Intel Nova Lake leak points to Core Ultra Series 400 branding, staggered release next year — hotly anticipated flagship 52-core desktop CPU might not arrive until late 2027

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A huge leap for desktop processors incoming?

Core Ultra 200K Plus
(Image credit: Intel)

Intel was expected to unveil its next-generation desktop processors later this year. The upcoming Nova Lake lineup has been making the rounds online, and a new report from VideoCardz suggests that Intel could introduce it under the Core Ultra Series 400 branding. For context, the current Arrow Lake and Arrow Lake Refresh desktop CPUs follow the Core Ultra Series 200 naming scheme, while Intel's latest Panther Lake mobile processors carry the Core Ultra Series 300 branding.

The report also claims to reveal the review embargo windows and launch timeline for several Nova Lake models: Intel will initially introduce a 28-core DS package, which is expected to launch between January and March 2027. The new DS suffix is said to be an internal package designation for processors featuring dual-compute tiles.

This will reportedly be followed by 28-core K-series (unlocked) models between March and April 2027, while 16-core and 8-core variants are expected to arrive between late March and May 2027. The flagship 52-core DS model is reportedly scheduled for a much later launch, potentially between late May and September 2027.

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Rumored Nova Lake launch timeline

Processor

P-cores

E-cores

LPE-cores

Expected launch

52-core DS

16

32

4

Late May to September 2027

28-core DS

8

16

4

January to March 2027

28-core K-series

8

16

4

March to April 2027

16-core

4

8

4

Late March to May 2027

8-core

4

4

0

Late March to May 2027

While Intel is yet to officially confirm a launch date for Nova Lake, various leaks have suggested that the lineup could be one of the company's biggest generational leaps in recent years. The flagship desktop SKU, featuring a 52-core configuration, is expected to combine 16 Coyote Cove Performance (P) cores, 32 Arctic Wolf Efficiency (E) cores, and four Low Power Efficiency (LPE) cores. This would be a notable jump over the current Core Ultra 9 285K, which features a total of 24-cores. The introduction of Coyote Cove and Arctic Wolf also points to an entirely new CPU architecture, replacing the Lion Cove and Skymont cores found in Arrow Lake.

Nova Lake is also rumored to bring new platform upgrades including support for DDR5-8000 memory, up to 24 PCIe 5.0 lanes for expansion, Thunderbolt 5, and Intel's next-generation Xe3 Celestial integrated graphics. The processors are also expected to feature an upgraded NPU5 for AI workloads along with a 150W Processor Base Power (PBP) and 253W Maximum Turbo Power (MTP) on the flagship model, despite the substantial increase in core count. Earlier reports have also indicated that Nova Lake will transition to a new LGA1954 socket, meaning users will likely need a new motherboard to upgrade from the existing Arrow Lake platform.

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Kunal Khullar
Kunal Khullar
News Contributor

Kunal Khullar is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware.  He is a long time technology journalist and reviewer specializing in PC components and peripherals, and welcomes any and every question around building a PC.

17 Comments Comment from the forums
  • thestryker
    "DS" in this instance likely refers to the die with additional cache rather than dual Compute Tile. Initial launch periods tend to have the least number of SKUs which would fit this perfectly. It also makes sense that Intel would lead with the biggest performance improvement. The flagship part should be faster in everything than anything AMD has on the market which is a good place to be for as long as they can. Letting these launch before the regular ones also keeps the benchmarks clean so they're not competing with themselves.

    The launch period lines up with most of what we've heard the last few months: CES and Computex.

