Noctua confirmed that Intel's upcoming 10th generation Core "Comet Lake-S" processor's LGA1200 CPU socket has an identical cooler compatibility with LGA115x-series sockets, such as LGA1151, LGA1150, LGA1155, and LGA1156. Most of Noctua's LGA115x-compatible coolers will seamlessly fit on LGA1200 motherboards. A selection of Noctua's older coolers can be made compatible for LGA1200 by requesting Noctua for a free NM-i115x upgrade kit. Some of the really old (think pre-Lynnfield) Noctua coolers can be made to support LGA1200, but are not eligible for the free NM-i115x upgrade kit offer. Yet another list of Noctua coolers, such as those tailor-made for SP3, won't support LGA1200 at all, since they don't support the NM-i115x module. The rule of the thumb hence is "if it supports LGA1151, it will support LGA1200."

The list of Noctua coolers that seamlessly support LGA1200 include NH-C12P SE14, NH-C14, NH-C14S, NH-D15, NH-D15 chromax.black, NH-D15S, NH-D14, NH-L12, NH-L12S, NH-L9i, NH-L9i chromax-black, NH-L9x65, NH-U14S, NH-U12A, NH-U12S, NH-U12S chromax.black, NH-U12P SE2, NH-U9S, NH-D9L, and NH-U9B SE2. The coolers eligible for a free NM-i115x upgrade kit are: NH-C12P, NH-D15 SE-AM4, NH-L9x65 SE-AM4, NH-U12, NH-U12F, NH-U12P, NH-U12P SE1366, NH-U12S SE-AM4, NH-U9, NH-U9F, and NH-U9B. Among the older coolers that support LGA1200 though a NM-i115x module purchased separately, are NH-U12DO (except A3 variant), NH-U12DX, NH-U12DX 1366, NH-U12DX i4, NH-U9DX i4, NH-U9DX 1366, and NH-U9DO.

The week has begun with sporadic leaks about Intel's upcoming 10th generation Core "Comet Lake-S" desktop processor family, be it pictures of various socket LGA1200 motherboards, or leaked performance scores. Thai PC enthusiast TUM_APISAK posted links to Geekbench V4 entries of a handful 10th gen Core processors. These include the Core i7-10700K (8-core/16-thread), and the Core i5-10600K (6-core/12-thread). Comparisons with incumbent AMD offerings are inescapable. The i7-10700K locks horns with the Ryzen 7 3800X, while the i5-10600K takes the battle to the Ryzen 5 3600X.

The Core i7-10700K scores 34133 points in the multi-core test, and 5989 in the single-core one. The i5-10600K, on the other hand, puts out 28523 points in the multi-threaded test, and 6081 points in the single-core test. Both scores appear to be a single-digit percentage ahead of the AMD rivals in the multi-threaded test. The Intel chips appear to offer slightly better less-parallelized performance owing to higher boost frequencies for single-threaded or less parallelized workloads. These include an impressive 5.10 GHz max boost frequency for the i7-10700K, and 4.80 GHz for the i5-10600K. APISAK also posted scores of the iGPU-disabled Core i5-10600KF, which is roughly on par with the i5-10600K since it's basically the same chip with its eyes poked out.

Listings for Intel's Comet Lake-S desktop processors have been found on DirectDial a Canadian PC retailer. Comet Lake-S is the next generation of chips using Intel's 14 nm process and will feature up to 10 cores and 20 threads. The leaked prices reveals a significant fall in per core pricing from Coffee Lake chips however Ryzen 3000 will continue to dominate in pricing if this leak is correct, especially considering the lack of including cooling with the new Intel chips. Below are the leaked prices with direct conversions to USD.

• Core i9-10900 (10 cores / 20 threads, 2.8 GHz to 5.2 GHz): $679 CAD = $486 USD
• Core i7-10700K (8 cores / 16 threads, 3.8 GHz to 5.1 GHz): $585 CAD = $419 USD
• Core i7-10700 (8 cores / 16 threads, 2.9 GHz to 4.8 GHz): $506 CAD = $362 USD

Intel has reportedly split the launch of its upcoming 10th generation Core "Comet Lake-S" processor into two unusually distant dates, April 30 and May 27, 2020. It was earlier believed that the processors would be announced on April 30, with availability "shortly after," (read: within 10-14 days of launch). According to a WCCFTech report, the launch is planned such that April 30 will only see product announcements - the processors themselves, motherboards based on Intel 400-series chipset, and OEM desktops based on the platform. Later on May 29, the processors, desktops based on them, and DIY motherboards, are expected to be available in the retail channel. May 27 will also be the date when reviews of the processors and motherboards go live.

