W will get to see the 11th gen Rocket Lake-S CPU lineups at CES 2021. These 14nm CPUs are based on the Cypress Cove architecture. But the CPU won’t be available for retail until March. As reported earlier, Intel will be making its 500 series desktop motherboards available for purchase from January onwards. The motherboard will bring Intel up to speed to some extent compared to AMD Ryzen’s offerings.
Notes about the Intel Rocket Lake-S Lineups
The Intel 500 series motherboards have compatibility with the 10th generation CPUs. But 11th generation is looking like a refreshed LGA 1200 CPU of the 10th generation viz. based on Willow Cove architecture. To add further, the paper successor of the Core i9-10900K is not a 10-core CPU. The 11th generation flagship is actually an 8-core, 16-thread CPU with a bumped clock speed of 4.8 GHz/ 5.3 GHz.
The 11th gen Rocket Lake-S supports PCIe 4.0, Thunderbolt 4.0 and native 2.5 Ethernet. While its on-chip graphics is likely not to be as good as the Intel Xe notebook offerings, it is the first with Xe graphics. It makes sense since notebook users would want higher GPU chip performance, and those who buy such CPUs will buy a discrete graphics card.
| Leaked Intel 11 Gen Desktop CPU Lineup and Specifications | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Core / Thread | L3 Cache (MB) | Graphics (EUs) | TDP (W) |
| Core i9-11900K | 8 / 16 | 16 | 32 | 125 |
| Core i9-11900 | 8 / 16 | 16 | 32 | 65 |
| Core i9-11900T | 8 / 16 | 16 | 32 | 35 |
| Core i7-11700K | 8 / 16 | 16 | 32 | 125 |
| Core i7-11700 | 8 / 16 | 16 | 32 | 65 |
| Core i7-11700T | 8 / 16 | 16 | 32 | 35 |
| Core i5-11600K | 6 / 12 | 12 | 32 | 125 |
| Core i5-11600 | 6 / 12 | 12 | 32 | 65 |
| Core i5-11600T | 6 / 12 | 12 | 32 | 35 |
| Core i5-11500 | 6 / 12 | 12 | 32 | 65 |
| Core i5-11500T | 6 / 12 | 12 | 32 | 35 |
| Core i5-11400 | 6 / 12 | 12 | 24 | 65 |
| Core i5-11400T | 6 / 12 | 12 | 24 | 35 |
But apart from paper specs, we just don’t know what kind of improvements we get to see- let alone these improvements are significant enough. Cypress Cover does have higher IPC (instruction per clock).
The State of Desktop CPUs
Together with the 500 series motherboards, we could some standing and pairing alternatives against the Ryzen+ AMD 500 series motherboards. AMD isn’t exactly in the strong standing because of a limited supply of 5000 series CPUs. In many countries, AMD Ryzen 5000 series prices are enough to discourage it. It would have been nice to see Intel release these CPUs for retail on the January rather than this extended wait. AMD can straighten itself up before Rocket Lake-S launch if it deems it necessary. The cons of a duopoly in action.
Trying to stand toe-to-toe with AMD’s offerings
For now, Intel is trying to keep up with its scheduled launches. If the Rocket Lake-S can keep up, the LGA 1700 can look very promising, starting with the Alder Lake-S. But pricing is something Intel can play around AMD, something that once upon a time AMD did around Intel. Availability is also an issue with AMD CPUs. In some countries, there are scalpers. In others, predatory pricing by respective distributors and the company’s incompetency and/or inability to do something about it is a nuisance. If we see it this way, it makes sense to release 500 series motherboards first, if Intel couldn’t release 11th desktop CPUs with it.
