Hotter-than-ever Intel Arrow Lake and Panther Lake thermals could be on cards as increased TJMax limits leak
Intel is gearing up to answer the AMD Ryzen 9000 desktop CPUs with the launch of Arrow Lake Core Ultra 200 processors this fall. Per a leak from a few days ago, the Arrow Lake lineup could contain up to 18 SKUs ranging from 35 W to 125 W TDPs. Additionally, Intel is also expected to follow the upcoming mobile Lunar Lake APUs with Panther Lake chips in 2025 with P, U, and H series SKUs.
Courtesy of Jaykihn on X, we now have a slight idea of the thermal properties of Intel Arrow Lake and Panther Lake CPUs.
Intel is reportedly increasing the TJMax of the Core Ultra 200 Arrow Lake and Panther Lake CPUs to 105℃. If true, this would be a 5℃ increase over the TJMax for the 13th-gen/14th-gen Raptor Lake parts. Lunar Lake APUs, on the other hand, are reported to keep the same 100℃ TJMax limit.
Possible reasons for new Arrow Lake and Panther Lake TJMax
TJMax is the maximum junction temperature that a CPU is allowed to reach before the built-in safety protocols kick in to prevent hardware damage. When a CPU reaches its TJMax, the processor thermal throttles, resulting in reduced clock speeds and heat output. So, Intel reportedly increasing the TJMax of Arrow Lake and Panther Lake could have a few possible reasons.
Firstly, the Arrow Lake CPU and Panther Lake could have a 5℃ higher TJMax than 13th/14th-gen CPUs because Intel is preparing to eke out every bit of performance out of the CPUs by pumping lots of power. Thus, the company might be anticipating the CPUs to run hotter than ever, and increasing the thermal limit could prevent the CPU from throttling too soon.
Unfortunately, this kind of thermal behavior where a CPU rips for a short while before throttling significantly is not new for Intel CPUs as the 13th-gen and 14th-gen Raptor Lake chips guzzle a lot of power and are known to run hot. The flagship Core i9-13900K and Core i9-14900K, for instance, are notoriously hard to cool as they hit their TJMax rather soon.
On the other hand, we could also see Arrow Lake and Panther Lake CPUs adopt a similar approach to AMD Zen 4 CPUs where CPUs like the Ryzen 9 7950X have been designed to run at or close to their 95℃ TJMax without any issues. So, Intel might adopt a similar approach, allowing the Arrow Lake and Panther Lake parts to maintain maximum performance without any risk of issues at high temperatures.
Whatever the case ends up being, we hope Intel reigns in the Arrow Lake and Panther Lake power consumption and doesn’t repeat the mistakes of the current chips.
TJMax for Arrow Lake and Panther Lake is 105C.
— Jaykihn (@jaykihn0) July 15, 2024
Lunar Lake retains the previous 100C.
Source(s)
Jaykihn on X, Teaser image: Intel, Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash (edited)
