The new Arrow Lake Core Ultra 200 desktop CPUs have yet to persuade gamers to upgrade from the older i9-14900K models. The latest architecture fails to show any meaningful performance improvements, despite several months of software updates. It appears Arrow Lake is merely setting the stage for future innovations, particularly Nova Lake, which is anticipated in 2026.
Speculation on Nova Lake’s Architecture
Intel has not revealed any specifications for Nova Lake in their recent quarterly earnings report. However, co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus let slip that “Nova Lake will actually have die both inside and outside for that process. So you’ll actually see compute tiles inside and outside.” This revelation sparked a flurry of speculation on Reddit about potential core counts for the upcoming generation of chips.
Core Configurations and Variants
According to a now-deleted post by Exist50 on Reddit, the premium Nova Lake desktop CPUs might include up to 2×8 Coyote Cove P-cores and 2×16 Arctic Wolf E-cores, aligning with the concept of dual compute tiles mentioned by Intel’s co-CEO. Additionally, Exist50 mentioned that there will be high-performance mobile Nova Lake variants with configurations of 8P + 16E cores, as well as mid-range desktop and mobile options featuring just 4P + 8E cores. There will also be ultra-low-voltage (ULV) versions that only have 4 P-cores without any E-cores.
Future iGPU Tile and Production Nodes
The specifics of the iGPU tile for Nova Lake remain ambiguous. However, it is confirmed that these chips will be manufactured using Intel’s 18A nodes, similar to the Panther Lake mobile processors set to launch in late 2025.
Source:
Link