Intel’s high-end Nova Lake desktop processor reportedly consumes up to 700W under PL4—its stated power draw nearly doubles that of Arrow Lake

The Arrow Lake update slated for March is Intel’s next desktop lineup, but the chipmaker’s real next-generation release will be Nova Lake. Scheduled to launch later this year, it’s expected to introduce major architectural upgrades, such as an increase to 52-core configurations and the addition of big last-level cache (bLLC) that competes with AMD's X3D, according to rumors. Now, a new leak suggests Intel is also preparing to significantly raise the maximum power draw of these chips to 700W.

Trusted source @kopite7kimi notes that the high-end silicon for NVL-K, specifically the unlocked Core Ultra 9 flagship CPU with dual compute tiles, can spike as high as 700W in brief bursts—probably during its PL4 state. That’s power level 4, and it marks the absolute electrical limit for Intel CPUs; it’s the upper bound you’re not meant to reach since it will immediately throttle your processor. PL4 and PL3 aren't enabled out of the box, even for unlocked SKUs.

PL4 isn't something you'd typically run into, but instead acts as a strict power cap to safeguard the processor when you disable power limits in your BIOS—like when using the Intel Extreme Performance profile). The outgoing Core Ultra 9 285K, built on the existing Arrow Lake microarchitecture, has a maximum power limit of 490W. Deliberately driving the chip to that level isn't advisable unless you're serious about extreme overclocking.

In the worst-case scenarios, the CPU may initiate a shutdown to safeguard the system, but it appears Intel is crafting Nova Lake to operate near this limit regardless. We say that because another leaker, Jaykhin, claims that Nova Lake won’t let you compensate for TJMax, the highest safe operating temperature, forcing you to manually push the CPU to run hotter.

TJMax for Arrow Lake is 105 degrees, up from 100 degrees on Raptor Lake, so Nova Lake is likely to hover near this threshold as well. Once TJMax is reached, your CPU begins thermal throttling to reduce its temperature, and you also can’t turn off this behavior in Nova Lake. The "NVL-S" label in the tweet below refers to the entire Nova Lake desktop lineup.

Moreover, Jaykihn notes that Nova Lake can operate even without the performance cores, relying solely on the standard or low-power efficiency cores. We already know this lineup will introduce LP-E cores on desktop, and that they’ll be grouped into a separate low-power island. So, this now appears to confirm that the silicon can clock-gate, cutting off the clock signal to nearly the entire compute complex to conserve power and run cooler during idle periods.

Nova Lake is reportedly available in two configurations: a reduced variant with 28 cores on one compute tile, and a maxed-out 52-core version distributed across two tiles. The latter would be a massive chip featuring 16 P-Cores, 32 E-cores, and 4 LP-E cores, supported by as much as 288 MB of BLLC cache (128 MB per tile). This chip will compete with whatever AMD rolls out as the flagship for its upcoming Zen 6 desktop lineup. When you factor in all of that, a 700W PL4 begins to seem far more reasonable.

Although 700W may seem like a lot for a CPU, it’s important to note that PL4 acts as a strict power cap and is turned off by default. The key figures are PL1 and PL2, denoting sustained and burst power, respectively.

Earlier leaks suggested that Nova Lake mobile could be limited to a single compute tile, and prior to that, whispers circulated about a wild Strix Halo rival named "Nova Lake-AX,", though those have since faded. We understand that this family will launch on the new LGA 1954 socket, which is backwards compatible for CPU coolers with LGA 1851 support. That platform will bring 900-series motherboards as well, with rumors pointing to a release in late 2026.

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