Intel's upcoming 42-core Nova Lake SKU allegedly upgraded to 44 cores — New config frees up 6P+12E tiles that could trickle down as locked bLLC variants

Intel's upcoming Nova Lake-S desktop CPUs are set to feature configurations with up to 52 cores and 288 MB of bLLC. A 42-core SKU has been upgraded to 44 cores, potentially leading to more powerful variants. These CPUs will be binned from four SKUs with varying core counts and cache sizes. The addition of bLLC to non-K variants could increase competition with AMD's Zen 6 processors. Nova Lake CPUs are expected to have high manufacturing costs due to on-die cache, possibly leading to a new segment of SKUs. The launch of Nova Lake CPUs may be delayed to 2027 due to component shortages.