Intel Nova Lake Mobile Leak: HX Series with 28 Cores and Xe3 iGPU

According to recent leaks, Intel's upcoming Nova Lake processors for mobile platforms are set to debut next year, offering multiple variants across the HX, H, and U series. The flagship Nova Lake-HX SKU is expected to feature 28 CPU cores, combining 8 high-performance P-cores, 16 efficiency-focused E-cores, and 4 low-power LP-E cores, along with a 4-core Xe3 iGPU—bringing performance close to that of the Arrow Lake 285HX.

The Nova Lake-H series will target the mainstream segment, with up to 16 CPU cores consisting of 4 P-cores, 8 E-cores, and 4 LP-E cores, paired with up to 12 Xe3 GPU cores. While its configuration resembles earlier leaks of the Panther Lake-H chips, both CPU microarchitecture and GPU design have notable differences.

For the ultra-portable segment, the Nova Lake-U series will scale down to a maximum of 8 cores—4 P-cores and 4 LP-E cores—supported by a 4-core Xe3 iGPU. Entry-level models are expected to offer just 6 CPU cores (2 P-cores and 4 LP-E cores) with a 2-core Xe3 iGPU, serving as the successor to Intel's Wildcat Lake platform and targeting budget laptops that prioritize cost and battery life. If the leaks hold true, all Nova Lake variants will feature 4 LP-E cores as standard.

Under the hood, Nova Lake CPUs will adopt a fresh microarchitecture compared to current Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake chips, with Coyote Cove P-cores, Arctic Wolf E-cores, and LP-E cores based on Skymont. The GPU cores will leverage Intel's Xe3 "Celestial" architecture. Unlike the desktop edition, Nova Lake mobile chips will not use a dual-compute-tile design.

Interestingly, the leak makes no mention of the previously rumored Nova Lake-AX model with up to 48 CPU cores. Earlier reports suggested this variant would share its core architecture with the HX model but employ Intel's second-gen Foveros packaging to stack two compute modules, enabling up to 16 P-cores, 32 E-cores, and 4 LP-E cores, plus 20–24 Xe3 GPU cores. It was also expected to include a dedicated cache module exceeding 100MB of last-level cache, similar to AMD's 3D V-Cache, to benefit both compute and integrated graphics workloads.