Intel’s next round of desktop CPUs — the Arrow Lake-S Refresh under the Core Ultra Series 2 — is officially on the way, and they’re bringing moderate upgrades while maintaining compatibility with current 800-series motherboards and the LGA 1851 socket.
Leaked block diagrams from a W880 motherboard confirm that the Arrow Lake-S Refresh chips are ready for launch. These CPUs, while not a massive generational leap, will bring higher clock speeds and faster Neural Processing Units (NPU) for AI-based workloads. The architecture remains based on Lion Cove (P-Cores) and Skymont (E-Cores), fabricated on TSMC’s N3B process.
Intel is sticking with the LGA 1851 socket, meaning current users of 800-series boards won’t need to upgrade their platform — and existing cooling solutions should work as well, although there might be minor compatibility adjustments due to changes in the IHS and ILM.
This refresh is expected to be the final generation to use LGA 1851, with Intel’s next major shift to Nova Lake and the LGA 1954 socket coming in 2026. Nova Lake will be a bigger leap with architectural overhauls and likely DDR5/PCIe Gen 6 support.
While gaming performance hasn’t dramatically improved, the price cuts on current Core Ultra chips like the 265K/KF under $300 offer decent value, especially for mainstream users not chasing bleeding-edge performance.
As competition from AMD intensifies — particularly with longer-lasting AM4 and AM5 socket support — Intel’s shorter socket lifespans remain a downside, but Arrow Lake-S Refresh aims to deliver just enough performance and platform continuity to stay competitive heading into 2026.
