john_Intel seems to be taking risks that AMD has likely rejected in the past. So, let's see a GPU-powerful APU that isn't also a chip with way too many cores. For 15 years, we've been waiting for a powerful APU paired with a mid-range CPU so someone doesn't have to shell out an insane amount of money to get it. What do I mean 15—for 150 years we've been asking AMD to put its most powerful integrated graphics on a low-cost CPU, but noooooooo. You want a powerful integrated GPU? You'll only find it on the most expensive CPU. You idiots, if I were dropping $300+ on a CPU, do you really think I'd be sticking with integrated graphics?

john_You idiots, if I were dropping $300+ on a CPU, do you really think I'd be sticking with integrated graphics?

docnorthCombined with a dGPU will the CPU be able to use the total PL2 of 154w as usual?

Btw @john_ it seems more like an upper midrange CPU, still very interesting.

john_It might be a 16 core model, but only 4 cores are P cores. Also 4 of the other cores are LPE-Cores. Now in a line up with a maximum number of cores, let's say 24, this could be a mid range model. But in a line up that latter will have models with 52 cores, this should be categorized as a low to mid range model. If it is build entirely at Intel's fabs, I could see it coming at a price of under $200. But because we are talking about multi billion dollar companies trying to make as much profit as possible, Intel could easily disappoint me with a $300 price tag.

AleksandarKAccording to the reliable Intel leaker Jaykihn, Intel's upcoming "Nova Lake-S," featuring 12 Xe3P cores, currently has a Power Limit 2 (PL2) setting of about 40 W. This builds on the previous rumor that this integrated graphics solution will arrive with two VCCGT phases for up to 65 W of power. This SKU includes four P-Cores, eight E-Cores, and four LPE-Cores, along with 12 Xe3P GPU cores. This 4+8+4 CPU core and 12 GPU core configuration is one of the few processors where integrated graphics require two VCCGT phases. In regular SKUs, VCCGT is a single-phase power rail for the integrated graphics inside the processor.

However, we now know that the PL2 setting will only use 40 W, as the 65 W threshold is set for extreme scenarios like PL3, and the graphics processor's PL4 is capped at that 65 W figure. The Xe3P features more microarchitectural changes compared to the Xe3 found in "Panther Lake." If readers recall, a 12 Xe3-core iGPU found in "Panther Lake" has 16 MB of L2 cache, while the Xe3P iGPU dedicated to "Nova Lake" will have a 20 MB L2 cache configuration, a 25% increase. More L2 cache means that some workloads will naturally benefit, but we still don't know preliminary performance. The Xe3P microarchitecture is expected to carry more changes, especially since it has a larger L2 cache.

Depending on the SKU, Intel can include a single compute die for up to 28 cores total or two compute dies for a 52-core CPU SKU. It seems that the single compute die version will arrive first, with the dual compute die variants following. The 28-core "Nova Lake-S" DS version, a new SKU segment, is expected to launch in Q1 of 2027. For the regular overclocking-focused "K" SKUs, Intel reportedly plans an early Q2 launch between March and April. Since this is a single compute die SKU with 16 CPU cores and 12 GPU cores, we can expect to see it possibly within the first wave of the "Nova Lake" releases.