Abstract:
The PassMark database recently appeared test records of suspected Intel Nova Lake-S desktop processors. One of the unnamed 28-core samples achieved a single-thread score of 5210 points, slightly higher than the comparison scores of Core Ultra 9 285K, Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Core i9-14900KF. However, these results are from unidentified early samples, and neither testing conditions nor final retail product performance have been confirmed.
The record was discovered by a VideoCardz reader in the "Manage Baselines" function of PerformanceTest 11.1. The processor is marked as "Intel 0000", and the relevant submissions can be traced back to September this year. The single-thread scores of the two 28-core records were 5210 points and 5191 points respectively; among the comparison scores selected by the media, Core Ultra 9 285K was 5059 points, Ryzen 9 9950X3D was 4805 points, and Core i9-14900KF was 4635 points. The Nova Lake samples were ahead by about 3%, 8.4%, and 12.4% respectively.
But the multi-threaded CPU Mark score does not show the same advantage. The sample tops out at 61,509 points, which is lower than the Core Ultra 9 285K's 67,274 points and the Ryzen 9 9950X3D's 72,066 points; it's higher than the Core i9-14900KF's 58,074 points. The highest Memory Mark score of PassMark is 2523.4, which is lower than the 3349.6 of the comparison system. However, this is the result of the whole machine test, and the difference cannot be simply attributed to the processor itself. The sample screenshot also shows about 16GB of memory, a reported frequency of about 3.3GHz, and a turbo clock reading of nearly 4.8GHz.
There are also 8-core records in the same database, with the highest single-thread score of 5085 points, which is slightly higher than the Core Ultra 9 285K comparison score by about 0.5%; however, its CPU Mark scores range from 9004 to 23478 points, which is a big gap, and may reflect inconsistent test conditions or development configurations.
The previously leaked Nova Lake-S product list lists Core Ultra 9 4970K BFC and other models. The high-end model is said to use 8 performance cores, 16 energy-efficiency cores and 4 low-power energy-efficiency cores. BFC may represent a large-capacity last-level cache version. There are also leaks saying that the standard version of 4950K may also include these four low-power energy-efficiency cores, but the specific retail model is not marked in this benchmark, and it is impossible to confirm whether the sample has additional cache.
Nova Lake-S is rumored to use the LGA 1954 socket and 900 series chipset. Intel has previously confirmed that Nova Lake is planned to be launched before the end of 2026. The media generally expects that the first batch of desktop products may be unveiled in early 2027; a dual computing chip version with up to 52 cores is said to be launched later. The above models, core configurations and release time are still to be officially announced by Intel.
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