Panther Lake: 180 TOPS, Nova Lake: 52 CPU Cores

According to Wccftech, Intel's upcoming Panther Lake platform, expected to launch in the second half of this year, will integrate the latest NPU core, "NPU5," offering AI computing power ranging from 18 to 50 TOPS, depending on the configuration (1-3 Tile). This platform, potentially branded as the Core Ultra 300 series, is set to revolutionize the laptop market. Additionally, the Nova Lake platform, designed for both mobile and desktop applications and slated for release in 2026, will incorporate the next-gen "NPU6" core, delivering up to 75 TOPS in a 4-Tile design.

Intel's Lunar Lake CPU, launched last year, featured the "NPU4" core, equipped with up to six Neural Compute Engines, 12 enhanced SHAVE digital signal processors (DSPs), and 9MB of cache. It supported both INT8 and FP16 precision, offering 48 TOPS in AI performance when combined with the CPU and GPU, delivering a total of 120 TOPS.

Leaked details for Panther Lake and Nova Lake suggest significant upgrades in processing capabilities. Panther Lake will feature up to 16 CPU cores and 12 GPU cores, while Nova Lake will push the boundaries with up to 56 CPU cores.

Specifically, Panther Lake will include several configurations:

· Panther Lake-H SKU #1: 4P + 8E + 4LPE + 12 Xe3 iGPU (with LPDDR5X memory ? and 180 TOPS)

· Panther Lake-H SKU #2: 4P + 8E + 4LPE + 4 Xe3 iGPU (with LPDDR5X/DDR5 memory ? and 100 TOPS)

· Panther Lake-H SKU #3: 4P + 0E + 4LPE + 4 Xe3 iGPU (with LPDDR5X/DDR5 memory ? and 100 TOPS)

These configurations reflect the combined AI computing power of the CPU, GPU, and NPU, with the high-end Panther Lake-H SKU achieving up to 180 TOPS, including 10 TOPS from the CPU, 50 TOPS from the NPU5, and 120 TOPS from the Xe3 GPU. Other configurations also support AI workloads with up to 100 TOPS. All Panther Lake chips will feature four Thunderbolt 4 outputs.

Additionally, Intel will introduce a budget-friendly lineup under the "Wildcat Lake" series, designed for entry-level laptops, with a configuration of 2 P-Cores, 0 E-Cores, and 4 LPE cores, offering up to 40 TOPS, 2 Xe3 iGPU cores, and support for Thunderbolt 4. The Panther Lake-H series will be designed for a 15-45W TDP.

In terms of memory support, Panther Lake-H CPUs will be compatible with LPDDR5X (6800/7467/8533 MT/s) and DDR5 (6400/7200 MT/s), while Wildcat Lake will support LPDDR5X (6800 MT/s) and DDR5 (6400 MT/s). Some SKUs will also offer LPCAMM2 support. Panther Lake-H CPUs will also feature support for Thunderbolt 5.0 via a discrete PCH controller.

Intel's Panther Lake CPUs are confirmed to launch in the second half of 2025, marking the first series to adopt Intel's 18A process node. With a tiled architecture, these processors will introduce significant updates, including new Cougar Cove P-Cores and updated Skymont E-Cores.

As for Nova Lake, Intel's desktop CPUs will offer configurations up to 52 cores and 144MB of cache. The initial Nova Lake silicon will include:

· Nova Lake SKU #1: 52 cores (16 P-Cores + 32 E-Cores + 4 LPE cores)

· Nova Lake SKU #2: 28 cores (8 P-Cores + 16 E-Cores + 4 LPE cores)

· Nova Lake SKU #3: 16 cores (4 P-Cores + 8 E-Cores + 4 LPE cores)

The highest-end SKU will feature two compute tiles, with each CPU tile containing 8 Coyote Cove-based P-Cores and 16 Arctic Wolf-based E-Cores, along with 4 Arctic Wolf LPE cores on the low-power tile. With a total of 52 cores, this configuration will far surpass the 24 cores offered by Intel's Raptor Lake and Arrow Lake CPUs. It remains to be seen whether Intel will reintroduce hyper-threading for desktop variants. However, the 52-core configuration still offers a significant leap in processing power. Early configurations will include 16P + 32E + 4LPE (52 cores), 8P + 16E + 4LPE (28 cores), and 4P + 8E + 4LPE (16 cores).

Intel's new interconnect methods and advanced packaging technologies, possibly incorporating Foveros and EMIB, will be key to efficiently managing the thread scheduling of this dual-CPU tile design. The Nova Lake CPU series will support AVX10.2 and APX instructions and is expected to deliver outstanding performance for both desktop and mobility platforms.