What is the Intel Comet Lake release date? 10th Gen CPUs ...

This slide states that the “press news embargo” for 10th Gen Intel Core Processors will run from 13 April – 26 June, 2020. They were originally ... IntelCometLakeCPUswilltakeoverthemantlefromcurrent9thGenIntelCoredesktopCPUs.Rumouredtobereleasedsometimeoverthenextthreetofourmonths,theseheavilyoptimised14nmprocessorsshouldhavesomeseriouschops.AfterpressurebythenameofAMD,IntelhasoptedforHyperthreadingthroughoutitsCometLakelineup,too. TheSkylakemicroarchitecturehastakenmanyformssinceitwasfirstintroduced.ThebiggestchangestotheformulaoccurredfollowingthelaunchofAMDRyzen,whichhasbeenputtingpressureonInteltorolloutgreatercorecountsacrossitsclienti3,i5,andi7lineup.And withAMDnowknockingonitsdoorwithZen2andthe7nmprocessnode,thepressureisonInteltodeliver. Intel’sresponsetothisgrowingpressureistwo-fold.Itfirst branded14nmIntelCometLake(and10nmIceLake)processorswiththe10thGenbadgeonmobile.Thefirstslimlaptopsunderthe10thGenumbrellaarenowavailableforpurchase,too.Followingthat,inthecomingmonths,itwill launchCometLakeprocessorsinfull10-coresplendourandcheapandcheerfuli3garb.We’resuspectalittlemoregossiponthesechipscomeCES2020. Currentrumourssuggest10nmwillnotbeavailableenmasseandindesktopformuntilsometimein2020/21,whichcouldcastashadowoverIntel’seffortstodefeatAMD’srejuvenatedCPUdivision. Butthere’sstillsomethingtobesaidforIntel’srawgamingperformance,acrownithasmanagedtokeepoutofAMD’sgrasp(andwon’tstopshoutingabout).Inthatregard,andglossingoverpricingandproduction,it’sallstilltoplayfor. VITALSTATS IntelCometLakereleasedate Current rumourssuggestCometLakedesktopchipswilllaunchinQ22020, withrecentlyleakedslidespointingatanApril-Junereleasedatewindow. Z490motherboards–thefirstCometLakeboards–shouldbeannouncedinMay,anditwouldmakesenseforCometLakeCPUstoreleasesoonafterthis. IntelCometLakespecs Whiledetailsremainsparse,there’sonlysomuchIntelcandowithSkylakeonits14nmprocess.Intel’sEECregistrationsconfirmupto10coreswillbeavailableonthetopi9processors,andleakedslidessuggestthesewillbeimbuedwithamoderateclockspeedbump,too.MSIhasalsonowconfirmedthatthenewCometLakeCPUsocketwillbetheLGA1200,andwillnotbepin-compatiblewithexisting14nmplatforms. IntelCometLakeperformance Single-coreperformancehasonlyincreasedmoderatelywitheachgenerationsinceSkylake.Eachoneimprovingaweebitonthelast.Applicationsthatfavourmultithreadedchopswillseeanothersignificantbumptoperformancewiththestepuptoadecacorechip,however. IntelCometLakeprice TheCorei99900Kcurrentlyretailsat$488(£480),makingitoneofthemostexpensivemainstreamchipsIntelhasreleasedinrecentyears.WithAMDencroachingonIntel’sclientsales,we’rehopingforareprievefromIntel’straditionalpricingpremiumontopofthatforanothertwoprocessingcores.Butthat’snotguaranteed,andthemostrecentleakspointtowardsCometLake’spricingbeingsimilartoCoffeeLake’spricing,andperhapsevenslightlymoreexpensive. RELEASEDATESPECIFICATIONSPERFORMANCEPRICE WHATISTHEINTELCOMETLAKERELEASEDATE? IntelCometLakeCPUsaresuspectedtolaunchbetweenAprilandJune2020,accordingtoarecentlyleakedslide. Thisslidestatesthatthe“pressnewsembargo”for10thGenIntelCoreProcessorswillrunfrom13April–26June,2020.They wereoriginallysuspectedtolauncheitherinQ12020,oramoredefinite,thoughstillvagueApril/Mayreleasewindow,dependingonwhichleakyoubelieved.  