From Building Bricks to Brilliance: Model of Intel Series 3 Processor Steals the Show

The mockup of an actual Intel® Core^™ Ultra Series 3 (code-named Panther Lake) chip even lights up, thanks to 600+ LEDs and complicated circuitry hidden within its LEGO tiles – mimicking the way a real-life Series 3 processor functions.

Since its big reveal on Jan. 5 at Intel’s Tech Showcase, it’s been drawing huge crowds that gape at its size and color.

Press Kit: Intel at CES 2026

Cue a sea of phones and the inevitable selfie moment.

Khoi Nguyen, Intel’s software technical marketing engineer, with an Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processor. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

Teams assemble the full model in preparation for shipping to CES. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

Khoi Nguyen (left) and Zach Hill (right) in Hill's house, preparing to assemble the 42,000-piece CPU model. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

Khoi Nguyen, Intel’s software technical marketing engineer, modified an existing power harness and data line level shifter design so that 600+ LEDs would light up correctly, representing the real-world usage of CPU, NPU or GPU sections of the Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processor. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

Khoi Nguyen (left) and Zach Hill (right), with the fully-assembled 42,000-piece CPU model. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

Khoi Nguyen (left) and Zach Hill (right), with the fully-assembled 42,000-piece CPU model. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

“This CPU brick building model has LED lights that light up its CPU, NPU and GPU tiles based on Windows Task Manager,” explained Khoi Nguyen, mastermind of the unique installation.

Nguyen recruited Zach Hill, a former Intel intern and member of Intel’s Graphics Technical Marketing team who is a longtime LEGO enthusiast.

This is not Hill’s first Intel-centric build.

In 2023, Hill designed a 600-piece Intel® Arc™ A750 GPU. PCGamer called it “a seriously impressive piece of engineering; it even includes moving parts,” with “spinning fans made from steering wheels, with fifteen LEGO meat cleaver pieces clipped onto each of them.”

Nguyen and Hill brainstormed the model, and Hill used LEGO Group’s Bricklink Studio software to create the 3D model. Now, while dreaming up the concept is one feat, putting the literal pieces together – all 42,000 of them – was quite another.

It took Hill weeks to build the set. At first it sprawled across the floor in his house, then had to be moved to his garage because it was hitting the ceiling. (The entire model measures about 8 feet tall and 4 feet wide.)

“For the last 10 days, I have been up until 3 a.m. every night, integrating the model with the electronics for the LEDs. We had to modify and make changes to the building bricks to make space for everything. It’s exhausting but also very rewarding to see it coming together,” shares Nguyen, who also designed the power harness and data line level shifter circuitry so all 600+ LEDs would work correctly.

And teammate Michael Larsen wrote the software that triggers the LEDs to light up in the correct sequence.

“Larsen figured out a way to easily get the NPU utilization represented by using Intel OpenVINO to run the AI model to analyze Windows Task Manager, and pull out the corresponding percentage of utilization, then send the signals to the LEDs on the model,” Nguyen explained.

Hill explains how his life-long love of LEGO began with an early fascination with the building blocks of the universe, and how LEGO bricks – like transistors in modern computers – reflect the expandable, modular nature of atomic and molecular structures.

“Just as LEGO pieces or silicon are meaningless on their own, they come alive when thoughtfully arranged by humans who turn simple components into something powerful, expressive, and unique,” said Hill.

“I'm particularly excited to support the launch of Intel® Core™ Ultra CPUs with this giant LEGO build as it represents the versatility shared by Intel CPUs and LEGO pieces –technological advancements which enable work, play, and interpersonal connection.”

Learn more about Series 3: CES 2026: Intel Core Ultra Series 3 Debut as First Built on Intel 18A - Intel Newsroom