Intel Arrow Lake-S/HX I/O Details Revealed: Familiar PCH, Ample PCIe 5.0

At the Taipei Computer Show, Intel unveiled the Lunar Lake processor, part of the Core Ultra 200V series, designed for low-power platforms. However, this is just one facet of the next-generation Core Ultra lineup, with other mainstream, high-performance, and desktop segments managed by Arrow Lake.

Both Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake employ Lion Cove architecture for P-Cores and Skymont architecture for E-Cores, and potentially the same integrated graphics, yet they differ significantly in other aspects. Lunar Lake comprises only two modules: the compute module and the platform control module, and does not require a PCH. In contrast, Arrow Lake, like its predecessor Meteor Lake, includes a compute module, SoC module, graphics module, and I/O module, necessitating a PCH. Consequently, the I/O capabilities of the two are vastly different, with Arrow Lake offering various I/O versions.

Jaykihn released the I/O interface list for Intel’s Core Ultra 200 series, revealing that Arrow Lake-S/HX shares similarities, including the PCH, akin to the 12th to 14th generation Core processors. The Arrow Lake-S/HX CPU itself offers 20 PCIe 5.0 lanes and 4 PCIe 4.0 lanes, with 16 PCIe 5.0 lanes from the SoC module designated for graphics cards. The I/O module provides 4 PCIe 5.0 lanes and 4 PCIe 4.0 lanes for SSDs, and the PCH appears to support 34 HSIO lanes, with 24 related to PCIe, offering excellent platform scalability.

The Arrow Lake-H, however, sees a significant reduction in I/O capabilities, with the PCIe 5.0 x8 for the graphics card moved to the I/O module, likely for power-saving reasons, allowing the discrete GPU and I/O module to be powered down when not needed. The SoC module offers 12 PCIe 4.0 lanes, and the I/O module adds two extra PCIe 4.0 x4 interfaces, with the PCH’s expansion capabilities markedly reduced to just two USB 3.0 ports and ten USB 2.0 ports.

Intel‘s Lunar Lake will be the first Core Ultra 200 product to market, expected to launch in September. The desktop Arrow Lake-S is slated for an October release, likely debuting only the unlocked K-series, with the remaining non-K products and mobile Arrow Lake-HX/H anticipated for launch at CES in January next year.