Intel’s 11th Gen Rocket Lake desktop CPUs will debut in Q1 2021
The upcoming desktop CPUs feature PCIe 4.0 support.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
What you need to know
Intel’s 10th Gen Comet Lake S desktop CPUs debuted earlier this year, with theCore i9-10900Kin particular offering sizeable gains in gaming performance from the previous generation. The mid-rangeCore i7-10700KandCore i5-10600Kalso come with exciting gains in a lot of areas, but one downside is that the 10th Gen designs don’t support PCIe 4.0, unlike their AMD counterparts.
Intel is aiming to fix that with the 11th Gen Rocket Lake series. The chip manufacturer has confirmed that the 11th Gen Rocket Lake series will make its debut in Q1 2021, and that it will include PCIe 4.0 support.
Intel didn’t go into architectural details on Rocket Lake, but recent leaks give us a high-level overview of the platform. The Rocket Lake S desktop designs will be based on a 14nm node — much like Intel’s last four generations — but Intel is introducing a new Willow Cove architecture that should deliver decent gains over the current 10th Gen platform.
In particular, Rocket Lake will deliver significant IPC gains thanks to the switch to Willow Cove, with Intel once again able to leverage 5.0GHz boost frequencies because of the mature 14nm platform.
John Bonini, Intel’s VP and GM of Client Computing Group Desktop, Workstations and Gaming, talked about Intel’s collaboration with leading game studios and publishers to optimize the latest games, including the likes ofMarvel’s Avengers,Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020,Gears Tactics, and more:
We are excited about how hardware helps bring amazing software titles to life. Our work with OEMs creates a hardware environment where game developers and publishers can deliver the immersive experiences that they intend. We like to be in the digital trenches with game developers to help them squeeze as much performance out of the hardware as possible so what you see on screen is as faithful to their vision as possible.
With outstanding gaming performance, the Core i5-10600K is an outstanding choice in Intel’s Comet Lake S portfolio. For $300, you won’t find another chip that offers the same level of performance.
Get the Windows Central Newsletter
All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.
Harish Jonnalagadda is a Senior Editor overseeing Asia for Android Central, Windows Central’s sister site. When not reviewing phones, he’s testing PC hardware, including video cards, motherboards, gaming accessories, and keyboards.
