(Image credit: Intel)

As we get closer to the expected launch of Intel's upcoming desktop CPU family, Nova Lake, rumors and leaks about the next-gen lineup are only intensifying. The latest report comes from reliable tipster Jaykihn, who's claiming that a special 16-core Nova Lake-S SKU is in the works featuring an iGPU rocking 12 Xe3P cores. The chip will purportedly require two VccGT VRM phases, pinning it as powerful, high-performance silicon on the graphics front.

The leaker says this SKU will feature 4x Coyote Cove P-cores, 8x Arctic Wolf E-cores, and 4x Arctic Wolf low-power E-cores, totaling out to 16 cores and 16 threads. That means we're looking at a single-tile NVL-S variant, likely without any bLLC (Big Last Level Cache). The iGPU is the focus here, with the touted 12 Xe3P cores being significantly higher than the 2 Xe3 cores rumored for every other Nova Lake desktop CPU.

With 12 Xe3P cores, this rumored SKU would compete with AMD's Ryzen G-series APUs instead of the mainline Ryzen family, and would mark Intel going beyond basic display functionality, giving budget-conscious gamers an affordable entry point to run modern titles. Of course, DDR5 RAM is still overpriced, and integrated graphics are entirely reliant on system memory, so not needing a discrete GPU may not turn out to be as much of a relief.

Panther Lake already debuted Xe3 graphics, showing a truly generational leap in performance. Naturally, Intel will be looking to build on its performance with Xe3P. Nova Lake has been rumored to use a combination of Xe3 and Xe3P so far, reserving the Xe3 architecture for the iGPU while delegating Xe3P to the display engine. Some mobile variants are reported to use Xe3P across both.

Therefore, having 12 Xe3P cores on an NVL-S desktop CPU would be a big deal. It's a rumor reminiscent of the reportedly cancelled Nova Lake-AX lineup that was supposed to pack a whopping 48 Xe3 cores and 28 CPU cores. Perhaps, Intel still wants to explore the high-performance APU segment, but with a more controlled approach that specifically targets the budget market — someone buying a flagship CPU is likely going to pair it with a discrete GPU anyway.

Lastly, prior leaks have teased that Intel is putting bLLC on some of its higher-end Nova Lake SKUs. Since the lineup tops out at 52 cores with dual-tile variants, this 16-core SKU is purely midrange, making it unlikely to carry any extra cache. That being said, bLLC will help extract even more performance out of those integrated graphics. AMD hasn't created an X3D chip with a Ryzen G-series-level iGPU either, so Intel could be the first to leverage this formula.

All of this is speculation, as even Jaykihn calls the leaked specs "preliminary," which means they're subject to change. The uncertainty is only exacerbated by the current global climate. But we know that the Xe3 architecture is impressive; in some cases, it beats the Radeon 890M (inside Ryzen AI 9 HX 370) with 16 RDNA 3.5 CUs. In contrast, AMD has only used a Radeon 860M with 8 CUs for its desktop Ryzen AI 400 APU lineup, so Nova Lake-S has a clear gap waiting for it.

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