    As for the 4/8/4 and 4/0/4 those are a separate die from the desktop 8/16/4. My assumption is that these would be mobile overlap where they'll share Compute Tiles between mobile and desktop. This certainly makes sense if Intel wants to continue existing in the budget space while making margins. These may also be built on internal nodes.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    I see a lot of parallels between Nova Lake and Alder Lake that promise to make it probably the most exciting launch since then.
    New node (i.e. for desktop CPUs)
    More cores
    More L3 cache
    New platform with better I/O
    Also:
    APX and AVX10.2 (also, the return of AVX-512)
    If Intel pulls it off successfully (and I think they can), it might even be one of those epochal generations. It also probably marks the last of the desktop products Gelsinger had a major influence on.
    Reply
  • thestryker
    bit_user said:
    New node
    The enthusiast in me who likes poking around is still extremely sad that we're still not getting an unlocked desktop processor on an Intel EUV node.
    Reply
  • wussupi83
    I'm mildly skeptical Intel got 16 p-cores and 32 e-cores into the same power envelope as a 285k/270k. That's some serious efficiency gains. But I will gladly eat my skepticism and buy it if true and prices remain reasonably inline with 200-series.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    wussupi83 said:
    I'm mildly skeptical Intel got 16 p-cores and 32 e-cores into the same power envelope as a 285k/270k.
    They didn't.
    https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/intels-next-gen-52-core-nova-lake-cpu-could-pull-up-to-474w-high-end-lga1954-motherboards-may-need-three-8-pin-power-connectors-to-feed-the-monster
    Reply
  • usertests
    wussupi83 said:
    I'm mildly skeptical Intel got 16 p-cores and 32 e-cores into the same power envelope as a 285k/270k. That's some serious efficiency gains. But I will gladly eat my skepticism and buy it if true and prices remain reasonably inline with 200-series.
    The power envelope will be much larger, see the 474W PL2 discussion. But there will be some efficiency gains from moving from N3B to N2P/18A. Idle power should also be low if LPEs are used properly.

    8P + 16E + bLLC or less is where it will be at for most buyers.

    bit_user said:
    If Intel pulls it off successfully (and I think they can), it might even be one of those epochal generations. It also probably marks the last of the desktop products Gelsinger had a major influence on.
    I can't think of anything that will be as consequential as the Nova Lake generation from what we even have an inkling about. The only thing that comes to mind would be Titan Lake allegedly ditching E-cores or P-cores, depending on who you ask.

    Intel may also introduce Nova Lake-AX as a Strix Halo competitor.
    Reply
  • wussupi83
    bit_user said:
    They didn't.
    https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/intels-next-gen-52-core-nova-lake-cpu-could-pull-up-to-474w-high-end-lga1954-motherboards-may-need-three-8-pin-power-connectors-to-feed-the-monster
    Yes these power figures make much more sense. And seem to align with other rumors. However I was referring to the quote in this article specifically (which maybe I'm misreading) that says:
    The processors are also expected to feature an upgraded NPU5 for AI workloads along with a 150W Processor Base Power (PBP) and 253W Maximum Turbo Power (MTP) on the flagship model, despite the substantial increase in core count.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    usertests said:
    there will be some efficiency gains from moving from N3B to N2P/18A. Idle power should also be low if LPEs are used properly.
    Efficiency gains, and yet they still have those wimpy LPE cores!

    Some of the efficiency gains of each new node are re-invested into higher IPC and/or greater clockspeed scaling. Otherwise, leading-edge CPU cores of each successive generation would just be using less and less power, until you could run them on a watch battery.

    usertests said:
    The only thing that comes to mind would be Titan Lake allegedly ditching E-cores or P-cores, depending on who you ask.
    Again, that's not about ditching big & little cores. It's about moving all of their cores to the same base microarchitecture, so the design teams aren't doing a bunch of redundant work. From the outside, you won't really notice the difference vs. prior hybrid CPUs.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    wussupi83 said:
    I was referring to the quote in this article specifically (which maybe I'm misreading) that says:
    The processors are also expected to feature an upgraded NPU5 for AI workloads along with a 150W Processor Base Power (PBP) and 253W Maximum Turbo Power (MTP) on the flagship model, despite the substantial increase in core count.
    The 270K Plus has a base power (PL1) of 125W and PL2 of 250W.

    https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/245692/intel-core-ultra-7-processor-270k-plus-36m-cache-up-to-5-50-ghz/specifications.html
    Reply
  • thestryker
    usertests said:
    Intel may also introduce Nova Lake-AX as a Strix Halo competitor.
    No AX until RZL at the earliest.
    Reply