Intel’s upcoming Arrow Lake-S Desktop CPUs, collectively identified as “Core Ultra 200”, have shown up. Both CPUs will arrive with no simultaneous multithreading support and a new architecture and platform based on the LGA 1851 socket. It will also consist of Lion Cove P-Cores and Skymont E-Cores.
The All New Intel Core Ultra 200 ES
The existing leakage calls the CPUs “Arrow Lake Client Platform,” which operates on the MTLSFWI1.R00.3473.D80.2311222130 BIOS, effective on November 22, 2023. The two models include the 24-core variant with 8 P-Core & 16 E-Core at 3.00 GHz and the 20-core with 8 P-Core & 12 E-Core at 2.30 GHz.
These configurations resemble the existing Core i9-14900K and Core i7-14700K, with the notable absence of SMT/HT support. The removal of SMT/HT is aimed at optimizing E-Core utilization, acting as virtual threads for multi-threaded applications, and potentially enhancing performance in an efficiency-focused manner.
The efficiency of Intel’s next-gen CPUs without HT is still in question due to Intel’s battle to optimize E-Cores for some applications and games. While some strides have been made in initiatives such as Application Performance Optimization, APO is currently supported in a handful of titles and on more recent CPUs, with an imminent rollout on older chips.
According to Arc Xe-LPG “Alchemist” products, Intel Arrow Lake-S Desktop CPUs would contain a GT1-tier iGPU in addition to the CPU compute tiles. Although mobility SKUs might still use Alchemist+ “Xe-LPG+” versions of the architecture, the original design is intended for the desktop.
Furthermore, it was suggested that these CPUs could be the first Intel desktop family to include an NPU, following in AMD’s footsteps by having AI accelerators across all form factors — CPU and GPU. Primarily mobile-based, the Core Ultra 200 family, which could include Lunar Lake chips, will be another platform. Intel’s client-engineering head Raja Koduri and CEO Pat Gelsinger are expected to expand on this subject at Computex 2024.
