Coolers everywhere beware, as there are fresh whispers on the wind of a power-hungry Intel Nova Lake processor on the horizon. According to a new rumour, an as yet unnamed 28-core CPU will arrive with a eye-wateringly large 296W upper power limit.
This is according to regular hardware leaker Golden Pig Upgrade, who shared the claim on social media site Weibo. The leaker says this 296W reflects the processor’s PL1 (Power Limit 1), which describes the number of watts a chip can draw and sustain for prolonged periods. If true, that would make this Nova Lake CPU more power-hungry than even the Core i9-14900KS, which has a PL1 of 253W.
If its PL1 indeed sits at 296W, the question then becomes how much higher will PL2 be, if at all? It’s entirely possible, like the aforementioned Raptor Lake Refresh flagship, that Intel could simply mirror the values across both power limits. By the same token, there’s every chance we could see power consumption rise via an extreme overclocking profile, which saw the Core i9-14900KS reach 320W.
The original post is implying PL1=PL2. It is technically PL2.
— Jaykihn (@jaykihn0) August 20, 2026
All that said, regular and often reliable Intel leaker jaykihn0 questioned the claim made by Golden Pig Upgrade. In a post on X, jaykihn0 seems to agree that a 296W power limit is in play on one of these Nova Lake chips, but says this value “technically” describes PL2 rather than PL1. This probably means the processor would only be able to draw that many watts for brief periods, with sustained consumption being presumably lower.
Referring back to prior Nova Lake rumours, this 296W processor likely refers to an upcoming Core Ultra 9 model. In addition to 28 cores, this chip will allegedly feature 144MB of cache by way of Intel’s allegedly upcoming Big Last Level Cache technology. While this feature reportedly helps level the playing field with AMD’s X3D CPUs with 3D V-Cache, efficiency remains a concern, as the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D only draws 170W by comparison.
The Nova Lake release date still remains up in the air past a broad 2026 launch window, but I’d imagine we’ll see these processors materialise during CES 2027 at the latest. Excitingly, Intel plans to launch this new architecture on desktop first, so you’ll want to keep your eyes out for any official announcements over the coming months.
For more processor chatter, check out our picks of the best CPUs on the market.
