28 Core Laptops? Intel Nova Lake-HX Leak Puts AMD Zen 6 On Notice

Intel's "HX" processors have, for several generations now, been its top-end laptop silicon. That's because they hold a little secret: they're not really laptop-specific silicon, exactly. Instead, the "HX" processor family is typically a laptop version of the desktop CPUs from the same generation. So it goes that a Core Ultra 9 275HX is basically the same chip as a Core Ultra 9 285K, just tuned for mobile applications. That trend appears to be continuing with Nova Lake, according to the latest leak from reasonably reliable Intel leaker Jaykihn.

Posting on Xwitter as usual, Jaykihn revealed the core counts of Nova Lake-HX configurations. You can read the screenshot below, but for the benefit of those with screen readers, one configuration is apparently "4+8+4+2," while the other is "8+16+4+2". Those numbers should be read as Coyote Cove P-core count, Arctic Wolf E-core and LP E-core count, and then Xe3-LPG GPU core count. The E-cores and LP E-cores differ primarily by clock and location; the E-cores live on the Compute tile with the P-cores (and share L3 cache), while the LP E-cores live on the SoC tile.


You might be thinking, "but, Nova Lake is going to have 52 CPU cores, right?" Well, yes, in the top-end desktop configuration. However, the "8+16+4+2" configuration exactly matches the desktop Nova Lake-S in its "1 compute tile" configuration. Most likely, the configuration with two compute tiles won't come to mobile simply because it is too power-thirsty; early rumors put those chips at peak power draw of over 700 watts, which simply isn't going to fly in a laptop no matter what.

So that gives us one compute tile with eight P-cores and sixteen E-cores, as well as four LP E-cores on the SoC tile, same as the desktop chip. No word on whether there will be a bLLC version for the HX platform, but if such a part materializes, it will likely be a halo product and extremely expensive. However, AMD does ship 3D V-Cache processors for mobile, so if Intel wants to compete in gaming, that might necessarily be the move.


AMD's Zen 6 architecture is well-known to be moving to a twelve-core CCD, meaning that processors based on those CCDs will count cores in twelve-core increments. The company isn't expected to ship a consumer processor with more than two CCDs, so that puts AMD's top-end next-generation mobile offering at a maximum of 24 CPU cores. Now, 24 Zen 6 cores is probably going to outpace Nova Lake's 28-core hybrid configuration, but it's not necessarily clear that AMD will actually ship a 24-core CPU for mobile due to power and thermal limits.

Either way, it's clear that Intel will have the edge in numeric core count if not in actual multi-core performance. Personally, for this enthusiast's money, I'm more interested in the matchup between AMD's upcoming Medusa Point and whatever follow-up to Panther Lake Intel has planned. A handful of CPU cores and a big fat GPU on a single package is simply a more sensible configuration when you're tightly power- and heat-constrained.