Intel has finalized the Core Ultra 200 series of desktop processors, codenamed 'Arrow Lake-S', set for release on October 10, 2024. The first products will hit the market on October 24, featuring upgrades to the new Lion Cove and Skymont architectures for P-Cores and E-Cores, respectively. This series will switch to the LGA 1851 socket with 800-series chipsets. It was previously reported that Intel intended to bring Arrow Lake Refresh to desktop platforms next year, adding a dedicated NPU to meet Microsoft Copilot's local operation requirements of at least 40 TOPS arithmetic.
According to Wccftech, a user on the CHH forums has claimed that the Arrow Lake Refresh for desktop platforms has been canceled and will be replaced by Nova Lake. This indicates that the Core Ultra 200 series of desktop processors could be competing with AMD for two years.
As mentioned earlier, neither Arrow Lake-S nor Arrow Lake-HX have dedicated NPUs; only Arrow Lake-H and Arrow Lake-U are configured with them. Therefore, the Arrow Lake Refresh, which focuses on the first two chips, was expected to include dedicated NPUs in the SOC module. Compared to the existing design, it would have increased the chip size by 2.8 mm, but the package size would have remained the same to ensure compatibility with the LGA 1851 socket. Motherboard vendors might have needed to make corresponding changes to enable Fast Voltage Mode (FVM) on the VccSA rails to support the NPU functionality of Arrow Lake Refresh.
Rumors suggest that Intel has a plethora of designs for desktop platforms under Nova Lake's microarchitecture. The changes are anticipated to be akin to AMD's first-generation Ryzen processors. Nova Lake is expected to feature up to 16 Panther Cove architecture-based P-Cores, 32 Arctic Wolf architecture-based E-Cores, and 4 LP E-Cores. This could be the most significant performance boost in Intel's history, even surpassing the original Core, with performance enhancements possibly exceeding 50%. Nova Lake is targeted for release in the second half of 2026.
