Several parts of Intel’s forthcoming Nova Lake platform have been rubber-stamped by USB and PCIe standards bodies, suggesting the CPU launch is looming. The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) and PCI-SIG have both listed a number of parts of the puzzle now, with several bits appearing recently.
Tech site Tom’s Hardware spotted the entries, matching up device IDs with certifications. Let’s start with the USB-IF entries, which include a Nova Lake-H (mobile) Thunderbolt 5 controller, with device IDs D331 and D333. This has been passed by USB-IF as being compliant with the USB4 80Gbps spec.
There’s also some information on USB support for desktop Nova Lake chipsets. In this case, it’s a simple USB 3.2 Gen2x2 20Gbps controller, with the device ID 6E6E, which has similarly passed muster.
Meanwhile, several parts of Intel’s supporting 900-series chipsets, including PCIe root port device IDs 6E38 and 6E3F, have been listed on the PCI-SIG integrators list since April 2027.
However, an unnamed CPU has also now appeared on the same list, as of August 2027, with several device IDs (D461, D465, and D467-D46A) adding up to a PCIe 5.0 x16 root complex. Could this be a part of Nova Lake too? It looks likely.
Either way, it looks as though there isn’t long to wait before we get our first taste of Intel’s new CPUs. We’ve already spotted several Z990 motherboards in shipping records, and the company has stated the platform will launch on desktop first, rather than servers, which is good news for us.
In the meantime, if you’re looking to upgrade your chip now, check out our guide to buying the best CPU for your needs.
