Key Takeaways
1. Intel’s Nova Lake CPUs may feature dual bLLC (Last-Level Cache), offering significant cache improvements beyond initial expectations.
2. The Coyote Cove P-cores in Nova Lake are expected to provide a 15% IPC performance boost over Arrow Lake’s P-cores.
3. High-end Nova Lake CPUs with dual-bLLC could be priced at $1,200 or more, significantly higher than the previous Arrow Lake flagship.
4. The price increase is justified by Nova Lake’s higher core count (52 vs. 24) and larger cache (288 MB bLLC) compared to competitors.
5. Pricing details for Nova Lake CPUs should be viewed with caution, as market conditions can change rapidly.
It’s become widely known that Intel’s upcoming desktop architecture, Nova Lake, will include a significant Last-Level Cache, also known as bLLC. Earlier reports indicated that this impressive 144 MB bLLC might only appear in one SKU, with slim chances for dual-bLLC options.
Dual-bLLC Possibilities
However, the latest from RedGamingTech suggests that Intel may actually launch Nova Lake CPUs featuring dual-bLLC, which would provide an extraordinary quantity of L3 cache. Additionally, it seems that more Nova Lake SKUs could come equipped with the bLLC than was initially anticipated, based on insights shared by Haze2K1 on X.
Intel’s Nova Lake CPUs
The new Intel Nova Lake CPUs with bLLC are said to be as follows:
Within a recent video discussing Razer Lake, Titan Lake, and other topics, RedGamingTech stated that Nova Lake’s Coyote Cove P-cores are expected to deliver a 15% IPC performance boost compared to Arrow Lake’s Lion Cove P-cores. The leaker hinted that the Arctic Wolf E-cores on Nova Lake also perform well, although no specific IPC figures were provided.
Pricing Insights
On the downside, the anticipated pricing for the flagship or high-end Nova Lake-S desktop CPUs featuring dual-bLLC may be quite steep. Reports from RGT indicate that the dual-chiplet 52-core and 42-core Nova Lake-S CPUs, equipped with 288 MB of bLLC, could potentially be priced at $1,200 or more.
To put this in context, the Arrow Lake flagship Core Ultra 9 285K launched with an MSRP of $589 in 2024. Therefore, the Core Ultra 9 400 Nova Lake-S SKU, featuring 288 MB of bLLC, could be priced over twice that amount.
Justifying the Price Increase
This price increase seems reasonable, considering the NVL-S flagship appears to have more than double the cores (52 vs 24) and 288 MB of bLLC, which is likely to be quite costly. For comparison, AMD’s latest Ryzen 7 9800X3D only offers 64 MB of 3D V-Cache. Even Intel’s lower-end Core Ultra 5 400K CPUs, featuring 144 MB of bLLC, reportedly provide 225% more last-level cache.
As is often seen with CPU and GPU pricing, fluctuations can occur rapidly. Thus, as RGT also points out, the proposed pricing for Nova Lake should be regarded as mere speculation and not something to rely on entirely.
We’ll have to observe how much impact such a vast cache buffer will have on the Nova Lake chips and their pricing. Until more information is available, it’s wise to treat the details shared here with a healthy dose of skepticism.
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