Intel is going to announce its 10th Gen desktop CPUs on 30th April 2020. The CPU lineup is codenamed Comet Lake-S and will be manufactured on 14nm node. Various leaks in the recent weeks for CPU benchmarks and Z490 motherboards have been pointing towards the announcement as well.
Intel 10th Gen CPUs Available from 27th May
Popular tech website Wccftech has posted that the Intel 10th Gen desktop CPUs will be available for purchase from 27th May at 13:00 GMT. The review embargo will also lift at the same time. There will be almost a full month between the announcement and availability of the CPUs. Another thing to consider is that with the majority of countries being in lockdown, there can be a last moment change to Intel’s launch plans.
Intel 10th Gen Desktop Lineup
Intel’s 10th Gen desktop lineup pushes the SkyLake architecture to its limits. The flagship CPU, Core i9 10900K, will feature 10-cores and 20-threads as compared to the 8-cores and 16-threads of the Core i9 9900K. The i9 10900K allegedly has a base clock of 3.7GHz, a single-core boost clock of 5.1GHz, and an all-core boost clock of 4.8GHz. It comes with 20MB of total cache and is rated at 125W TDP. However, when considering the thermal performance and power consumption of the i9 9900K, it is safe to assume that the Core i9 10900K will be a hot and power-hungry CPU. Some leaks have suggested that the CPU consumes up to 225 Watts of power under load. It will at least require a top-of-the-line 360mm AIO if not a custom water cooling loop to function at its peak.
| CPU Model | Cores/ Threads | Base Clock | Boost Clock (Single/ All Core) | Cache | TDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i9 10900K | 10/20 | 3.7 GHz | 5.1/ 4.8 GHz | 20MB | 125W |
| i9 10900 | 10/20 | 2.8 GHz | 5.0/ 4.5 GHz | 20MB | 65W |
| i7 10700K | 8/16 | 3.8 GHz | 5.0/ 4.7 GHz | 16MB | 125W |
| i7 10700 | 8/16 | 2.9 GHz | 4.8/ 4.6 GHz | 16MB | 65W |
| i5 10600K | 6/12 | 4.1 GHz | 4.8/ 4.5 GHz | 12MB | 125W |
| i5 10600 | 6/12 | 3.3 GHz | 4.8/ 4.4 GHz | 12MB | 65W |
| i5 10500 | 6/12 | 3.1 GHz | 4.5/ 4.2 GHz | 12MB | 65W |
| i3 10300 | 4/8 | 3.7 GHz | 4.4/ 4.2 GHz | 8MB | 65W |
Allegedly, all 10th Gen Core i7 skews are expected to have 8-cores and 16-threads. The 10th Gen i5 CPUs will probably have 6-cores and 12-threads, while the i3 CPUs will have 4-cores and 8-threads. Competition from AMD has had a huge impact on Intel’s products. Just two generations ago, the 6-core, 12-thread, i7 8700K was the flagship model from Intel. Now, a similarly specced i5 10600K will be a mainstream offering.
Intel Making Hyperthreading Standard
Another thing to note is that Intel has made hyperthreading a standard feature on its Core i3, i5, and i7 CPUs. In the 9th Gen lineup, only the i9 CPUs had hyperthreading. The move can be attributed to the strong performance and affordable pricing of Ryzen 3000 Series CPUs. AMD has made SMT standard across most of its CPUs and hence leads Intel in multi-threaded tasks by a significant margin. Intel might be trying to regain some of the lost ground by implementing hyperthreading across all 10th Gen CPU segments. It will be interesting to see if Intel releases some 10th Gen CPUs without hyperthreading enabled.
New Z490 Chipset With A New LGA1200 Socket
Intel is introducing a new socket for its 10th Gen CPUs, the LGA 1200. It measures 37.5mm x 37.5mm like the LGA 1151 socket, but the layout has changed. The CPUs will not be compatible with the previous generation motherboards (Coffee Lake). It is expected as top-end CPUs, especially the 8-core and 10-core ones, are bound to consume vast amounts of power. The same may not have been viable with the LGA 1151 socket. The Z490 chipset may bring some new features as well. Intel will probably introduce multiple 400-Series chipsets for different market segments, including those for professional and budget customers. However, most of the CPU coolers currently available will be compatible with the new socket. Some of them may require a new installation kit, but there will be no need to buy a new cooler.
Intel 10th Gen CPU Pricing Leak, What To Expect?
Listings of Intel’s 10th CPUs on a tech retailer’s website were pointed to by Momomo_US. Prices of three different CPUs have been listed in Canadian dollars. The 10-core i9 10900 (non-K variant) carries a price tag of $679 (CAD). The website also lists the Core i7 10700K for $585 (CAD) and the Core i7 10700 for $506 (CAD). When converting these prices to USD, the i9 10900 costs $482, the i7 10700K comes to $415, and the i7 10700 amounts to $359 approximately. The prices listed may be exclusive of the applicable taxes. It seems the prices of 10th Gen CPUs will be comparable to 9th Gen CPUs, but buyers will get two extra cores, at least for the listed Core i9 and Core i7 variants. However, these prices could be temporary placeholders as well, and it is best to wait for the official announcement from Intel.
| CPU | Price CAD | Price USD (appx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i9 10900 | CAD 679 | USD 482 |
| Intel Core i710700K | CAD 585 | USD 415 |
| Intel Core i7 10700 | CAD 506 | USD 359 |
Intel has been receiving stiff competition from AMD since the launch of Ryzen processors. The delay in Intel’s 10nm launch has made matters worse for the company. The Ryzen 3000 CPU Series has managed to reduce the performance gap between Intel and AMD CPUs significantly. What’s more, the 12-core and 16-core Ryzen R9 CPUs comprehensively beat Intel’s offerings in productivity applications. Intel is trying to regain lost ground with its 10-core, 20-thread CPU. However, efficiency and costs will be the main points of concern that will impact the buying decision of the end customer. Let’s see how things pan out once Intel 10th Gen CPUs hit retail shelves.
