Intel Nova Lake-S Desktop CPU Mass Production Planned for Q4 2026, 52-Core Flagship Delayed to May-September

Intel's Core Ultra 400 series Nova Lake-S desktop CPUs are planned to enter mass production in the fourth quarter of 2026, with the first 28-core version launching in the first quarter of 2027. The 52-core flagship model is delayed to a May-September 2027 release. This timeline aligns with a roadmap leaked in 2025, which set mass production for Q4 2026.

In terms of launch cadence, the 28-core version will hit the market first, while the 52-core flagship is positioned in a new tier above the traditional flagship, targeting HEDT users. On specifications, the top configuration features 16 Coyote Cove cores, 32 Arctic Wolf efficiency cores, and 4 low-power Arctic Wolf cores, totaling 52 cores. Each pair of Coyote Cove cores shares 2MB of L2 cache, and the last-level cache (bLLC) can reach up to 288MB.

For product line segmentation, the Core Ultra 9 400 series tops out at 52 cores, while the Core Ultra 7 400 series has a maximum of 44 cores. The dual-compute-chip CPU has a power draw of up to 474W, requiring three 12V EPS power connectors. On I/O, it supports dual-channel DDR5-8000 memory and provides 24 PCIe 5.0 lanes, with 16 lanes for graphics that can be split into dual x8 or quad x4 configurations, plus two x4 lanes dedicated to SSDs.

For the socket, a new LGA1954 socket paired with the 900 series chipset is adopted, with plans to extend the socket's lifecycle. Nova Lake-S's successors, Razor Lake and Hammer Lake, are planned for after Q4 2027, but no technical details have been disclosed.