Marketing materials of Intel's upcoming 10th generation Core "Comet Lake-S" desktop processors leaked to the web confirm the lineup's core-counts. The series will be led by 10-core/20-thread Core i9 processors, with Thermal Velocity Boost frequencies of up to 5.30 GHz. The Core i7 series will consist of 8-core/16-thread processors, with up to 5.10 GHz TVB frequencies. The Core i5 series gets its biggest shot in the arm, with the introduction of HyperThreading for the first time in 8 generations (the last Core i5 desktop processors with HTT were dual-core first-generation Core chips). The 10th gen Core i5 series chips are 6-core/12-thread, with clock-speeds running up to 4.80 GHz.

These frequencies should indicate two interesting things. One, that the Core i5-10600K will outperform the Core i7-8700K (6-core/12-thread, up to 4.70 GHz boost), resulting in a roughly 35% increase in price-performance vs. the i7-8700K, if it ends up being priced at $260. Two, that the Core i7-10700K will outperform the Core i9-9900K on virtue of 100 MHz higher frequencies, and give the segment a roughly 30% price-performance increase compared to the i9-9900K, if the i7-10700K ends up priced at $380. The Core i9-10900K will outperform the i9-9900K both in single- and multi-threaded fronts given its 300 MHz higher max boost and two extra cores (four extra threads), in what could be a roughly 25% price-performance gain, assuming an unchanged $500 price.

Hong Kong-based tech publication HKEPC posted a performance review of a few 10th generation Core "Comet Lake-S" desktop processor engineering samples they scored. These include the Core i7-10700 (8-core/16-thread), the i5-10600K (6-core/12-thread), the i5-10500, and the i5-10400. The four chips were paired with a Dell-sourced OEM motherboard based on Intel's B460 chipset, 16 GB of dual-channel DDR4-4133 memory, and an RX 5700 XT graphics card to make the test bench. This bench was compared to several Intel 9th generation Core and AMD 3rd generation Ryzen processors.

Among the purely CPU-oriented benchmarks, the i7-10700 was found to be trading blows with the Ryzen 7 3700X. It's important to note here, that the i7-10700 is a locked chip, possibly with 65 W rated TDP. Its 4.60 GHz boost frequency is lesser than that of the unlocked, 95 W i9-9900K, which ends up topping most of the performance charts where it's compared to the 3700X. Still the comparison between i7-10700 and 3700X can't be dismissed, since the new Intel chip could launch at roughly the same price as the 3700X (if you go by i7-9700 vs. i7-9700K launch price trends).

Intel could launch its 10th generation Core "Comet Lake-S" desktop processor family on the 30th of April (±24 hours depending on the time-zone), according to a report by El Chapuzas Informatico. The processors is built in the new LGA1200 package, and require new Intel 400-series chipset motherboards, which will launch alongside. Pricing of these processors will be along expected lines, with the Core i9 series in the $500-400 range, the Core i7 series in the $300-400 range, the Core i5 series in the $180-300 range, and Core i3 series priced below. As reported earlier, Intel is expected to increase Core i9 series core-counts to 10-core/20-thread, while doubling thread counts and L3 cache amounts across the Core i7, Core i5, and Core i3 brand extensions, to 8-core/16-thread, 6-core/12-thread, and 4-core/8-thread, respectively.

A Dutch website has listed what seems to be the entirety of Intel's upcoming 10th gen CPU lineup, with prices to boot. Of course, we have to take these listings with various grains of salt: e-tailers are known to sometimes display higher pricing than the manufacturer's MSRP when products still haven't been listed on other websites.

