Intel Nova Lake-S 28-Core CPU Leaks With 296W Power Consumption and High Benchmarks

According to reporting from Lente.lv, Intel’s upcoming 28-core Nova Lake-S processor could reach an estimated power consumption of 296W.

Alleged Benchmarks and Naming Shifts for Nova Lake-S

According to hardware leaker LC Tech Leaks, cited by pcgamesn.com, performance benchmarks for a high-end Nova Lake-S processor have surfaced online. The leaked CPU-Z data points to a potential shift in Intel’s naming strategy. Instead of continuing the three-digit model numbers seen in the current Core Ultra generation—such as the Core Ultra 9 285K—the leaked processor is designated as the Intel Core Ultra 9 4950K and features 28 cores.

The same leak claims a single-thread score near 1,000 and a multi-thread score near 20,000. For comparison, pcgamesn.com notes that Intel’s current Arrow Lake-S flagship, the Core Ultra 9 285K, posts single-thread and multi-thread scores of 890 and 18,428 respectively. Both outlets and hardware analysts caution that the benchmarked hardware remains an unfinished example, meaning performance figures may shift before full-scale production begins.

Architectural Upgrades and Power Configurations

According to detailed architectural breakdowns published by wccftech.com, the Nova Lake-S desktop lineup will bring substantial revisions to Intel’s tile configurations and core counts. While top-tier Arrow Lake processors max out at 24 cores, top-end Nova Lake configurations are expected to scale up to 52 cores.

Wccftech.com reports that the lineup will utilize Coyote Cove performance cores and Arctic Wolf efficiency cores. Furthermore, Intel plans to introduce a dual-compute-tile layout alongside a Big Last-Level Cache (bLLC) implementation. This cache strategy serves as an alternative to competing 3D V-Cache designs, with anticipated configurations offering between 144 MB and 288 MB of bLLC cache.

Market Timeline and Consumer Focus

Intel has previously targeted a launch window in the second half of 2026 for the Nova Lake-S generation, according to pcgamesn.com and wccftech.com. Industry watchers note that Nova Lake will debut on consumer desktop chips first, setting it apart from server-variant rollouts.