Intel Nova Lake (16th gen) on next gen platform/socket (LGA-XXXX)

[Dave2150]

"Intel Shakes Up its Roadmap: No Arrow Lake-S Refresh, Nova Lake Takes Center Stage​

A Break from Tradition​

In a surprising move, rumors suggest that Intel may be abandoning its typical “tick-tock” release cycle. Instead of the expected Arrow Lake-S refresh, the company is seemingly set to leapfrog directly to its next-generation Nova Lake CPUs. This decision marks a strategic shift, potentially driven by a desire to deliver more significant performance improvements and focus resources on a truly groundbreaking architecture.

Implications for the Market​

This change in Intel’s roadmap could have several implications for the PC market:

• Shorter LGA1851 Socket Lifespan: Arrow Lake might be the only CPU generation to use this socket, which could impact upgrade plans for users who invested in the new platform.
• Longer Gap between Generations: Skipping the refresh could mean a longer wait for a new major CPU release, potentially giving AMD an advantage in the meantime.
• Focus on Innovation: The move towards Nova Lake signals Intel’s intent to focus on delivering major architectural improvements rather than incremental updates."

Intel Cancels Arrow Lake-S Refresh; Will Go Straight To Nova Lake CPUs - ComputerCity

In a surprising turn of events, Intel has reportedly canceled its plans for an Arrow Lake-S refresh desktop CPU. Instead, the company is shifting its focus to

computercity.com

Intel Nova Lake to succeed Arrow Lake on desktops, Panther Lake reportedly mobile only - VideoCardz.com

Intel Nova Lake to follow Arrow Lake Refresh on desktop Reportedly, there’s no Panther Lake for desktops. The LGA-1851 platform has yet to be released, and potential buyers have a right to know how long it will be supported. At this point, we know that Intel’s new Core Ultra 200 series, based on...

videocardz.com

News is starting to flow for Nova Lake, which will be the next full generation of CPU from Intel following the disappointing Arrow Lake.

Nova Lake is set to be on a brand new platform/socket, meaning LGA-1851 for Arrow Lake will be a one generation only platform. This is due to Meteor Lake being cancelled.

There's a rumour that we'll get an "Arrow Lake Refresh" on LGA-1851 - though this is likely to be a 13900k-14900k or 4700k-4790k 'refresh' with just increased clocks/power consumption, not an actual new generation or new architecture, which is very disappointing.

 

[Dave2150]

Don't think they need to worry about "potentially giving AMD an advantage in the meantime". That ship sailed long ago.

Yeap. I think the 9800X3D and 9950X3D will wear the gaming performance crown for many years. Nova Lake is set for a 2026 launch - that'll probably slip to Q4 2026 knowing Intel.

What a boring few years ahead

 

[Dave2150]

Further rumour information from AI sources:

• Royal Core
  Nova Lake is said to be the first version of Intel's Royal Core project, which will use Rentable Units (RU) instead of hyper-threading. RUs are large performance cores that can be divided into units.
  
  
  
• Architecture
  Nova Lake is rumored to use Intel's Xe4 architecture, codenamed Druid, as well as TSMC's node and Intel's own 14A process technology.
  
  
  
• Release date
  Nova Lake is rumored to be released in 2026. However, Intel may release it earlier if they don't have a new desktop CPU lineup in 2025.
  
  
  

 

[Dave2150]

Dave, Intel hasn't followed it's "tick-tock" cycle since Haswell turned into Broadwell and even that's dubious given how quiet the Broadwell launch was at the time. The last proper "tick-tock" cycle imo was Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge. These days it more tick, tock, tock, tock, tock....and most of those "tocks" are just rebrands with a clock tweak.

Freddie, tick tock