Maximum turbo power consumption of next-gen (and next-next-gen) Intel processors revealed
Recently there were several leaks on upcoming Intel CPUs features and parameters courtesy of the leaker Jaykihn. They now brought information that was perhaps the most sought for – what the power consumption of the new CPUs will be. Notoriously high power draws under full load are one of the biggest complaints against Intel, and for a while it seemed that they might be addressed by Arrow Lake. But apparently those were false hopes.
Jaykihn published a comprehensive table of electrical and thermal specifications for Arrow Lake and also Panther Lake processors, which are the next generation afterwards and thus more than a year away. You can find it here and it lists the requirements for currents and also the “PL” limits.
Of these, we are mainly interested in PL1, which is basically TDP and can be used to identify different processor series (for example 125W K models), and PL2, which is the so-called “Maximum Turbo Power”. This is the limit that more or less tells you what the real maximum power consumption of the processor is under load. In multi-threaded tasks, you can practically count on power consumption reaching this value (lately, the problem is actually that Intel processors go even higher, because Intel has willingly let board manufacturers raise or disable the limits).
125W unlocked Arrow Lake models
So what does the table tell us? Processors with an unlocked multiplier again use TDPs (PL1s) of 125 W. The maximum consumption in turbo (PL2) will depend on the model, but unfortunately it generally doesn’t seem to be going down compared to Raptor Lake. Models with 8 P-Cores (Lion Cove) and 16 E-Cores (Skymont), the Core Ultra 9 K-Series, will have PL2 at 250 W. That is, with minimal change from today’s 253W PL2 of Raptor Lake processors (hopefully this time Intel will require that motherboard the default settings this power consumption not be exceeded).
Even models with 8+12 cores and a 125W TDP, i.e. Core Ultra 7 “K” and “KF” models, should have the same PL2 (maximum turbo power) values, 250 W. Only the Core Ultra 5 unlocked 125W model (with 6+8 cores) is said to have lower PL2, only 159 W (current models have a limit of 181 W).
Jaykihn reports that he has information on one more model, for which it is not yet clear how it will be labeled and whether it will actually be released. This one is also supposed to have 8+16 cores, but a 150W TDP (PL1). That value suggests it could be a special-edition extreme “KS” model. This processor is also expected to have a 250W PL2.
By the way, additional models of the Arrow Lake refresh series based on a chip with 8+32 cores (about which there were rumors three years ago) were supposed to have configurations with 8+24 and 8+32 cores, both of which would have a 125W TDP with a 252W PL2, and there were also plans for a more extreme model with 8+32 cores with a 150W TDP (so probably a “KS” SKU again)t which was supposed to have a maximum turbo power of 298W. However, development of this 8+32 Arrow Lake version was cancelled some time ago, and the processors will only exist in versions with a maximum of 8+16 cores.
Tip: Intel cancels both Panther Lake and Arrow Lake desktop CPUs with 40 cores
65W Arrow Lake models for desktop
According to this data, the locked “non-K” series keeps using a 65W TDP (PL1). The locked Core Ultra 9 and Core Ultra 7 models will have 8+16 or 8+12 cores and for these SKUs, the maximum turbo power consumption will actually be reduced. While “65W” Raptor Lake generation models (Core 13th and 14th generation) had a maximum power consumption of 219W, the PL2 will be reduced to 182 W for Arrow Lake, which is a reduction of roughly one-sixth.
65W Core Ultra 5 models, which are supposed to have 6+8 cores, or just 6+4 cores in cheaper models (which will be successors of today’s Core i5-13400 and 14400), are supposed to have maximum turbo power consumption of 121 W, which is quite tolerable. It’s an improvement here as well, because the same Raptor Lake models had PL2s of 148–154W.
The Core Ultra 3 model with 4+4 cores, about which information leaked recently and which will probably be the cheapest Arrow Lake for the desktop platform (for socket LGA 1851), is supposed to have a maximum power consumption (PL2) of 76 W. Again, this is an improvement over the 110W maximum of the Raptor Lake generation Core i3 models. Core Ultra 3 tier does not appear to have an unlocked 125W version.
