image credit: XSA Developers
There’s some interesting news about Intel’s upcoming Nova Lake processors for desktops! According to shipping documents from NBD.ltd (shared by Olrak), Intel could be moving to a new platform called LGA1954 for these next-gen chips, along with what looks like tools for the 900-series chipsets. Just a heads-up, though—this doesn’t mean a launch is happening soon. Nova Lake is confirmed to be a 2026 product, so we’ve still got some time to wait.
Nova Lake is part of Intel’s official lineup, set to take over from Arrow Lake next year. Early details suggest it might have two groups of cores: eight Coyote Cove P-cores and 16 Arctic Wolf E-cores, plus four low-power cores in the SoC Tile, totaling 52 hybrid cores. That sounds impressive, but Intel often tests different designs, so we’re not sure if this 52-core plan will actually happen.
The shipping info also shows Intel is sending out LGA1954 testing hardware to its facilities around the world. These aren’t full motherboards but seem to be a special tool to test voltage regulation for the new platform. They’re labeled for “NVL-S,” which is short for Nova Lake Desktop. There’s also talk of equipment for an 888-ball BGA chip, about 600 mm² in size (25mm x 24mm), likely for Nova Lake’s PCH. For comparison, the current 800-series chipsets (like Z890, B860, and H810) are a bit bigger at 650 mm², so Nova Lake’s south bridge might be slightly smaller—not a huge detail, but worth mentioning.
One downside is the short lifespan of the current LGA1851 platform, which might disappoint some fans who’ve invested in it. Intel usually supports platforms for two generations, though LGA1700 stretched a bit longer with the 13th and 14th generations—basically refreshes of Alder Lake with similar tech. There’s a rumored Arrow Lake Refresh that might give LGA1851 users a little more time with their setup.
The new LGA1954 platform will have 1,954 active pads for connections, though the total might go over 2,000 when you include debugging pins. This was confirmed by someone who manually counted the pads on an LGA1851 motherboard at an event in Japan—pretty thorough! If this info is correct, Nova Lake and maybe even Razer Lake could work with LGA1954, but the details are still a bit too vague to be sure.
