Mainboards for Arrow Lake: Intel's next desktop CPUs get Thunderbolt 4
The first motherboards for Intel's future desktop processors are on display at Computex. These reveal more than Intel would like.
One of the new Intel mainboards at the Computex IT trade fair.
(Image: c't / chh)
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger confirmed the launch of the next desktop processor generation "Arrow Lake" for the fourth quarter of 2024 at his keynote speech at the Computex IT trade fair, but did not provide any other details. Nevertheless, motherboard manufacturers are already allowed to exhibit the associated new motherboards, albeit (mostly) without designations that indicate the chipset or processor names. However, Biostar reveals on the labels that at least the Z890 chipset will be available.
The Arrow Lake CPUs will presumably be marketed as the Core Ultra 200 series and are no longer monolithic chips, but made up of several tiles. A few things can be deduced from the boards on display: The processors sit in the new LGA1851 CPU socket, which the embedded variants of the Meteor Lake CPUs already use.
(Image:Â c't / chh)
In addition, many have two separately labeled Type-C sockets in the I/O panel. According to our information, these are connected to a Thunderbolt 4 controller that is integrated into the Arrow Lake processors. Consequently, they can also output images to displays – previously, separate image inputs were required for this. This would be a first for desktop CPUs, as Intel has so far only integrated Thunderbolt into notebook models. However, some manufacturers only allow the two connections to use USB4, which is closely related to Thunderbolt 4 and has more lax regulations, for example regarding the power supply.
(Image:Â c't / chh)
CAMM2 for faster RAM
Some motherboards from Asus (ROG Z790 Concept), Asrock (Taichi OCF CAMM2) and MSI (Z790 Project Zero Plus) use the relatively new, replaceable CAMM2 modules that are pressed onto the board instead of the usual DDR5 DIMM slots. This enables shorter signal paths and therefore higher clock frequencies for RAM up to DDR5-8000. In addition, they do not protrude as high, which avoids conflicts with protruding tower coolers. As the CAMM2 format is standardized, board manufacturers assume that it will become established in desktop PCs in the long term.
(Image:Â c't / chh)
High-end boards such as the Asrock Taichi Aqua can accommodate six M.2 SSDs. Asrock also goes all out with the USB-C sockets: In addition to the two Tunderbolt 4 ports, there are a further eight USB-C ports. Gigabyte is also presenting a mini-ITX board with the new CPU socket for compact systems.
(chh)
