If one were following the next tectonic shift in Intel's processor architecture, some interesting confirmation is doing the rounds. "Arrow Lake-S Refresh", Core Ultra Series 2, has indeed been confirmed. And much to the liking of many PC builders, the new desktop CPUs are expected to work smoothly with the old LGA 1851 motherboards.
For some time, rumors have been floating about the Arrow Lake-S refresh, but this fresh evidence comes to solidify the plans. A leaked block diagram from what is presumably a W880 motherboard expressly mentions support for both the original Arrow Lake-S chips and the forthcoming "Refresh" lineup. It is an excellent sign that Intel is preparing for an imminent launch of these processors.
— 188号 (@momomo_us) May 30, 2025
This refresh will not only be for desktops; it appears that the enthusiast laptop segment (Arrow Lake-HX) will also receive this upgraded line. Now, do not expect this refresh to be something grand. The common understanding is that the main improvements will come from a slight increase in clock speeds and an enhanced Neural Processing Unit (NPU). Whether we are going to see completely new chip arrangements is still very uncertain, for the reason that, given the current Arrow Lake-S design, up to 8 Performance-cores and 16 Efficient-cores are at the table.
Another big shout-out is that these Arrow Lake-S Refresh CPUs should fit well with the existing motherboards with LGA 1851 socket, especially those incorporated in the 800 series. This is why they would be mentioned in the W880 PCH board manual. For the benefit of those who have previously invested into this platform, this lays an additional plus on the upgrade without the purchase of an entirely new motherboard.
Expectedly also unchanged will be the power demands, with unlocked ones maintaining up to a 125W PL1 TDP. However, it should be remarked that probably it will be the last generation to use the LGA 1851 socket since Intel seems to be readying a new LGA 1954 socket for its next-gen Nova Lake-S desktop CPUs.
It is often mentioned that Intel socket generations tend to live shorter lives than AMD's. For example, AMD's AM4 socket supported several CPU generations, and the AM5 seems to be following suit. Some might find Intel's LGA 1851 two-generation approach somewhat short. On the bright side, you will probably be able to use your old CPU cooler with the new socket, since the dimensions are expected to remain unchanged. It remains to be seen, though, how the older coolers will perform with the new CPU heat spreader (IHS) and whether any new mounting kits will be needed for the integrated loading mechanism (ILM).
It is quite interesting that Intel has started to implement considerable price cuts on their own current Core Ultra Series 2 processors. The Core Ultra 7 265k and KF models have been reported to be sold for under the $300 mark, making the processors very attractive. While what the CPUs bring to the table as a whole isn't all that bad, their gaming performance—one of the major grading criteria for many PC builders—was about enough to make a sinner out of some. The performance improvement lent by the designation of "Core Ultra 200S" offered only a slight boost over stock gaming ability.
