THE CRUNCH
Intel's upcoming Nova Lake platform is inching closer to reality, with ASRock motherboards now appearing in shipping records. At least five boards have been listed in customs data from Taiwan and Vietnam, including the Challenger WiFi, Pro RS WiFi, Steel Legend WiFi, and two Taichi variants. The Challenger and Pro RS names suggest budget-friendly options for the flagship chipset, while the Taichi boards are expected.
A Gigabyte Z990 motherboard was also spotted at Computex earlier this year, suggesting the platform is further along than some might expect. Intel is rumoured to launch Nova Lake in early 2027, with the flagship 52-core CPU arriving later in the year. The platform will use the new LGA1954 socket and is expected to feature Intel's first CPUs with big last level cache to compete with AMD's X3D chips.