News The CPU Core Wars return — Intel Nova Lake leak teases monster 52 cores, DDR5-8000, and 32 PCIe lanes rumored, would rival AMD's finest

[Admin]

Intel's upcoming Core Ultra 9 'Nova Lake-S' desktop CPUs will reportedly feature up to 52 cores, DDR5-8000 memory support, and 32 PCIe 5.0 lanes. What a beast!

The CPU Core Wars return — Intel Nova Lake leak teases monster 52 cores, DDR5-8000, and 32 PCIe lanes rumored, would rival AMD's finest : Read more

 

[logainofhades]

And it will need its own mini reactor to run.

 

[rluker5]

Or at least a bit more power than ARL.

 

[TerryLaze]

And it will need its own mini reactor to run.

Only if you overclock it which is the dumbest thing ever to do with a high core count CPU....so of course that's what every review is gonna do.

Arrow lake is like twice as efficient as anything else at low power according to computerbase.de but nobody knows it because everybody puts the power draw to unlimited and runs a power virus to show high power numbers.

 

[Konomi]

But how likely is it that Intel can launch it without a major issue of some kind? Is the IMC going to crap itself after a few months of running at that DDR5 8000?

 

[SonoraTechnical]

But how likely is it that Intel can launch it without a major issue of some kind? Is the IMC going to crap itself after a few months of running at that DDR5 8000?

Are there alt of instances of Integrated memory controllers failing due to high speed memory? Just asking, because I don't know the answer to that question.

 

[TerryLaze]

Are there alt of instances of Integrated memory controllers failing due to high speed memory? Just asking, because I don't know the answer to that question.

It was one of the things suspected to be the cause of the 14th gen degradation, and ryzen also has many issues with not running all ram or stopping to boot after a while with fast ram.

It's a justified concern to have at this point.

 

[JRStern]

Hey anybody, what is Windows even *doing* with the various kinds of cores?
Have they ever posted anything to explain this?
Or is Intel just putting out hardware features that don't mean anything.

Can I get something with just 8 or 4 performance cores and fewer "energy efficient" cores and larger cache per core/core-pair?

 

[bit_user]

Arrow lake is like twice as efficient as anything else at low power

I wouldn't get an AMD chiplet-based Ryzen 7000 or 9000, if I really cared about power-efficiency. They both use the same, inefficient IO die. That's what's keeping them from scaling down well.

I'd be really interested in seeing the same graph with a Ryzen AI Max 395 mini PC.

 

[bit_user]

Can I get something with just 8 or 4 performance cores and fewer "energy efficient" cores and larger cache per core/core-pair?

People who have a LGA1700 and want a modest upgrade for it will have the option to drop in Bartlett Lake. It should have up to 12 Raptor Cove cores on a monolithic die. It should be like what Raptor Lake would've been, if it were P-only.

 

[bit_user]

Also, I wanted to remind folks that Nova Lake will feature APX and AVX10. It also sounds like they'll just go ahead and let us have full AVX-512, too. So, some big ISA extensions on the way!

This is the kind of upgrade I've been waiting for. Even so, I think one compute chiplet will be more than enough for my home needs.

 

[TerryLaze]

Hey anybody, what is Windows even *doing* with the various kinds of cores?
Have they ever posted anything to explain this?
Or is Intel just putting out hardware features that don't mean anything.

Can I get something with just 8 or 4 performance cores and fewer "energy efficient" cores and larger cache per core/core-pair?

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=intel+thread+director
Intel made quite a few videos about how they worked with Microsoft and how it's supposed to work and what it should do.

 

[thestryker]

And it will need its own mini reactor to run.

Nobody who needs that level of compute will even remotely care if it takes more power to run full tilt as long as they maintain efficiency scaling across workloads like ARL. Something like a 350W stock maximum on the two Compute Tile SKUs wouldn't even make me blink.

 

[wussupi83]

If they add all those cores without a major TDP increase, it would be impressive. Also If they get a 52 core CPU down in the consumer model lineup and cost structure, it would be a game changer. At least for productivity workloads.

 

[Konomi]

Are there alt of instances of Integrated memory controllers failing due to high speed memory? Just asking, because I don't know the answer to that question.

AFAIK, there's not been any "direct" failures from running at such speeds, just various compatibility issues when running at either very high speeds or attempting to use large capacity configurations - mainly over on AMD. Still a concern however, especially if they end up pushing unnecessary extra voltage for the sake of achieving stability at those speeds.

