If you’re expecting news about Intel’s upcoming Rocket Lake processors, I have something for you today. One of our sources provided us with complete technical specifications for Intel’s next Core i9 and Core i7 Rocket Lake family. Intel’s Rocket Lake architecture represents the first significant architectural upgrade in over 6 years and will feature PCIe 4.0. It will finally allow Intel to achieve parity with AMD’s PCIe 4.0-equipped Zen platform, as well as a huge increase in IPC over Skylake.
Intel Rocket Lake Core i7 and Core i9 CPU line with final turbo boost frequencies
Before starting, keep in mind that the B-0 revision is essentially the QS example and, although this revision is generally final, Intel may decide to improve them a little further. In that case, the final variant could be Better than that – but not worse. The flagship of the company Rocket Lake CPU, the Core i9 11900K will be able to increase to an incredible 5.3 GHz single-core and 4.8 GHz all-core thanks to Intel’s incredibly mature 14 nm process.
Combined with the increase in CPI we are seeing, this should put incredible competitive pressure on AMD’s Zen 3 line. Although we are not making claims yet, I would not be surprised if Intel resumed AMD’s performance crown in 2021. Without further ado, here is the Core i7 and Core i9 line:
Intel is preparing a total of 10 SKUs in the Core i7 and Core i9 families for launch (at least in the near future). TDPs range from a measly 25W to 125W. Depending on whether you prefer energy efficiency or raw performance, there is a wide range for everyone. Intel’s flagship processor, the Intel Core i9 11900K has an incredible 5.3 GHz single-core boost coupled with a total 4.8 GHz core. . Considering they are 14 nm, the availability of these SKUs must be very good. There are also Core i9 11900KF, Core i9 11900T, Core i9 11900 and Core i9 11900F flavors in this family. Intel even managed to provide an entire core increase of 3.7 GHz at 35W TDP with the Core i9 11900T. [caution: opinion] Personally, I expect the Core i9 series to outperform AMD Zen 3-based offerings. [/opinion].
For the Core i7 parts, the entire core increase will be around 4.6 GHz, while the single core increase will be 5.0 GHz. These are variants with smaller compartments that will be much cheaper than the parts of the Core i7. Core i9. They will also offer an 18% increase in CPI over the last generation (uArch based on skylake) and PCIe 4.0 with the one thing that is probably more important now: the supply. With TSMC congestion, Intel has a real chance of gaining market share if it manages to ship Rocket Lake in volume. Considering it is based on 14 nm – we see no reason why they no be able to do just that. Based on leaked benchmarks, we expect the Core i7 family to perform slightly worse than AMD’s Zen 3-based offerings / reach parity in some cases.
Rocket Lake is becoming Intel’s most exciting offering in almost 6+ years. With a 14nm volume maturity and readily available, the company can succeed in selling its “process decoupling” philosophy. Unlike GPUs, which rely on more than one supply constraint (memory / materials, etc.), CPUs rely primarily on foundry – and with Intel Foundries perfectly equipped for 14nm – this is your chance to recapture part of the market share lost.