Intel's Arrow Lake CPUs to Exclusively Support DDR5 Memory and Feature Enhanced PCIe 5.0 Lanes

Intel's Arrow Lake CPUs to Exclusively Support DDR5 Memory and Feature Enhanced PCIe 5.0 Lanes
Image credit: Forbes 

Intel has announced that its next-gen Arrow Lake CPUs will be released this year, but they will not support DDR4 memory, a feature present in the last few generations. According to a leak on Chiphell, Arrow Lake and its corresponding 800-series chipset will exclusively support DDR5 memory.

The leaked slide indicates that the CPU will use dual-channel DDR5, which aligns with the anticipated move to DDR5 once Intel switches sockets. With Arrow Lake, Intel will transition from the LGA 1700 socket used for the past three generations to the new LGA 1851 socket.

Previous Intel CPUs supported both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, unlike AMD’s Ryzen 7000 chips. This dual support kept upgrades cheaper, as DDR4 memory and compatible motherboards are less expensive. This made Intel’s 12th-, 13th-, and 14th-gen CPUs more affordable upgrades compared to AMD, allowing users to reuse their old memory.

However, DDR5 memory prices have significantly decreased since the introduction of the Core i9-12900K. A 32GB kit of DDR5, which used to cost between $200 and $250, now costs around $110, even for kits with fast speeds and RGB lighting. Given the drop in DDR5 prices, Intel’s move to exclusively support DDR5 is timely.

The leak also revealed that the Arrow Lake CPU will have 20 dedicated PCIe 5.0 lanes — 16 for the GPU and four for storage — along with an additional four lanes of PCIe 4.0. This is an improvement over the previous generation, which only offered 16 PCIe 5.0 lanes, forcing users to choose between a GPU and storage. Although there are no PCIe 5.0 GPUs available yet, Arrow Lake will be ready to take advantage of them when they arrive.

While Intel has confirmed the Arrow Lake CPUs will be released this year, an exact date has not been provided. Intel’s Lunar Lake laptop CPUs are expected to launch in September, and more information about Arrow Lake will likely be shared at Intel's Innovation event on September 24.