Intel Arrow Lake-S Unlocked SKUs To Feature Up To 250W “PL1” Performance Profiles on Core Ultra 9 285K & Core Ultra 7 265K, 159W For Ultra 5 245K

Intel's Arrow Lake-S Desktop CPUs should feature the same PL1 ratings as PL2 across Core Ultra 9 285K, Ultra 7 265K & Ultra 5 245K in  "Performance" profiles.

The first wave of Intel's Arrow Lake-S "Core Ultra 200" Desktop CPUs would include a trio of K-series Unlocked SKUs. These chips will include the Core Ultra 9 285K, Core Ultra 7 265K, and the Core Ultra 5 245K. Previously, we reported the leaked power limits and TDPs of the CPUs but it looks like Intel has devised a few changes for the "Performance" profiles of these chips.

As we know, Intel's Desktop CPUs come in three power profiles, the Baseline mode which sets the wattages and power limits to Intel-guided default specs, and a "Performance" profile which tunes the PL1 to match the PL2 limit for higher performance which leads to higher power consumption. There is also an "Extreme" profile which features even higher wattage though that is confined to certain SKUs such as the "KS" series.

With its 14th and 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs, Intel implemented strict guidance to follow its "Baseline" profile to ensure stability which was applied by all motherboard vendors to their LGA 1700 socketed products. The company went on to make several other changes such as a new BIOS and Microcode patches which have mitigated the problems to a huge extent, so much so that we aren't seeing as many reports of instability as we were before after users have applied the new patches.

It looks like Intel is also going to implement "Performance" profiles for its Arrow Lake-S "Core Ultra 200" Desktop CPUs. As leaked by @Jaykihn, Intel will have a "Performance" profile featured across four SKUs which include two 8+16, one 8+12, and one 6+8 SKU. These are most definitely the Core Ultra 9 285K (8+16), Core Ultra 7 265K (8+12), Core Ultra 5 245K (6+8), and a KS variant of the top chip.

Yes. Here’s the revision. Changes highlighted in bold red. pic.twitter.com/rZJltcSLJG

— Jaykihn (@jaykihn0) August 29, 2024

With the "Performance Profile", the PL1 TDP will be set to the same power limit as the PL2 for each respective chip. This means that the KS, Core Ultra 9 285K, and Core Ultra 7 265K will be running at up to 250W TDPs in this particular mode while the Core Ultra 5 245K will be running at 159W at its PL1/PL2 profiles.

Each Arrow Lake-S "Core Ultra 200" CPU will still retain a "Baseline" profile which will be enabled by default and users who want extra performance can opt-in to the "Performance" profile through the motherboard's BIOS. The KS chip operates at a 150W TDP at PL1 by default in the "Baseline" profile.

Once again, these "Performance" profiles are only meant to be enabled by the users who want extra performance just like AMD's PBO mode which extends the power limit to deliver better performance. Intel's Arrow Lake-S Desktop CPUs are expected to sip as much as 100W less power compared to Raptor Lake as per previous reports.

Intel's Arrow Lake-S "Core Ultra 200" Desktop CPUs are expected to launch in October this year with a debut planned for 10th October and a launch planned for 17th October. Both Intel & AMD have been in a tough spot with their latest CPU offerings such as 14/13th Gen Raptor Lake & Ryzen 9000, so we can hope that Arrow Lake won't end up launching in such a messy state like the ones that came before.