Intel confirmed that its 11th-gen next-generation desktop processor, Rocket Lake, will ship during the first quarter of 2021, and with PCI Express 4.0, to boot.
John Bonini, Intel’s vice president and general manager of Intel’s Client Computing Group for Desktop, Workstations and Gaming, confirmed Rocket Lake’s existence and shipping date in a company blog post.
“I’m also happy to confirm that the next generation 11th Gen Intel Core desktop processors (codenamed “Rocket Lake”) is coming in the first quarter of 2021 and will provide support for PCIe 4.0,” he wrote. “It’ll be another fantastic processor for gaming, and we’re excited to disclose more details in the near future. There’s a lot more to come, so stay tuned!”
While Intel’s news is vague when it comes to an actual release date, Videocardz reports that the chips are set to arrive in March 2021. The new Rocket Lake-S chips are also said to be compatible with existing Intel 400-series motherboards, which should be helpful for anyone looking to upgrade next year when the new chips do launch.
Wccftech also has some more information on what to expect from Intel’s next major revamp of its desktop processors, which are still expected to use the same 14nm process that Intel has been using for years. However, Wccftech claims that Intel will be backporting some of the architecture improvements it debuted with the Willow Cove architecture from its 11th Gen mobile processors, which should offer some more substantial upgrades despite the fact that Intel hasn’t managed to release its 10nm desktop products yet.
In addition to PCIe 4.0, the new Rocket Lake-S lineup is also expected to offer the company’s new Xe graphics, along with integrated Thunderbolt 4 (and USB4) support.
