Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan Touts Nova Lake for Desktop Gap
Bu Tan says Nova Lake is on track and expected to bring twice as many design wins as Panther Lake at launch. The lineup is intended to cover high-end desktops…
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan says Nova Lake is on track to fill a gap in the company’s high-end desktop lineup, with the launch expected to bring twice as many design wins as Panther Lake. Intel plans to share more about the processor family at CES in January.
The stakes are significant for Intel’s client business. The company says memory shortages and rising prices hurt the segment in Q3 2026, and it has warned of further declines in coming quarters.
What is Intel planning for Nova Lake?
Tan described Nova Lake as Intel’s first 18A-P client product and said it is tracking ahead of schedule. The planned lineup spans high-end desktop computers to mainstream laptops, with the company expecting the family to help win market share as conditions normalize.
“Nova Lake, our first Intel 18A-P client product, is tracking ahead of schedule, with design wins expecting to be twice those of Panther Lake at launch,” Tan said during Intel’s Q3 2026 earnings call. “We look forward to sharing more at CES in January.”
Intel says the new products are intended to address a hole in its desktop portfolio. Tan said the company has lacked a strong offering for high-end desktops, a segment where it wants to appeal to content creators and enthusiasts.
That gap has practical consequences for buyers choosing performance-focused desktop systems: Intel is positioning Nova Lake as a new option in a tier where it says its existing portfolio has not been enough. The company’s plans also stretch beyond desktops, aiming to cover a broader range of client computers.
How will the launch roll out?
Intel plans to introduce Nova Lake in phases for desktops. The first models are described as single-compute-tile chips, with configurations of up to 28 cores. Dual-compute-tile versions are expected in the latter part of 2027, with up to 52 cores.
The chips are also set to use a new BFC cache solution, which Intel intends to use to compete with AMD’s Ryzen X3D processors. Intel says the Nova Lake family will be built for a new socket, with improved support across multiple CPU generations compared with its predecessors.
Tan said Nova Lake will use Intel’s 18A-P process for the client product, while the compute tile is not the part using that node. Intel used 18A-P to evaluate early samples, while the chips were planned to use TSMC’s N2P process, also identified in the account as the process for AMD’s next-generation Ryzen “Olympic Ridge” CPUs.
Intel’s immediate challenge is arriving with a new desktop range while its client segment faces pressure from memory availability and cost. The company said the DRAM segment is expected to be worse in 2027 than in 2026, adding uncertainty to the outlook for consumer PCs.
Even so, Tan said Intel was enthusiastic about the launch and called Nova Lake the strongest product set the company has had in a long time. Intel expects twice as many design wins as Panther Lake at launch.
