Comprehensive Intel Nova Lake desktop leak confirms bLLC on three models

Leaks up until this point have revealed a wealth of information about Intel’s next-gen Core Ultra 400 Nova Lake lineup. For starters, it will compete with AMD’s gaming-focused X3D lineup by offering copious amounts of L3 cache, or bLLC in Intel terms. Next, the top-spec model could come with up to 52 cores and guzzle upwards of 400 Watts under load. But what about the rest of the lineup? We now have our first look at it thanks to Videocardz. 

Nova Lake desktop is confirmed to adopt the Core Ultra 400 moniker, and it will consist of twelve SKUs in total. Of these, three will come with bLLC. The top-spec Core Ultra 9 model will come with 52 CPU cores. The subsequent Core Ultra 7 variant will feature 48 cores, and a third Core Ultra 9 SKU with 22 cores (8+12+4) is also planned. The 52-core and 48-core CPUs have a TDP of 125 Watts, while the 22-core model is limited to 65 Watts. 

There appear to be multiple Core Ultra 7 and Core Ultra 5 SKUs with the same core count but varied TDPs. The higher TDP variants might be the K-branded chips, although there seems to be some confusion around how much power the Core Ultra 5 variant consumes. In a table breaking down power consumption, noted X leaker Jaykihn says the Core Ultra 5 K/KF could either be capped at 65 Watts or go all the way up to 125 Watts.

All Intel Nova Lake desktop CPUs will come with a Thunderbolt 5.0 controller and support for up to two TB5 ports, although they might be restricted to high-end X boards. On the GPU side, they will use a two-core Xe3 iGPU and even throw in a dedicated NPU. The platform will also support two-channel DDR5 RAM and come with 24 PCIe Gen5 lanes.