Thursday, November 28th 2019
Intel "Rocket Lake-S" Desktop Processor Comes in Core Counts Up to 8, Gen12 iGPU Included
Intel's 11th generation Core "Rocket Lake-S" desktop processor will come in core-counts only up to 8, even as its predecessor, "Comet Lake-S," goes up to 10. Platform descriptors for Intel's next four microarchitectures surfaced on the web, detailing maximum values of their "S" (mainsteam desktop), "H" (mainstream notebook), "U" (ultrabook), and "Y" (low power portable) flavors. Both "Comet Lake-S" and "Rocket Lake-S" are 14 nm chips. "Comet Lake-S" comes with core counts of up to 10, a TDP of up to 125 Watts, Gen 9LP iGPU with 48 execution units, and native support for up to 128 GB of DDR4-2667.
The "Rocket Lake-S" silicon is interesting. Rumored to be yet another derivative of "Skylake," it features up to 8 CPU cores, the same 125 W maximum TDP, but swanky Gen12 iGPU with 32 execution units. The memory controller is also upgraded, which supports DDR4-2933 natively. There is no "Ice Lake-H" or "Ice Lake-S" in sight (no mainstream notebook or mainstream desktop implementations), ditto "Tiger Lake." For the foreseeable future, Intel will only make quad-core designs of the two 10 nm microarchitectures. "Rocket Lake-S" is slated for 2021 when, hopefully, we'll see Intel escape the 14 nm black hole.
Source:
momomo_us (Twitter)
The "Rocket Lake-S" silicon is interesting. Rumored to be yet another derivative of "Skylake," it features up to 8 CPU cores, the same 125 W maximum TDP, but swanky Gen12 iGPU with 32 execution units. The memory controller is also upgraded, which supports DDR4-2933 natively. There is no "Ice Lake-H" or "Ice Lake-S" in sight (no mainstream notebook or mainstream desktop implementations), ditto "Tiger Lake." For the foreseeable future, Intel will only make quad-core designs of the two 10 nm microarchitectures. "Rocket Lake-S" is slated for 2021 when, hopefully, we'll see Intel escape the 14 nm black hole.
41 Comments on Intel "Rocket Lake-S" Desktop Processor Comes in Core Counts Up to 8, Gen12 iGPU Included
Nobody hope to get a 10nm with 4c at <4ghz in 2021
Intel doesn't have too many options. One of it is very bad, going fabless. Another is to keep working on finding a solution for their problem. Maybe buy some ideas from Samsung foundries.
They can't make more fast cores on 14nm. They work with the technology they have. 8 core processors will remain mainstream for years.
AMD will dominate the high-end and Intel will keep making more money. :)
This information is either incomplete or incorrect. Rest assured, Intel will not replace a lineup with something worse.
Also keep in mind that we don't know if Intel will retain their current product segmentation(OEM, retail, etc.), if they will release a platform consisting of both 10nm and 14nm parts, and when we'll start to see MCM CPUs on the desktop.
Intel will axe 10nm and jump to 7nm probably even at another fab as their own. They don't want to. But they will have to. Meanwhile, they're busy covering their 14nm woes, supply issues, completely uninteresting portfolio, and while they may sell, they won't be extracting fat margins. The clock is ticking, it is a matter of time before Intel makes a move that makes sense.
Quad cores on 10nm are a lost case to begin with, performance isn't really there as clocks are low, nice for low power but never going to be cost effective, Intel's 10nm profit will have to come off enterprise which is also what they said they'd try for 10nm first and foremost and where lower clocks don't hurt. "Just quads' also doesn't mix well with having a product stack where lesser chips can easily move down the stack.
But I'm very glad they managed to upgrade the GPU once again, and it still isn't capable of much beyond the standard fare :p More like Smoking Crater lake Say what now... they've already replaced things with worse alternatives more than once. Forgot about Broadwell's Iris IGPs? Or the QLC 660p versus its predecessors? And if I start digging, I can surely expand the list.
I fail to see how they can replace it with something better when all we have is more of the same, on the same node, with minor IGP bumps. All I really read is another round of creative tweaking of specs and how those are explained to us, and 'benched' by Intel. Because effectively that is what everything post Coffee Lake has been: misdirection, bad information, confusion and vagueness, combined with bad user experiences of hot chips barely doing what they are specced for, while Intel is ready to respond to it with disclaimers "don't OC a K chip"...
Sry man, credit where it is due ;)
They'll make CPUs using 3 different nodes - assigning them for best results. In the same sentence you've called it a lost case and nice for low power. So which one is it?
Why would they not be cost effective? A 4-core mobile SoC is way more expensive (and profitable) than a 4-core desktop one.