TherehavebeenrumoursInteldelayedthereleasetogetthepowerdrawdownonthetop10-coreCPU,andnowIntelboardpartnershaveapparentlyleakedaMayannouncementtimeframefortheflagshipZ490motherboards.AndtherewouldbenopointreleasingchipsuntiltheboardsareoutbecausethenewLGA1200chipsareincompatiblewithexistingmobos.Themostrecentleakfitswith this announcementtimeframefortheZ490motherboards,meaningaQ2releaseforCometLakeCPUsislikely. Alsocorroboratingthisearly-2020timeframeisthefactthatArcticFreezercoolerswithLGA1200supportarealreadyonsale. Thecompany’s7nmchipswon’theadintoproductionuntilQ42021,CEOBobSwanhasconfirmed.Untilallthat,it’sCometLakeorbustforIntelfans.Luckily,we’realreadyseeingsomeCometLakedesktopprocessorsappearinginonlinebenchmarkingdatabases,whichwecaninfermeansalaunchsoonerratherthanlater. AroadmapleakedtoHongKong-basedsite,XFastest(fromananonymoussourceandnotverifiable),indicatesCometLakeSwilllaunchever-so-slightlybeforetheendof2020alongside400-serieschipsets.However,informationfromHKEPCsuggestsZ490chipsetsandCometLakechipswon’tlaunchuntilApril,2020. BothCometLakechipsand400-seriesmotherboards(Z490,B460,andH410)havesincebeenconfirmedbyIntelandGigabyteinEECregistrationsinSeptember.TheformercameintheformofSDPkits–completewith10coresandGen9graphics–whichwouldsuggestIntelwasclosetofinalisingtheCometLakeCPUforretail. ThisalsoalignswithpreviousspeculationbasedoninformationhiddeninplainsitewithinpatchestotheLinuxgraphicsdriver.Intel’schangestothecode,postedearlyMarch,referenceCometLakedirectly,andthetweaksaresuspectedtobeatimelyprecursortohardwareshippingbeforetheendoftheyear. Thepatchreads:“CometLakeisa[sic]IntelprocessorcontainingGen9IntelHDGraphics.ThispatchaddstheinitialsetofPCIIDs.CometLakecomesoffofCoffeeLake–addingtheIDstoCoffeeLakeIDlist.Moresupportandfeatureswillbeinthepatchesthatfollow.” WHATARETHEINTELCOMETLAKESPECS? IntelCometLakewillbring10corestothemainstreamdesktopCPUmarket,asconfirmedinitsEECregistrations.Thechipitselfwillbebuiltuponthenowheavily-optimised14nmprocessnode.WithHyperthreadingenabledoneverything,fromthetopchipdowntotheCorei3lineup,we’recertainwe’llbeseeinga20-threadCPUruleoverIntel’slineupin2020. Why14nmin2020?Intelhasbeenwrestlingwithits10nmprocessnodeformanyyears,andaftersignificantdelays–andabortedlaunches–10nmisfinallyshippinginahandfulofmobileCPUsin2019.Buteventhatisarathertepidaffair,andvolumedesktopCPUsonthe10nmprocessarenotexpecteduntillate2020/early2021. Instead,Intelisstickingtoitsguns:14nm.Thisisn’texactlythesameprocessorarchitecturethatwasfirstintroducedintothemainstreamworldbackwithSkylake.No,thishasbeenoptimisedandmodifiedintofaster,morecore-happychipscompletewithnewencoders,muchneededsecurityfixes,andfeatureupdates. OneofthebiggestchangesproposedwithCometLakewouldbetheintroductionofHyperthreadingintothemainstreami5andi3lineupsforthefirsttime.Also