Intel is reportedly shifting to four-digit numbers for its Nova Lake CPU model names, with a claimed photo of CPU-Z showing a Core Ultra 9 4950K model. What’s more, there are also some claims of performance for the new chip. However, bear in mind that this is all very much in the leaks and rumours file at the moment, and the CPU-Z photo looks highly suspect to us, so take it with a grain of salt. The name, however, has now been backed up by multiple leakers.
The aforementioned CPU-Z photo was shared in snippet form by tech leaker LC Tech Leaks on X. It shows a chip apparently produced using Intel’s 18A manufacturing process, and called Intel?Core?Ultra 9 4950K. According to LC Tech Leaks, the chip has eight P-Cores and 20 E-Cores, making for a total of 28 cores.
That core configuration has already been seen in previous Nova Lake leaks, for Core Ultra chips with the P2K and P2D codenames. These models are expected to be built with a single-die package, while the rumoured 52-core and 44-core models are likely to use dual-die configurations.
LC Tech Leaks also made some claims about performance using the built-in CPU-Z benchmark, with a core near 1,000 for single-threaded and near 20,000 for multi-threaded. If that’s true, it’s a fast chip indeed. As a point of comparison, a Ryzen 9 9950X3D scores around 17,500 in the multi-threaded test, and 911 in the single-threaded benchmark.
While that screenshot photo looks pretty dodgy, and would also be easy to fake, several leakers have now clarified that the Core Ultra 9 4950K name is genuine. One of them is regular, and often accurate, Intel leaker Jaykihn, answered another X user who asked about the four-digit 4950K model name and if it was true. “Yes,” replied Jaykihn.
Similarly, VideoCardz has screenshotted a post by regular tech leaker Golden Pig Upgrade Pack, who has also confirmed the new naming strategy will apply to Intel’s mobile Core Ultra 4 HX-series mobile chips as well. “There are just too many SKUs; 3-digit numbers aren’t enough,” is their explanation.
Basically, while I’m not convinced by the CPU-Z photo, it looks as though the name could be legitimate. That’s an interesting decision, if true, as it would mean Intel’s Nova Lake CPUs will have the same numbering scheme as the company’s 2013 Haswell series of chips, such as the Core i7-4790K.
As always with rumour stories, we won’t know any of these details for sure until Intel officially lifts the lid on its Nova Lake desktop CPUs. What we do now know for sure is that Nova Lake is leading on desktop, rather than servers. In the meantime, check out our guide to buying the best CPU if you’re looking for a processor upgrade.
