Intel Nova Lake-S Desktop CPUs are going to rock some impressive iGPU capabilities, with up to 40 Watts being dedicated to graphics alone.
The Intel Nova Lake-S (Core Ultra 400S) Desktop CPU family is expected to feature a powerful iGPU variant. A few months back, we reported that Nova Lake Desktop CPUs would feature a 12XeP iGPU configuration . It was later unveiled that the 12Xe3P iGPU would come in desktop, Edge, and mobile configurations. The Edge configuration would feature just 8 E-Cores , but the desktop variant would come with a higher-end core configuration .
As per the latest information by Jaykihn on X, it looks like we have plenty more information on what this desktop configuration is going to look like.
Starting with the core configuration, the Nova Lake-S SKU with 12 Xe3 iGPUs would feature a 4 P-Core, 8 E-Core, and 4 LP-E core stack. This would yield up to 16 cores and 16 threads. The iGPU is going to feature 12 cores based on the upcoming Xe3P architecture.
Earlier, it was also mentioned that the chip would require 65W for full graphics performance , but now, we know the exact power profile for this specific SKU.
It is stated that the chip itself will feature a base TDP or PL1 of 65W, while the full PL2 is rated at 154W. Based on the PL1 profile, it looks like this chip won't feature an unlocked "K" branding, but its max power profile is close to the 159W peak power of the Core Ultra 5 (Unlocked Series 2) chips. The Non-K Core Ultra 5 (Series 2) chips operate around a max PL profile of 120W.
One reason why the power limit is higher for this particular SKU is the higher-end iGPU core. The 12Xe3P iGPU tile will have a PL2 rating of 40W, and that's just for the GPU. The PL1 should be a bit lower, around 15-25W. But Intel has designed this SKU with maximum graphics performance in mind.
That is the reason why the 12 Xe3P Nova Lake-S SKU will require two dedicated VCCGT phases for the iGPU core. Jaykihn explains that this particular power delivery segment is "notable" since the iGPU performance would be heavily dependent on it, and you will have to ensure a motherboard with proper VCCGT phases is used to access the full potential of this integrated graphics solution.
On a similar topic, the L2 cache count for the 12 Xe3P iGPU is also revealed. Nova Lake's 12 Xe3P iGPUs will feature 20 MB of L2 cache, a 25% boost over Panther Lake's 12 Xe3 iGPUs. There will be many 12 Xe3P configurations across Desktop, Mobile, and Edge segments. It is also revealed that a dual 4 Xe3P iGPU configuration will be featured on certain Nova Lake-H SKUs.
Intel's current Panther Lake "Core Ultra Series 3" family with Xe3 offers phenomenal graphics performance capabilities with 12 Xe3 cores , so 12 Xe3P cores on Nova Lake will be quite a disruptive force. These will also pose a serious challenge to AMD's Ryzen Desktop APU lineup, which carries up to 8 RDNA 3.5 iGPU cores .
These developments on the iGPU front are really exciting to see. Intel has been on the back foot for a while, but their recent entries with Xe2 & Xe3 have been really well against the competition, and Xe3P brings even more enhancements with the new " Celestial " design, so we will see another impressive leap in performance and efficiency moving forward. Nova Lake is currently slated for an early 2027 launch, so stay tuned for more information.
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