A new rumor suggests that Intel is preparing a lineup of Core Ultra 400K processors with up to 52 cores and 288 MB of bLLC cache. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the rumor mill has picked up its pace recently, with CES 26 being mere weeks away, so the following is likely to be revealed soon. For some time, it has been said that Intel is working on a CPU lineup to compete with AMD’s extremely successful X3D processors. If this latest rumor is accurate, the Core Ultra 400K Nova Lake-S series could be it.
Hardware info leaker Haze2K1 posted specifications for four Nova Lake-S processors ranging from 24 cores to 52 cores, all of which feature Intel’s Big Last Level Cache (bLLC). Intel is using a similar design in providing a large amount of cache to the processor for improved performance.
Nova lake-s with big last level cache:
— Haze (@Haze2K1) December 17, 2025
16p 32e 4lpe
14p 24e 4lpe
8p 16e 4lpe
8p 12e 4lpe
According to VideoCardz and Haze2K1, the above processor specification breaks down as follows:
| Processor | Compute Tile Design | Cores | Big Last Level Cache |
| Core Ultra 9 | Dual | 52 (16P + 32E + 4 LPE) | 288 MB |
| Core Ultra 9 | Dual | 42 (14P + 24E + 4 LPE) | 288 MB |
| Core Ultra 7 | Single | 28 (8P + 16E + 4 LPE) | 144 MB |
| Core Ultra 7 | Singe | 24 (8P + 12E + 4 LPE) | 144 MB |
So, we can see that all of these rumored SKUs utilize 4 Low Power Efficient cores and the Core Ultra 9 tier, with its dual tile design, gets 288 MB bLLC, while the Core Ultra 7 tier, with its single tile design, is halved at 144 MB bLLC. While clock rates and cache memory speeds also play a major factor in performance, at a glance at these specs, it looks like Intel is planning to take AMD head-on with its flagship Core Ultra 400K processors.