Intel‘s Architecture of “Strela Lake” is back on the laptop tour with the debut of the Intel Core Ultra 200H and Intel Core Ultra 200HX chipsets.
Intel started KES 2025 with the release of the Edge series of laptops and processors. In the mobile computing space, Intel launched the Intel Core Ultra 200H and HX “Arrow Lake” processors, along with a commercial line of vPro processors. Intel Core Ultra 200 V “Moon Lake” chips.
So, what makes these chips worth considering?
Intel Core Ultra 200H
It’s the best choice for high-performance thin and light laptops… The 200H is a triple threat
Jim Johnson, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Intel
The Intel Core Ultra 200H series is designed for thin and light laptops that require increased performance, so you’re most likely to see these processors in pro-level and professional PCs.
The Core Ultra 200H series features upgraded integrated Intel Arc GPUs with XMX, just like the Lunar Lake Core Ultra 200V series. Intel says this updated iGPU offers more than 15% better graphics than the Meteor Lake-H series processors.
The Core Ultra 200H series also features the same Lion Cove and Skymont CPU cores we saw in Lunar Lake, which Intel says deliver over 15% better single-threaded and multi-threaded CPU performance compared to the Meteor Lake generation.
Vice President of Intel AI and technical marketing, Robert Hallock confirmed that the Arrow Lake 200H delivers an average of 22% more iGPU gaming performance compared to the Meteor Lake Core Ultra 100H chipsets. Arrow Lake-H is also about 55% better than Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip (XIE-84-100) for iGPU gaming.
The Intel Core Ultra 200H series delivers up to 99 TOPS AI performance across the entire chipset, although most of that AI performance will come from the GPU. The Intel Core Ultra 200H “Arrow Lake” series has a smaller NPU than the “Lunar Lake” variant, with NPU performance of only 13 TOPS.
The H series chips are as follows:
| Header Cell – Column 0 | Cores | Topics | Max. GHz | GPU cores | Top GPUs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core Ultra 9 285H | 16 colors (6P+8E+2LP-E) | 16 topics | 5.4 GHz | 8 cores | 77 TOPES |
| Intel Core Ultra 7 265H | 16 colors (6P+8E+2LP-E) | 16 topics | 5.3 GHz | 8 cores | 75 TOP |
| Intel Core Ultra 7 255H | 16 colors (6P+8E+2LP-E) | 16 topics | 5.1 GHz | 8 cores | 74 TOPS |
| Intel Core Ultra 7 235H | 14 colors (4P + 8E + 2LP-E) | 14 topics | 5 GHz | 8 cores | 74 TOPS |
| Intel Core Ultra 5 225H | 14 colors (4P + 8E + 2LP-E) | 14 topics | 4.9 GHz | 7 cores | 63 TOPS |
Intel Core Ultra 200HX
This is our best mobile processor… this product stops at nothing
Jim Johnson, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Intel
Intel Core Ultra 200HX “Arrow Lake” chips are designed for gamers and PC enthusiasts. These more powerful processors will likely be seen in gaming and professional workstation laptops.
Core Ultra 200HX processors have up to 8 Lion Cove P cores and up to 16 Skymont E cores. Intel claims the 200HX processors should deliver more than 5% single-threaded and 20% multi-threaded performance gains over HX 14-core processors. 1st generation “Raptor Lake Refresh”.
Intel Vice President of Artificial Intelligence and Technical Marketing Robert Hallock confirmed that Arrow Lake HX processors will outperform other HX processors on the market, including the latest models. AMD Strix Point and Dragon Range chips are based on Intel’s internal testing. “You’re essentially getting a desktop computer in a laptop,” Hallock enthused to the audience.
Arrow Lake HX processors will have additional overclocking features and more data channels, just like the desktop Core Ultra 200S and 200K variants.
The Core Ultra 200HX series chips are as follows:
| Header Cell – Column 0 | Cores | Topics | Max. GHz | GPU Cores | NPU TOPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX | 24 cores (8P + 16E) | 24 topics | 5.5 GHz | 4 cores | 13 TOP |
| Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX | 24 cores (8P + 16E) | 24 topics | 5.4 GHz | 4 cores | 13 TOP |
| Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX | 20 cores (8P + 12E) | 20 topics | 5.3 GHz | 4 cores | 13 TOP |
| Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX | 20 cores (8P + 12E) | 20 topics | 5.2 GHz | 4 cores | 13 TOP |
| Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX | 14 colors (6P +8E) | 14 topics | 5.1 GHz | 3 cores | 13 TOP |
| Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX | 14 colors (6P +8E) | 14 topics | 5.1 GHz | 3 cores | 13 TOP |
Intel Core Ultra 200V vPro
I think we’ve finally busted the myth that x86 can be power efficient.
Michelle Johnston Holthaus, co-CEO of Intel
Intel is also releasing a professional vPro variant of the Intel Core Ultra 200V “Lunar Lake” AI series of PC processors.
The Intel Core Ultra 200V vPro processor line features enhanced security with up to 7x improved memory scanning performance, enhanced threat detection, a powerful NPU for local AI and AI-based fleet analytics, and all-day battery life for increased potential productivity.
This means the vPro line provides all the benefits of the consumer version of Intel Lunar Lake processors with increased security for commercial and business users.
Intel Panther Lake
Leading Intel 18A chip, Panther Lakeis already in the testing stage. “2025 is and will be a pivotal year for Intel,” said co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus, confirming the chip’s future availability.
Panther Lake chips are expected to be released in the second half of 2025.
This confirms rumors that the chips will go on sale later this year, and since the systems are already being tested, it is unlikely that the launch will be delayed, but anything is possible. However, this confirmation from Johnston Holthaus is a good sign.
Intel ‘Arrow Lake’ needs a good redemption story
Say that “Strelkovoe Lake” Core Ultra 200S and K desktops failed to launch this is perhaps putting it mildly. First reviews of chipsets criticized the chips for offering performance similar to or lower than Intel’s 14th generation “Raptor Lake” processors due to Intel’s decision remove hyperthreading from the Core Ultra 200 series and reduce the turbo clock speed, which limits overclocking potential.
Arrow Lake laptop chips are designed for high-end users, including gaming enthusiasts. Intel seems confident that Arrow Lake will perform well on laptops, but we’ll have to wait for our own hands-on experience and testing to know for sure whether Arrow Lake will deliver the bang it needs.
However, Intel has done a lot to improve the quality of Arrow Lake desktops. with microcode fixes, so there is some hope for a reliable launch of laptops with Core Ultra 200H and HX chipsets.
“To build a great AI PC, you first need to know how to build a great PC,” Intel co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus said at the Intel Keynote conference, “and Intel knows how to do that.”
Systems with new Intel chipsets will be available starting in the first quarter of 2025: Arrow Lake Core Ultra 200H and Lunar Lake Core Ultra 200V vPro. Enthusiast gaming platforms with Arrow Lake Core Ultra 200HX processor and discrete GPUs are expected later in the first quarter.
Intel paid for travel and accommodations at CES 2025. The company did not see the contents of this article prior to publication.