Intel's next-gen Nova Lake-S Desktop CPU with up to 52 cores has also been spotted at NBD, and is coming to the LGA 1954 socket.
Intel's Flagship Nova Lake-S Desktop CPUs To Pack 52 Cores, More Than 2x Increase Over Arrow Lake & Raptor Lake
Last week, Intel's Nova Lake-S Desktop CPU with up to 28 cores popped up at the shipping webpage, NBD. Now, an even higher core count model has been spotted with up to 52 cores. This points out that Intel is taking the core count fight to AMD, which itself is planning to offer up to 24 cores with its next-generation Ryzen offerings based on the Zen 6 core architecture.
Now talking about the 52-core Nova Lake SKU itself, it was no mystery as the chip itself was leaked a while ago. Essentially, it's taking two standard Nova Lake-S desktop compute tiles and adding them to the same package. The single die SKU will feature 8 P-Cores based on the Coyote Cove P-Core and 16 E-Cores based on the Arctic Wolf E-Core architectures.
Two of these compute tiles will pack 16 P-Cores and 32 E-Cores for a total of 48 cores through the compute tiles. In addition to the compute tile, the SoC tile will also feature 4 LP-E cores based on the Arctic Wolf architecture. This will enable the chip with up to 52 cores. So in short, we have the following configurations:
- Intel Nova Lake-S With Single Compute Tile: 8 P-Cores + 16 E-Cores + 4 LP-E Cores = 28 cores
- Intel Nova Lake-S With Double Compute Tile: 16 P-Cores + 32 E-Cores + 4 LP-E Cores = 52 cores
As for SMT, just like Arrow Lake, the P-Cores on Nova Lake CPUs won't feature SMT support. The same core is also being used for Diamond Rapids. This is one generation that won't bring SMT to the table, though under Lip-Bu Tan, Intel is poised to bring it back with the future generation of server CPUs such as Coral Rapids, so the same would be the case for the desktop lineup. Razor Lake or a new family will likely reintroduce this feature.
Besides that, the Intel Nova Lake-S single compute tile desktop SKUs will also come in 'bLLC' configs. This refers to big LLC or big cache offerings. Like Clearwater Forest, the base tile will be housing larger caches, leading to competitive designs aimed at AMD's 3D V-Cache lineup. This first attempt by Intel will tackle 2nd Gen 3D V-Cache from AMD, and even 3rd Gen, since by the time Nova Lake-S comes out, AMD will be gunning out its Zen 6 Ryzen CPUs for AM5 desktop.
The Intel Nova Lake-S Desktop CPUs will be supported on the LGA 1954 socket, which measures 45 x 37.5mm. These are the same as LGA 1851, so cooler support won't be an issue, though the different die layout and an updated IHS may require new offset/mounting kits, as is the case with new generations of CPUs these days. Cooling manufacturers will have to fine-tune their coolers to ensure good coverage of the main CPU tiles and hot spots with Nova Lake-S.
Lastly, there are some details regarding preliminary clock speeds of Nova Lake CPUs. A certain chip has been listed with clock speeds of 4.8 GHz (via gamma0burst), which is likely to be an engineering sample based on the current timeline. The previous shipping info revealed a Pre-QS SKU, so once QS samples start to roll out by Q2-Q3 2026, we will see clock speeds above 5 GHz.
With all of that said, Intel's Nova Lake-S Desktop CPUs are looking to be a very nice mainstream and enthusiast offering based on their higher core counts. They have a lot of new architecture going on, and Intel seems pretty confident that it will be able to tackle AMD in the desktop space better than how Arrow Lake did.
Nova Lake-S vs Arrow Lake-S
| Family | Nova Lake-S | Arrow Lake-S |
|---|---|---|
| Core Count (Max) | 52 | 24 |
| Thread Count (Max) | 52 | 24 |
| Max P-Cores | 16 | 8 |
| Max E-Cores | 32 | 16 |
| Max LP-E Cores | 4 | 0 |
| Max Cache (L2+L3) | TBD | 76 MB |
| Max bLLC Cache | 144-180 MB | N/A |
| DDR5 (1DPC 1R) | 8000 MT/s | 7200-6400 MT/s |
| PCIe 5.0 Lanes (Max) | 36 | 24 |
| PCIe 4.0 Lanes (Max) | 16 | 4 |
| Socket Support | LGA 1954 | LGA 1851 |
| Max TDP | 150W | 125W |
| Launch | 2026 | 2H 2025 |
News Sources: VideoCardz, gamma0burst
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