Intel to Revive “Raptor Lake Next” Even for Gaming Notebooks to Soak Up DDR4 SODIMM Inventory

Last week, it was reported that Intel is bringing back its Core “Raptor Lake” client microarchitecture a second time under the “Raptor Lake Next” internal codename, and newer Core (non-Ultra) nomenclature, to cater to the PC crowd benefiting from its DDR4 memory backwards compatibility to save on memory costs. It turns out that the company is also bringing this second refresh to the gaming notebook segment, specifically the HX segment that uses discrete GPUs. These processors will feature Core (non-Ultra) series 2 (200 series) processor model numbering to align with Intel’s new naming scheme.

Intel uses a common silicon for its desktop S-segment and the HX-segment, so the top SKU based on “Raptor Lake Next-HX” will max out the silicon, with a core-configuration of 8P+16E, with HyperThreading enabled on the P-cores, for a total logical processor count of 32. The monolithic die is built on the Intel 7 foundry node, and the lack of low-power island E-cores mean that these will be power hungry chips by contemporary standards. The HX segment calls for a processor base power of 55 W, and a three-figure maximum turbo power. For reference, the Core i9-14900HX from the “Raptor Lake Refresh” generation came with 55 W base power, and 159 W of maximum turbo power, requiring notebook OEMs to bundle power bricks with 320 W on tap, with some OEMs even including 400 W bricks.

To ensure that “Raptor Lake Next-HX” doesn’t cannibalize “Arrow Lake-HX,” there could be product segmentation recommendations from Intel to OEMs, to ensure that gaming notebooks powered by the latter come with faster DDR5 SODIMM memory; at least until “Nova Lake” makes its way to this segment in 2027.