Intel’s Nova Lake-S chips with up to 144MB Big Last Level Cache
Finally an answer to AMD X3D.
We return to perhaps the most interesting leak when it comes to next-gen desktop series. Although Intel is now preparing to introduce a refresh of Arrow Lake (part of the Core Ultra 200 series), we are already focused on its successor. While we may not be certain about the name, it is safe to assume that this product, arriving nearly a year after Panther Lake, will be called the Core Ultra 400 series.
The interesting part is called bLLC (Big Last Level Cache), also known as large cache. This is a long overdue response to AMD 3D V-Cache, something AMD has been doing since the Ryzen 5000 series and what was perhaps the biggest headache for Intel marketing teams. This large cache has contributed to AMD’s strong gaming performance. Their sub-$500 CPUs easily outperform Intel’s flagship SKUs, which lack such a feature.
The successor to Arrow Lake, codenamed Nova Lake-S, was long rumored to feature bLLC. Some rumors even claimed that it would have over 140 MB of cache, and this has now been confirmed by Jaykihn, who specified that this cache has 144 MB. Previous rumors went as far as to claim that Intel is even working on a dual bLLC variant. According to this leaker, the cache is part of the compute tile, so that would suggest two dies of the same type would have to be used.
AMD Ryzen 3D V-Cache series (L3+X3D)
- ✅Ryzen 5000X3D: 32MB + 64MB
- ✅Ryzen 7000X3D: 32MB + 64MB
- ✅Ryzen 9000X3D: 32MB + 64MB
- ❔Ryzen 10000X3D: 48MB + 96MB
Intel Core Ultra bLLC series:
- ❔Core Ultra 400K: 1x 144MB
Jaykihn says that there is currently no concrete info on a dual bLLC version. However, these rumors emerged just as AMD was rumored to be developing dual X3D Ryzen CPUs, some of which already have a name. We asked a lot about these specs and they are indeed true, however some of this information is quite old (nearly a year) with no recent updates. Therefore, it is not 100% confirmed yet.
Here’s how current rumors look for Intel desktop platform, with updates on GPU and NPU , as covered in previous stories.
| Intel Desktop Platforms Specs (Rumors) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VideoCardz.com | Codename | Socket | CPU Cores | GPU | NPU | BLLC |
| 12th Gen Core Alder Lake-S | Alder Lake-S | LGA-1700 | 16 (8P + 8E) | Xe-LP | ❌ | ❌ |
| 13th Gen Core Raptor Lake-S | Raptor Lake-S | LGA-1700 | 24 (8P + 16E) | Xe-LP | ❌ | ❌ |
| 14th Gen Core Raptor Lake-S Refresh | Raptor Lake-S Refresh | LGA-1700 | 24 (8P + 16E) | Xe-LP | ❌ | ❌ |
| Core (Ultra) 200 Arrow Lake-S | Arrow Lake-S | LGA-1851 | 24 (8P + 16E) | Xe-LPG | NPU3 | ❌ |
| Core (Ultra) 200 Arrow Lake-S Refresh | Arrow Lake-S Refresh | LGA-1851 | 24 (8P + 16E) | Xe-LPG | NPU3 | ❌ |
| Core (Ultra) 400 Nova Lake-S ⬅️ | Nova Lake-S | LGA-1954 | 52 (16P + 32E + 4 LP-E) | Xe3(p)-LPG | NPU6 | ✅ |
Source: Jaykihn