35W Arrow Lake “T” series
These preliminary figures were also made available for the T-series models. Those will keep using the 35W TDP or PL1. Bbut again, the real maximum power consumption (PL2) will be significantly higher. For the Core Ultra 9 and Core Ultra 7 models, the maximum is said to be 112W, and for the Core Ultra 5, 114W (oddly enough, it’s actually higher). For the 35W Core Ultra 3, the PL2 is reduced to 71W.
Probably the most important unanswered question for now is whether the default setting for 65W and 35W processors will be that the processors will only be able to consume the PL2 for a certain amount of time (called tau, it used to be 28 or 56 seconds) and then they will have to reduce the consumption to PL1/TDP level, or whether it will work again like in the K series where the consumption is permanently at PL2 level (which makes PL1 virtually irrelevant as long as the cooler is capable of keeping the temperature below the specified maximum). We’ll see if Intel will now be more willing to enforce consistent specifications and power settings on boards (as AMD does) after the Raptor Lake processor disaster.
Baseline profile will be lower, but Extreme profile burns almost 300 W
All the PL2 values listed so far refer to the “Performance” profile, which should probably considered the default. But as you could read here for example, Intel’s specs include multiple profiles and boards can choose one to support from them based on their VRM capabilities. Inexpensive motherboards with a weak power delivery can choose the so-called “Baseline” profile, which has reduced maximum power consumption and thus performance. For example, the 125W Core Ultra 7 and 9 “K” series processors have a maximum PL2 power consumption of only 177W in the baseline profile.
And that’s probably where the earlier information that Arrow Lake was supposed to reduce the maximum power consumption to only 177 W came from. However, this was only true for the baseline profile, in which Raptor Lake has a similar limitation (so no, there is no improvement there). 125W Core Ultra 5 should have a baseline PL2 of only 125W.
For 65W models, the baseline PL2 power profiles are only 66–130W for the various models and 35W models will have a baseline PL2 of 58–81W.
But as in the past, there will also be an “Extreme” profile that will optionally boost the PL2. We already know it from the Core i9-13900KS and i9-14900KS processors. In the Arrow Lake generation, it will also be available for that as yet unknown configuration, which probably corresponds to the limited “KS” variant. However, and that is a new thing, Extreme profile will also be available for the ordinary 125W Core Ultra 9 “K” model. If a board will opt to use this Extreme profile, it can set the PL2 to 295 W. So even Core Ultra 9 285K might draw up to 295W on some premium boards.
Integrated GPU specifications
The table from Jaykihn otherwise also lists what the integrated GPU configurations are. Arrow Lake has a GPU with 512 shaders (4 Xe Cores) of the Xe LPG architecture, which comes from the Arc Alchemist graphics cards. This full-fat configuration will be active in Core Ultra 9, Core Ultra 7 processors of all TDP classes, and also select Core Ultra 5 processors, but only in their most expensive models (equivalents of today’s Core i5-13600 and i5-14600).
The cheaper Core Ultra 5s are supposed to have a 384-shader GPU (3 Xe Cores), and we’re talking about models with 6+8 cores in the CPU there, which are the equivalent of today’s Core i5-13500 and Core i5-14500 models. The very cheapest Core Ultra 5s, which are chopped down to just 6+4 cores (so they’re similar to the Core i5-13400 and i5-14400), will also have the GPU further demoted to only 256 shaders (2 Xe Cores). And the 4+4 core Core Ultra 3 has this 2 Xe Core configuration as well.
Still no EDS, so I’ll throw my preliminary compilations out there.
ARL-S, ARL-HX, ARL-UH, PTL-UH pic.twitter.com/1ypLSZ7oaz
— Jaykihn (@jaykihn0) August 9, 2024
Maximum power consumption of Arrow Lake in laptops?
