Intel's next-gen Nova Lake-S desktop CPUs for new LGA 1954 socket, it's upgrade time (again)

Intel is reportedly working on a new LGA 1954 socket that will be used for its next-generation "Nova Lake-S" desktop CPUs, while LGA 1851 will be used for Arrow Lake, and its Arrow Lake Refresh processors.

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In some new listings found in recent shipping manifests at nbd.ltd, we're seeing that Intel is working ona new voltage regulator test tool for the new LGA 1954 socket, confirming what we didn't want to hear: LGA 1700 to LGA 1851 didn't last long, and now an entirely new socket.

This means that Intel's next-gen Nova Lake-S desktop processors requiring an LGA 1954 socket will force users to buy a new motherboard alongside their new Core CPU. If you upgraded to an Intel Core i9-12900K for example, you would've purchased a new LGA 1700 socket-ready motherboard at the time... but let's say you upgraded to a new Core Ultra 9 285K a couple of months ago, you needed a NEW socket again: LGA 1851.

Now... Nova Lake-S needs yet ANOTHER new socket? That's 3 major socket changes in as many generations, compared to AMD and its AM5 socket that has lasted many years now. It's worked across Zen 4 and Zen 5 as well as Ryzen 7000X3D and Ryzen 9000X3D processors, all on the same socket without requiring (forcing) users to upgrade (spend more money).

Intel is reportedly increasing up the core counts on the P-Cores and E-Cores of its next-gen Nova Lake-S desktop CPUs, where we can expect up to 16 P-Cores and up to 32 E-Cores, all on the new LGA 1954 socket in 2026... something Intel seems to be testing right now.

The Core Ultra 300 series "Panther Lake" CPUs will arrive in the near future, meaning Core Ultra 400 series "Nova Lake" will be the naming scheme. We should expect to see the LGA 1954 socket debut with the flagship Core Ultra 9 485K if naming continues on as it is.