Intel's new platform for Nova Lake chips leaked, up to 48 PCIe lanes and all-new chipset — 900-series motherboards with LGA1954 socket arrive in late 2026

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We already know that Intel pins a lot of hopes on its Nova Lake processors and hopes that they will put it back on the map for high-end desktop CPU enthusiasts, but until today we did not know almost anything about the company's next-generation 900-series chipsets that will support Nova Lake CPUs. On Monday Jaykihn, a leaker who tends to know a lot about Intel's plans, published a table describing specifications of Intel's B960, Z970, Z990, Q970, and W980 platforms.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Row 0 - Cell 0

B960

Z970

Z990

Q970

W980

Total PCIe Lanes

34

34

48

44

48

Processor TB4/USB4 Ports

1

1

2

2

2

DMI Gen5 Lanes

2

2

4

4

4

Chipset PCIE 5.0 Lanes

0

0

12

8

12

Chipset PCIE 4.0 Lanes

14

14

12

12

12

SATA 3.0 (6G Lanes)

4

4

8

8

8

USB2 Ports

12

12

14

14

14

USB3.2 (20G) Ports

~2

~2

~5

~4

~5

USB3.2 (10G) Ports

~4

~4

~10

~8

~10

USB3.2 (5G) Ports

~6

~6

~10

~10

~10

IA OC

No

Yes

Yes

No

No

BCLK OC

No

No

Yes

No

No

Memory OC

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Processor PCIE 5.0 Slot Lane Config

1x16

1x16

1x16 + 1x4 | 1x8 + 2x4 | 2x8 | 4x4

1x16 + 1x4 | 1x8 + 2x4 | 2x8 | 4x4

1x16 + 1x4 | 1x8 + 2x4 | 2x8 | 4x4

Processor PCIE 5.0 Storage Lane Config

1x4

1x4

1x8 or 2x4

1x8 or 2x4

1x8 or 2x4

ECC

No

No

No

No

Yes

Simultaneous Displays Supported

4

4

4

4

4

PCIE RAID 0/1/5/10 Support

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

SATA RAID 0/1/5/10 Support

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Intel vPro + Standard Manageability

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

The range-topping Z990 and W980 chipsets will offer 48 PCIe lanes (including 12 PCIe 5.0 lanes from the chipset and 16 PCIe 5.0 lanes from the CPU), two Thunderbolt 4/USB4 ports supported by the processor, 5 USB 3.2 20 Gbps, and 10 USB 3.2 10 Gbps ports. By contrast, inexpensive B960 and Z970 will only support 34 PCIe lanes (including 16 PCIe 5.0 lanes from the CPU and 14 PCIe 4.0 lanes from the chipset), one TB4/USB4 port supported by the processor, two USB 3.2 20 Gbps ports, and four USB 3.2 10 Gbps ports, according to the leak.

Intel's 900-series chipsets are expected to support Intel's Nova Lake processors that are said to use the LGA1954 socket and pack up to 52 cores, including up to 16 high-performance Coyote Cove cores, up to 32 energy-efficient Arctic Wolf cores, and four ultra-low-power cores. In addition, the new CPUs are projected to feature Xe3 integrated GPU and media engine from the Xe4 GPUs.

Although Intel has reaffirmed Nova Lake will arrive before the end of the year, the company hasn't shared any details about the processors yet. Before we see them, we expect to see a minor range of Arrow Lake Refresh chips.

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Anton Shilov
Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

24 Comments Comment from the forums
  • -Fran-
    The Z990 vs Z970 segregation is absolute garbage. Completely disgusted by Intel locking bifurcation of lanes under that arbitrary split.

    What a bunch of clowns.

    Regards.
    Reply
  • rluker5
    Z990 having 28 gen 5 lanes off of the CPU is quite good.
    The DMI being the same bandwidth as Alder Lake is a bit of a disappointment though.