Jaykihn also lists configurations for mobile versions of Arrow Lake. The highest performance “HX” versions with a 55W TDP will continue to be very power hungry. Intel reportedly plans to offer Core Ultra 5 models with 6+8 cores that will have a PL2 up to 108 W, Core Ultra 7 models with 8+12 cores and maximum PL2 consumption up to 144 W and the most powerful Core Ultra 9 HX Series processors with 8+16 cores will have a maximum power consumption of up to 160 W. These are Performance profiles, the Baseline profile is 82–112 W. These processors are otherwise supposed to have the same integrated GPUs as the desktop ones – 4 Xe Cores / 512 shaders.
To compare this with the power consumption of the previous 14th-generation Core “Raptor Lake Refresh” HX series: in that family, all models, regardless of core count, had a maximum turbo power consumption of 157 W. Thus, Arrow Lake-HX will reduce the PL2 for lower-end configurations with fewer cores, but for the most powerful model with 8+16 cores, the PL2 will slightly increase from 157 W to 160 W.
The more mobile H series is supposed to have 6+8+2 (6 P-Cores, 8 E-Cores, 2 slower LP E-Cores in SoC chiplet) cores and a more powerful GPU with 8 Xe Cores (1024 shaders). For variants with 28W TDP models the PL2 will only be 60 W. But for the two more powerful 45W TDP models, the PL2 will be up to 115 W. Baseline profiles are 40 W and 77 W.
The U series has only one configuration listed with 2+8+2 cores, 15W TDP and a 512-shader GPU (4 Xe Cores). This processor is supposed to have a PL2 of up to 57W, almost the same as the 28W TDP models (Baseline is also 40W for U models).
To summarize, the actual maximum turbo power consumption limits for the mobile Arrow Lake H and U series are no different from the relatively high turbo power consumption of Meteor Lake processors (first-generation Core Ultra).
What about Panther Lake next year?
Jaykihn already has a spec outline for the next generation Core Ultra 300 for laptops, “Panther Lake which is using Intel’s 1.8nm node (there will be no Panther Lake for desktop, similar to what happened with Meteor Lake).
The higher-performance mobile variant Panther Lake-H is to have 6+8+4 cores – 6 P-Cores, 8 E-Cores and 4 LP E-Cores in a low power island. There will be two variants – a 45W model that has a PL2 of 80W (this is actually a reduction from Arrow Lake-H’s 115W), and a 28W model that has a PL2 of 64W (a slight increase here).
Panther Lake-U is supposed to have a 15W TDP and a configuration of 4 P-Cores, 0 E-Cores and 4 LP E-Cores in a low power island. Its PL2 will be 54W, only slightly less than Arrow Lake-U and Meteor Lake-U. This implies that Panther Lake-U will not replace the Lunar Lake processor, which is designed for lower power consumption (with a PL2 of only 30 W).
- Tip: Intel already has working 1.8nm Panther Lake processors in the lab
- Tip: Specs leaked for Panther Lake, Intel’s first 1.8nm CPUs
The definitive specification not yet released by Intel
This outline of power and electric characteristics is very interesting information, but it should be noted that it may not yet be definitive. The tables are probably based on power consumption values that are set for individual processor samples. According to Jaykihn, Intel has not yet delivered the final version of the External Design Specifications (“EDS”) document to partners (PC and board manufacturers) which will set in stone the values for current requirements and power limits for individual processors. Therefore, it is possible that some of the values may still be subject to change. However, it is likely that the Arrow Lake processors won’t deviate much (bigger changes could possibly happen for the Panther Lake processors, which won’t come out until late 2025 or early 2026). So assume that the details may still get better or worse here and there, but the overall picture probably won’t change much.
That means we likely need to face the prospect that the most powerful unlocked 125W models will not have their maximum turbo power reduced as previously hoped. The “PL2s” according to this information will instead remain around the current 250 W level (excluding that even higher 295W Extreme Profile for Core Ultra 9 K/KS).
So any reductions in power consumption under load versus today’s Raptor Lake chips will only appear if Intel actually starts enforcing motherboard limits this time around, so that you can count on the CPUs not being overclocked by default like past generations are. However, it is a good news that at least the “65W” CPUs will see a reduction in power consumption to 182W (or 121W for Core Ultra 5), so it’s not all bad.
Source: Jaykihn
English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš
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