The test and validation tool for Intel's next-gen enthusiast-grade laptop CPUs codenamed Arrow Lake-HX has been spotted.
Intel Beings Testing Next-Gen Enthusiast-Grade Arrow Lake-HX CPUs, Up To 24 Cores?
The test tool for Intel's Arrow Lake-HX "ARL-HX" is listed on the Intel Design tools webpage. The tool has the "Q6B2114ARLHX" SKU number and features a BGA 2114 design which is expected since this is designed for a mobility chip. The same webpage also recently listed the test tool for Intel's future Meteor Lake-S Desktop CPUs which you can read more about over here.
Outside of the "Intel Confidential" at the bottom of the interposer above, it has the BGA & CPU family listed, with "Revision A (REV A)" and a copyright of "2023." This would make it slightly larger than the Raptor Lake-HX BGA package which had 1792 ball grid contact points. So it looks like we are looking at slightly larger chips to accommodate more chiplets and hardware with Arrow Lake.
Previous rumors have pointed out that the Intel Arrow Lake-S Desktop CPUs will include up to 24 cores and 32 threads based on the Lion Cove (P-Core) and Skymont (E-Core) architectures. Since Intel's Arrow Lake-S and Arrow Lake-HX should be using a similar core configuration (as has been the case with past-generation HX offerings), we can expect the same core counts for the mobility variants. A list of SKUs was revealed by us which looks like the following:
- Arrow Lake-S 24 (8P + 16E) / 4 Xe Cores / 125W TDP
- Arrow Lake-S 24 (8P + 16E) / 4 Xe Cores / 65W TDP
- Arrow Lake-S 24 (8P + 16E) / 4 Xe Cores / 35W TDP
It is interesting that we have only seen a Meteor Lake-S test tool listed on the webpage while the mobility test tools only cover MTL-PS, MTL-P, and MTL-M. There's no MTL-HX listed so far & given the doubtful nature of the Meteor Lake-S Desktop family, that would explain why it hasn't been listed (yet). It is also likely that the Arrow Lake-HX features a more traditional design versus the chiplet-heavy nature of the P/M SKUs.
During its recent investors call, Intel said that they are progressing really well on their Intel 20 node which would be utilized by the Arrow Lake CPUs, & will launch both Arrow Lake & Lunar Lake CPU families in 2024. Intel also downplayed the rumors of a potential delay with the TSMC 3nm process node which will be utilized for the Arrow Lake integrated GPU.
Intel Desktop CPU Core Count Progression:
| Family Name | Total Cores | Total Threads | P-Cores | E-Cores | Top SKU Frequency | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandy Bridge | 4 | 8 | N/A | N/A | 3.90 GHz | 2011 |
| Ivy Bridge | 4 | 8 | N/A | N/A | 3.90 GHz | 2012 |
| Haswell | 4 | 8 | N/A | N/A | 4.00 GHz | 2013 |
| Broadwell | 4 | 8 | N/A | N/A | 3..80 GHz | 2014 |
| Skylake | 4 | 8 | N/A | N/A | 4.20 GHz | 2015 |
| Kaby Lake | 4 | 8 | N/A | N/A | 4.50 GHz | 2017 |
| Coffee Lake | 6 | 12 | N/A | N/A | 5.00 GHz | 2017 |
| Coffee Lake Refresh | 8 | 16 | N/A | N/A | 5.00 GHz | 2018 |
| Comet Lake | 10 | 20 | N/A | N/A | 5.30 GHz | 2020 |
| Rocket Lake | 8 | 16 | N/A | N/A | 5.30 GHz | 2021 |
| Alder Lake | 16 | 24 | 8 | 8 | 5.50 GHz | 2021 |
| Raptor Lake | 24 | 32 | 8 | 16 | 6.00 GHz | 2022 |
| Raptor Lake Refresh | 24 | 32 | 8 | 16 | 6.20 GHz? | 2023 |
| Meteor Lake | - | - | - | - | - | Cancelled |
| Arrow Lake | 24 | 32 | 8 | 16 | TBD | ~2024 |
| Panther Lake | 40 | 48 | 8 | 32 | TBD | ~2025 |
| Beast Lake | 80 | 96 | 16 | 64 | TBD | ~2026 |
News Source: Harukaze5719
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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