Rocket Lake Explained

Rocket Lake is Intel's codename for its 11th generation Core microprocessors. Released on March 30, 2021,^[1] it is based on the new Cypress Cove microarchitecture, a variant of Sunny Cove (used by Intel's Ice Lake mobile processors) backported to Intel's 14 nm process node.^[4] Rocket Lake cores contain significantly more transistors than Skylake-derived Comet Lake cores.

Rocket Lake features the same LGA 1200 socket and 400-series chipset compatibility as Comet Lake, except H410 and B460 chipsets. It is accompanied by new 500-series chipsets as well.^[5] Rocket Lake has up to eight cores, down from 10 cores for Comet Lake. It features Intel Xe graphics, and PCIe 4.0 support.^[6] Only a single M.2 drive is supported in PCIe 4.0 mode, while all the rest are wired via PCIe 3.0.^[7]

Intel officially launched the Rocket Lake desktop family on March 16, 2021, with sales commencing on March 30.^[8] The 11th generation Core i3, as well as Rocket Lake-based Pentium Gold and Celeron CPUs were not included along with the higher-end models; instead, Intel launched refreshed models for Comet Lake Core i3 and Pentium Gold CPUs. These processors have the same characteristics as their original parts, albeit with a 100 MHz higher frequency and the last digit of their model numbers changing from zero to five.^[9] Intel also released Tiger Lake processors as part of the 11th generation lineup in the desktop/NUC and tablet market. Such processors have the new B suffix in the model names.

Features

CPU

• Intel Cypress Cove CPU cores
• Up to 19% claimed increase in IPC (instructions-per-clock)^[10]
• DL Boost (low-precision arithmetic for Deep Learning) and AVX-512 instructions
• Compared to its predecessors, SGX instruction set extensions are removed^{[11] [12] [13]}

GPU

• Intel Xe-LP ("Gen12") GPU with up to 32 execution units^{[14] [15]}
• Fixed-function hardware for decoding HEVC 12-bit, 4:2:2/4:4:4; VP9 12-bit 4:4:4 and AV1 8K 10-bit 4:2:0^{[16] [17] [18]}
• DisplayPort 1.4a with Display Stream Compression; HDMI 2.0b
• Support for a single 8K 12-bit HDR display or two 4K 10-bit HDR displays
• Hardware accelerated Dolby Vision
• Sampler Feedback support^{[19] [20] [21] [22]}
• Dual Queue Support^[15]
• Variable Rate Shading^{[23] [24]}
• Integer- and nearest neighbor image scaling^[25]
• GPUs on desktop CPUs support 5K 60 Hz

I/O

• Up to 20 CPU lanes of PCI Express 4.0^[26]
• DDR4-3200 memory support
• USB 3.2 Gen 2×2
• Optional USB4 / Thunderbolt 4 when paired with Intel JHL8540 Thunderbolt 4 Controller^{[27] [28]}
• DMI 3.0 x8 link with Intel 500 Series Chipsets

List of 11th generation Rocket Lake processors

Rocket Lake-S (Desktop processors)

• All CPUs listed below support DDR4-3200 natively. The Core i9 K/KF processors support a 1:1 ratio of DRAM to memory controller by specification at DDR4-3200, whereas the Core i9 non K/KF and all other CPUs listed below support a 2:1 ratio of DRAM to memory controller at DDR4-3200 and a 1:1 ratio at DDR4-2933.^[29]
• All CPUs support up to 128 GB of RAM in dual channel mode^[30]
• Core i9 CPUs (except 11900T) support Intel Thermal Velocity Boost technology^{[31] [32]}

