It’s been such a tough year for CPUs, especially Intel, that I feel like a scared dog timidly approaching a treat when I hear rumors about upcoming CPUs. That’s one reason I don’t like to discuss too many rumors, because I don’t want others to suffer the same potential disappointment. But this latest one has reignited the tiniest glimmer of hope in me.
Here’s the latest, in a nutshell. First, we now have some clock speeds for Arrow Lake-S processors for entry-level and mid-range desktops, thanks to an apparent leak from user X Raichu (By Video card). And they’re decent, considering the other rumored architectural and performance improvements.
Secondly, there’s a novel reason to look towards the powerful Arrow Lake Halo mobile processor, as it’s mentioned in the shipping manifest NBD.ltd (By Wccftech) and apparently it was like that confirmed by Lenovo PR (By Video card).
Arrow Lake seems to be just a few weeks away, and I assume Intel is keeping its fingers (maybe even toes) crossed for a great start. After layoffs, Arm stock liquidation, Raptor Lake stability issues, and abandoned 2024 invitation eventthe tides must certainly now get ready for chipzilla.
Although one can only hope that these latest rumors point to a positive change. Let’s start with the Arrow Lake-S specs. The rumored clock speeds that matter most to gamers are as follows:
| Intel Arrow Lake Processor | Base Clock (P-Cores) | Boost Clock (P-Cores) |
|---|---|---|
| Core Ultra 3 205 | 3.9GHz | 4.8GHz |
| Core Ultra 5 235 | 3.4GHz | 5GHz |
| Core Ultra 5 245 | 3.4GHz | 5.1GHz |
We don’t know exactly how the novel Core Ultra nomenclature will stack the chips compared to the previous i5/i7/i9 nomenclature, so it’s demanding to say exactly which chips they’re compared to. But given that these aren’t Core Ultra 7 or 9 chips, we can probably compare them to i3 and i5 chips.
In that case, those numbers look pretty good. The current-generation Intel Core i5 14600K has a boost clock of 5.3GHz, while the Core i5 14400 has a boost clock of 4.7GHz. That means those rumored Arrow Lake-S clock speeds are basically in line with the current-generation chips.
If that were the whole story, there would be no reason to get excited, but we have to remember that Arrow Lake-S is not only expected to employ an entirely novel core layout, but will also be mostly manufactured on TSMC’s N3 node and employ up to 100W less power at high frequencies.
After hearing that Arrow Lake was supposed to be much more effective, I was a little worried that we just wouldn’t see high enough frequencies to make those legendary performance gains work, at least not with lower-end chips. But if those clock speeds are correct, it looks like I don’t have to worry after all.
Of course, this is in addition to what we’ve already heard about the more steep Arrow Lake chips, which are expected to arrive before the lower-end ones. The upcoming flagship Core Ultra 9 285K, for example, is roach to boost frequency to 5.7 GHz and deliver better performance than the Intel Core i9 14900KS and AMD Ryzen 9 9950X in single-threaded and multi-core workloads.
But can this also be brought down to a lower level at decent clock speeds? I can accept that.
And then we come to Intel Arrow Lake Halo, a spectacular mobile graphics powerhouse—a bit of a Schrodinger chip, vaguely both existent and nonexistent in the minds of observers in the rumor mill. The latest rumor on that front is… well, that it exists. But that’s enough, considering that many expected it to be swallowed up by the upcoming low-power Lunar Lake chips.
The fact that there’s renewed hope that it exists is reason enough to be excited about the PC gaming market, which is arguably more promising and progressive than the desktop gaming market. Even if Arrow Lake Halo “won’t be available as soon as” as Lenovo’s PR suggests.
The original rumors (way back) were that it would have a huge Alchemist Xe-LPG Ark GPU with 320 execution units (EUs). There’s been a lot of talk since then and no one really knows what that chip will look like, but “Halo” is supposed to mean, you know, halo product, so don’t blame me for feeling a little excited at the thought of potential evidence of its existence.
Plenty of reasons to be timidly excited, or at least timidly attentive. Imagine if Intel could be the one to bring the gaming CPU scene back from the brink. Wouldn’t that be something?
