Intel will be significantly increasing CPU core counts with its next-generation "Nova Lake" client processor microarchitecture. For the desktop variant, the "Nova Lake-S," this marks a maximum CPU core configuration of 16P+32E+4LPE for an impressive 52 cores per socket. That's 16 "Coyote Cove" P-cores, 32 "Arctic Wolf" E-cores spread across eight E-core clusters; and 4 additional low-power island E-cores based on the same "Arctic Wolf" core design. While the P-cores and E-core clusters share an L3 cache, the LPE cores are not part of the CPU complex, and are located in a low-power island that's part of the SoC region of the chip, an arrangement similar to "Meteor Lake." The top Core Ultra 9 is expected to come with a massive L3 cache of 144 MB, which should benefit gaming workloads.

Intel will give only its top Core Ultra 9 SKUs the maxed out configuration of 16P+32E+4LPE. This chip is expected to come with a processor base power value of 150 W for its unlocked K or KF SKUs. We are now learning what the core configurations of the other brand extensions, 7, 5, and 3, could look like. For the Core Ultra 7 SKUs, Intel is expected to opt for a 14P+24E+4LPE configuration for a total of 42 cores. To do this, the company will disable two P-cores, and two E-core clusters, while also reducing the L3 cache. The top K- and KF-SKUs of Core Ultra 7 are expected to come with the same 150 W processor base power values as the Core Ultra 9 K/KF SKUs.