Details on Intel's Wildcat Lake Refresh, an entry-level chiplet-based CPU lineup, have been revealed by trusty insider, Jaykihn.
Intel's Entry-Level Wildcat Lake CPUs To Be Refreshed With Up To 8 Core Options
Intel's upcoming Wildcat Lake CPUs will be entry-level chips designed for low-power and budget PC platforms. These chips will launch close to the Panther Lake "Core Ultra Series 3" SKUs and feature a similar set of architectures, such as Cougar Cove P-Cores and Darkmont E-Cores, alongside Xe3 iGPUs.
While these entry-level chips are yet to launch, there's information leaking out already regarding their refresh. As per @jaykihn0, Intel will be preparing a Wildcat Lake Refresh lineup, which should launch around 2027 and will include an additional configuration. Currently, the Wildcat Lake lineup under the "Core Series 3" family will include a 2+0+4 (P/L/LPE) SKU with just 2 Xe3 cores.
For the Wildcat Lake Refresh, Intel is expected to launch a higher-core SKU with a 4+0+4 config. This means four P-Cores and 4 LP-E cores under the refresh. There's no information regarding the graphics cores.
The first generation of Wildcat Lake CPUs will feature 2 Xe3 cores with 2 RT units & XMX cores. These are likely to remain unchanged for the refresh, or if Intel wants, they can add two additional Xe3 cores to the higher-end SKU. Earlier information also revealed that the chips won't feature ray tracing support.
Another interesting detail is that Intel's Wildcat Lake CPUs will utilise a chiplet design, so they won't be monolithic. The chips will feature Thunderbolt 4, LPDDR5X/DDR5 support, and will offer up to 40 TOPS of AI performance (4 from CPU, 18 from GPU, and 18 from NPU). The CPUs will be based around the BGA 1516 package, making it much smaller and economical than Panther Lake-H SKUs (BGA 2540 package).
Once again, as for the launch, Intel Wildcat Lake CPUs are expected in the first half of 2026, so a refresh is going to be slated for a 2027 release, probably around CES of that year.
Intel Wildcat Lake vs Alder Lake-N
| CPU Family | Wildcat Lake Refresh | Wildcat Lake | Twin Lake | Alder Lake-N |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product Family | Core-N? | Core-N? | Core N/N | Core N/N |
| P-Core Architecture | Cougar Cove | Cougar Cove | N/A | N/A |
| E-Core Architecture | Darkmont | Darkmont | Gracemont | Gracemont |
| GPU Architecture | Xe3 | Xe3 | Intel UHD | Intel UHD |
| Max P-Cores | 4 | 2 | N/A | N/A |
| Max E-Cores | 4 | 4 (LP) | 8 | 8 |
| Max GPU Cores | TBD | 2 Xe3 Cores | 32 EUs | 32 EUs |
| TDP | 9-15W? | 15W | 9-15W | 9-15W |
| L3 Cache | TBD | 6 MB | 6 MB | 6 MB |
| Launch | 1H 2027? | 1H 2026? | Q1 2025 | Q1 2023 |
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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