Intel’s next desktop processors could come with a speed trap, limiting maximum clock speeds to 5.1GHz once temperatures climb above 90°C.
The dark, satanic rumour mill has manufactured a hell on earth yarn claiming Chipzilla is planning an additional thermal restriction for its Nova Lake-S processors, which are expected to appear as the Core Ultra 4000 series.
Hardware leaker Jaykihn claims the entire desktop range will be subject to the limit, regardless of how many cores a particular model has. The information is preliminary, and Intel has not yet confirmed the arrangement.
According to VideoCardz. the chips are reportedly allowed to reach a maximum junction temperature, or TJMax, of 100°C. That means the processor could still have ten degrees to go before conventional thermal throttling becomes necessary, but its clock speed would already be restricted.
Jaykihn reckons users will not be allowed to raise the 90°C threshold, even if they believe their expensive water-cooling system gives them every right to cook the processor as they please.
This could annoy overclockers, who generally dislike being told what they can do with hardware they have paid a fortune to own. However, the restriction would only affect processors capable of running above 5.1GHz in the first place.
A cheaper Nova Lake model with a maximum clock speed below that figure would have nothing to lose from this particular limit. The more expensive chips, which are expected to offer higher boost frequencies, could find their performance being clipped when temperatures rise.
Chipzilla already uses temperature-dependent boosting through its Thermal Velocity Boost technology. On supported processors, this allows higher clock speeds when temperatures stay below a specified threshold, typically around 70°C.
The rumoured Nova Lake system takes things further by imposing a fixed ceiling on the maximum frequency once the chip passes 90°C. Even with ten degrees of thermal headroom remaining, a processor that might otherwise boost beyond 5.1GHz would be told to behave itself.
There could be a good reason for the restriction, given some of the more alarming claims surrounding Nova Lake’s power consumption.
As Fudzilla reported in February, earlier leaks suggested that Nova Lake-S would come in single-tile versions with up to 28 cores and dual-tile monsters boasting as many as 52 cores.
Those reports included claims that the biggest models could draw more than 700W under extreme conditions, which is getting into territory where a desktop computer starts looking suspiciously like an electric heater. The same February leak suggested that Chipzilla would prevent users from raising TJMax or disabling thermal throttling. Jaykihn’s latest information adds another restriction to the list.
Of course, none of this tells us how hot the finished processors will actually run. A chip that stays comfortably below 90°C during normal operation would never encounter the new limit, making the restriction largely irrelevant to most users. A processor regularly hitting that temperature could be another matter, especially if its advertised boost clock is well above 5.1GHz. Buyers might discover that spending more on cooling is necessary to obtain the performance they expected from the chip.
Another complication looms for anyone planning to build a Nova Lake machine. Intel has not released the final clock speeds for the Core Ultra 4000 desktop range, so nobody knows how much performance the proposed restriction could remove.
Jaykihn has a history of supplying accurate Intel information, but the claim remains an unconfirmed leak. The final thermal behaviour could change before the processors reach customers, and Chipzilla has made no official announcement concerning a 90°C frequency ceiling.
