Intel’s next-gen desktop CPUs may run even hotter than current ones — chipmaker allegedly extends maximum temperature for Arrow Lake CPUs

Intel has reportedly increased the maximum thermal junction (TJMax) temperature for its upcoming codenamed Arrow Lake and Panther Lake processors to 105 degrees Celsius, according to a leak by Jaykihn . Jaykihn is a blogger who seems to have access to samples of Intel's upcoming processors and not-yet-released documents.

Typically, Intel's processors feature a maximum thermal junction temperature of 100 degrees Celsius, which is the case with Alder Lake and Raptor Lake CPUs and will reportedly be the case with the next-generation Lunar Lake processors. However, the TJMax of Intel's Core Ultra (codenamed Meteor Lake) processors is set at 105 or 110 degrees Celsius depending on the version, and the company's upcoming Arrow Lake and Panther Lake CPUs will seemingly have the same maximum thermal junction temperature.

Tjunction max is the highest temperature a processor can reach before activating internal thermal controls to reduce power and limit temperature, which may cause performance loss. This limit varies by product: TJMax for laptop CPUs is usually set at 100 degrees Celsius, and TJMax for desktop CPUs is sometimes set at 110 degrees Celsius.

System builders should design systems to keep the processor below this threshold during heavy workloads to maximize performance, so increased TJMax is good. Notebooks based on Meteor Lake, Arrow Lake, and Panther Lake CPUs will sustain their maximum performance for extended periods, even under high loads (which is helpful for thin machines).

However, if a laptop CPU works at 100 to 105 degrees Celsius for a long time, notebooks may be uncomfortable because they will get hot. The increase in TJMax could mean that Intel is confident that its silicon will survive a temperature of 105 degrees Celsius and not degrade, which is good.

Separately, Jaykihn has published what he claims to be a blueprint of the Panther Lake-H and Panther Lake-U processor with a Compute, Graphics, PCD (platform connectivity hub), and two passive dies.

Panther Lake-U CPUs will purportedly sport up to four high-performance cores, four ultra-low-power cores, four Xe GPU clusters, and a PBP of 15W. In contrast, the more powerful Panther Lake-U processor will seemingly pack up to four high-performance cores, eight energy-efficient cores, four ultra-low-power cores, and 12 Xe graphics clusters. However, these CPUs will dissipate up to 25W. Because the image does not come from Intel, consider its contents with a grain of salt.