Details about Intel's next-gen Nova Lake CPUs keep leaking — an attempt to establish a timeline based on what we know so far
Over the past two weeks, we've seen an uptick in leaks and rumors about Intel's upcoming Nova Lake CPUs. Here, we piece together what we've heard to try and establish a plausible release timeline.
Intel has been discussing its Nova Lake CPUs for almost two years, with rumors of a 52-core flagship for over a year. Recently, leaks have increased, suggesting Intel is preparing to release this generation of processors. Intel's enthusiast channel VP, Robert Hallock, called Nova Lake one of the most important launches for the company ever.
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan stated that Nova Lake would launch in the second half of 2026, despite expectations of delays or cancellations. Three leaks have been released over the past week and a half, including a screenshot with high-level details about Nova Lake, Z990 motherboards from ASRock, and two Z990 motherboards seen at Computex this year.
It takes about four to six months to develop a motherboard, so Z990 motherboards should be available by October or November, assuming everything goes according to plan. This timeline aligns with Intel's typical desktop CPU release cycle, which is a new generation every fall for the past five years. However, the exact release date for Nova Lake remains uncertain, but the launch is expected soon.
Written by urgent.news from Tom's Hardware's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
