A new Intel CPU with the LGA1851 socket
A new Intel CPU with the unreleased LGA1851 socket has been captured in a new photo, courtesy of frequent hardware leaker @wxnod. While the image offers little explanation, it does provide a peek at what to expect from Intel’s LGA1851 CPUs in 2024, as the chipmaker looks to refresh its 14 nm and 10 nm products with the Arrow Lake product lineup.
The new chip, potentially Intel’s Meteor Lake-S or Arrow Lake-S, features a slightly modified integrated heat spreader (IHS) compared to the current Raptor Lake-S, as you can see in the image below.
While the change is purely cosmetic, it does raise some interesting questions. For example, why would Intel modify the IHS if this chip is a ‘tock’ or refresh of a current-generation CPU? It’s possible that the chip is a prototype or something that Intel is using to test motherboard and cooling designs, but it’s odd that the company would go through the trouble of changing the IHS.
Intel’s LGA1851 socket is similar to LGA1700, but with more active pins, allowing for compatibility with existing motherboard and cooling designs. It’s possible that the move to LGA1851 increases the IHS height by a small margin, likely to prevent the installation of LGA1851 processors into 1700-pin sockets.
Regardless of the reasoning, the photo offers a glimpse of what’s to come from Intel’s LGA1851 CPUs. The company recently cancelled the Meteor Lake platform, so we won’t see any 14 nm processors with the LGA1851 socket anytime soon.
However, the photo does provide us with a glimpse of what’s to come in 2024, as Intel looks to refresh its 14 nm and 10 nm products with the Arrow Lake product lineup.
