Intel Nova Lake CPUs might necessitate new motherboards featuring the LGA 1954 socket.

      Intel's upcoming Nova Lake-S desktop CPUs, slated for release in 2026, are expected to feature a new LGA 1954 socket, indicating yet another shift in the company's consumer platform. Leaked shipping manifests and documentation from NBD.ltd, shared by VideoCardz, suggest that Intel has begun sending out early test kits marked "NVL-S," implying that motherboard manufacturers and partners are gearing up for the next generation of CPUs.

      The new LGA 1954 socket will have 1,954 electrically active contact pins, a significant increase from the current LGA 1851 socket utilized by Arrow Lake desktop CPUs. The total pin count may surpass 2,000 when accounting for debugging or non-functional pins, and the larger socket is expected to support new I/O capabilities, enhanced power delivery, and more sophisticated chiplet designs.

      Intel has yet to confirm any specifications, but this transition indicates that users upgrading to Arrow Lake may require a new motherboard when Nova Lake launches. This could disappoint enthusiasts who anticipated that the LGA 1851 socket would sustain multi-generational compatibility, similar to LGA 1700, which supported 12th, 13th, and 14th-generation CPUs.

      While official specifications for the Nova Lake CPUs have not been revealed, early leaks suggest significant design changes. Reports indicate that the flagship Nova Lake processors may feature up to 52 cores, composed of 16 performance cores, 32 efficiency cores, and 4 low power efficiency (LPE) cores. Even lower-end models are expected to include a considerable number of efficiency and LPE cores, with some models possibly featuring only 4 performance cores.

      Additional leaks point to a dual-CCX (core complex) configuration, akin to AMD's chiplet-oriented Ryzen CPUs. This may be complemented by a sizable 144MB L3 cache tile, potentially providing a gaming performance enhancement reminiscent of AMD's 3D V-Cache.

      Regarding core architecture, the performance cores are rumored to utilize Coyote Cove, while the efficiency cores will implement a new Arctic Wolf design, both of which will replace the Cougar Cove and Darkmont cores from the Panther Lake generation.

      There is also speculation regarding the inclusion of an off-die memory controller in Nova Lake, which could introduce additional latency. However, reports indicate that Intel has engineering solutions ready to mitigate any adverse performance effects.

      Though official specifications remain undisclosed, the introduction of the LGA 1954 socket alongside a fully reengineered CPU architecture signals a notable advancement in Intel’s desktop CPU lineup. More information is anticipated as we approach 2026.

      Intel's Arrow Lake CPUs did not make it to the top of our best processors list upon their release this year. Our review of the Core Ultra 9 285K highlighted struggles to compete with last-generation options, especially in gaming, and showed unusual behavior in applications like Premiere Pro. Intel claims to have addressed the issues affecting Arrow Lake, which led to a performance drop of up to 30% compared to its internal testing.

      The company identified five performance issues with Arrow Lake, four of which have now been resolved. Intel asserts that the latest BIOS and Windows updates (more details will follow) will return Arrow Lake processors to their anticipated performance levels, and a new firmware update is expected in January to further enhance performance beyond the baseline Intel initially expected.

      Despite facing challenges, Intel's Arrow Lake CPUs are set to receive valuable improvements. A recent unexpected update provides a significant performance increase specifically for one game. CDProjektRed has released an unanticipated patch for Cyberpunk 2077, which promises to boost in-game performance on Arrow Lake CPUs by up to 33%, a necessary enhancement given the CPUs' prior lackluster gaming performance.

      Intel’s Arrow Lake CPUs have not had a favorable start, as noted in our reviews of the Core Ultra 9 285K and Core Ultra 5 245K. They have fallen short in both productivity and gaming applications and are far from being among the top processors currently available. Intel has acknowledged several problems with the new platform that it aims to address soon.

      In an interview with HotHardware, Intel's Robert Hallock candidly discussed the Arrow Lake launch, stating, "The launch didn't go as planned... we have a number of things we got to go fix." Hallock, who has a background at AMD, holds a significant position within Intel's technical marketing division. Although he did not specify what is wrong with Arrow Lake, he assured that Intel is working on updates that could lead to substantial performance improvements, with these updates arriving in the coming weeks.