ontheslate withthetoptwochipsinthe10thGenlineupis anewboostformula,IntelThermalVelocityBoost,whichwilldriveclockspeedsupto5.3GHzonthei910900K. Whileunconfirmed,leakedslidesreportedlyfromthehorse’smouthproposeIntel’sentire10thGenCometLakelineupasbelow. CPU Cores/Threads Base/Single-coreturbo(GHz) MaxTurbo3.0(GHz) IntelThermalVelocity(GHz) TDP(W) Price Corei910900K 10/20 3.7/5.1 5.2 5.3 125 TBD Corei910900 10/20 2.8/5.0 5.1 5.1 65 TBD Corei710700K 8/16 3.8/5.0 5.1 N/A 125 TBD Corei710700 8/16 2.9/4.7 4.8 N/A 65 TBD Corei510600K 6/12 4.1/4.8 N/A N/A 125 TBD Corei510600 6/12 3.3/4.8 N/A N/A 65 TBD Corei510500 6/12 3.1/4.5 N/A N/A 65 TBD Corei510400 6/12 2.9/4.3 N/A N/A 65 TBD Corei310320 4/8 3.8/4.6 N/A N/A 65 TBD Corei310300 4/8 3.7/4.4 N/A N/A 65 TBD Corei310100 4/8 3.6/4.3 N/A N/A 65 TBD Recentbenchmarkleaks,however,puttheCorei710700Kat5.3GHzTurboBoost. Recently,Uniko’sHardware(viaVideoCardz)postedapictureofaCorei510400package,withitsfrequencystatedas2.9GHz.Thiswouldcorroboratewiththeinformationgleanedfrompreviousleaks,butthepicture’scredibility remainsunconfirmed. Rumoursoften-coreIntelCoffeeLakeprocessorshavebeencirculatingsincethedawnoftime…oratleastsincelastNovemberwhenthefirstmentionofthesechipswasspottedonatechforum.Butitwasn’tuntil2019thatIntel’sownLinuxdrivers,submittedinMarch,exposedvarioustidbitsofinformationregardingtheseprocessors. FourentrieswithinthedriverwereparticularlypertinenttoCometLake: {CPUID_COMETLAKE_U_A0,“Cometlake-UA0(6+2)”}, {CPUID_COMETLAKE_U_K0_S0,“Cometlake-UK0/S0(6+2)/(4+2)”}, {CPUID_COMETLAKE_H_S_6_2_P0,“Cometlake-H/SP0(6+2)”}, {CPUID_COMETLAKE_H_S_10_2_P0,“Cometlake-H/SP0(10+2)”} Thefinalentryisofmostinteresttodesktopgamers.Itconfirmsa10+2CometLakeSKU,10processingcoresandintegratedGen9,GT2graphics.ThesewillalmostcertainlyretainthesameringbusinterconnectoftheirCoffeeLakepredecessorsandfeatureanincreaseinL3cacheto20MBwiththetopdecacorechip. However,thesameslidesthatmaytellofCometLake’sreleasewindowalsoindicateachangeofsocketpinconfigurationfromLGA1151toLGA1200.MSIhasnowseeminglyconfirmedthis,listingsupportfortheLGA1200IntelsocketonitsnewMAGCoreLiquidCPUcoolers.Reportedly,400-seriesmotherboardsareintheworksacrossIntel’spartners,andatleast26CometLakemotherboardsareonthewayfromAsus.TheseincludeZ490,H470,B460,andW480chipsets. Therehasalsorecentlybeen IntelisalsoreportedlyexpandingitsTDPenvelopewith10thGen.TheK-seriesprocessors(andKF-seriesprocessors,whichhavebeenrumouredtoreturnwithCometLake,suchasthei910900Kandi710700K,arereportedlyfitwitha125WTDP.(LeaksalsosuggestthatKF-seriesprocessorswillbereturningwithCometLake,andthesetoowillhave125WTDP.) Oh,andreportsofPCIe4.0supportbeingattemptedonIntelCometLakemayhavebeenbogusaltogether.LookslikeyourbestbetforgreaterbandwidthremainsAMDRyzen. INTELCOMETLAKEPERFORMANCE WitheveryrevisionoftheSkylakearchitecture–bethat14nm,14nm+,14nm++,or14nm+++++–Intelhasmanagedtosqueezealittlemoreperformanceoutofthesilicon.Butwhiletheseimprovementsinclockspeedhaveonlybeenmodest,thelastcoupleofgenerationshavealsoseenanincreaseincorecount. Thelatestleakedslides(viaHardwareLuxx)suggestthetwo-corebump