The listing below showcases model number and pricing for each Intel processor. Should this pricing actually come to pass in a generalized way, we're looking at Intel's Core i9-10900KF processor (which is currently listed for €567.73 including 21% VAT) competing with AMD's closest-priced CPU Ryzen 9 3800X, which is already street-priced at €449. The Core i5 10400F, on the other hand, is listed at €196.99, which means it currently competes with AMD's Ryzen 5 3600X at €199.99. It remains to be seen which of these CPUs will win in a direct shootout. Remember that for US pricing you typically just swap out the € currency for $, and you've got your price estimate pretty close to final.

Here are two of the first pictures of Intel's upcoming Core i5-10400 processor, based on the company's 10th generation, 14 nm "Comet Lake-S" silicon. With its 10th generation, Intel is looking to bolster its Core i5 desktop processor series by introducing HyperThreading and increased L3 cache to existing price-points. The i5-10400 is hence a 6-core/12-thread processor with 12 MB of shared L3 cache at its disposal, compared to 9th and 8th generation Core i5 desktop chips being 6-core/6-thread with 9 MB of L3 cache.

The Core i5-10400 succeeds the popular Core i5-9400/F and its equally popular predecessor, the i5-8400. The iGPU-devoid i5-9400F in particular owed its popularity to Intel pricing it $15-20 less than the standard i5-9400. The upcoming i5-10400 is expected to be priced under the $200 mark, with the i5-10400F being similarly discounted. Both chips feature identical CPU specs: 2.90 GHz nominal clock speeds, up to 4.30 GHz maximum Turbo Boost, and 4.00 GHz all-core Turbo Boost. As the chip lacks an unlocked multiplier, its TDP is reportedly rated at 65 W. The chip will compete with AMD's Ryzen 5 3600 for sub-$200 supremacy. The 10th generation Core desktop processor family is built in the new LGA1200 package, and launches alongside the new Intel 400-series chipset, in April.

Ahead of their rumored April 2020 availability product codes of Intel's upcoming 10th generation Core "Comet Lake-S" desktop processors leaked to the web, courtesy momomo_us. The lineup includes 22 individual SKUs, although it's unknown if all of these will be available in April. There are four 10-core/20-thread SKUs: the i9-10900K, the i9-10900KF, the i9-10900, and the i9-10900F. The "K" extension denotes unlocked multiplier, while the "F" extension indicates lack of integrated graphics. "KF" indicates a SKU that's both unlocked and lacking an iGPU. Similarly, there are four 8-core/16-thread Core i7 SKUs, the i7-10700K, the i7-10700KF, the i7-10700, and the i7-10700F.

The 6-core/12-thread Core i5 family has several SKUs besides the range-topping i5-10600K and its siblings, i5-10600KF and i5-10600. These include the i5-10500, i5-10400, and i5-10400F. The quad-core Core i3 lineup includes the i3-10320, i3-10300, and i3-10100. The former two have 8 MB L3 cache, while the i3-10100 has 6 MB. Among the entry-level Pentium SKUs are the G6600, G6500, G6400, G5920, and G5900.

With its 9th generation Core processor series, Intel adapted an interesting strategy to maximize its yields and increase competitiveness of its desktop processors. The "F" model number extension would go on to denote a lack of integrated graphics. It could be used in conjunction with other extensions such as "K" (unlocked base-clock multiplier). Completely disabling integrated graphics would allow Intel to salvage dies on which the iGPU component, which takes up a large chunk of the die area, doesn't clear validation. Intel refers to this as "GT0" (graphics tier zero), to fit into its iGPU tier differentiation scheme. The company also tends to price its "F" SKUs slightly lower, letting it compete with AMD Ryzen chips better. A case in point is the Core i5-9400F, often found under $160, and proving a strong alternative to the Ryzen 5 series for gaming PCs. With the 10th generation "Comet Lake-S" family, the company is planning several new "F" and "KF" SKUs.

