Intel has reportedly begun shipping engineering samples of its next-generation Nova Lake CPUs, which are expected to deliver a significant performance boost.
Chipzilla’s Nova Lake chips are expected to launch in the second half of 2026. The desktop family, Nova Lake-S, should be first on shelves. The chips are expected to offer a significant performance boost thanks to changes in architecture and core design.
According to SiliconFly, Chipzilla has begun shipping the first engineering samples of Nova Lake CPUs. No details were given about the core configurations of those samples. Earlier leaks suggest Nova Lake will come in two models, using either a single compute tile or a dual compute tile.
The single-compute-tile versions are expected to feature up to 28 cores. The dual compute tile models are tipped to reach up to 52 cores.
Single-core performance is said to rise by up to 20 per cent which is expected to come from increased IPC in the new Coyote Cove P-core and Arctic Wolf E-core architectures. bLLC, AVX10.2 and APX optimisations should help.
On the multi-core side, Nova Lake CPUs are expected to deliver twice the performance of Arrow Lake. That sounds dramatic until you notice the core count nearly doubles. Current Arrow Lake-S tops out at 24 cores, while Nova Lake-S could reach 52.
Chipzilla is adding more cache via bLLC on both single- and dual-compute-tile models. The single-tile chips are expected to carry up to 144 MB of cache. The dual-compute tile models could pack up to 288 MB of cache. Games should benefit from the larger cache in much the same way AMD’s Ryzen X3D parts do.
On the platform side, Chipzilla will put Nova Lake CPUs on LGA 1954 motherboards using 900-series chipsets. The Z990 chipset is expected to be the flagship. Mainstream boards should be part of the push, as Nova Lake-S is meant to cover several price points.
DDR5 memory support is expected to improve with CUDIMM and CQDIMM standards. That should allow higher frequency DIMM support, assuming the memory market behaves itself.
Compared with Arrow Lake-S, Nova Lake-S is expected to lift the maximum core count from 24 to 52. Maximum P-cores should rise from eight to 16. Maximum E-cores should increase from 16 to 32. Chipzilla is expected to add up to four LP-E cores, where Arrow Lake-S had none.
Maximum L2 and L3 cache is expected to jump from 76MB to between 160MB and 320MB. bLLC cache could range from 144MB to 288MB. DDR5 support could rise to 8000MT/s in one DIMM per channel, single-rank configurations. Arrow Lake-S sits at 7200MT/s to 6400MT/s.
PCIe 5.0 lanes are expected to climb from 24 to 36. PCIe 4.0 lanes could rise from four to 16. The socket moves from LGA 1851 to LGA 1954. So another motherboard change appears to be on the menu.
Maximum PL1 TDP is expected to range from 125W to 175W. Maximum power is rumoured to be about 700W for dual-tile chips and about 350W for single-tile models. AMD is preparing its next-generation Zen 6 Ryzen desktop family to compete with Nova Lake. Those chips are expected to offer up to 24 cores and 48 threads.
The Zen 6 platform is tipped to bring major changes to IO, cores and 3D V-Cache. The desktop market might get rather lively after the Zen 5 and Arrow Lake launch snoozefest. AMD thumped Chipzilla’s desktop lineup at launch. Chipzilla has since clawed back some ground with its newer Core Ultra 200S Plus CPUs.
The main problem for Chipzilla remains AMD’s gaming performance and efficiency. Catching that is hard enough, but beating Zen 6 at the same time will be nastier. There is no specific launch date for Nova Lake-S desktop CPUs. Chipzilla has confirmed the second half of 2026, so leaks should start turning into something meatier soon.
