Intel to Reportedly Support the Upcoming LGA 1851 Socket Through 2026

Intel is about to move on from its existing LGA 1700 socket to a new version with 151 more pins, aka LGA 1851. We know this socket will be used for its upcoming architectures for both desktop and mobile, which are Meteor Lake this year and Arrow Lake next year. A reputable leaker has provided some additional details about the future of the socket, and it appears it'll have a three-year lifecycle, just like the current socket.

Traditionally, Intel has offered two generations of CPUs on a socket before requiring users to upgrade. Raptor Lake is an anomaly, as it'll get three generations: Alder Lake, Raptor Lake, and a Raptor Lake refresh later this year. That cycle will continue with LGA 1851, according to several new posts on Twitter/X from an account named TLC. This account has reportedly leaked accurate information previously, but given the time frames, we'll still need to be cautious.

This diagram of LGA 1851 was posted awhile ago, showing it'll be physically the same size as the existing socket. Credit: Benchlife.info

The report said that LGA 1851 will support three generations of CPUs, including the two we already know about (mentioned at the top) and a mystery third generation. However, as Videocardz notes, Intel might turn that third generation into a refresh instead of a new architecture, as it's about to do with Raptor Lake.

The big news is that DDR4 memory will no longer be supported on the new socket, which has been rumored for a long time and isn't a surprise. This memory technology is ready to be put to bed and myriad DDR5 options are available now, so it's time for us all to move into the future.

Surprisingly, the leaker says Arrow Lake desktop samples are already being sent out for testing, and they have only six P-cores and eight E-cores, a similar configuration to high-end Meteor Lake. This is notably fewer cores than the existing Raptor Lake flagship desktop part, but they say there will be a follow-on design with eight P-cores, which is a Core 5 part and not a Core 9. Remember that Intel is removing the "i" from its branding on all new processors after Raptor Lake, starting with Meteor Lake.

Arrow Lake will be the first Intel 20A CPU from Chipzilla, leading the company into the Angstrom transistor era. Credit: Intel

Additionally, the leaker confirms that Arrow Lake will offer more L2 cache, going from 2MB per core to 3MB, which was reported previously. The iGPU will also have its own dedicated L3 cache, which will be exactly the same as the compute tile's to boost GPU performance.

The last bit of info also confirms previous rumors, which is that the number of PCIe Gen 5 lanes will be upgraded from 16 on Z790 to 20 for Z890. The additional four lanes will reportedly be reserved for M.2 storage.

Arrow Lake-S, which is the desktop variant that will replace Raptor Lake, is not expected until late 2024, according to this report. Therefore, Raptor Lake refresh will be Intel's desktop standard for another year, which is surprising. However, it's the company's first tile-based desktop processor, and it's on a new 20A node, so it's a different animal compared with all existing CPUs. Intel had said before it was not delayed, and Arrow Lake is listed as coming in 2024 on its roadmap, so it could still hit this target.