Check pricing on Intel ARK. What exactly is it not capable of?
Aside from gaming, which it's not made for. It also can't sing or bring you coffee. You expect too much.
With the GPU Intel is going for OEM I think. Servers? Workstations? I doubt it will be desktops for games maybe much further in the future but I really doubt it.
Watch this. It explains some stuff.
They started making mainstream large-volume SoCs. They work perfectly fine.
Of course they can't make as many 10nm chips as they'd want to, but they need a bit more time to get their 10nm fabs fully operational. But that's really the only issue left.
Intel is currently having more 14nm production lines than ever, with great yields on 14nm++, and even then can't meet the demand from either the consumer market or the enterprise market. This is poor planning from their part, but is in part caused by the delays of 10nm, since this have caused increased pressure on a single node.
We should reserve judgement about Intel's 10nm+ node until it reaches volume production next year. Intel recently claimed the "yields [are] ahead of expectations for client and data-center products". But even if 10nm+ yields are good enough, I'm still wondering if the total volume will still be a restriction, which may lead to having product lineups consisting of both 10nm and 14nm products, especially for OEMs, since the volumes required there are huge. And to make matters worse, Intel have decided to launch their new dedicated GPUs at the worst possible point in time… Well, they can't do much more on 14nm alone, not for the higher performance products anyway.
If they had planned better and at least had Sunny Cove on 14nm as well, it would have helped, but anything beyond 8 cores would still have been bottlenecked by the node. Now you're not even serious any more.
Coffee Lake are excellent chips that have been doing better than expected, especially considering them being an "improvised" backup-plan.
As for 10nm... who knows, a lot of things can happen in the meantime, but I'm not holding my breath. Its not like TSMC and others won't keep at improving their nodes either. Can and does Intel want to keep trailing that, or lead again?
As far as I know and you probably remember earlier this year Intel's CPU supply problem. The problem is with 14nm and yet Intel must fulfill the contracts. Are you sure Intel won't skip the 10nm for desktop? 7nm will start in 2021 and you have to admit we have 2020 already. Roadmaps from Intel show they are still going for 14nm (delay 10nm over an over) and this will happen in the 2020. The 10nm will only be for laptops as it is now and for desktops, if any, another worthless refresh on 14nm node.
I'm sure Intel is planning to ship desktop parts on 10nm. Delays can happen, plans can evolve, but as of right now, that is certainly their plan.
We know Intel recently said 10nm desktop was still on the roadmap, we know Intel has added driver support for 95W Tiger Lake desktop parts, and we know Ice Lake-X exists, so at least something should be coming, unless disaster strikes. And to be clear, this will be late in 2020, not early.
The big question is to what extent will Intel ship 10nm on the desktop. While Intel claims yields are good on 10nm+, production volume may still be an issue. Due to large commitments and strong market demand, Intel may prioritize server and mobile, at the expense of mainstream desktop. We may very well see a mix of 10nm and 14nm desktop parts, I just hope they prioritize well. HEDT should at least be fairly safe, as these use CPUs unsuited for Xeons. 7nm parts will start to ship in the second half of 2021, which is almost two years away, and will not reach high volumes until 7nm+ in 2022, almost three years away. Intel also mentioned this May that 10nm++ is coming in 2021, so this will be the high volume node in 2021. Which roadmaps are you talking about?
I just fail to see why this makes a node faulty... But how do you know that?
Desktop CPUs is not a prioritized segment. They use the 10nm supply they have for CPUs that benefit the most - mobile.
The second segment that should get 10nm are servers, but Intel likely doesn't have the production capabilities to make the switch. There's no point in making 10% of Xeons on 7nm, which on paper will leave them unattractive compared to AMD.
Desktops will be the last to update, IMO likely already to 7nm.
You look for an excuse. Intel claimed there will be 10nm desktop chips. Do you see any? On their press they have said that the 10nm process is still faulty and needs improvement that is why you have 14nm+++ and for the 2020 you will still get 14nm+++ refresh. 10nm is not suitable because the processor they would have released would be nothing in comparison to the competition. Besides.
2020 isn't that far away. We will see if the 10nm desktops CPUs make their way to the market. Yes, and we will have 14nm+++ till then. 10 gen was supposed to be on 10nm. I don't see 10nm for 10the desktop get but 14nm+++. The only thing that is 10nm is laptops. I understand you want Intel to release 10nm for desktops and you want the desktop parts to be awesome, just don't be surprised if it won't happen.
BTW. Intel still has problems with 14nm supply and you expect 10nm desktops to fill the gap?
Not happening bro.