Tuesday, April 14th 2026
Intel Prepares "Nova Lake" Desktop APU with 12 Xe3P Cores
Intel's upcoming Core Ultra 400 Series "Nova Lake-S" desktop processors are set to launch in the second half of this year, marking what seems to be the company's most ambitious lineup yet. Recently, new rumors have emerged suggesting that Intel is also working on a "Nova Lake-S" desktop APU featuring 12 Xe3P graphics cores. This configuration is expected to deliver graphics performance similar to the Arc B390 integrated GPU found in "Panther Lake," albeit with a slight twist in the overall GPU core design. We've already covered a recent leak detailing the entire Core Ultra 400 Series "Nova Lake-S" desktop lineup, but it seems Intel is developing and testing more in its labs than initially anticipated. Readers may recall brief rumors about a variant called "Nova Lake-AX," which was rumored to feature a single compute tile with eight "Coyote Cove" P-cores and 16 "Arctic Wolf" E-cores, along with a four-core LPE island, totaling 28 cores. The iGPU configuration for this variant was said to include 48 Xe3 cores, potentially making it one of the most powerful APUs ever.
However, since the "Nova Lake-AX" appears to be on hold, Intel is preparing other solutions with less powerful GPU configurations. According to a post by Jaykihn on X, the new desktop APU would feature four "Coyote Cove" P-cores, eight "Arctic Wolf" E-cores, and four LPE-cores. This 4+8+4 configuration would be paired with 12 Xe3P cores, which are slightly different from the regular Xe3 cores used in the standard "Nova Lake-S" desktop processors. Intel's lineup is becoming somewhat confusing, but it seems the main lineup will consist of standard desktop series split into several SKUs with high core counts and bLLC, or the newly rumored SKU with more Xe3P cores and fewer CPU cores, similar to AMD's Ryzen G-Series of desktop APUs. Do note that the image below is just an illustration, and not the actual render.
Sources:
Jaykihn on X, via VideoCardz
However, since the "Nova Lake-AX" appears to be on hold, Intel is preparing other solutions with less powerful GPU configurations. According to a post by Jaykihn on X, the new desktop APU would feature four "Coyote Cove" P-cores, eight "Arctic Wolf" E-cores, and four LPE-cores. This 4+8+4 configuration would be paired with 12 Xe3P cores, which are slightly different from the regular Xe3 cores used in the standard "Nova Lake-S" desktop processors. Intel's lineup is becoming somewhat confusing, but it seems the main lineup will consist of standard desktop series split into several SKUs with high core counts and bLLC, or the newly rumored SKU with more Xe3P cores and fewer CPU cores, similar to AMD's Ryzen G-Series of desktop APUs. Do note that the image below is just an illustration, and not the actual render.
5 Comments on Intel Prepares "Nova Lake" Desktop APU with 12 Xe3P Cores
AMD needs reminding that there's competition. Sure, they make the ludicriously expensive Strix Halo but you can't get that as an APU. Instead we're stuck with the 12CU of the 780M from 3 years ago.
Technically, AM5 got an RDNA3.5 upgrade in the form of the AI 400 series but they seem to top out at the 860M, and they were OEM only which doesn't really help AM5 users. Realistically, as an AM5 DIY builder, your best option is the rather unimpressive 8700G which is slower than 7000-series Zen4 CPUs for multiple reasons; Half the L3 cache, 8 fewer PCIe lanes which basically means the PCIe slot runs at x8 only, and they use TIM instead of solder to the IHS which means even 65W chips run hot and throttle.
More competition please, AMD's AM5 APUs are dated garbage. Where's the AM5 Zen5/RDNA3.5 product? It has existed as a mobile part for almost 2 years already, and it doesn't need LPDDR5X to work, since Ryzen AI 300 series laptops have used regular DDR5 since June 2024, ffs.
I feel dirty hoping that Intel put pressure on AMD given how dirty Intel have historically played in the CPU market but AMD have truly been lazy and stagnant when it comes to APUs and if Intel winning is what it takes to knock the complacency out of them, so be it!