couldaccountforsome30%performanceincreaseinsomeheavilymultithreadedworkloads.Insingle-threadedapplications,namelygames,thatboonwillnotbeanywherenearaspronounced.Rather, wesuspectsingledigitimprovement. WecanalsoexpectgreaterperformanceinmultithreadedworkloadsonCorei5andi3processorswiththeadditionofHyperthreadingonthesemainstreamandentry-levelchips.Butonceagainsingle-threadedperformancewilllikely seemarginalimprovementoverCoffeeLake. Thegraphicscardremainsthekeycomponentforusgamers,withtheCPUanimportant,yetsecondary,componentinourquestforfps.Rather,themulti-coreprowessofCometLakewillcomeinhandyifyou’reanextrememultitaskeroreditor,suchasastreamerorcontentcreator,whoisgoingtobeutilisingtheCPUformorethanjustplainol’gamingatanyonetime. Itwon’tbeeasyforIntel,however,andCometLakehasitsworkcutoutforit.Whilethei99900KmanagedtosafelytrounceAMD’sRyzen72700X,albeitforalotmorecash,CometLakewillbepitagainstAMD’sRyzen3000processorsledbythe12-coreRyzen93900X andthe16-coreRyzen93950X. INTELCOMETLAKEPRICE Inteliswalkingapricingtightropeintheclientmarket,notonebithelpedbyitscurrentstruggletoproducethechipsitrequirestomeetitsclients’needs. Intelisyettodeviatefromitstraditionalpricingstructure,chargingupwardof$480fortheeight-corei99900K.ButthatrigidstructureisunderfirefromAMD’sZen2architecture,withtheRyzen73700Xofferinganequitablequantityofcoresfor$329. ThatputsitinastickysituationwithCometLake.The10-corei910900Kchipcouldnecessitateapricetagofbrobdingnagianproportions. Intelhasshownsomewanttodeviatefromitslong-standingpricingstructure,however.AtleastintheHEDTmarket.Intel’slatestCoreX-seriesprocessors,CascadeLakeX,sawpricesslashedbynearlyhalftocompetewithAMD’sThreadripperprocessors. While there’sstillhopefora10thGenpricedrop,anITretailerhasbeenspottedlistingIntelCoreCometLakeprocessorpricesatroughlythesamepriceastheirCoffeeLakecounterparts,ifnotalittlehigher.TechPowerUpalsorecentlyreportedthataDutchwebsitehaslistedthepricesfortheentireCometLakeCoreCPUrange.Corroboratingthepreviousleak,theseCometLakeCPUprices(listedinEuros),arethesameifnothigherthancomparableCoffeLakeCPUMSRPs.Forexample: CPU Price(approx.) IntelCorei59400 237€ IntelCorei510400 *230€ IntelCorei59600K 257€ IntelCorei510600K *316€ IntelCorei79700K 404€ IntelCorei710700K *467€ IntelCorei99900K 550€ IntelCorei910900K *600€ *Thesepricesarestillunconfirmed Whilethisisn’tbadinavacuum,withAMDZen3CPUsbeinglikelytooffergreatpricetoperformance,Intelmighthaveitsworkcutoutforit. GetinvolvedintheconversationbyheadingovertoourFacebookandInstagrampages.TostayuptodatewiththelatestPCgamingguides,news,andreviews,followPCGamesNonTwitterandSteamNewsHub,ordownloadourfreeappforOverwolf. JacobRidley HardwareEditor Published:Mar10,2020 Formerdeputyhardwareeditorandself-proclaimedwildcard,Jacob'shobbiesincludeplumbingthedepthsofRGBlightingandbuildingtheworld’sugliestgamingPC. INFOReadMoreArcAlchemistGPUs-everythingweknowRaptorLakeCPUs-everythingweknowBestgamingCPU Intel