Leaks outline larger Intel Nova Lake 'bLLC' die with added cache

New leaks describe a 'bLLC' Nova Lake die that builds extra last-level cache into the CPU die rather than adding a separate cache slice as AMD does. X-based leaker HXL claims the standard Nova Lake die measures 110 mm2, while the bLLC variant comes in at about 150 mm2; by comparison, an AMD Zen 5 die measures 71 mm2.

Intel's Nova Lake dies are said to contain eight Performance and 16 Efficient cores, while the AMD die has eight standard Zen 5 cores. The Nova Lake die is claimed to be built on TSMC's N2 node, with Zen 5 on TSMC N4. Intel may be farming out production of the larger Nova Lake variants to TSMC while making smaller chips in-house on its new 18A node, a pattern that follows Panther Lake's mix of Intel 3 for smaller iGPUs and TSMC N3 for larger ones.

Current rumours put the bLLC cache at 144 MB, compared with the Ryzen 9800X3D's 64 MB V-cache plus 32 MB on-die.

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