Make way for Intel Core Ultra X, the rumored next-gen gaming CPU lineup

How do you go one step further from putting "Ultra" in your product's name? If the latest Intel rumor is to be believed, it's by adding an "X" after it. The company is reportedly planning to introduce another tier to its gaming CPU branding that sits above the current Ultra range, specifically aimed at gamers and power users, with a new lineup of Intel Core Ultra X CPUs.

It's not yet clear whether this rumored new Intel branding will apply to both laptop and desktop CPUs, or whether we'll start to see it soon with Intel's forthcoming Panther Lake mobile chips, or later with Nova Lake. However, it's possible that the X brand will sit alongside the standard non-X Ultra chips, rather than replacing them.

Introducing a whole new tier could provide an easy way to identify chips with specific features that aren't found in the other chips, such as a powerful integrated GPU or an extra-large cache, as we've seen with the AMD X3D chips that currently dominate our guide to buying the best gaming CPU.

This latest rumor comes from regular tech leaker HXL (9550pro), who posted the new product name on X (formerly Twitter). The post charts the Intel Core branding from the classic Core i3/5/7/9 tiers, through the current Core Ultra 5/7/9 names, and then puts "Core Ultra X5/7/9" at the end, along with an arrow saying "New." What's interesting here is that it looks as though the X isn't just being used for a top-end Core Ultra 9 chip, but could also be featured in lower-end Core Ultra 5 processors.

The post follows on from a story by PC hardware site Indie Kings earlier in September 2025, which stated that Intel's mobile Nova Lake CPU range would feature a Core X9 388H CPU (with no Ultra branding) with a clock speed of up to 5.1GHz, as well as a Core Ultra X7 368H chip that could boost to 5GHz. The site also listed a non-X chip called the Ultra 5 388H.

Meanwhile, an earlier post on X by former IT Home editor realVictor_M stated that an Intel Core Ultra X7 358H was also being planned, with a configuration that leans heavily on iGPU performance and E-Cores, with less of a focus on P-Cores. If that leak is correct, this chip would have four P-Cores, eight E-Cores, four LPE-Cores (low-power efficiency), and 12 Xe3 GPU cores based on Intel's brand-new Celestial GPU architecture.

Intel is expected to lift the lid on its new Panther Lake laptop chips in the next few weeks, so we may get a further glimpse of the new Core Ultra X branding then. In the meantime, check out our guide to buying the best gaming laptop if you're looking to upgrade now.

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