Intel is reportedly planning a refresh of its Core Ultra S and HX gaming CPUs, focusing mainly on increasing clock speeds. According to a trusted leak shared by jaykihn0 on X (formerly Twitter), the update will not include improvements to AI processing via the neural processing unit (NPU) as some earlier rumors suggested.
What Does the Arrow Lake Refresh Include?
The refresh is expected to touch only the S series (desktop) and HX series (high-performance mobile) CPUs. Rather than introducing new architectural changes or significant design overhauls, Intel appears to be refining performance by offering higher clock speeds.
Unfortunately, this might not be enough to sway gamers back from AMD’s dominant X3D chips, which continue to outperform Intel in gaming scenarios thanks to their enhanced L3 cache (3D V-Cache).
Intel’s Struggle Against AMD
Intel’s Arrow Lake launch initially struggled to keep pace with AMD’s Ryzen 7000 and 8000 series CPUs. The situation has improved slightly with patches and microcode updates, but without major upgrades in cache technology or AI capabilities, Intel risks falling further behind in the competitive gaming CPU space.
Many enthusiasts were hoping for a larger refresh that could include updates to the NPU for local AI tasks, but the leak suggests otherwise. That’s bad news for users who rely on AI-enhanced workflows or future AI-integrated games.
Take It With Caution
It’s important to remember that this information is still preliminary and not officially confirmed by Intel. The company might still surprise us with more detailed announcements closer to launch.