Intel’s new Arrow Lake gaming CPUs will be available in just three weeks, according to the leak

There’s another one Intel Arrow Lake There are rumors that need to be digested. So if you’re looking for a new gaming CPU, it might be worth waiting a few weeks. According to leakers, Intel is finally planning to release its next-generation CPU lineup later this month along with its new Z890 motherboards.

These all-new Intel Core Ultra 200 Series CPUs represent Intel’s next and best chance to bring the best gaming CPU to market and knock AMD off its pedestal for the first time in years. So far, AMD has had the advantage because even flagship Intel CPUs like the Core i9 14900K couldn’t beat the performance gains offered by AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology.

This is a two-part rumor, with Videocardz initially reporting the time frame for publication from “multiple sources”. If the information is correct, Intel is planning a closed press conference for the media in just over a week on Thursday, October 7th. There will then be a public announcement on the following Monday, October 10th, while the new CPUs will also go on sale two weeks later, on October 24th.

This also lines up with previous industry leaks that came out of China last month suggesting that the Intel Arrow Leak CPU launch date had been pushed back to October 24th. There’s also another, separate leak reported in a post by X/Twitter hardware leaker wnxod suggesting that Intel’s Z890 motherboards will follow the same schedule, with the announcement coming on October 10th.

The dual launch makes sense because the new socket design means you’ll need to buy a Z890 motherboard to upgrade to a new Arrow Lake CPU. The LGA1851 socket that Intel uses for its Intel Core Ultra 200 series desktop CPUs makes it incompatible with Intel’s 13th and 14th generation chips and the LGA1700 socket they use. These boards leave the past behind and completely forego DDR4 RAM and PCIe 3.0 support.

There are even more leaks to complain about when it comes to pricing. It looks like prices for Intel Arrow Lake will be similar to the current 14th generation, although prices for top-end Z890 motherboards could be as expensive as an entire gaming PC, at least at the high end. All of this is subject to speculation, but if October 10th is the date, we’ll know for sure in just over a week.

We’ve also seen some Intel Arrow Lake benchmark leaks in recent weeks for the Core Ultra 9 285K and Core Ultra 7 265K on an MSI Z890 motherboard, showing small performance increases compared to a Core i9 14900K. Once the launch date is reached, it is imperative that Intel makes this launch a success.

It hasn’t been the best year, as the Vmin shift instability bug caused irreparable damage to 13th and 14th Gen Intel Core CPUs, and the final Intel CPU fix only came out last week. Thankfully, Intel has made it clear that this issue will not be an issue for Arrow Lake CPUs, which we also expect to run at Z890 standard power settings on motherboards tuned to Intel’s specifications.

If you’re planning a new system around a new Intel Core Ultra 200 series CPU, check out our Intel Arrow Lake guide for a complete overview of what to expect. You can also take a look at our guide to building a gaming PC, which will walk you through the steps you need to take when building it, from installing the CPU to setting up Windows.