Intel's recently released document from the fourth quarter of 2024, titled "CEO/CFO earnings call comments," has unveiled ambitious plans for CPU development in 2025 and beyond. Michelle Johnston Holthaus, one of the interim leaders at Team Blue, anticipates the launch of "Nova Lake" processors, a next-generation client family, in 2026 following the introduction of "Panther Lake" CPU products. This official timeline aligns with previously leaked and rumored development schedules, including a shipping manifest discovered last week. Industry experts have linked "Nova Lake" to Intel's 14A node and a TSMC 2 nm process node. Tipsters have also suggested the use of Coyote Cove performance cores and Arctic Wolf efficiency-oriented cores.
After yesterday's official announcements, a leaker shared insights on core configurations and manufacturing details on the Hardware subreddit. Community members debated Intel's decision to discontinue Falcon Shore, but a contributor known as "Exist50" redirected the conversation to focus on "Nova Lake." According to Exist50, Intel has moved all compute dies to TSMC for manufacturing, with the "8+16 die" now on TSMC's N2P and the "4+8 die on Intel 18A." Exist50 also shared information on the product ranges, stating that "Nova Lake" will have a unified HUB/SoC die across mobile and desktop, with a baseline configuration of 4+8+4. The flagship desktop chip could feature up to sixteen performance cores and thirty-two efficiency cores due to tile reuse. Exist50 advised Intel CPU enthusiasts to wait for "Nova Lake" instead of purchasing current generation offerings, as it is expected to offer a significant performance improvement over Arrow Lake.
Based on the leaked information, VideoCardz has compiled a list of Intel "Nova Lake" product tiers with corresponding core configurations:
- NVL-SK: 2x (8P+16E)
- NVL-HX: 1x (8P+16E)
- NVL-S/NVL-H: 4P+8E
- NVL-U: 4P+OE
According to their summary, Intel is working on various Nova Lake variants for desktop, high-end mobile, and mainstream mobile platforms. The Nova Lake-HX platform for enthusiast gaming laptops is expected to have 8 P-Cores and 16 E-Cores. This suggests that Intel may use different dies for desktop and mobile platforms. There are also mentions of other S and H variants with a 4P + 8E configuration, as well as a 4-core variant for low-power laptops.
