Intel's Nova Lake-S CPUs to bring massive architectural overhaul, up to 52 cores

[Skye Jacobs]

Rumor mill: Intel's next-generation Nova Lake-S desktop processors are rapidly taking shape, with leaks pointing to a major architectural leap for the company's consumer CPUs. According to well-known leakers @chi11eddog and @jaykihn0, Nova Lake-S is expected to launch in the second half of 2026 and will introduce a sweeping overhaul in both design and performance targets.

The flagship Core Ultra 9 385K model could feature a staggering 52 cores, comprising 16 high-performance P-cores, 32 efficiency-focused E-cores, and four 4 low-power LPE-cores – making it the most powerful desktop chip Intel has ever produced. This more than doubles the core count of today's Core Ultra 9 285K, which tops out at 24 cores and lacks LPE-cores entirely.

The Nova Lake-S lineup is expected to span a wide range of configurations, from entry-level quad-core models to the 52-core flagship. The Core Ultra 7 SKU will reportedly offer 14 P-cores, 24 E-cores, and four LPE-cores for a total of 42 cores.

Meanwhile, the Core Ultra 5 series is rumored to include three variants: a 28-core version with 8 P-cores and 16 E-cores, a 24-core version with 8 P-cores and 12 E-cores, and an 18-core option with 6 P-cores and 8 E-cores.

Even the entry-level Core Ultra 3 chips are expected to feature either 16 or 12 cores, both including four LPE-cores and a 65W power envelope.

• Core Ultra 9 - 16 P-Cores + 32 E-Cores + 4 LP-E Cores. 150W
• Core Ultra 7 - 14 P-Cores + 24 E-Cores + 4 LP-E Cores. 150W
• Core Ultra 5 - 8 P-Cores + 16 E-Cores + 4 LP-E Cores. 125W
• Core Ultra 5 - 8 P-Cores + 12 E-Cores + 4 LP-E Cores. 125W
• Core Ultra 5 - 6 P-Cores + 8 E-Cores + 4 LP-E Cores. 125W
• Core Ultra 3 - 4 P-Cores + 8 E-Cores + 4 LP-E Cores. 65W
• Core Ultra 3 - 4 P-Cores + 4 E-Cores + 4 LP-E Cores. 65W

New Intel Desktop CPUs coming..🧐🧐🧐
150W for Core Ultra 9/7. Core Ultra 5 125W. pic.twitter.com/mW0MS2lKM9

– chi11eddog (@g01d3nm4ng0) June 16, 2025

All desktop SKUs are expected to utilize a tile-based design, with the LPE-cores located on a separate die, echoing the modular approach first introduced with Meteor Lake.

A central focus of Nova Lake-S is maximizing flexibility and efficiency through its multi-tile architecture. The P-cores, based on the new Coyote Cove design, will handle demanding single-threaded workloads, while the Arctic Wolf E-cores are optimized for multi-threaded tasks. The LPE-cores, an evolution of the E-core family, are designed for background and ultra-low-power tasks, helping reduce overall energy consumption.

Nova Lake Platform PCIE and USB Specifications pic.twitter.com/wgG2u5xINN

– Jaykihn (@jaykihn0) June 17, 2025

Transitioning from architecture to platform support, Nova Lake-S will introduce a new LGA 1854 socket and 900-series chipset, necessitating new motherboards but enabling a host of next-generation features.

According to @jaykihn0, the platform will natively support DDR5 memory speeds up to 8000 MT/s – a 50% increase over Arrow Lake-S – and may reach speeds beyond 10,000 MT/s with high-performance modules aimed at enthusiasts.

The chipset is also expected to support up to 48 PCIe lanes, including 24 PCIe 5.0 lanes directly from the CPU, along with expanded USB and SATA connectivity to support high-end desktops.

Another significant leap comes in graphics and media capabilities. Nova Lake-S is rumored to adopt a hybrid iGPU architecture, with Xe3 "Celestial" cores dedicated to graphics rendering and Xe4 "Druid" cores handling media and display tasks.

This separation allows Intel to optimize each engine for its specific workload, potentially delivering better gaming and creative performance, along with more efficient media encoding and decoding. The modular design also gives Intel the flexibility to mix and match components from different process nodes, balancing cost and performance.

These sweeping changes signal Intel's intention to reclaim leadership in the desktop CPU market, as rival AMD prepares its own next-gen Zen 6 chips with higher core counts and enhanced per-core performance.

While the full impact of Nova Lake-S will ultimately depend on real-world benchmarks and software optimization, the leaked specifications point to a big shift in Intel's approach to desktop processor design.

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Intel's Nova Lake-S CPUs to bring massive architectural overhaul, up to 52 cores

 

[Knot Schure]

If you dump all the non-P cores, and give me more P cores, I'll buy it.

 

[TooQik]

I feel sorry for the scheduler coders. Now instead of two different core types, they have to program for three.

 

[user556]

Sounds like an even bigger mess than now.

 

[Watzupken]

I hope it’s not just an attempt to soup up the core count here. The main issue with Arrow Lake is the high latency that affected performance. If that problem remains unresolved, you can throw more cores but don’t fix anything nor their tanking sales.

 

[gamerk2]

I feel sorry for the scheduler coders. Now instead of two different core types, they have to program for three.

No one really does any specific core/thread management within their applications; its up to the OS to put threads where they need to go. Trying to preempt the scheduler leads to nothing but problems.

 

[user556]

TooQik is very much talking about the OS. How the frig is the OS suppose to know what is best where?

 

[TooQik]

No one really does any specific core/thread management within their applications; its up to the OS to put threads where they need to go. Trying to preempt the scheduler leads to nothing but problems.

To clarify my original comment, I was referring to the OS scheduling code, as user556 pointed out.

 

[godrilla]

If you dump all the non-P cores, and give me more P cores, I'll buy it.

Will Intel attempt to compete with zen x3d directly or default to their previous strategy with e cores that gamers are not asking for at a premium.

 

[Knot Schure]

Will Intel attempt to compete with zen x3d directly or default to their previous strategy with e cores that gamers are not asking for at a premium.

Not sure, Sir.

I already have disdain for e-cores, from a 12900k, 14700k and failed 14900k.

I'm already on a HCC system, and game on it - so well. I suffer about -23% ST performance compared to the top of the CPU-Z list, and on 3DMark, 'for my GPU' it puts me in the top 14%, which suffices - but alas I am +300% MT performance, with no petty consumer pcie lane restrictions, and 512GB RAM, so it would take one hell of a snappy consumer chip to pull me back from the workstation side.

I think my switch to AMD will come next year. I just read about that 256 core chip on here today. I'd probably not spend the $13000 guestimate cost for that, and I don't need 256 cores, but a 64 core version - I'd be all over that, assuming the claimed memory performance matched the pretty slides...

 

[jpvalverde85]

Then the dense Zen "c" variants seemed like an inexpensive low power core solution, now they look like an elegant and no-nonsense solution, an effing mess Intel is an understatment.