Latest news with #LGA1954
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Your Intel CPU Cooler Will Probably Work on Nova Lake
Intel's next-generation Nova Lake desktop processors may use similar socket dimensions as existing Raptor Lake and Arrow Lake CPU sockets, suggesting that coolers should be compatible between generations. This comes despite the new socket, termed LGA 1954, sporting more pins than older LGA 1700 and 1851 standards. AMD's Ryzen CPUs aside, it's been traditional that CPU sockets tend to only last a couple of years or generations, which means anyone upgrading will need a new motherboard. Often, with additional pins on the new design, it required a new physical configuration, too, which meant coolers from the last generation didn't always fit without some kind of additional kit or bracket. But Intel may be looking to continue the bucking of that trend with its new Nova Lake CPUs. Intel made the surprise move to maintain cooler compatibility between its LGA 1700 socket (12th, 13th, 14th Generation CPUs) and LGA 1851 socket (Core Ultra 200). And now the rumors are that it'll do the same with the next-generation socket: LGA 1954. A new motherboard will still be required for the new generation of CPUs, as the LGA 1954 socket will sport over 100 more pins than the older 1851 design. But the specific dimensions of the CPU—45mm x 37.5mm—will remain the same, according to Twitter leaker Ruby_Rapids, allowing for potential cooler compatibility—assuming Intel doesn't change the mounting pin placement for the new socket. It's not yet clear what the additional pins will be used for, but rumors suggest that Nova Lake will be a dramatic revolution of Intel's CPU designs. The flagship chip of its generation will reportedly be the first consumer CPU to break 50 cores, offering 16 Coyote Cove Performance cores and 32 Arctic Wolf efficiency cores, as per Wccftech. It will even have an additional four low-power efficiency cores, giving it potentially unprecedented multitasking capabilities with excellent idle efficiency. Much of its real-world performance could stem from what process node it ends up on, though. Intel may use its own 14A process node, but there's also talk of some of the chip's tiles being based on TSMC's 2nm process. As exciting as all this is, though, it's still a long way off. With a suggested 2026 launch date, Intel will likely remain firmly behind AMD on the gaming front for some time to come. It has yet to provide an adequate answer for the sterling gaming performance of AMD's X3D CPUs.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Yahoo
Intel's next-gen Nova Lake CPUs will seemingly use a new LGA1954 socket
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Shipping documents sourced from purport that Intel might switch to the LGA1954 platform for its next-generation Nova Lake processors on desktop (via Olrak). This is accompanied by PCH tooling likely intended for the 900-series chipsets. Importantly, these listings do not indicate an imminent launch, especially since Nova Lake has officially been confirmed as a 2026 product. Nova Lake is officially a part of Intel's product family, set to supersede Arrow Lake next year. Preliminary silicon configurations allege two clusters of eight Coyote Cove P-cores and 16 Arctic Wolf E-cores, complemented by four Low-Power Efficient (LPE) cores in the SoC Tile, adding up to 52 hybrid cores. Intel's engineers explore numerous design strategies, so whether this ambitious 52-core project will ever see the light of day is unclear. The information within the manifests implies that Intel is actively distributing LGA1954 testing hardware to its global facilities. Specifically, these are not full-fledged motherboards but appear to be some form of a specialized interposer to test voltage regulation for the upcoming platform. Either way, these kits are designated for "NVL-S", the shorthand for Nova Lake Desktop. Image 1 of 2 Image 2 of 2 There are also mentions of reball jigs or reballing stations for an 888-ball BGA chip, measuring 600 mm2 (25mm x 24mm), and these seem to be for Nova Lake's PCH. Existing 800-series chipsets (Z890, B860, and H810) use a package that's around 650 mm2. So, Nova Lake's south bridge might be a tad smaller than Arrow Lake's, but this isn't particularly informative. The limited lifespan of LGA1851 is a letdown, though the rumored Arrow Lake Refresh might offer some solace to enthusiasts who've invested a lot in this platform. Intel platforms typically last for two generations, and while LGA1700 was an exception, the 13th and 14th generations were mere refreshes, using the same process nodes, and (almost) similar architectures, stemming from Alder Lake. LGA1954 will feature 1,954 electrically active landing pads. The total count, including debugging pins, could exceed 2,000, as many sockets feature more pads than their name indicates; a fact that was meticulously confirmed by a manual count of all the pads on an LGA1851 motherboard at an event in Japan. If this leak holds, Nova Lake and possibly even Razer Lake should be compatible with the LGA1954 platform, but the provided details are stretched too thin for us to draw any conclusive statements. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
