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

 

[Dave2150]

What are the odds that 1851 will carry Nova Lake and another 1-2 generations after that in terms of longevity?
I could make my peace with a z890 platform and a 265k for now until the next gen comes out, but if this is a 1 cpu 1 platform gig then AMD is the only route.

Zero, LGA 1851 is a dead end platform, no new generation or architecture. Best you'll get is a Arrow Lake refresh with +200Mhz clocks.

 

[Dave2150]

Nothing set in stone yet, though the Intel roadmap and focus for the next CPU line up suggests against there being any substantial updates on LGA1851 with the Arrow Lake successor for the same platform cancelled and the features for the next focus almost certainly requiring a new socket.

It is set in stone - Nova Lake physically cannot work on LGA-1851. These new generations and architectures are set in stone years ahead of launch.

 

[Dave2150]

Well, DUH! Arrowlake Refresh would be like fitting new carpets in the Titanic.

It's not a break from tradition, it's the realisation that they released a piece of ****.

I agree, Arrow Lake refresh will be pointless - but Intel will be forced to do it as it's going to be too long a wait for Nova Lake in 2026.

If Arrow Lake refresh (+200Mhz perhaps) gets them 1% closer to Zen5 X3D in benchmarks, they'll do it.

 

[Dave2150]

Latest rumours are that Nova Lake (next gen for desktop following Arrow Lake) will feature 180MB of LLC (Intel 's version of X3D).

If I were Intel, I'd be hoping to release this sooner than the estimated 2026 release date. Letting AMD run wild with 9800X3D until then will seriously hurt their sales.

Intel Nova Lake could be Arrow Lake's succesor on desktop | Club386

Intel’s next consumer desktop architecture will be called Nova Lake as Panther Lake seemingly targets mobile devices only.

www.club386.com

 

[Dave2150]

Arrow Lake was Intel's first attempt at chiplets on desktop. It's not bad for their first attempt - though obviously much inferior to 13th, 14th gen and Zen5/Zen5X3D.

An Arrow Lake refresh is guaranteed, as Intel need to release something 'new' before now and Nova Lake in 2026. So far all rumours point to just a tiny clock speed increase on Arrow Lake though - so no architecture, IPC or cache changes. Nothing exciting, just more of the same turd on a dead end socket.

 

[Dave2150]

Looks like Intel messed up the firmware for Arrow-Lake so performance should improve with a few updates.

Still not an amazing product though and all the hype has gone to AMD so even die hard Intel users are switching - this will probably impact Nova-lake too if Intel don't sort themselves out.

Firmware updates can't fix Arrow-Lake - it'll never out perform 13th/14th gen in gaming, which is one of the most important metrics for consumers.

 

[Dave2150]

Intel pledges to 'fix' Arrow Lake after launch 'didn't go as planned'

Intel vice president Robert Hallock said on Friday that Intel is investigating what went wrong with its Arrow Lake desktop processor launch, and that it would fix it.

www.pcworld.com

Yeah I'm aware of this information from Intel. 13th/14th gen (13900K/S, 14900K/S) will continue to outperform it in games. Arrow Lake is still dead in the water, on a dead end platform.

Nova Lake is Intel's only hope!