 

[tamalero]

I assume this is for battling against threadripper dominance?

I cannot imagine a high end consumer halo having that many cores.

 

[thestryker]

I assume this is for battling against threadripper dominance?

I cannot imagine a high end consumer halo having that many cores.

No it's a consumer part think Ultra 9.

 

[Amdlova]

32 pci-e lanes I'am sold
Will be my next machine

 

[bit_user]

If they add all those cores without a major TDP increase, it would be impressive.

Merely adding cores isn't that hard, from an efficiency perspective. It's also maintaining high all-core clocks that's hard.

At my job, we use 65W-rated i9 CPU's. The all-core clock speeds suffer massively, once they're done turbo-boosting and actually limited to 65 W. I found the all-core clock speeds, while boosting, are 43% higher for P-cores and 31% higher for E-cores than when the boost period expires and they're only running at 65W. I know I can manually override the power limits, but the machine's cooling solution isn't capable of sustaining a lot more than 65W and the CPU can even hit its thermal limit before it exceeds the boost time limit.

That's a lot of performance left on the table and it helps explain why Xeon W's and ThreadRippers have such high TDPs, even for some of the lower core-count models.

Also If they get a 52 core CPU down in the consumer model lineup and cost structure, it would be a game changer. At least for productivity workloads.

It's 16 P-cores + 32 E-cores (+ 4 LPE cores) with no hyperthreading, though. Also, the dual-channel memory subsystem is going to be a limitation. For some people even current-model ThreadRippers or Xeon W's will provide a better option.

I don't mean to sound too negative, but I do expect such a massive core count will be an awkward fit. Hard to feed, hard to cool, and power-hungry. I have high hopes for the 8P + 16E version, but I predict that the 16P + 32E model is going to be causing headaches for a lot of system builders and DIYers.

 

[thestryker]

32 pci-e lanes I'am sold
Will be my next machine

It's not. The headline is misleading so you have to read the entire article to get to the real information:

Furthermore, Intel's Nova Lake CPUs will feature 24 PCIe 5.0 lanes: x16 lanes for graphics cards (which can be bifurcated to two x8 or to four x4 lanes) as well as two x4 lanes for SSDs. In addition, the chipset will support eight PCIe 5.0 lanes and 16 PCIe 4.0 lanes for peripherals, which could enable rather monstrous systems with loads of storage and plenty of add-in cards and accelerators.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

But how likely is it that Intel can launch it without a major issue of some kind? Is the IMC going to crap itself after a few months of running at that DDR5 8000?

Well I guess Panther Lake will be the first major test as that's launching with 18A node very late Q4 and/or Q1 2026.

Honestly I think it'll do well as even Arrow Lake outside gaming is actually a good cpu and for gaming it still smashes my old 5800X which I have no issues with. I desperately need a new laptop and I am keen to see how Panther Lakes compares to Arrow Lake H and Strix Point.

Nova Lake sounds insane, even Ultra 7 with 14+24+4 is nuts, but still Zen 6 with 12 cores ccd's, new IF, massively improved IO die, etc will be out too. 2026 should be an exciting year, so I hope Intel don't have major delays.

 

[-Fran-]

I've been reading good things about Nova Lake, specially on the platform side.

Come on Intel, we need you back in the game.

Regards.

 

[bit_user]

I've been reading good things about Nova Lake, specially on the platform side.

Arrow Lake also sounded good, on paper. Execution is everything.

 

[-Fran-]

Arrow Lake also sounded good, on paper. Execution is everything.

Fair point. They did deliver on the platform though.

And, to be absolutely fair: the only real thing that "sucks" with ARL is the gaming performance. Their weird arrangement of the P and E cores with the BUS was to blame IIRC, but as long as they either fix the arrangement for find a way to make the BUS not get in the way (be the bottleneck), you could say they'll be fixing ARL with NVL.

Regards.

 

[bit_user]

Fair point. They did deliver on the platform though.

And, to be absolutely fair: the only real thing that "sucks" with ARL is the gaming performance.

Almost.

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-com...iting-peak-speeds-to-12gb-s-instead-of-14gb-s
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Not that it's an issue for most users, but it just adds to the litany of flaws with Arrow Lake, its launch, etc.