Intel Nova Lake tipped to arrive with 144 MB of bLLC

Rumours about Intel's answer to AMD Ryzen X3D CPUs have been picking up steam ahead of Nova Lake's launch next year. Apparently, only the Core Ultra 5 435K (tentative) with 8 P and 12 E-cores would come with bLLC (Big Last Level Cache), Intel's version of 3D V-cache. Prolific Intel leaker Jaykihn has now shed more light on the matter.

Nova Lake will include 144 MB of bLLC. Its implementation could be similar to that of Clearwater Forest server chips, which use a Foveros Direct 3D interconnect. It should allow users to overclock their CPUs because the CPU tile can directly interface with the IHS.

Unfortunately, Intel is not working on a dual-BLLC SKU at the moment. On the other hand, AMD is rumoured to be working on the Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 with a 3D V-cache tile on both CCDs with up to 192 MB of L3 cache. Intel's conservative approach is understandable because Nova Lake is the first consumer-grade CPU to offer the feature.

Performance-wise, Nova Lake is tipped to bring up to a 60% performance uplift over Arrow Lake in multi-threaded applications. It will also be the first Intel desktop platform to come with an integrated NPU and a low-power island with LPE cores, similar to the ones found in Panther Lake.