Intel’s next-generation desktop CPU, Nova Lake, has leaked — and boy, does it look like a workhorse, including what (fingers crossed!) looks like the debut of Thunderbolt 5 on the desktop.
Within the last few days, both WCCFtech as well as VideoCardz appear to have independently received details of Intel’s next desktop CPU, which Intel scheduled for the end of 2026 a year ago. That schedule appears to be on track, along with an unofficial brand name: the Core Ultra 400.
Four things stand out: First, Intel has basically acknowledged that AMD’s cache-heavy approach has worked with its powerhouse Ryzen 9000X3D platform, and has followed suit with what both sites are referring to as Big Last Level Cache, or bLLC. Second, Intel recognized the rather obvious limitation in the Ryzen 9000X3D platform, and has (in some versions) moved to loading up two CCDs — the approach that AMD took with its Ryzen 9000X3D2 chip, too. Intel is also de-prioritizing graphics and massively increasing core counts. Finally, the platform does seem to include Thunderbolt 5 — hopefully integrated this time around.
There’s a lot to like. VideoCardz mentions that Intel is actively promoting forward socket compatibility, another page stolen from AMD over the years. AMD’s AM4 socket had held on for years and years, and Intel sounds like it’s planning for Nova Lake’s LGA 1954 socket to be around for a while. Intel is also planning for integrated Wi-Fi 7, low-energy audio, and support for as many eight SSDs across PCI Express 4.0 and 5.0. Graphics outputs will apparently support four independent displays, too.
VideoCardz is also claiming that there will be two Thunderbolt 5 connections, which I’m also modestly excited about. Desktop PCs tend to have a wide variety of I/O ports, and hopefully desktop PCs will continue the trend. Thunderbolt 5 — the I/O standard which allows up to 80Gbps bidirectionally and in some cases 120Gbps in a single direction — was a big bust for me initially in part because of the lack of hardware support, display support, and the lack of external GPUs. I do not want to see all of those I/O ports go away in favor of a single Thunderbolt connection to an external Thunderbolt dock, as that will just add cost. Otherwise, though, I’m ready for Thunderbolt 5 to serve as a display output for Windows, and not just the Apple Mac.
Nova Lake’s CPU cores: Built for AI?
Intel’s Nova Lake will apparently ship in 8-core, 16-core, 28-core, and 52-core variants, with both Coyote Cove performance cores and Arctic Wolf efficiency cores populating the system, along with an Intel NPU 6 of an undisclosed performance. Power consumption should stretch from 35 watts to 175 watts, with an option for a GPU-less configuration at the top end.
Intel appears to have stumbled into success, at least from one perspective. A year ago, the lack of integrated GPU was far more worrisome than it is now, but Intel’s mobile Panther Lake CPU made up for that with a robust processor that offers the gaming power of a discrete GPU.
Now, AI has progressed. Agentic AI is now the watchword, and the pendulum has reportedly swung back toward the CPU. Put another way: If agentic AI is now the future, you’ll want a more robust CPU once again. A massive 52-core chip might be just the thing to run Excel in the foreground and let a variety of AI agents churn away behind the scenes. A list of Nova Lake chips VideoCardz unearthed shows a 35-watt 16-core processor…which might be suitable to a cadre of small AI boxes that I’d expect PC makers begin pushing at Computex. (The AI PC concept is being pushed by AMD, too.)
Still, Intel’s bLLC has been proven to work inside AMD’s Ryzen. Cache is expensive (obviously, as is other memory) but the performance advantages have been proven out
Though Intel currently says that manufacturing limitations have caused it to try and ship more silicon to its higher-margin server processors, Intel executives have said that they expect those shortages to hopefully be resolved by this fall. I’m looking forward to Nova Lake as a productivity powerhouse that can also (sure, why not?) play some games as well.
