Intel's Nova Lake platform to debut on new LGA 1954 socket, leaked chipset details suggest

Tom's Hardware reports LGA 1851 is at the end of its life with the release of Core Ultra Series 2 processors such as the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus earlier in 2026. Intel chief executive Lip-Bu Tan said earlier this year that Nova Lake is "coming at the end of 2026." Nova Lake is Intel's first big last-level cache design, intended to take on AMD's X3D chips, and the new socket is needed because Nova Lake CPUs bring a significant increase in I/O and power demands.

According to the report, the line-up will consist of five chipsets: enthusiast-class Z990 and Z970, mainstream B960, workstation W980 and Q970. The Z990 is the flagship, offering 12 PCIe 5.0 lanes from the chipset and a DMI Gen5 x4 link to the processor. The Z970 is a cheaper enthusiast option reportedly built on the same silicon as the B960, with CPU multiplier overclocking but no base-clock adjustment.

The chipset package, internally codenamed Nova Point, carries a die roughly 22 per cent smaller than the Z890's but draws more power, which the site says explains Intel's rumoured active-cooling guidelines. The platform's base memory speed rises to DDR5-8000, and memory kits able to run at those speeds cost at least $700, though slower existing DDR5 will work. Nova Lake CPUs are said to offer 36 PCIe 5.0 lanes: 16 for graphics, eight for storage, eight for Thunderbolt 5 controllers and four for the chipset link, with the Z990 adding 12 chipset-side Gen5 lanes. Thunderbolt 5, with speeds of 80 Gbps bidirectional or up to 120 Gbps in single-direction boost mode, is expected to feature on more boards, alongside 2.5 to 5 GbE networking on most boards and Wi-Fi 7 on most SKUs.

Leaks tracked by Tom's Hardware include 24 Gigabyte boards listed in the Eurasian Economic Union database, spanning the flagship Aorus Xtreme and Master lines, Pro, Elite, Stealth rear-connect, Eagle and Duo X models, and six ASRock models from shipping records, from the Taichi and Taichi Creator down to the Challenger and Pro RS Wi-Fi. ASRock's initial list shows no Micro ATX, Mini-ITX, Z970 or B960 models, while Asus and MSI have yet to surface in leaks, though the site expects both to have full ranges.

Tom's Hardware cautions that most of the information comes from leaks and rumours, that no firm launch date has been confirmed and that details could change before the CPUs arrive, expected in early 2027. Motherboard pricing has not been listed; the site says most SKUs will likely cost more or, at best, match previous-generation models, and advises anyone with a capable system to wait for official line-ups, performance and pricing before upgrading.