Intel Nova Lake CPUs Drop Xe4 Plans, Shift to Xe3 and Xe3P Graphics Setup

Intel is changing direction with its upcoming Nova Lake CPUs, and the latest update confirms the company will not use Xe4 graphics as earlier reports suggested, while instead focusing on a mix of Xe3 and Xe3P architectures that split workloads between graphics and media engines for better efficiency and feature upgrades.

Jaykihn reports that Intel will use its Xe3 “Battlemage” architecture for the main integrated graphics tile in Nova Lake CPUs, while the newer Xe3P “Celestial” architecture will power the display and media engine, which means Intel is separating responsibilities across two GPU designs instead of pushing everything into a single next-gen Xe4 solution.

Xe3 handles graphics, Xe3P upgrades media and display

This setup allows Intel to keep using a stable Xe3 base for graphics workloads while improving video, encoding, and display capabilities through Xe3P, and early details suggest the media engine will bring noticeable improvements compared to current Xe3 designs even if raw GPU performance does not see a major jump.

Intel plans to scale Xe3 cores across different SKUs, with desktop and high-end laptop chips offering up to 2 Xe3 cores while mid-range and lower-power variants can go up to 12 cores, which aligns closely with earlier Panther Lake configurations and shows Intel is focusing more on efficiency and feature balance than pure graphics power.

Nova Lake CPU configurations

Intel has already positioned Xe3P as the successor to its current Arc B-Series graphics, and the company plans to roll it out under a new Arc C-Series branding across both integrated and discrete GPUs, which suggests Nova Lake will act as a transition platform before bigger architectural changes arrive later.