Intel’s next-generation Comet Lake-S CPUs may need new motherboards

By Jon Martindale May 9, 2019

Intel Core i9- 9900K — Intel Core i9- 9900K Image used with permission by copyright holder

Forward compatibility on motherboards that support Intel CPUs could end with its latest ninth-generation chips, as a listing in an Intel chipset driver suggests that a new socket will be required for its 10th-generation, Comet Lake-S chips. Those 14nm CPUs are expected to debut in 2020, but thanks to their increase in top-tier core count to 10, they’ll need extra power, and that means a new socket and a new motherboard to house it.

One of the hallmarks of recent generations of motherboards from both Intel and AMD has been multi-generational CPU support. AMD 300-series motherboards, released alongside its first-generation Ryzen processors, support the second and in some cases the third-generation Ryzen CPUs as well. They may even support the fourth. Intel’s 300-series motherboards, released alongside its eighth-generation Coffee Lake CPUs, also support the ninth-generation Coffee Lake-S chips. But that’s where the forward compatibility ends.

Recommended Videos

Intel’s 10th-generation fans will need to move to a 400-series motherboard to enjoy support for the new chips, according to a driver that WCCFTech dug into. Its sources claim that the new socket will have more pins and so it represents more than just an alteration of the current LGA 1151 socket. That should enable it to draw the additional power it needs for the 10 cores on the high-end Comet Lake-S chips.

Considering that Intel seems to be on a path to giving its chipsets and motherboards a two-generation lifespan, WCCFTech suggests that the new 400 and 495-series motherboards will support both Comet Lake-S, and potentially what comes next. Based on a leaked roadmap that appeared in April, that should be Rocket Lake-S. It’s reportedly another 14nm chip line, but will be based on the Sunny Cove Architecture currently being used in Intel’s first-generation Ice Lake mobile CPUs.

But Comet Lake-S will come first and is expected to make its debut on desktops in the first few months of 2020. We aren’t expecting huge performance gains since it’s still a 14nm part, but alongside additional cores we would like to see some slightly bumped clock speeds, too. Perhaps that will mean greater than 5GHz frequencies at the top end.

They’re likely to be called the 10th-generation of CPUs, so expect chips to include the 10400, 10600K, and 10700K.

Topics

Evergreen writer

Jon Martindale is a freelance evergreen writer and occasional section coordinator, covering how to guides, best-of lists, and…

Computing

Intel’s desktop CPU road map may have changed

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger presents Intel's roadmap including Arrow Lake, Lunar Lake, and Panther Lake.

Intel's list of best processors is about to expand with the upcoming launch of Arrow Lake-S, also referred to as Intel Core Ultra 200-series for desktops. But what comes next is less certain, and even more so now. According to a post on the Chiphell forums, Intel may have decided to cancel the Arrow Lake-S refresh (Intel Core Ultra 300-series, presumably) that was reportedly slated for sometime next year as a follow-up to this year's initial launch. On the upside, the code name for an upcoming desktop CPU generation was also leaked.

The rumored Arrow Lake-S refresh was never confirmed, but there have been many whispers about it from various leakers. Much like the Raptor Lake refresh, it was never meant to be a groundbreaking update; the neural processing unit (NPU) was the main thing that was going to be updated.

Computing

This next CPU generation is starting to feel skippable for gamers

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X between two finger tips.

The two most exciting PC components to upgrade are the graphics card and the processor. We haven't seen next-gen graphics cards yet, and we're unlikely to see them this year, but both Intel and AMD have released (or will release) new processors. However, this generation of CPUs is quickly turning out to be the one to skip.

With AMD Ryzen 9000 series already here, and with Intel Arrow Lake-S on the imminent horizon, you'd think that gamers would be lining up to upgrade. But as a gamer, I haven't felt less excited about a generation of CPUs in quite a long time.
Ryzen 9000 barely makes a difference

Computing

Intel Arrow Lake gets possible pricing and release date

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger presents Intel's roadmap including Arrow Lake, Lunar Lake, and Panther Lake.

We haven't even gotten an official release date for Intel Arrow Lake, but the one we know of is already being pushed back. Many leaks pointed to an October 10 release, but now, one source claims that Intel won't launch its next-gen top desktop processors until October 24. This only applies to the K and KF-series CPUs -- the non-K variants won't arrive until much later. We've also gotten a peek at some of the possible pricing.

Fortunately, the delay doesn't appear to be major. According to HKEPC on X (formerly Twitter), the launch of Intel Arrow Lake-S has now been pushed back from October 17 to October 24. This is somewhat inconsistent with previous leaks, but not really -- it appears that Intel had always planned to announce Arrow Lake on October 10, with availability starting on October 17. Now, we might still hear about the CPUs on October 10, but they won't appear on the shelves until two weeks later.