In two weeks, Intel and its board partners will unveil their brand new Z590 (500 Series) motherboards that will support 11th generation Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs. The most important feature of these boards, apart from the next generation CPU support, is advanced I / O capabilities and full support for PCIe Gen 4.0 protocol.
Intel Z590 motherboards only offer PCIe Gen 4.0 compatibility when running the 11th Gen Rocket Lake Core i9, Core i7 and Core i5 desktop processors are not supported by Comet Lake Refresh Core i3 processors.
The information is listed on several Z590-based motherboards we began receiving from board members prior to the January 11 announcement. Each motherboard has a sticker on the top PCIe slot that mentions that the Gen 4.0 protocol is supported by Intel’s Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs.
According to previously leaked information covering all Intel Rocket Lake SKUs, the range will consist of Core i9, Core i7 and Core i5 chips. The rest of the series, which includes the Core i3, Pentium and Celeron series, do not offer PCIe Gen 4.0 support and will retain Gen 3.0 compliance as they are part of the Comet Lake family. Only Intel’s Rocket Lake processors have the architectural upgrades needed to support PCIe Gen 4.0.
The PCIe Gen 4.0 protocol has not yet been as big a deal on the GPUs as for PCIe-based storage devices. Next-generation PCIe 4.0 SSDs have shown tremendous performance improvements, and with technologies such as NVIDIA’s RTX IO and Microsoft’s DirectStorage for desktop computers, the interconnection protocol will definitely be used to enable faster performance and access times.
Here’s All We Know About 11th Generation Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs
Intel’s Rocket Lake-S desktop CPU platform offers support on the LGA 1200 connector, which made its debut with the 10th Gen Comet Lake-S CPUs, although it’s on 400 series motherboards. Intel Rocket Lake-S processors are starting primarily for the 500 Series motherboards, but it has been confirmed that LGA 1200 motherboards will support Rocket Lake-S CPUs, especially since the PCIe Gen 4.0 is a prominent feature of Z490 . motherboards that would only be activated using Rocket Lake-S desktop CPUs.
Motherboard makers, especially ASUS, will pay extra attention to the integration of PCIe Gen 4 hardware level on their Z590 motherboard series versus their Z490 series, as we noted here.
Key features of Intel’s Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs include:
- Increased performance with the new Cypress Cove core architecture
- Up to 8 cores and 16 wires (double-digit IPC gains over skylake)
- New Xe graphic architecture (up to 50% better performance than Gen9)
- Increased DDR4 3200 MHz memory support
- CPU PCIe 4.0 lanes (available on Z490 and Z590 motherboards)
- Enhanced display (HDMI 2.0b, DP1.4a, HBR3 integrated)
- Added x4 CPU PCIe lanes = 20 total CPU PCIe 4.0 lanes
- Enhanced media (12 bit AV1 / HVEC, E2E compression)
- CPU attached storage or Intel Optane memory
- New features and capabilities for overclocking
- USB Audio Download
- CNVi & Wireless-AX Integrated
- Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20G)
- 2.5 GB Ethernet discrete LAN
- Discrete Intel Thunderbolt 4 (USB4 compliant)
Here are the key Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs we can expect in the 11th Generation family:
- Core i9-11900K
- Core i9-11900
- Core i9-11900T
- Core i7-11700K
- Core i7-11700
- Core i7-11700T
- Core i5-11600K
- Core i5-11600
- Core i5-11600T
- Core i5-11500
- Core i5-11500T
- Core i5-11400
- Core i5-11400T
Intel 11th Generation Rocket Lake Desktop CPU Setup Specifications (Preliminary):
| CPU name | Kere / drade | Base Clock | Boost Clock (1-core) | Boost Clock (All-Core) | Cupboard | Graphics | TDP (PL1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i9-11900K | 8/16 | 3.50 GHz | 5.30 GHz | 4.80 GHz | 16 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 core points) | 125W |
| Core i9-11900 | 8/16 | 1.80 GHz | 4.50 GHz | 4.00 GHz | 16 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 core points) | 65W |
| Core i9-11900T | 8/16 | TBC | TBC | TBC | 16 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 core points) | 35W |
| Core i7-11700K | 8/16 | 3.60 GHz | 5.00 GHz | 4.60 GHz | 16 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 core points) | 125W |
| Core i7-11700 | 8/16 | 2.50 GHz | 4.90 GHz | TBC | 16 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 core points) | 65W |
| Core i7-11700T | 8/16 | TBC | TBC | 16 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 core points) | 35W | |
| Core i5-11600K | 6/12 | TBC | 4.90 GHz | 4.60 GHz | 12 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 core points) | 125W |
| Core i5-11600 | 6/12 | TBC | TBC | TBC | 12 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 core points) | 65W |
| Core i5-11600T | 6/12 | TBC | TBC | TBC | 12 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 core points) | 35W |
| Core i5-11500 | 6/12 | TBC | TBC | TBC | 12 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 core points) | 65W |
| Core i5-11500T | 6/12 | TBC | TBC | TBC | 12 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 core points) | 35W |
| Core i5-11400 | 6/12 | 2.60 GHz | 4,400 GHz | 4.20 GHz | 12 MB | Intel Xe 24 EU (192 core points) | 65W |
| Core i5-11400T | 6/12 | TBC | TBC | TBC | 12 MB | Intel Xe 24 EU (192 core points) | 35W |
The unlocked K-series SKUs have a base PL1 TDP of 125W, while the non-K SKUs contain a base TDP of 65W. The ‘T’ series variants, which are the lower TDP SKUs, have a 35DP based TDP. The Intel Core i9 and Core i7 CPUs, based on the Rocket Lake CPU architecture, contain 8 cores, 16 threads, and 16 MB of L3 cache. The Core i5 SKUs contain 6 cores and 12 threads plus a total of 12 MB L3 cache. All CPUs have the Intel Xe integrated GPU with 32 EUs or 256 cores.
