Intel reportedly cans 12Xe choice for Nova Lake-S desktop — gaming APU design mentioned to resurface with Razor Lake

Intel will not launch a Nova Lake-S SKU with 12 Xe3P graphics cores, based on tipster Jaykihn, who initially flagged a beefed-up APU design with the Nova Lake structure. The unique SKU was mentioned to return with 4 P-cores, 8 E-cores, and 4 LPE-cores, together with the 12 Xe3P cores, presumably providing an affordable onramp to a gaming desktop and not using a discrete GPU. Now, the leaker says that design is cancelled, and Intel intends to choose it again up with Razor Lake, the era that may comply with Nova Lake.

Originally, Intel’s 12 Xe3P Nova Lake SKU was mentioned to require 65W of devoted energy to drive the iGPU, necessitating using two VCCGT phases on the motherboard for built-in graphics. Intel’s Arc B390 GPU, which is the 12 Xe3-core mannequin out there in Panther Lake and Arc G-series processors, has a thermal design that may maintain as much as 80W. However, it is presently being utilized in Panther Lake machines and handhelds like MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ which have decrease energy targets.

The Xe3P structure is slotted to be used in Intel’s Crescent Island AI accelerator, but it hasn’t been announced for any other products yet. Xe3P supports a wide deployment of Xe cores (up to 32), a deeper XMX engine with support for low-precision data types like FP8 and FP4, an increased 512KB L1 cache per Xe core, and a new unified L2 cache (32MB on Crescent Island).

Even by desktop APU standards, an 80W iGPU is a beefy accelerator to have on the same package. In addition, Intel’s Nova Lake stack is said to extend up to a 175W TDP with the rumored top-end 52-core SKU, meaning the full 12 Xe3P iGPU would likely only be possible lower down the stack (and maybe only in the 4 + 8 + 4 + 12 Xe design originally suggested).

Earlier in the year, rumors suggested Intel was working on a mobile APU to counter AMD’s Strix/Gorgon Halo products, featuring a large pool of unified memory and a large iGPU, dubbed Nova Lake AX. Now, the rumor mill suggests Intel will recycle the Nova Lake CPU cores for Razor Lake AX on mobile while pushing a larger iGPU.

*Specs rumored, unconfirmed by Intel

Intel has told us that Nova Lake is one of the most important desktop CPU launches for the company ever, following on the heels of the mediocre Arrow Lake rollout. Perhaps the biggest addition to the lineup is rumored to be bLLC, or big last-level cache, which is said to show up on select SKUs to counter AMD’s X3D assault among the best CPUs for gaming. The company has yet to confirm that bLLC is even possible with its current packaging capabilities, though enthusiast channel VP Robert Hallock hinted to Tom’s Hardware that Intel has plans to address X3D in the next generation.

The main stack is rumored to climb up to 28 cores, with two additional dual-tile SKUs that can go as high as 52 cores. The dual-tile models look like a bid for HEDT, perhaps competing with AMD’s Threadripper CPUs, though it’s not clear how Intel will position its dual-tile models yet.

Earlier this month, a leaked slide gave us a glimpse into Intel’s launch plans for Nova Lake. The slide suggested Intel will announce the main stack (up to 28 cores) in Q4 of this year, with the chips arriving in Q1 2027. Intel will apparently follow up later in the year with the 52-core model. This aligns with what we’ve heard from our sources about Intel’s Nova Lake rollout.

Alongside Nova Lake, Intel will introduce the new LGA1954 socket, along with the flagship Z990 chipset. We’ve already seen multiple Z990 motherboards in the flesh, suggesting Intel is preparing for a Nova Lake release in short order.

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