    A motherboard really doesn't need to use the chipset lanes that much with up to a graphics card and 3 SSDs with full gen 5, but they might wind up using mostly chipset lanes anyways so it would be good to give a close eye to the specs before a purchase.

    Also Z970 is cut down real bad with connectivity. Almost in half across the board, like if you needed the rumored 2 chiplet Nova Lake beast to get full mobo connectivity. This could be a circumstantial confirmation of that rumor.
    Reply
  • hotaru251
    intel increasing lanes on consumer platform means AMD might increase em in future as well
    Reply
  • Gururu
    2027 upgrade prospects looking quite dandy!
    Reply
  • User of Computers
    What a platform! I appreciate the mid-tier option finally having overclocking support. This platform is going to absolutely rip!
    This is why Intel changes sockets so often, to take advantage of new technologies that really make it better for everyone.
    Reply
  • magbarn
    -Fran- said:
    The Z990 vs Z970 segregation is absolute garbage. Completely disgusted by Intel locking bifurcation of lanes under that arbitrary split.

    What a bunch of clowns.

    Regards.
    Aren't they basically copying AMD's market segmentation with X870/X870E?
    Reply
  • thestryker
    -Fran- said:
    The Z990 vs Z970 segregation is absolute garbage. Completely disgusted by Intel locking bifurcation of lanes under that arbitrary split.

    What a bunch of clowns.

    Regards.
    It's basically just the Bx60 chipset with unlocked core overclocking. That means it'll just carry a slight cost increase (otherwise why have a B series) to provide a cheaper alternative to fully utilize unlocked CPUs. Intel could have just not done this (as they have forever) and required buying the higher end chipset for said functionality.

    My only question is really why Intel is even bothering at this point. However there have been rumors that Intel won't be making this generation of chipset in house. Intel rarely increases costs on chipsets so this might just be a margin play.

    No matter what this isn't something to be upset by since it only provides functionality that didn't exist before.
    Reply
  • thestryker
    rluker5 said:
    Z990 having 28 gen 5 lanes off of the CPU is quite good.
    The DMI being the same bandwidth as Alder Lake is a bit of a disappointment though.
    It's a really bad change in my book as this was the biggest platform advantage Intel had over AMD. It was definitely part of why I went Intel over AMD this last time as you can max out a PCIe 4.0 SSD on Z890 and not worry about any bandwidth constraints on any other chipset connected devices. The same will not be possible on Z990 with PCIe 5.0 drives.

    Of course maybe they know something we don't in that it's possible AMD won't release new chipsets with PCIe 5.0 interconnect so it doesn't matter. I've assumed with the increased core counts expected with Zen 6 this would be something AMD would be keen to address though.
    Reply
  • -Fran-
    magbarn said:
    Aren't they basically copying AMD's market segmentation with X870/X870E?
    It seems you don't know what Bifurcation means.

    Regards.
    Reply
  • -Fran-
    thestryker said:
    It's basically just the Bx60 chipset with unlocked core overclocking. That means it'll just carry a slight cost increase (otherwise why have a B series) to provide a cheaper alternative to fully utilize unlocked CPUs. Intel could have just not done this (as they have forever) and required buying the higher end chipset for said functionality.

    My only question is really why Intel is even bothering at this point. However there have been rumors that Intel won't be making this generation of chipset in house. Intel rarely increases costs on chipsets so this might just be a margin play.

    No matter what this isn't something to be upset by since it only provides functionality that didn't exist before.
    Lane bifurcation has always been part of most motherboards within the same chipset family. AMD nor Intel, up until this point, have NOT made a different chipset series by locking bifurcation. AIBs are the ones (again, up until this point) segmentating bifurcation in their motherboards, or just use whatever options AMD or Intel give them. It's the same thing as with ECC support (proper).

    This is just an pretty friggen petty way to segment what little is left of a good platform and that angers me.

    Get ready for people getting the Z970 board and wonder why some of their CPU-driven M.2 slots aren't working when they install the video card.

    Regards.
    Reply