Nova Lake, the true new generation of processors from the Blues, is set to introduce a new NPU. This would be a generation ahead of the Panther Lake NPU. In fact, we can expect a small performance boost in the field of AI. That’s to be taken with a grain of salt, however.
Nova Lake: a sixth-generation NPU!
Broadly speaking, this news doesn’t come from nowhere, but from a Linux patch. The patch simply introduces the new PCI device ID. It explicitly mentions the addition of the new NPU, which will be present on the new Blues’ CPUs. Likewise, compatibility with previous generations is maintained, so there are no major functional changes:
” Add support for NPU6 generation that will be present on Nova Lake CPUs. As with previous generations, it maintains compatibility so no bigger functional changes. “
What does this mean in concrete terms? For the moment, we don’t really know, since the Blues don’t go into detail. We can reasonably assume that the AI performance of this new NPU will be superior to what’s on offer in Panther Lake. As a reminder, Panther Lake has to make do with a fifth-generation NPU offering 50 TOPS of AI performance. Here, we can hope to go further. In any case, remember that to obtain Microsoft Copilot certification, you need an NPU with at least 40 TOPS.
With this, Nova Lake would bring a massive gain in performance, with some models boasting up to 52 cores. Similarly, it’s not impossible that Intel is preparing a response to AMD’s Ryzen X3D with CPUs featuring an enhanced L3 cache. In short, Intel seems confident in this generation, with its CEO announcing that its CPUs will rival AMD’s… AMD, which has a head start with Zen 5 and its Ryzen 7 9800X3D in PC gaming. In short, 2027 promises to be an exciting year!
