Intel starts shipping Nova Lake CPU Samples – Huge gains expected
Leaker expects Intel Nova Lake to dominate AMD’s Zen 6
Rumour has it that Intel has begun shipping engineering samples of the Nova Lake CPU models, a major step towards the release of Intel’s next-generation desktop processors. According to the leaker SiliconFly, Intel plans to deliver major performance gains across the board, addressing Arrow Lake’s shortcomings while advancing in other areas.
“Against NVL (Nova Lake) 52C, Zen 6 is literally screwed”, the leaker claims. That said, AMD’s Zen 6 desktop flagship is expected to feature up to 24 cores (based on leaked specifications). If Intel couldn’t beat AMD with double the core count, that would be a huge problem.
Big changes are coming with Nova Lake
Aside from Nova Lake’s maximum core count, Intel’s new CPU designs are expected to ship with new features like AVX 10.2 and APX. Nova Lake is also expected to deliver increased single-threaded CPU performance and ship with a large “bLLC” cache. SiliconFly estimates that Intel will deliver an “around 1.2x” increase in single-threaded performance. They also estimate that multi-threaded performance will increase by 1.8x-2x. However, it is worth remembering that Nova Lake’s flagship will have more than 2x as many cores as Intel’s Arrow Lake flagship.
Intel is also expected to improve its fabric speeds and memory controller speeds with Nova Lake. Fabric speeds are one of the areas where Intel’s Arrow Lake CPUs failed to impress, though their new Arrow Lake PLUS series CPUs mitigated these issues with faster fabrics. Nova Lake is expected to further increase fabric speeds to lower chiplet latencies and boost overall CPU performance. When combined with Intel’s “bLLC” cache CPU options, Nova Lake should deliver excellent gaming performance.
Interesting news!!! NVL ES starts shipping! And the ST perf of 52C is around 1.2X at least due to +IPC, bLLC, AVX10.2 & APX (1.3X being optimistic). MT perf is expected to be around 1.8X to 2.0X.
This kinda perf with new features + bLLC kinda puts a serious damper on the… pic.twitter.com/kb1yjOJOmB
— SiliconFly (@Silicon_Fly) May 18, 2026
There’s more to CPUs than a flagship vs flagship battle
On paper, Intel’s Nova Lake desktop flagship should smash AMD’s Zen 6 desktop flagship, at least in multi-threaded workloads. Having more than 2x as many cores will do that. That said, there is more to the CPU wars than raw core counts. After all, not everyone wants extremely high core counts; they want the best performance for their workloads. There’s a reason why AMD’s Ryzen 9 9800X3D is popular amongst gamers. Yes, other CPUs feature more cores, but in games, that doesn’t matter as much. For games, cache is king.
It also remains to be seen how much AMD and Intel’s flagship CPUs will cost. Intel’s Nova Lake flagship will likely reform the “HEDT” (High-End Desktop) PC category, and cost much more than AMD’s Zen 6 desktop flagship. Intel’s top Nova Lake CPUs could bridge the gap between AMD’s Zen 6 desktop and Threadripper series CPUs, creating a solid middle ground for workstation users.
AMD’s Zen 6 flagship is unlikely to be seen as a competitor to Intel’s top Nova Lake CPU. Pricing should be wildly different. Furthermore, it remains to be seen how these CPUs will compare in gaming workloads and in terms of single-threaded performance. With “bLLC”, Intel finally has an answer to AMD’s “X3D” gaming CPUs. With faster fabric speeds and technologies like “IBOT“, Intel is serious about retaking the “gaming crown”.
If nothing else, the battle between Intel Nova Lake and AMD Zen 6 will be an interesting one. While SiliconFly is convinced that Intel will win, there’s more to this battle than core counts alone. Both CPU makers are planning major design changes, and it remains to be seen whether they can deliver on their ambitions.
You can join the discussion on Intel’s Nova Lake CPUs on the OC3D Forums.
