Intel Arrow Lake is here but already we're considering what's next for the company's desktop-class CPUs. We're set to see an Arrow Lake Refresh of sorts for 2025, but Nova Lake is on the horizon for the following year and it could be a big deal for Intel. There are some things the company simply must get right for the launch to be successful — and for AMD to start feeling the heat.

5 Improve performance across the board

On all core types

Intel is using a hybrid core design for its CPUs, which sees the Core Ultra range have P-cores and E-cores. The P-cores are the most powerful ones and are your "normal" CPU cores. E-cores are slightly less capable yet draw less power. The goal of this approach is to have cores specifically designed for various tasks since a PC has to handle a wide variety.

P-cores are reserved for front-end tasks, which could include gaming, software, and watching a YouTube video. E-cores would handle all background tasks such as programs running a few services as well as software that scale well across multiple cores, or anything else that doesn't require much power from the system. When everything works together with an efficient scheduler, Intel's processors should handle heavy workloads without decimating battery life, but it's also good on desktops.

The company needs to continue improving support on the software side so any performance isn't left on the table. This is something we'll likely see with Nova Lake as Intel works on its current mobile chips, which we're impressed with.

4 Keep temperatures in check

Be more efficient

Intel Meteor Lake was a family of incredibly hot processors. The Intel Core i9-14900KS could melt a planet it ran that hot and sucked a lot of power through the motherboard socket. Even the 14900K wasn't scared of turning everything up to 11. This did mean Intel's desktop processors were incredibly powerful, but you needed a 360mm liquid-cooling loop to handle the sustained heat output. Intel Arrow Lake addressed this with the help of TSMC and its smaller manufacturing process nodes, but Nova Lake needs to continue the charge of efficiency.

AMD did as much with its AMD Ryzen 9000 3D V-Cache CPUs. By making those CPUs more efficient and cooler to run, Intel needs to keep its power draws low whilst ensuring its architecture can provide as much performance per watt as possible to keep up with the competition. Although its mobile chips are performing well, Arrow Lake desktop CPUs weren't anything special. They ran cooler without sacrificing performance, but no reason was provided for PC owners to switch from AMD to Intel. Nova Lake needs to be cooler and ... well, cooler.

3 Offer more bang for your buck

Give us more value

This isn't a cry for Nvidia or AMD to do better with its graphics cards, but Intel has shown us what's possible as an underdog. The company's B series GPUs are excellent for the price. The same needs to be said about Nova Lake processors. We need to see a competitive edge for Intel's next-gen Core Ultra range to offer reasons for people to switch or upgrade. A problem with Intel systems is the lack of lasting socket support. While it's not recommended to upgrade your CPU each generation, this does mean you're almost required to buy a new motherboard.

2 Have an answer for AMD's X3D chips

Need to do more for gaming

Intel is always raving about how good its CPUs perform in games and this was the case with older generations. The company's Core i5 range would often outperform AMD comfortably with the latest PC titles, but Arrow Lake was a letdown for PC gaming. This needs to change as AMD throws out new X3D processors and with productivity chips on the way with 3D V-Cache, Nova Lake needs to land with a bang for gamers. More cache, less power, and higher clock speeds.

As well as improving performance for multiple scenarios, Intel needs to refocus its efforts on gaming. It has the graphics cards available and now we need the CPUs to go alongside them. If you're interested to see how much of an impact AMD's 3D V-Cache makes on gaming, see our AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D review.

1 Support a socket for longer

You did it once already

If you bought a motherboard supporting 12th Gen Intel Core processors, you had ample choice for upgrades. Both 13th and 14th Gen Core CPUs supported the same socket, allowing PC owners to migrate between the generations and upgrade their systems for less. This is something AMD does very well with AM4 and AM5, offering plenty of avenues for systems to be upgraded without needing the motherboard to be replaced, so long as BIOS updates are available, of course.

Longer socket support has been requested for years and I don't believe we'll see the company change direction anytime soon, but it would certainly go a long way to help score some points with the community, especially when AMD makes such a big deal about it during launches.

Intel Nova Lake could be a hit

I like to believe Nova Lake will be a hit when it arrives in 2026. Arrow Lake has been a mixed bag and the company's success in the mobile market will help it transition between desktop generations, but Intel needs to get the launch just right. The company has lost ground against AMD with goodwill and outright performance. AMD's gaming chips are hard to come by and things are only set to get worse for Intel when the Ryzen 9 X3D CPUs come out. Nova Lake needs to be hit for healthy competition and innovation.