If a relatively reliable Intel leaker is to be believed, Nova Lake is set to shake things up quite a bit. Nova Lake-S could combine two distinct architectures to handle graphics operations and display and media management operations respectively. Xe3, codenamed Celestial, will enable the iGPU to handle essential graphics workloads. But the surprise comes from Xe4 (aka Druid), which will handle display and video processing functions such as encoding and decoding. If this approach is confirmed, it only strengthens interest in Nova Lake-S…even if we’ll have to wait until 2026. But it could confirm that Intel is stepping up the pace of modularity in its chip design, taking advantage of the tile concept to mix and match different architectures as required.
It’s surprising to see Xe4 poking its head out so soon, when Xe3 isn’t even up and running yet. The latter should be implemented on Panther Lake at the very end of the year. As Nova Lake-S is intended for desktop PCs, it will in the vast majority of cases be associated with a dedicated graphics card. The use of the Xe4 multimedia engine could give Nova Lake-S a certain advantage by relieving the CPU of its tasks, while offering superior encoding and decoding capabilities.
Nova Lake-S heats us up…let’s hope we can avoid a cold shower!
It’s an additional detail that makes us want to add to the features that are taking shape for Nova Lake-S. This generation should offer up to 52 cores (16P + 32E + 4LPE) featuring the new architectures (Coyote Cove for P-core and Arctic Wolf for E-core). And we’re going to have to be very enthusiastic, since, in keeping with its (bad) habits, Intel will again be changing the socket on its motherboards. So you’re going to have to pay a lot more… even if, on the face of it, you’ll be able to keep your cooling system, which is little consolation . In the meantime, Intel will have to occupy the field. That’s why we’re still waiting to hear about the Arrow Lake-S refresh and the arrival or otherwise of the famous Bartlett Lake. These are two key factors in keeping market share from plummeting. But we don’t have any reliable information at the moment, not even from our contact at Intel, aka Bernardo.
