Intel Nova Lake: CPU with cache as an answer to AMD X3D

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Intel Nova Lake CPU

Nova Lake is set to be Intel next all-new desktop CPU and there are indications that they will come with a large L3 cache as an X3D counterpart.

While a mini-refresh of Arrow Lake as a  Ultra Core 300 is still possible before Nova Lake, the next completely new desktop CPU generation is to be installed on a new socket as the designated Ultra Core 400 series, whereby a tape-out is also said to have already taken place. However, as Videocardz reports, Nova Lake could also become the Core Ultra 300 and bring with it a significant change that Intel could continue to bring in gaming CPUs.

According to rumors, Intel is considering the introduction of CPU variants with a large cache, similar to the AMD 3D-V-Cache product line. At the moment, it is still unclear whether the so-called "Big Last-level Cache" (bLLC) will be a new, separately placed CPU tile or rather integrated into the base tile, but in any case, the cache size is expected to increase significantly. The latest speculations assume up to 144 MiB of L3 cache, which is more than AMD's Ryzen 9 9950X3D, which has 128 MiB of combined L3 cache.

Intel Nova Lake: P and E cores and not entirely bLLC

In contrast to AMD, however, Intel should not use fully-fledged CPU cores all the time, but should continue to rely on P and E cores as usual. Nova Lake is expected to include configurations of 16P/32E, 8P/16E and 8P/12E, with only the last two variants using the bLLC configuration. According to X-user @OneRaichu, known for his Intel leaks, the 8P/16E model should be launched first, while the 16P/ 32E variant should follow later.

The also well-known Dataminer @Haze2K1 also recently named two BLLC variants: 8P/16E and 8P/12E. Both are also said to have 4 LP cores and a TDP of 125 W, which according to the report is typical for Core-K CPUs aimed at enthusiasts and gamers. However, there should not yet be any information about the cache size of the standard Nova lakes and how the bLLC is divided. For comparison, Arrow Lake is called, where there is a maximum of 36 MiB of L3 cache, which are distributed over 12 segments 3 MiB. However, it is expected that the cache sizes will increase overall.