PC enthusiast and Twitch broadcaster Madness727 revealed some of the first images of a de-lidded Core Ultra “Arrow Lake-S” desktop processor ahead of its October 23 debut. The processor model that powers this device is unknown, but it shouldn’t matter because every model being unveiled this month is built around the same exact arrangement of “Arrow Lake-S” tiles, which include a Compute tile with an 8P+16E core CPU complex, a Graphics tile with 4 Xe cores, and the larger breakout I/O tile with an integrated Thunderbolt 4 controller.

The Core Ultra “Arrow Lake-H” mobile processor from Intel, which will be available in Q1-2025, has already been made public. It features a physically smaller Compute tile with a 6P+8E core CPU complex, a larger Graphics tile with 8 Xe cores, and a smaller breakout I/O tile. With some of the less expensive Core Ultra 5 and Core Ultra 3 desktop CPU variants that launch in Q1-2025, you can see where this is headed. The act of de-lidding a desktop CPU involves removing its integrated heatspreader to allow direct contact between the cooling solution and the chip underneath. Professional overclockers that utilize extreme cooling methods prefer it.

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