Try as Intel might to push core counts and clock speeds ever-higher in order to combat AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology, the likes of Ryzen 9 9950X3D unquestionably rule the roost. However, a recent leak concerning the design of particular Nova Lake CPUs may indicate Team Blue has finally found a way to make its upcoming processors competitive against their cache-rich rivals.
8p, 16e
8p, 12eBoth 4lpe, bLLC, 125w https://t.co/EQo4MiaGpq
— Haze (@Haze2K1) June 17, 2025
X user Haze2K1 shared some specifications of two Nova Lake processors. The leaker claims both chips will feature a 125W TDP, eight performance cores, four low-power efficient cores, differing only in their efficient core count at 16 and 12 a piece. Most interestingly, though, is that they’ll each include ‘bLLC’.
bLLC stands for big Last Line Cache, which effectively describes Intel’s answer to 3D V-Cache. The company hasn’t shared any official details about the technology, but rumours claim it will allow processors to house a far larger pool of L3 cache through an additional tile.
While more cache is welcome, it only matters if the processor wielding is worthwhile. Thankfully, Nova Lake appears to be shaping up to be a welcome upgrade over middling Arrow Lake offerings, such as Core Ultra 9 285K. There’s also no guarantee that this feature will appear on all SKUs, similar to how 3D V-Cache only appears on select models.
In addition to introducing bLLC, Nova Lake should usher in a substantial increase to core counts in addition to platform upgrades. These processors will apparently require a new motherboard, but existing coolers should remain compatible.
Of course, Nova Lake is still at least a year away as Intel prepares to launch Arrow Lake Refresh later in 2025. This means it should launch around the same time as Zen 6, which could prove a beastly adversary if dizzying rumours concerning 6+GHz clock speeds hold true.
Much as I love the Ryzen 7 7800X3D powering my personal system, I’m keen to see Intel bounce back and provide AMD with some proper competition. Although, perhaps we should all be keeping an eye out for Nvidia N1x and look towards a future driven by ARM, not x86.
For more analysis of the latest rumblings and rumours, visit Club386’s Google News page and drop a follow.
