Intel's 11th generation Core "Rocket Lake-S" desktop processor is fascinating as it introduces Intel's first CPU core IPC uptick in about half a decade. Until now, it was rumored that "Rocket Lake-S" features a back-port of Intel's "Willow Cove" CPU cores to the 14 nm silicon fabrication process. It turns out that Intel doesn't want to call these cores "Willow Cove," which make their debut with the 10 nm+ "Tiger Lake" mobile processors later this Summer. Enter "Cypress Cove." A Moore's Law is Dead video presentation sheds light on this mysterious new codename.

Apparently, "Cypress Cove" is the codename Intel is using to refer to the CPU cores Intel is building with its latest CPU core IP on older 14 nm process. Owing to the process, the IPC of these cores may be different from the "Willow Cove" cores on "Tiger Lake," and to avoid confusion, Intel possibly choosing to give it a different internal codename. In other words, Moore's Law is Dead believes that "Cypress Cove" may not offer the alleged 25% IPC gains over "Skylake" that you could expect instead from "Willow Cove" cores in "Tiger Lake."The maximum core count of "Rocket Lake-S" is swinging between 8 and 10, although more sources lean toward 8 than 10. Taking advantage of the increase power budget of the desktop platform, "Cypress Cove" cores could be clocked a lot higher than "Willow Cove" cores on mobile chips such as "Tiger Lake." Next up, while "Rocket Lake-S" is expected to feature Gen12 Xe graphics, it could have a lower execution unit (EU) count than "Tiger Lake," which has 96 of them. Sources of Moore's Law is Dead reinforce the theory from last week of "Rocket Lake-S" being a multi-chip module of CPU cores sitting on a 14 nm die, and the iGPU along with other uncore components on a separate 10 nm die.

Sources tell Moore's Law is Dead that "Rocket Lake-S" is heading toward either a Q4-2020 or Q1-2021 launch, although they lean towards the latter. Find other fascinating insights in the source link below.