motherboards with Intel Default Power Profile out of the box.

A motherboard-level Power Profile dictates the processor base power (PL1), maximum turbo power (PL2), and IccMax values. We don't know these values for "Arrow Lake-S," particularly its top Core Ultra 9 285K part; but to illustrate what Default Power Profile out of the box means, we have to look at "Raptor Lake-S." For a Core i9-14900K, the Performance Power Profile—which is what Intel Z690 and Z790 motherboards enable out of the box—provide a PL1 of 125 W, PL2 of 253 W, and IccMax of 307 W, which is what Intel considers stock for this processor model.

Intel has reportedly delayed the launch of its next-generation Core Ultra 200K series "Arrow Lake-S" desktop processors by a week. Originally slated for an October 17, 2024 launch, these chips are now releasing on October 24, according to HKEPC. There's no reason cited for the delay, it probably has to do with retailer stocking. The delay isn't significant. The Core Ultra 200K introduce a new CPU socket, the LGA1851, which means these chips need to launch alongside new motherboards based on the Intel 800-series.

The initial wave of processors is expected to include only SKUs targeting overclockers and enthusiasts. These include the Core Ultra 9 285K (8P+16E), the Core Ultra 7 265K (8P+12E), and the Core Ultra 5 245K (6P+8E), and their "KF" variants that lack integrated graphics. It's also expected that the first wave of compatible motherboards will only come with the premium Intel Z890 chipset, which supports CPU overclocking. Intel will likely expand its processor model selection, along with more affordable chipsets, such as the B860, around the 2025 International CES.