Processor branding	Model	Cores (Threads)	Clock rate (GHz)					GPU		Smart Cache (L3)	TDP	Price (USD)
			Base	Turbo Boost				Model	Max clock rate (GHz)
				All-Core	2.0	3.0
Core i9	11900K	8 (16)	3.5	4.8	5.1	5.2	5.3	UHD 750	1.3	16MB	125W	$539
	11900KF							$513
	11900		2.5	4.7	5.0	5.1	5.2	UHD 750	1.3		65W	$439
	11900F							$422
	11900T		1.5	3.7	4.8	4.9	UHD 750	1.3	35W		$439
Core i7	11700K		3.6	4.6	4.9	5.0	125W		$399
	11700KF							$374
	11700		2.5	4.4	4.8	4.9	UHD 750	1.3	65W		$323
	11700F						$298
	11700T		1.4	3.6	4.5	4.6	UHD 750	1.3	35W		$323
Core i5	11600K	6 (12)	3.9	4.6	4.9	12MB			125W	$262
	11600KF					$237
	11600		2.8	4.3	4.8	UHD 750	1.3	65W	$213
	11600T		1.7	3.5	4.1			35W
	11500		2.7	4.2	4.6			65W	$192
	11500T		1.5	3.4	3.9		1.2	35W
	11400		2.6	4.2	4.4	UHD 730	1.3	65W	$182
	11400F					$157
	11400T		1.3	3.3	3.7	UHD 730	1.2	35W	$182

Workstation processors

• These CPUs support ECC memory and require Intel W480 or W580 chipset
• Support up to 128 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM in dual channel mode

Processor branding	Model	Cores (Threads)	Clock rate (GHz)		GPU		Smart cache	TDP	Price (USD)
			Base	Turbo	Model	Max clock rate (GHz)
Xeon W	1390P	8 (16)	3.5	5.3	UHD P750	1.3	16MB	125W	$539
	1390		2.8	5.2				80W	$494
	1390T		1.5	4.9				35W
	1370P		3.6	5.2				125W	$428
	1370		2.9	5.1				80W	$362
	1350P	6 (12)	4.0	5.1			12MB	125W	$311
	1350		3.3	5.0				80W	$255

Server processors

• CPUs support ECC memory and require Intel C252 or C256 chipset
• Support up to 128 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM in dual channel mode

Processor branding	Model	Cores (Threads)	Clock rate (GHz)		GPU		Smart cache	TDP	Price (USD)
			Base	Turbo	Model	Max clock rate (GHz)
Xeon E	2388G	8 (16)	3.2	5.1	UHD P750	1.3	16MB	95W	$539
	2378G		2.8					80W	$494
	2378		2.6	4.8	65W			$362
	2386G	6 (12)	3.5	5.1	UHD P750	1.3	12MB	95W	$450
	2356G		3.2	5.0				80W	$311
	2336		2.9	4.8	65W			$284
	2374G	4 (8)	3.7	5.0	UHD P750	1.3	8MB	80 W	$334
	2334		3.4	4.8	65W	$250
	2324G	4 (4)	3.1	4.6	UHD P750	1.3		$209
	2314		2.8	4.5	$182

See also

• List of Intel CPU microarchitectures
• Intel Core

External links

• Intel 11th-generation Rocket Lake-S CPU spotted on Geekbench
• Intel’s Rocket Lake CPUs With Major New Architecture Will Boost To 5.0 GHz
• Intel Rocket Lake-S release date, specs and rumours
• Rocket Lake - Microarchitectures - Intel