According to a company slide leaked to the web by InformaticaCero, there are at least three each of "F" and "KF" SKUs in the works. The lineup includes the 10-core/20-thread i9-10900KF and i9-10900F; the 8-core/16-thread i7-10700KF and i7-10700F; and the 6-core/12-thread i5-10600KF and i5-10600F. Clock speeds and cache sizes of these chips are identical to their corresponding non-F SKUs (eg: i7-10700KF clock-speeds being identical to those of the i7-10700K). Provided they're sold at slightly lower prices, the lack of an iGPU doesn't affect target buyers of these chips - PC gamers or creative professionals who use graphics cards and don't need an iGPU. Competing Ryzen processors lack iGPUs by design. Intel is expected to debut its 10th generation Core "Comet Lake-S" processors in April.

Intel's desktop Comet Lake-S lineup is close to being released and we are getting more leaks about the CPU models contained inside it. Perhaps one of the most interesting points for Comet Lake-S series is that it brings a boost in frequency and boost in core count, with the highest-end Core i9 processors going up to 10 cores. Thanks to Xfastest, a Hong Kong-based media outlet, we have first pictures of what appears to be an engineering sample of the upcoming Core i9-10900 processor.

Being a non-K version, this CPU is not capable of overclocking and has a fixed TDP rating of 65 Watts. Compared to 125 W of the K models like the upcoming Core i9-10900K, this CPU will output almost half the heat, thus requiring a less capable cooling solution. The CPU is installed in LGA1200 socket, which is a new home for Comet Lake-S CPUs and provides backward compatibility for coolers supporting LGA1151. In the sample processor pictured below, we can see a marking on the CPU that implies 2.5 GHz base clock. Previously rumors were suggesting that this CPU version has 2.8 GHz base clock, however, it can be an early engineering sample given that no official imprints are found on the CPU heat spreader.

Intel's 10th generation Core "Comet Lake-S" desktop processor series inches chose to its probable April 2020 launch. Along the way we get this fascinating leak of the company's Core i7-10700K desktop processor, which could become a go-to chip for gamers if its specifications and pricing hold up. Thai PC enthusiast TUM_APISAK revealed what could be a Futuremark SystemInfo screenshot of the i7-10700K which confirms its clock speeds - 3.80 GHz nominal, with an impressive 5.30 GHz Turbo Boost. Intel is probably tapping into the series' increased maximum TDP of 125 W to clock these chips high across the board.

The Core i7-10700K features 8 cores, and HyperThreading enables 16 threads. It also features 16 MB of shared L3 cache. In essence, this chip has the same muscle as the company's current mainstream desktop flagship, the i9-9900K, but demoted to the Core i7 brand extension. This could give it a sub-$400 price, letting it compete with the likes of AMD's Ryzen 7 3800X and possibly even triggering a price-cut on the 3900X. The i7-10700K in APISAK's screenshot is shown running on an ECS Z490H6-A2 motherboard, marking the company's return to premium Intel chipsets. ECS lacks Z390 or Z370 based motherboards in its lineup, and caps out at B360.

Thanks to the findings of VideoCardz, we have information that GIGABYTE has listed its upcoming motherboards for AMD and Intel platforms. Starting with AMD's upcoming mid-range chipset, the B550 model is supposed to bring PCIe 4.0 connectivity options to lower-priced motherboard variants. So far, only high-end chipset versions like X570 had PCIe 4.0 support, while the mid-range option was lacking. GIGABYTE has prepared a total of six B550 AORUS models, along with a GAMING series which is supposed to be a tier below AORUS models. The B550 chipset will span all motherboard sizes, including ATX, Micro-ATX, and Mini-ITX.

In the EEC listing, GIGABYTE also submitted Intel's upcoming Z490 motherboards for Comet Lake-S CPUs. In the listing, we see a total of 15 motherboards listed with an unusable entry. Again the W480 chipset appears, which is meant to power workstation motherboards. This chipset will go inside a new motherboard lineup called the "VISION" series. While we don't know what this new series brings, we know that both the workstation enabled W480 chipset and regular Z490 chipset will be a part of it.

According to VideoCardz, ASRock has already listed Intel's upcoming lineup of motherboards in its Polychrome Sync software for controlling the RGB lighting of your motherboard. In the installed program files, ASRock displays several of the models that are a part of Intel's upcoming LGA1200-based Comet Lake-S 10th generation of CPUs. There are a total of nine Z490 motherboards and they are ASRock Z490 AQUA, Phantom Gaming 4, Phantom Gaming 4 SR, Phantom Gaming 6, Pro4, Steel Legend, Taichi, Z490M ITX AC, and Z490M Pro4.

