Intel is preparing its Arrow Lake processors to rival the best CPUs in 2024. Igor’s lab recently dropped a bombshell on the hardware world, leaking performance predictions for Arrow Lake. fulfill a promise, german press revealed information about the upcoming LGA1851 socket that will house the new Arrow Lake parts.
The LGA1851 socket, as the name suggests, has 1,851 pins, 9% more than the current LGA1700 socket. More pins help improve the I/O interface and bridge the gap with AMD’s AM5 socket. In a nutshell, the LGA1700 platform only offers a single PCIe 4.0 x4 interface for SSDs. The downside to this design is that the PCIe 5.0 SSD has to compete with the graphics card for available PCIe lanes. Igor’s lab has provided schematics for the LGA1851 socket showing his PCIe area being increased to provide more bandwidth. Reportedly, the LGA1851 will come out with his PCIe 5.0 x4 interface and finally he will have native support for PCIe 5.0 SSDs. Therefore, the primary PCIe x16 slot is left as is.
Additionally, Arrow Lake appears to offer a second PCIe 4.0 x4 interface for using SSDs. It doesn’t offer the same features as the Zen 4, but it’s a more welcome upgrade than the Raptor Lake. Zen 4, for example, offers a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface for graphics cards and up to two PCIe 5.0 x4 slots for SSDs. Configurations degrade to x8/x4/x4 in scenarios where all M.2 slots and expansion slots are populated.
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The dimensions of the LGA1851 socket are 45 x 37.55 mm, the same dimensions as the LGA1700. Therefore, the pin increase did not affect the socket size. The Z-height, the distance from the top of the motherboard to the top of his IHS on the processor, and the tolerance limits were unchanged. The total static compressive load is the same.
Intel’s Alder Lake processors suffer from warped and bent sockets, which is why LGA1700 frames are so popular. This information describes board transient bending strain for his LGA1851 socket, but no guidelines are provided. I’m just suggesting that the vendor contact their local quality engineer.
The maximum dynamic pressure of the LGA1815 socket increased from 489.5N to 923N, an increase of 89%. In layman’s terms, you need more pressure from your CPU cooler. You might save a CPU cooler, but you’ll need a new mounting kit. According to Igor’s Lab, Intel has reportedly sent information to CPU cooler vendors to prepare new cooling products for Arrow Lake processors.
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Looking at the diagram, we can see that the LGA1851 socket is almost identical to the LGA1700. The two are indistinguishable without 151 additional pins. The design of the socket cover is undecided. One render shows his LGA1851 socket cover similar to the design Intel previously used for his HEDT LGA2066 socket. Another render shows a design identical to Intel’s socket cover for his LGA1700 socket.
The LGA1851 socket retention system, on the other hand, is the same one Intel uses for its LGA1700 socket. The processor installation process has not changed. First, lift the Independent Loading Mechanism (ILM) lever and align the processor with the socket cutouts to properly seat it. Then lower the load plate and push the lever downwards to slide it onto the retaining tabs to quickly release the socket cover.
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The LGA1851 socket was originally rumored for Intel’s Meteor Lake and Arrow Lake processors. However, with recent rumors that Intel is discontinuing Meteor Lake for desktops, Arrow Lake would be the first processor to land on his LGA1851 socket. Arrow Lake won’t arrive until 2024, so there’s still plenty of time to make last minute changes.
Upgrading to Arrow Lake doesn’t come cheap. Hybrid chips require a new LGA1851 motherboard with an 800-series chipset and DDR5 memory. DDR4 memory cannot be recycled for next generation chips. You may need to buy a new CPU cooler, but we won’t know until Arrow Lake officially launches.
