(Image credit: Intel)

Yesterday, @x86deadandback posted over on X, what appears to be a Nova Lake-S entry tagged as a pre-qualification sample with a surprising 28-core configuration. If accurate, that would mark a sizable jump over the current top Arrow Lake-S and even Raptor Lake-S parts, both capped at 24 cores. For now, take the news with the relevant dosage of salt.

(Image credit: @x86deadandback / X.com)

The manifest simply lists a 28-core Nova Lake-S part. While the document doesn’t break down the core types, earlier Nova Lake mobile leaks pointed to a potential eight P-core, 16 E-core, and four low-power LP-E core configuration, which could carry over to desktop. Though, this is of course unconfirmed.

While Arrow Lake’s Core Ultra 9 285K sticks to the familiar eight P-core, 16 E-core layout, Nova Lake could tack on an additional cluster of efficiency-oriented silicon. The result would be a total of 28 cores (around 36 threads if hyperthreading holds), and a platform shift to a fresh LGA 1954 socket.

This suggests that Intel is moving faster than expected to bulk up its desktop core counts, possibly to counter AMD’s Zen 5-based Ryzen 8000 line-up.
Arrow Lake has been a solid step forward with Lion Cove and Skymont cores, but on paper, its flagship doesn’t dramatically outpace Raptor Lake in raw core/thread counts. Nova Lake, with Coyote Cove and Arctic Wolf cores built on Intel 18A and TSMC’s 2nm process, looks like a genuine leap.

Nova Lake-S vs. Arrow Lake-S vs. Raptor Lake-S

More cores, but the same P-core ceiling

Arrow Lake’s 285K already brings updated Lion Cove P-cores and Skymont E-cores, but its overall positioning feels incremental. Nova Lake’s additional cores, rumored cache upgrades, and next-gen node manufacturing look designed to reclaim ground in multi-threaded workloads, where AMD has pulled ahead.

There are caveats: A 28-core desktop SKU will likely still only carry 8 P-cores, meaning single-threaded gains may come mostly from architectural uplift. And while the leaked TDP tops out around 150 W, Intel’s history suggests final turbo power could creep far higher.

Still, if this manifest holds up, Intel’s 2026 line-up could be a very different beast from what we’ve seen in recent years, with Nova Lake representing a true generational leap.

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