When it comes to the cheaper, non-overclockable H470 chipset, there are two motherboards listed - H470 Steel Legend and H470M ITX AC. Additionally, perhaps one of the most interesting finds is the appearance of W480 chipset meant for workstation solutions. The motherboard using the new chipset is a model named W480 Creator, which should be a new addition to the consumer motherboard lineup.

As we gear up for another Intel CPU launch with their 10th Gen Comet Lake-S CPUs with up to 10 cores, motherboard manufacturers have to go through the process of getting their products approved through various regulatory requirements. The Eurasian Economic Commission is one which constantly gives little snippets towards the future, and now, MSI motherboards based on Intel's Z490 chipset and LGA 1200 socket have shown up.

Knowing MSI's usual staple of motherboards for each product generation, there aren't many surprises here. The entries refer to these MSI motherboards: Z490-A PRO (Standard ATX); Creator Z490I (Mini-ITX); MAG Z490 TOMAHAWK (Standard ATX); MPG Z490M GAMING EDGE WIFI (Micro-ATX); MPG Z490 GAMING; CARBON WIFI (Standard ATX); MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS (Standard ATX); MEG Z490I UNIFY (Mini-ITX); MEG Z490 UNIFY (Standard ATX); MPG Z490 GAMING EDGE; WIFI (Standard ATX); MEG Z490 ACE (Standard ATX); MEG Z490 GODLIKE (E-ATX). You can expect the GODLIKE to be so in both features and price, as usual, topping out MSI's lineup.

BIOSTAR have left out a teaser trailer for a new motherboard, which seemingly packs an improvement to the company's RGB design on the heatsinks surrounding the CPU area. While this could simply be a new product announcement for an already existing motherboard lineup, we know fully well that Intel is gearing up for the announcement of their Comet Lake-S family of CPUs, which have already been broadly approached in this publication. It makes sense for motherboard companies, who are certainly already privy to the new Intel platform specifications, to start teasing the new features they've come up with to accompany a new generation of motherboards.

Intel's Comet Lake-S family will introduce builders to the new Intel LGA 1200 socket (some things never do change). The new 10000 series CPUs should see another core bump through the lineup, with the top of the line Core I9-10900K CPU sporting a reported 125 W TDP running through its 10-core, 20-thread design. Considering the number of leaks and additional information that has been recently coming to light regarding Intel's latest CPU launch, it seems plausible that the company is gearing up to an announcement, and as such, motherboard makers are also flexing their marketing muscles to get in the first wave of sales.

Intel's upcoming Core i9-10900K desktop processor is up to 30 percent faster than the Core i9-9900K according to the company, which put out a performance guidance slide that got leaked to the web. Based on the 14 nm "Comet Lake-S" silicon and built for the new LGA1200 platform (Intel 400-series chipset motherboards); the i9-10900K is a 10-core/20-thread processor that leverages increased TDP headroom of 125 W to sustain higher clock-speeds than 9th generation "Coffee Lake Refresh," while also offering a 25% increase in processing muscle over the i9-9900K, thanks to the two additional CPU cores.

In its performance guidance slide, Intel shows the i9-10900K scoring 30% more than the i9-9900K in SPECint_rate_base2006_IC16.0. There's also a 25% boost in floating-point performance, in SPECfp_rate_base2006_IC16.0, which roughly aligns with the additional core count, as both these tests are multi-threaded. Other noteworthy results include a 26% gain in Cinebench R15, and 10% in SYSMark 2014 SE. In tests that don't scale with cores, Intel appears to rely entirely on the increased clock-speeds and improved boosting algorithm to eke out performance gains in the low-to-mid single-digit percentages. Intel is introducing a new clock-speed boosting technology called Thermal Velocity Boost, which can dial up clock-speeds of the i9-10900K up to 5.30 GHz.

