Intel’s next desktop platform for Nova Lake is starting to take shape, and fresh leaks suggest the high-end Z970 and Z990 chipsets may be more compact, but also slightly more power-hungry than Z890. According to the report, both Z970 and Z990 are expected to use the same PCH design, with the Z990 package allegedly measuring 25 x 24 mm and the die itself around 11.15 x 6.5 mm. That would place the die at roughly 72.5 mm², compared with an estimated 92.9 mm² for Z890, resulting in a claimed die-size reduction of about 22%. The overall package is also said to shrink from 658 mm² to 600 mm². The interesting part is power. Z990 is reportedly rated for up to 14W under peak chipset load, although that figure appears to apply only when the chipset is fully populated with PCIe 5.0 devices. Under more typical conditions, Z990 is listed at 7.9W base power, while Z970 is said to sit at 6.4W. For comparison, Z890 is referenced at 6W. Both new chipsets reportedly carry a TJMax of 113°C, up from 108°C on Z890.
In practice, a single graphics card remains connected directly to the CPU, so it does not load the chipset. The same applies to one PCIe 5.0 SSD on Z970, or up to two PCIe 5.0 SSDs on Z990. The higher PCH draw only becomes relevant once additional Gen5 devices are routed through the chipset, where signal integrity demands increase.
Nova Lake desktop CPUs are expected to move to Intel’s new LGA1954 platform, with early motherboard prototypes already shown behind closed doors around Computex. As always with pre-launch chipset leaks, the details should be treated as unofficial until Intel confirms the platform specifications.
Source: @laurentschoice