Finally, the truly new Intel desktop processors. Rocket Lake line may be released this year

New CPU and GPU architecture, but old process technology.
In April, Intel will release Comet Lake desktop processors. Unfortunately, almost nothing new is expected from this generation.

The only significant change is the appearance of 10-core models. At the same time, these CPUs will be manufactured using 14-nanometer technology and use the old architecture. The situation will be aggravated by the new LGA 1200 socket, so upgrading from a conditional Core i9-9900K to a conditional Core i9-10900K will not work at minimal cost.

But Comet Lake will be followed by the Rocket Lake line, and now it’s more interesting. When we first found out about it, we talked about preserving the 14-nanometer process technology and thought it would be another minor update. However, later there was information that although Rocket Lake will be manufactured using the 14 nm manufacturing process, it will still be the long-awaited new generation, because these processors will be based on a new architecture – the same architecture that will be used in Tiger Lake mobile CPUs. Yes, Intel is adapting the architecture, originally designed for the 10-nanometer process technology, to the old 14-nanometer one. The reason is the company’s inability to offer users 10-nanometer desktop processors. In any case, such Rocket Lake CPUs will still be much better than everything that we have received in this segment in recent years.

So, today we have the latest information regarding the Rocket Lake line. The source claims that such CPUs may come out at the end of this year, although earlier leaks indicated 2021. The clearly official Intel image is confirmed by the fact that these processors will be based on the new architecture, although there is no direct indication of its name. But at the same time, we see that Rocket Lake will receive the Xe GPU, and this graphics core will debut on the Tiger Lake processors.

It is also worth paying attention to the support by the new processors for the PCIe 4.0 interface. Interestingly, the CPU will have 16 lanes of general-purpose PCIe 4.0 and separately 4 lanes for drives. The DMI 3.0 interface will be upgraded to DMI 3.0 x8, that is, the throughput will be doubled. Of the rest, it is worth noting support for HDMI 2.0b and DisplayPort 1.4a, as well as support for Thunderbolt 4 (at the chipset level). Presumably, Rocket Lake-S processors will use the same LGA 1200 socket.