Ahead of a possible reveal in the sidelines of CES, followed by an early-Q2 2020 product-launch, company slides detailing Intel's 10th generation Core desktop processors in the LGA1200 package, codenamed "Comet Lake-S," leaked to the web courtesy Informatica Cero. They confirm that HyperThreading will play a key role, with Intel enabling it across the lineup. The range-topping Core i9 series will be 10-core/20-thread along with 20 MB of L3 cache. The Core i7 series will be 8-core/16-thread, along with 16 MB L3 cache. The all-important Core i5 series will be 6-core/12-thread, equipped with 12 MB of L3 cache. The Core i3 series will have two sub-tiers: i3-103xx series with 4-core/8-thread and 8 MB L3 cache; and i3-101xx series 4-core/8-thread with 6 MB L3 cache.

The Core i7 and Core i9 "Comet Lake" chips will feature native support for dual-channel DDR4-2933, while the Core i5 and Core i3 will make do with native DDR4-2667 support (memory overclocking possible). Besides core/thread counts, and cache size increases, Intel will dial up clock speeds across the board by as much as 300 MHz per SKU (vs. their 9th gen predecessor), and introduce Turbo Boost Max 3.0, which has been exclusive to its HEDT processors. The introduction of Turbo Boost Max 3.0 could also bring about modern favored-core capability (benefiting Windows 10 1909 and later). The classic Turbo Boost is also available. There's also a mysterious new feature called "Thermal Velocity Boost," with its own set of clock-speeds depending on core/thread load. The chips could also feature Modern Standby C10 power-state support (first to the desktop platform). Intel is said to have also added several new core and memory overclocking features on the K-SKUs.

This piece of news shouldn't surprise anyone, except for the fact that Intel is apparently signing on a TDP of 125 W for even its K-series unlocked processors for their next-generation Comet Lake-S family. Intel's current Comet Lake 9900K CPU features a TDP of "only" 95 W - when compared to the rumored 125 W of the 10900K), whilst their current top offering, the i9-9900KS, features a 127 W TDP. Remember that Intel's 10900K should feature 10 cores and 20 threads, two extra cores than their current 9900K - this should explain the increased TDP, a mathematical necessity given that Intel can only count on marginal improvements to its 14 nm fabrication process to frequencies and power consumption of its CPUs.

A leaked slide from momomo on Twitter shows, if real, that Intel's future enthusiast-grade CPUs (likely i5-10600K, i7-10700K and i9-10900K) will feature this 125 W TDP, while other launches in that family will make do with the more traditional 65 W TDP (interesting to see that Intel has some 10-core CPUs with 65 W TDP, the same as their current 9900, despite two more cores). A footnote on the leaked slide shows that these K processors can be configured for a 95 W TDP, but this would likely come at a significant cost to operating frequency. Intel seems to be bringing a knife to a gunfight (in terms of core counts and TDP) with AMD's Ryzen 3000 and perhaps Ryzen 4000 CPUs, should those and Intel's future offerings actually coexist in the market.

Intel is expected to finally refresh its mainstream desktop platform with the introduction of the 14 nm "Comet Lake-S" processors, in Q2-2020. This sees the introduction of the new LGA1200 socket and Intel 400-series chipsets, led by the Z490 Express at the top. Platform maps of these PCI-Express gen 3.0 based chipsets make them look largely similar to current 300-series platform, with a few changes. For starters, Intel introducing its biggest ACPI change since C6/C7 power states that debuted with "Haswell;" with the introduction of C10 and S0ix Modern Standby power-states, which give your PC an iPad-like availability while sipping minimal power. This idea is slightly different from Smart Connect, in that your web-connected apps and processor work at an extremely low-power (fanless) state, rather than waking your machine up from time to time for the apps to refresh. 400-series chipset motherboards will also feature updated networking interfaces, such as support for 2.5 GbE wired LAN with an Intel i225-series PHY, 802.11ax WiFi 6 WLAN, etc.

HyperThreading will play a big role in making Intel's processor lineup competitive with AMD's given that the underlying microarchitecture offers an identical core design to "Skylake" circa 2015. The entry-level Core i3 chips will be 4-core/8-thread, Core i5 6-core/12-thread, Core i7 8-core/16-thread; and leading the pack will be the Core i9-10900K, a 10-core/20-thread processor. According to a WCCFTech report, this processor will debut in April 2020, which means at CES 2020 in January, we'll get to see some of the first socket LGA1200 motherboards, some even based on the Z490. The platform also mentions an interesting specification: "enhanced core and memory overclocking." This could be the secret ingredient that makes the i9-10900K competitive with the likes of the Ryzen 9 3900X. The LGA1200 platform could be forwards-compatible with "Rocket Lake," which could herald IPC increases on the platform by implementing "Willow Cove" CPU cores.

