Intel prepares Nova Lake: first models with 28 cores, flagship with 52 cores to arrive later
Rumors about Intel's future Nova Lake desktop platform are beginning to outline more precisely the strategy that the Santa Clara company may adopt for the launch of the next generation of processors. According to the latest information released by VideoCardz, Intel could officially present Nova Lake by the end of 2026, but the actual commercial availability might be in the early months of 2027.
The CPUs are expected to be marketed under the Core Ultra Series 400 branding, continuing the current naming scheme inaugurated with Arrow Lake (Core Ultra Series 200) and already extended to the mobile processors Panther Lake, identified as Core Ultra Series 300.
The most likely scenario envisions a technical presentation by the end of 2026, possibly through a dedicated Tech Day, followed by the public debut during CES 2027 in Las Vegas, scheduled for January 6. The sales of the first models could start between late January and March, while the rest of the range would be progressively distributed in the following months. The leaked roadmap indicates, in fact, a staggered launch. Sales should begin with processors featuring 28 cores based on two compute tiles. Following that, it should be the turn of the K versions unlocked for overclocking, also with a 28-core configuration, followed by mainstream models with 16 and 8 cores between late March and May 2027.
The flagship offering of the family, however, would require significantly longer times. The 52-core processor is expected only between late May and the third quarter of 2027. According to the rumors, this CPU would use a configuration with two compute tiles. The most credible explanation is that Intel must first accumulate a sufficient production of the smaller chiplets before allocating them to the extreme-tier model.
The flagship processor would integrate 16 Performance Core Coyote Cove, 32 Efficiency Core Arctic Wolf, and 4 Low Power Efficiency (LPE) cores. This would represent a very significant increase compared to the current Core Ultra 9 285K, which is limited to 24 total cores and is based on older architectures. According to the rumors, Intel has also planned a 28-core version specifically designed for the gaming segment, characterized by an enhanced L3 cache. Information that has emerged in recent months suggests that the presence of the extended cache will not necessarily coincide with the models marked with the letter 'K', which should instead arrive at a later stage. In short, a definitive picture is still lacking, but there are many months left until the official announcement.
On the platform side, Nova Lake is expected to introduce several new features, starting with the switch to the LGA 1954 socket, which will require the purchase of a new motherboard for those coming from previous Intel generations. Rumors mention support for DDR5-8000 memory, up to 24 PCI Express 5.0 lanes, Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, next-generation integrated Xe3 Celestial graphics, and an updated NPU5 to accelerate workloads dedicated to artificial intelligence.