Intel is preparing its next-gen mainstream Xeon lineup codenamed Dunlow, based on Nova Lake-S, which features up to 28 cores.
Intel's Mainstream Xeon CPUs Will Arrive On Dunlow Platform With Up To 28 Core Nova Lake-S Options
It's been a while since Intel released a mainstream desktop option in the Xeon lineup. The last family is still based on the Raptor Lake architecture under the Xeon E-2400 series, with up to 8 cores. The company did introduce Bartlett Lake-S chips with up to 12 P-Cores, but those are non-Xeon chips designed for Edge segments.
While Arrow Lake was limited to the "Core Ultra 200S" series for desktops, it looks like Nova Lake will once again introduce a mainstream Xeon family.
Based on recent shipping logs, Intel's next-gen mainstream Xeon platform has been spotted and is called "Dunlow". The platform will feature support for Nova Lake-S Desktop CPUs on the latest LGA 1954 socket. Early specs include up to 28-core CPU flavors (a single-compute tile), up to a 95 Watt TDP, and dual-channel DDR5 memory support.
So far, only a 28-core model has been mentioned, but given how expansive the Nova Lake-S lineup is expected to be, we can expect multiple configurations. Intel is also preparing a Nova Lake-S CPU for the Edge with up to 12 Xe3P iGPU cores.
Interestingly, it's not just the Xeon family that has been spotted, but the first Dunlow board has also been uncovered. The listing mentions the Supermicro MBD-X15SDCB-IN001, a reference board for customers or CRB.
The other interesting detail is that Intel was relying on a P-Core-only design for its previous Xeon family, but the 28-core Nova Lake models will feature a P-Core & E-Core configuration. So it looks like Intel is once again bringing E-Cores back to its Desktop Xeons. On the matter of launch, the Nova Lake CPUs are expected in early 2027, so we can expect the Xeon lineup to launch a few months after those.
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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