With the transition to the Comet Lake Refresh series, it looks like Intel is repositioning its improved Skylake architecture for the mainstream and budget series. The series contains the following SKUs:
- Core i3-11100
- Core i3-11100T
- Core i3-11300
- Core i3-11300T
- Core i3-11320
- Pentium G6420
- Pentium G6420T
- Pentium G6520
- Pentium G6250T
- Pentium G6220
- Celeron G5930
- Celeron G5930T
- Celeron G5950
Intel 11th Gen Comet Lake Refresh Desktop CPU Lineup Specs (provisional):
| CPU name | Kere / drade | Base Clock | Boost Clock (1-core) | Boost Clock (All-Core) | Cupboard | Graphics | TDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i3-11320 | 4/8 | TBC | TBC | TBC | 8 MB | UHD 630 24 EU (192 core) | 65W |
| Core i3-11300 | 4/8 | TBC | TBC | TBC | 8 MB | UHD 630 24 EU (192 core) | 65W |
| Core i3-11300T | 4/8 | TBC | TBC | TBC | 8 MB | UHD 630 24 EU (192 core) | 35W |
| Core i3-11100 | 4/8 | TBC | TBC | TBC | 6 MB | UHD 630 24 EU (192 core) | 65W |
| Core i3-11100T | 4/8 | TBC | TBC | TBC | 6 MB | UHD 630 24 EU (192 core) | 35W |
| Pentium G6420 | 2/4 | TBC | Nvt | Nvt | 4 MB | UHD 630 24 EU (192 core) | 58W |
| Pentium G6420T | 2/4 | TBC | Nvt | Nvt | 4 MB | UHD 630 24 EU (192 core) | 35W |
| Pentium G6520 | 2/4 | TBC | Nvt | Nvt | 4 MB | UHD 630 24 EU (192 core) | 58W |
| Pentium G6250T | 2/4 | TBC | Nvt | Nvt | 4 MB | UHD 630 24 EU (192 core) | 35W |
| Pentium G6220 | 2/4 | TBC | Nvt | Nvt | 4 MB | UHD 630 24 EU (192 core) | 58W |
| Celeron G5930 | 2/2 | TBC | Nvt | Nvt | 4 MB | UHD 610 12 EU (96 core) | 58W |
| Celeron G5930T | 2/2 | TBC | Nvt | Nvt | 4 MB | UHD 610 12 EU (96 core) | 35W |
| Celeron G5950 | 2/2 | TBC | Nvt | Nvt | 4 MB | UHD 610 12 EU (96 core) | 58W |
The Core i3 models contain 4 cores and 8 wires, but all variants except the Core i3-11100 series contain 8 MB L3 case versus 6 MB L3 case on the mentioned CPUs. The Pentium line processors contain 2 cores, 4 wires and 4 MB L3 cache, while the Celeron series will only get 2 cores and no multi-threading support. However, these chips also contain 4 MB L3 cache. The Core i3 and Pentium models feature UHD 630 graphics with 24 EUs, while the Celeron SKUs get UHD 610 graphics with 12 EUs.
The architecture for Rocket Lake CPUs is said to be Cypress Cove, which is believed to be a hybrid between the Sunny Cove and Willow Cove designs, but will include Xe Gen 12 GPU architecture. Intel’s Core i9-11900K will be the most important CPU offering in the range and expect more information about it soon. As for the launch, the motherboards will appear in retail on January 11-12, while Intel’s 11th generation processors are expected to arrive by the end of March.
Comparison between Intel Desktop CPU Generations:
| Intel CPU family | Processing process | Processor core (maximum) | TDPs | Platform Chipset | Platform | Memory support | PCIe Support | Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandy Bridge (2nd generation) | 32 nm | 4/8 | 35-95W | 6-series | LGA 1155 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 2.0 | 2011 |
| Ivy Bridge (3rd generation) | 22 nm | 4/8 | 35-77W | 7-series | LGA 1155 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2012 |
| Haswell (4th generation) | 22 nm | 4/8 | 35-84W | 8-series | LGA 1150 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2013-2014 |
| Broadwell (5th generation) | 14nm | 4/8 | 65-65W | 9-series | LGA 1150 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2015 |
| Skylake (6th generation) | 14nm | 4/8 | 35-91W | 100 Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2015 |
| Kaby Lake (7th Gen) | 14nm | 4/8 | 35-91W | 200 Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2017 |
| Coffee Lake (8th generation) | 14nm | 6/12 | 35-95W | 300 Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2017 |
| Coffee Lake (9th generation) | 14nm | 8/16 | 35-95W | 300 Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2018 |
| Comet Lake (10th generation) | 14nm | 10/20 | 35-125W | 400 Series | LGA 1200 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2020 |
| Rocket Lake (11th generation) | 14nm | 8/16 | TBA | 500 Series | LGA 1200 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 4.0 | 2021 |
| Alder Lake (12th generation) | 10nm? | 16/24? | TBA | 600 series? | LGA 1700 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2021 |
| Meteor Lake (13th generation) | 7nm? | TBA | TBA | 700 series? | LGA 1700 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2022? |
| Lunar Lake (14th generation) | TBA | TBA | TBA | 800 series? | TBA | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2023? |