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Intel has just revealed the Core Ultra 200 series of CPUs that will hit the desktop PC market on October 24, 2024. These new processors are based on a new architecture called Arrow Lake, which brings some performance improvements, lower power consumption, and less heat. The latter two were the bane of its predecessor, 14th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs, which seem to be fixed by the new processors.
However, the Core Ultra 200 chips cannot be used on older motherboards and require a Z890 or B860 motherboard, which is unfortunate for some users looking forward to the new CPUs.
This article explains everything you need to know about the new Intel Core Ultra 200 series.
Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely reflect the writer's opinions.
Intel Core Ultra 200: New naming scheme and architecture explained
Intel has abandoned the "Core i" branding and adopted "Core Ultra" with the launch of the Meteor Lake Core Ultra 100 series laptop processors in 2023. However, there was no Core Ultra 100 series for desktops, which changed this year since Intel launched the Ultra 200 series on both laptops and desktops.
The new desktop processors are based on the Arrow Lake architecture, which uses the new Lion Cove P-cores and Skymont E-cores. The former brings an average IPC improvement of 9% over the previous generation. In contrast, the latter has a 32% improvement in a single-threaded integer and a whopping 72% improvement in single-threaded floating-point operations.
Intel Core Ultra 5, Ultra 7, Ultra 9 specs revealed
The new Intel processors come in Core Ultra 5, Ultra 7, and Ultra 9 flavors that target different performance tiers. Here's a list of the preliminary specs of these CPUs:
The core count largely remained the same, but hyperthreading has been disabled for this generation, which led to some power delivery/efficiency improvements, according to Intel. The max clock speeds have also seen some regressions this time around. After the whole Intel CPU voltage fiasco, it is logical that the company wants to be slightly conservative with the voltage.
These are all K series processors, so they are fully unlocked and support overclocking capabilities. The KF series of CPUs will have their integrated GPUs disabled. The PL2 power limit has decreased significantly compared to the prior generation.
Even the integrated GPUs of new processors are based on the latest Intel Battlemage architecture that brought 50% improvements in performance/watt.
Intel Core Ultra 200: Performance expectations
According to the official Intel slides, the Intel Core Ultra 200 processors are 8% faster than the previous 14th-Gen Raptor Lake CPUs on average in single-thread applications. In multi-threaded applications, the new Intel processors are 15% faster, but the same cannot be said for gaming.
According to Intel's own slides, the Intel Core Ultra 200 CPUs are less than 1% faster on average in gaming, which is fairly disappointing. However, they achieve those results while consuming lower power. The new processors also generate less heat and can be cooled without too much effort. Power efficiency and lower heating seem to be the key selling points of the new chips.
Intel Core Ultra 200: Compatible motherboards
The new Intel Core Ultra 200 CPUs are designed for the new LGA 1851 socket, which naturally requires new motherboard chipsets. Therefore, users planning to buy the new Arrow Lake processors must also buy either the Z890 or the affordable B860 motherboards.
Sadly, they are incompatible with the previous LGA 1700 motherboards used for 14th Gen CPUs. The new Intel Core Ultra 200 CPUs are all set to hit the desktop PC market on October 24, 2024.
