Intel has officially launched its 11th Generation Intel Core processors, better known by their codename: Rocket Lake-S.
The full Intel Rocket Lake-S roster includes CPUs covering each type of Intel Core processor bar i3, including the powerful Intel Core i9-11900K at the top of the pile. Intel's new flagship processor will go head-to-head with AMD's Ryzen 5000-series in the battle for supremacy, in which the balance of power frequently switches back and forth.
Intel's 11th Gen Rocket Lake CPUs Ready for Launch
Let's start from the top.
The flagship Intel Core i9-11900K is an octa-core, 16 thread CPU with a base clock speed of 3.5GHz, a single-core maximum boost speed of 5.2GHz, and an all-core maximum boost speed of 4.8GHz. It'll support DDR4 RAM at 3,200MHz, and has a moderately sized 16MB Intel Smart Cache.
Although the Intel Core i9-11900K is an impressive CPU, you might note that it comes with slightly reduced performance compared to the Intel 10th Gen CPUs. The previous flagship model, the Intel i9-10900K, had 10 cores and 20 threads, boasting very similar core clock speeds.
"What gives?" you might think. But that leads us to the second piece of Intel news: the 11th Generation CPUs use Intel's new Cypress Cove architecture.
Cypress Cove is Intel's first major architecture upgrade since Skylake was introduced back in 2015 and is expected to provide significant performance boosts to Intel's 11th Generation processors and those that follow in its steps. Intel expects Cypress Cove to deliver "up to 19 percent" better performance than the previous generation.
However, before you get carried away, although Rocket Lake-S uses the Cypress Cove architecture, Intel is still using the same 14nm manufacturing process. The 10nm process used for its Tiger Lake mobile processors still isn't up and running for its desktop chips, so the performance boost that comes with that manufacturing switch will arrive with a later Generation.
Back to the chips. The 11th Gen Intel processors will all use Intel's Xe integrated graphics, which should also receive a boost from the new architecture. They'll also support a total of 20 PCIe 4 lanes for extra hardware, as well as support for USB 3.2 Gen 2x2.
When Is Intel Rocket Lake-S Launching?
Right now—March 16, 2021.
Intel is launching eight new 11th Gen Rocket Lake-S processors:
- Intel i9-11900K: MSRP $539
- Intel i9-11900: $439
- Intel i7-11700K: $399
- Intel i7-11700: $323
- Intel i5-11600K: $262
- Intel i5-11600: $213
- Intel i5-11500: $192
- Intel i5-11400: $182
The above prices are Intel's suggestion, and you would expect these to remain accurate, at least in the medium-term.
The big question now revolves around how the Intel Core i9-11900K stands up to the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X. Intel released some slides detailing the i9-11900K's gaming and media creation performance, showing it outstripping AMD's flagship consumer chip.
However, it is always better to wait until reviewers and hardware testers get their hands on the new hardware before making any grand declarations.