If you thought Intel’s LGA 1851 socket was here to stay, we’ve got bad news — and an even bigger socket. Welcome to LGA 1954, the next platform for Intel’s upcoming Nova Lake-S desktop CPUs, because clearly, two generations on one socket is one too many for Team Blue.
💔 Say Goodbye to LGA 1851 (Before You Even Got Used to It)
Originally rolled out alongside Arrow Lake-S and the so-called Core Ultra Series 2, LGA 1851 had a promising start with support for the new 800-series motherboards. While Arrow Lake didn’t slay dragons in gaming benchmarks, it brought a boost in multi-threading and power efficiency, just enough to keep desktop faithfuls from jumping ship.
But Intel, being Intel, isn’t letting you get too cozy. The Arrow Lake refresh is still on the roadmap — with slight NPU upgrades and other goodies — but after that? LGA 1851 goes the way of the dinosaurs.
🧠 Enter Nova Lake-S: Bigger, Bolder, and Definitely Needing a New Socket
According to shipping manifests spotted on nbd.ltd, the next evolutionary step for Intel CPUs — Nova Lake-S — is already spinning on internal reference platforms built around a new socket: LGA 1954. And it’s not just a name change — this one’s prepping for a serious core explosion.
💥 Rumor Mill Says: Up to 16 P-Cores and 32 E-Cores. On desktop. Yes, you read that right.
This jump is all about scale. Think desktop-level AI muscle, thread-hungry workloads, and possibly a massive push toward Intel’s future-forward hybrid design. You can expect Core Ultra Series 4 branding on Nova Lake-S, and most likely, a 900-series motherboard lineup will be introduced to house the new beast.
🧩 What About Panther Lake & Razer Lake?
Panther Lake, coming first under Core Ultra Series 3, is a mobile-only play. No socket worries there. But the real kicker? Razer Lake, expected to succeed Nova Lake, is also tipped to use the same LGA 1954 socket — so if this holds, you might actually get more than one generation out of it (gasp!).
🛠️ Intel’s Love-Hate Relationship with Compatibility
Let’s not sugarcoat it — switching sockets again isn’t great for consumers, especially those who just bought into LGA 1851 and shiny new 800-series boards. But if Intel’s packing that many cores and next-gen AI accelerators into Nova Lake, maybe a new socket is justified.
Still, this feels like a broken promise for gamers and builders alike. It’s déjà vu, and it’s getting expensive.
TL;DR:
Intel’s Nova Lake-S desktop CPUs are expected to ditch LGA 1851 for a brand-new LGA 1954 socket, launching in the second half of 2026. Expect big gains in core count, AI features, and a fresh platform likely branded as Core Ultra Series 4. Just don’t expect backward compatibility because of Intel.
