Though Intel hasn’t confirmed details about Rocket Lake, it’s believed that the desktop processor will likely continue to support the LGA-1200 socket on the Z490 motherboards that were introduced with Comet Lake-S.
Unlike rival AMD, which has fully transitioned to a 7nm architecture, Intel’s upcoming Rocket Lake-S processors will likely still utilize the now aging 14nm node but with a new Willow Cove microarchitecture design.
Recently leaked benchmarks from Twitter user @TUM_APISAK show that the 11th-gen Rocket Lake-S — the successor to this year’s 10th Gen Comet Lake-S processors — will have at least one variant with an eight-core design supporting 16 threads.
Notably, if Intel does decide to hold off on launching its HEDT processors until a new socket design is ready in 2021, it would mean that the company won’t have a solution in time to compete against rival AMD’s forthcoming high-end Ryzen 4000 desktop processors slated to launch later this year.
Intel may transition to a new motherboard and socket design once it introduces the successor to Rocket Lake-S — the 12th-generation Alder Lake-S processor.