Rumors from the supply chain suggest that Intel’s full core configurations for its next-generation Nova Lake processors have surfaced for the first time. Spanning high-performance laptops to ultra-low-power devices, Nova Lake will launch under the Core Ultra 400 series, built on the new Coyote Cove P-Core and Arctic Wolf E-Core architectures, with Xe3 (Celestial) integrated graphics.
A single mobile processor can scale up to 28 CPU cores and 12 iGPU cores, while on desktops, a single compute tile supports 28 cores and a dual-tile setup can reach 52 cores with a larger shared cache.
Mobile Lineup Overview #
Nova Lake mobile processors are split into three main tiers: HX, H, and U.
Nova Lake-HX — Flagship Tier #
- CPU: 8 P-cores + 16 E-cores + 4 LP-E cores (total 28 cores)
- iGPU: 4 Xe3 cores
- TDP: ~55 W
- Designed for enthusiast laptops, the HX tier moves low-load background tasks to the LP-E island to reduce power draw and switching overhead. While current chatter suggests no dual-tile mobile variants, the HX series will sit at the top of the mobile stack, requiring robust cooling and high-wattage adapters.
Nova Lake-H — Performance Mainstream #
- CPU: 4 P-cores + 8 E-cores + 4 LP-E cores (16 total)
- iGPU: 12 Xe3 cores or 4 Xe3 cores
- TDP: ~28 W
- Ideal for high-performance thin-and-light designs. The LP-E island handles light, always-on workloads—like standby sync or music playback—improving battery life consistency. OEMs can choose between stronger graphics or a lower-cost/lower-power GPU configuration.
Nova Lake-U — Entry & Ultra-Low-Power #
Two configurations:
- 4P + 0E + 4 LP-E with 4 Xe3 cores (~28 W)
- 2P + 0E + 4 LP-E with 2 Xe3 cores (~15 W)
- E-cores are dropped entirely from the compute tile, relying on the LP-E island for background tasks. P-cores handle quick bursts of heavy workloads, striking a balance between responsiveness and power efficiency for everyday use like browsing, video calls, and document editing.
Representative Configurations #
- HX: 8P + 16E + 4 LP-E + 4 Xe3 (~55 W)
- H: 4P + 8E + 4 LP-E + 12 Xe3 or 4P + 8E + 4 LP-E + 4 Xe3 (~28 W)
- U: 4P + 0E + 4 LP-E + 4 Xe3 (~28 W) or 2P + 0E + 4 LP-E + 2 Xe3 (~15 W)
The LP-E island operates in a separate low-power domain, running independently when P- and E-cores are asleep to extend battery life and reduce wake-up latency.
Desktop Roadmap #
Nova Lake-S retains a tiled approach:
- Single tile: up to 28 cores
- Dual tile: up to 52 cores
Some models feature larger shared caches to improve throughput and stability. With AVX 10.2 (512-bit vector support) across future Core and Xeon chips, Intel aims for more unified software optimization between mainstream and HPC markets.
Timeline & Future Variants #
The Nova Lake series is slated for H2 2026, following the mass rollout of Panther Lake. Core counts, cache sizes, and clock speeds remain subject to change. Intel is also exploring Nova Lake-AX, a high-performance APU aimed at gaming and creative workloads, though details on memory and bandwidth are pending.
Key Takeaways #
The most notable change is the LP-E island’s role across all tiers, enabling smoother standby power curves and faster task switching. Graphics scaling in the H series offers clear choices between higher GPU compute for content creation and leaner setups for mainstream use.
As these specs come from early leaks, final performance will depend on OEM cooling, power curves, and memory configurations. Nova Lake’s mobile designs emphasize efficiency through hybrid cores, while desktop variants push multi-core scaling via tile expansion and cache improvements. More concrete benchmarks and software tuning insights will emerge closer to launch.