A leaked table of seven Intel Nova Lake desktop CPUs shows three chips carrying a "BFC" tag, which outlets read as Intel's name for its big last-level cache, the answer to AMD's X3D parts. A Chiphell user separately posted a Ryzen 9 5900X3D engineering sample, a chip AMD never sold.
Nova Lake list: Intel's cache chips include a 65W Core Ultra 9
The table comes from the LC Tech Leaks account on X, and the leaker Jaykihn added details that Club386 says corroborate it. Intel has not confirmed any of the names or specifications. The lineup runs from the Core Ultra 5 4650KF to the Core Ultra 9 4970K BFC, and the four-digit model numbers match earlier rumors.
The flagship 4970K BFC is listed with 8 P-cores, 16 E-cores and 4 low-power E-cores, 28 cores in total, at 125W. That is well short of the 52-core part earlier rumors described. Tom's Hardware notes that such a model, along with other dual-tile configurations, is expected to follow the main range.
The BFC tag appears on three models: the 4970K BFC, the 4870K BFC (8P + 12E + 4 LPE) and the Core Ultra 9 4900 BFC. The 4900 BFC is the odd one. It has 6 P-cores and 12 E-cores, the same layout as the Core Ultra 5 models, and a 65W TDP against 125W for the rest of the stack. Tom's Hardware reads the missing K suffix and low TDP as a gaming chip aimed at small-form-factor builds, which is an inference from the table, not something Intel has said. There is no Core Ultra 5 BFC.
Every model except the Core Ultra 5 4650KF lists a 32-EU integrated GPU. Club386 puts that at four Xe cores, far below the 96 EUs in top Panther Lake laptop chips, so the iGPU looks aimed at display output, not games. PCMag says the family is expected on a new LGA1954 socket, so it will need new motherboards.
There is no launch date. Tom's Hardware says Intel's CEO confirmed Nova Lake for this year, and notes recent compliance listings for USB and PCIe, so more detail could arrive soon.
A Ryzen 9 5900X3D sample that seems to have cache on one chiplet
AMD showed unreleased dual-CCD Zen 3 X3D chips, the Ryzen 9 5950X3D and 5900X3D, to Gamers Nexus roughly three years ago, according to Wccftech, and the plan was cancelled. Those samples were described with stacked cache on both chiplets, 192 MB of L3 in total.
The sample now on Chiphell reports 128 MB, a 32 MB + 96 MB split that points to a 3D V-Cache die on only one of the two CCDs. Guru3D, citing the forum post and IT Home, lists 12 cores and 24 threads, a 105W TDP and the part code 100-000000652. Wccftech says CPU-Z shows the chip near 4.65 GHz, above the roughly 4.4 GHz it gives for the earlier dual-cache sample, while Guru3D lists a maximum of 4.85 GHz. Those are different readings, a CPU-Z clock and a stated maximum, so the gap is not necessarily a disagreement.
The poster reportedly found that the sample would not boot on the latest UEFI and only ran with an older release using SMU firmware 56.70.0. That fits an early engineering sample, though neither outlet could say why. The sample itself rests on one forum post, and AMD has not commented, so the sample's identity and specifications are unverified.