Intel 11th Gen Core Processor aka “Rocket Lake-S” Reportedly Supports PCIE 4.0

I think Intel have realized its mistake when they launched their 10th Gen Core processors a couple of months ago, and this is why I’m guessing they’re rushing to launch the 11th Gen pretty soon (probably by the end of the year).

Taken from Videocardz … Last month we saw the first Rocket Lake-S engineering sample running 3DMark software. That sample was a six-core model with hyperthreading enabled. Today we are reporting on an 8-core model with 16-threads enabled.

But first lets recap what we know about Rocket Lake-S so far. This is the upcoming Intel mainstream desktop architecture designed for the LGA1200 socket. Some motherboard makers have already confirmed that Rocket Lake will be compatible with the existing 400-series motherboards. Others have indirectly advertised PCIe Gen4 hardware readiness on the Z490 series. Since Comet Lake is PCIe Gen3 only, it basically confirms support for Rocket Lake’s PCI Gen4 support.

The Rocket Lake architecture will finally put the end to Skylake-based core design. It wasn’t quite clear if Rocket will use Sunny Cove or Willow Cover core, but the new leak would suggest that Rocket Lake does actually share more with Ice Lake (Sunny Cove) than Tiger Lake (Willow Cove). This essentially puts ‘Willow Cove backport’ rumors in doubt.

Intel Rocket Lake-S will also be the first architecture to support the Xe Graphics engine. This integrated graphics processor is a similar Gen12 design we will be seeing in the upcoming mobile Tiger Lake. According to the leak, the sample tested ships with 32 Execution Units, which means 256 Unified cores in total. For comparison, Intel’s first discrete graphics based on Xe design — DG1 — is expected to feature 96 EUs, which means 768 cores.

Source: Videocardz, Geekbench via @TUM_APISAK