Intel is preparing for a major overhaul of its desktop CPU lineup with the forthcoming Nova Lake-S processors, which are set to launch in 2026. Recent shipping manifests and documents reveal that Intel is currently distributing specialized hardware for testing, such as mechanical interposers and re-balling jigs intended for an 888-ball BGA chip—hardware believed to support the next-generation 900-series platform controller hub. These fixtures are used for validating voltage regulation and signal integrity during the assembly process, rather than being full production motherboards.
The Nova Lake-S CPUs will shift from the current LGA-1700 socket to the much larger LGA 1954 socket, supporting up to 1,954 active electrical contacts, potentially surpassing 2,000 pads when including debugging interfaces. This expanded pin count is expected to give Intel greater flexibility for power delivery and input/output enhancements compared to previous generations. The transition also suggests the possibility of a longer-lived platform, though Intel’s typical strategy has seen desktop sockets available for only two generations before another change.
Codenamed NVL-S, Nova Lake will reportedly feature a groundbreaking core configuration: two clusters of eight ´Coyote Cove´ performance cores, 16 ´Arctic Wolf´ efficiency cores, and four ultra-low-power LPE cores on a dedicated system-on-chip tile. This would yield a hybrid 52-core chip, though the final mix is still being optimized by Intel engineers. The accompanying south-bridge chipset is expected to measure roughly 25 × 24 mm, slightly reducing the footprint compared to current designs. Intel is using multiple sizes of jigs for platform validation across various global labs as development progresses. Nova Lake-S is not expected to ship until 2026, as Intel will launch the Arrow Lake Refresh beforehand. It remains unclear whether Nova Lake-S or future successors like ´Razer Lake´ will fully leverage the new socket´s capabilities, but anticipation is building as more technical details emerge over the coming months.