Notes and References

1. Web site: Intel confirms 11th Gen Core "Rocket Lake-S" is set to launch on March 30 . VideoCardz . en-US . March 2, 2021 . March 2, 2021.
2. Web site: Shilov . Anton . February 7, 2023 . Intel Says Goodbye to Rocket Lake CPUs . Tom's Hardware . en-US . February 10, 2023.
3. Web site: Intel Rocket Lake (14nm) Review: Core i9-11900K, Core i7-11700K, and Core i5-11600K .
4. Web site: Cutress . Ian . October 29, 2020 . Intel's 11th Gen Core Rocket Lake Detailed: Ice Lake Core with Xe Graphics . AnandTech . en-US . December 2, 2022.
5. News: Liu . Zhiye . October 7, 2020 . Intel Rocket Lake-S CPUs and 500-Series Motherboards Allegedly Arrive In Late March 2021 . Tom's Hardware . en-US . December 16, 2020.
6. News: Alcorn . Paul . October 7, 2020 . Intel Announces Rocket Lake 2021 Release Ahead of AMD's Zen 3 Announcement . Tom's Hardware . en-US . December 16, 2020.
7. Web site: Intel Core i9-11900K Review - World's Fastest Gaming Processor? . TechPowerUp . en-US . March 30, 2021 . March 31, 2021.
8. Web site: 11th Gen Intel Core: Unmatched Overclocking, Game Performance . Intel Newsroom . en-US . March 16, 2021 . March 19, 2021.
9. Web site: Cutress . Ian . March 16, 2021 . Intel Launches Rocket Lake 11th Gen Core i9, Core i7, and Core i5 . AnandTech . en-US . March 19, 2021.
10. Web site: Cutress . Ian . March 5, 2021 . Intel Core i7-11700K Review: Blasting Off with Rocket Lake . AnandTech . en-US . March 6, 2021.
11. Web site: 11th Generation Intel Core Processor Datasheet . Intel . en-US . 2021 . January 15, 2022.
12. Web site: Intel Core i9-11900K Processor . Intel . en-US . December 2, 2022.
13. Web site: "Add rocketlake to gcc" commit . gcc.gnu.org.
14. Web site: Smith . Ryan . August 13, 2020 . The Intel Xe-LP GPU Architecture Deep Dive: Building Up The Next Generation . AnandTech . en-US . December 2, 2020.
15. Web site: Intel® Processor Graphics Xᵉ-LP API Developer and Optimization Guide. Intel.
16. Web site: intel/media-driver . GitHub . 3 November 2021.
17. Web site: [Decode] This enables HW AV1 decode acceleration on Gen12 · intel/media-driver@9491998 ]. GitHub . en . July 29, 2020.
18. Web site: Release Intel Media Driver Q3'2020 Release · intel/media-driver . GitHub.
19. Web site: Download Intel Graphics - Windows 10 DCH Drivers . Intel . en-US . September 30, 2020.
20. Web site: Sampler Feedback . GitHub . en-US . September 30, 2020.
21. Web site: November 4, 2019 . Coming to DirectX 12— Sampler Feedback: some useful once-hidden data, unlocked . DirectX Developer Blog . en-US . September 30, 2020.
22. Web site: DirectX12 Sampler Feedback . Intel . en-US.
23. Web site: Variable Rate Shading . Intel . en-US . December 2, 2022.
24. Web site: Variable Rate Shading . GitHub . en-US.
25. Web site: Integer Scaling Support on Intel Graphics . Intel . en-US . December 2, 2020.
26. Web site: Exclusive: Intel Rocket Lake-S features PCI-Express 4.0, Xe Graphics . VideoCardz . en-US . September 2, 2020.
27. Web site: Intel JHL8540 Thunderbolt 4 Controller Product Specifications. ark.intel.com.
28. Web site: Intel's Maple Ridge (JHL8540) Thunderbolt 4 Controller Now Shipping . Ganesh T.. S . AnandTech . en-US . February 10, 2023.
29. Web site: Cutress . Ian . Intel Launches Rocket Lake 11th Gen Core i9, Core i7, and Core i5 . AnandTech . en-US . March 17, 2021.
30. Web site: What You Need to Know About Upgrading to an 11th Gen 'Rocket Lake' CPU . NDTV Gadgets 360 . March 29, 2021 . en . March 30, 2021.
31. Web site: Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB) - Intel . WikiChip . en-US . 2021-03-19.
32. Web site: Cutress . Ian . March 19, 2021 . Intel's New Adaptive Boost Technology: Floating Turbo Comes to Rocket Lake . AnandTech . en-US . March 19, 2021.