Pointing squarely at AMD’s Ryzen range, Intel’s next-generation desktop CPU lineup has leaked, with the Nova Lake-S architecture set to arrive with up to 288MB of L3 cache across a range expected to carry the Core Ultra 400 branding.
That cache figure dwarfs the 36MB found in Intel’s current flagship Core Ultra 9 285K, and comfortably exceeds the 96MB and 192MB L3 totals found in AMD’s Ryzen 7 9850X3D and Ryzen 9 9950X3D, respectively.
The leak originates from X user Jaykihn, an established source of CPU specification information, who confirmed that the flagship Nova Lake-S chip will carry 16 P-Cores, 32 E-Cores, and four LPE-Cores alongside the 288MB L3 cache figure, with LPE-Cores representing a new low-power efficiency core tier introduced specifically with this architecture.
That core configuration marks a substantial step up from the Core Ultra 9 285K’s eight P-Cores and 16 E-Cores, with the addition of LPE-Cores extending the architectural complexity beyond what Intel’s current Arrow Lake desktop lineup offers at any price point.
Cache capacity matters in gaming because processors can access it far faster than system RAM, reducing latency during gameplay in scenarios where data retrieval speed determines frame time consistency, which explains why AMD’s X3D chips have maintained a performance lead in gaming workloads despite competitive core counts from Intel.
Two unnamed chips sitting above the Core Ultra 9 designation in the leaked table carry 52 and 44 total cores respectively, suggesting Intel plans a tiered flagship structure that extends beyond its current naming scheme for the Nova Lake-S generation.
Intel has not confirmed any specifications for the Nova Lake-S lineup, though Computex in early June represents a credible window for an official announcement, with AMD also expected to reveal details of its next-generation Zen 6 architecture at the same event.