The "Willow Cove" CPU core design succeeds "Sunny Cove," Intel's first truly new CPU core design in close to 5 years. "Sunny Cove" is implemented in the 10 nm "Ice Lake" microarchitecture, and "Willow Cove" cores are expected to debut with the 10 nm+ "Tiger Lake." It turns out that Intel is working to adapt "Willow Cove" CPU cores onto a 14 nm microarchitecture, and "Rocket Lake" could be it.

Twitter user @chiakokhua, a retired VLSI engineer with high hit-rate on CPU microarchitecture news, made sense of technical documents to point out that "Rocket Lake" is essentially a 14 nm adaptation of "Tiger Lake," but with the iGPU shrunk significantly, to make room for the larger CPU cores. The Gen12 iGPU on "Rocket Lake-S" will feature just 32 execution units (EUs), whilst on "Tiger Lake," it has three times the muscle, with 96 EUs. "Rocket Lake" also replaces "Tiger Lake's" FIVR (fully-integrated voltage regulation) with a conventional SVID VRM architecture.

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.

Benchmarks have been uploaded to popular benchmarking utility Geekbench's servers, and they seemingly allow us to look into Intel's next-gen Comet Lake-S processors. The results, which have likely been taken from pre-release hardware (which means benchmarks and even proper identification of features on the CPUs shouldn't be taken as guarantees), help paint a picture on Intel's next release all the same.

Processor information for the 10-core, 20-thread CPU gives us a 1.51 GHz base clock and 3.19 GHz boost, with the chip featuring 32 Kb each for L1 instruction and L1 data caches (x10 cores, 640 KB total) 256 KB L2 cache (x10 cores, for a total of 2.5 MB) and 20 MB L3 cache. The six-core part, on the other hand, is reported as featuring a 1.99 GHz base clock and 2.89 GHz boost clock, 384 KB total L1 instruction and data caches (32 KB x 6 cores), 256 KB L2 cache (x6 cores, for a total of 1.5 MB) and 12 MB L3 cache. This means each core is in Comet Lake-S is paired with 2 MB of L3 cache, which is being cut-down alongside cores. Like almost all other Intel desktop CPU releases, these CPU cores will be paired with an IGP in the form of Intel UHD Graphics 630, which features up to 24 Execution Units (EUs). With Intel's 10-core CPU being expected to be the cream of the crop on the company's mainstream CPU lineup come Comet Lake-S, comparisons to AMD's own core density are moot, in that there is no real competition available, should that top core count actually materialize.

Intel is inching closer to the launch of its socket LGA1200 mainstream desktop platform based on its 400-series chipset and 14 nm "Comet Lake-S" silicon. The platform provides a forward upgrade path to the company's 10 nm "Ice Lake-S" processors when they come out. "Comet Lake-S" is a derivative of the "Skylake" microarchitecture that's been scaled up to 10 CPU cores, and HyperThreading enabled across the board, with clock speeds pushed to the limits of the 14 nm silicon fabrication process. The TDP of some of these parts is reportedly set as high as 125 W. GIGABYTE is ready with dozens of motherboards for these processors, based on one of five chipsets - Z490, H470, Q470, B460, and H410.

The Intel Z490 Express will be the top-end chipset geared toward gamers and enthusiasts wanting to overclock their processors. The H470 will be a slight step down, and possibly lack multi-GPU and CPU overclocking support. The Q470 is its twin with certain enterprise-relevant features. The B460 is the mid-range chipset, targeting a spectrum of users including gamers who don't overclock their CPU. The H410 will be the entry-level chipset for everyone else. What's interesting about GIGABYTE's list of motherboards filed for regulatory clearance from the Eurasian Economic Commission, is that is looks partial. There are far too few AORUS-branded products.