Intel has finally unveiled its 10th Generation Desktop CPU family, codenamed Comet Lake-S. The new family of processors will feature support on the latest Z490 motherboards featuring the new LGA 1200 socket and a range of enhanced I/O functionality. The CPU lineup itself brings forth the fastest clocked high-core count chips from Intel released to date such as the flagship 10 Core, Core i9-10900K.

Intel Unveils Its 10th Gen Desktop CPUs & Z490 Platform Codenamed Comet Lake-S - Up To 10 Cores, 20 Threads Core i9 CPUs With 5.30 GHz Clock Speeds

Just like every year, Intel has brought a new chipset for motherboard makers to implement in their next-generation designs. The Z490, the flagship of the 400-series, has a lot going on, and to start off, only 10th Generation & Future Generation CPUs will be compatible with the chipset due to the introduction of an entirely new socket known as LGA 1200.

In April 2020, Intel announces new desktop processors as part of the 10th Gen Intel Core processor family. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

No LGA 1151 CPUs will run on the Z490 motherboards and in a way, it streamlines most of the BIOS issues that are a resultant downside of an older generation motherboard requiring frequent updates to maintain proper support for new processors. We have seen this on the AM4 side where older motherboards had to be issued several BIOS releases before they offered proper support for new Ryzen processors.

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So while this day-0 support for 10th Gen CPUs is awesome, it does mean that consumers who are planning to upgrade to a 10th Gen CPU will require a new Z490 motherboard. For that, there are several boards that are being released today from ASUS, ASRock, Gigabyte, MSI, and also smaller Intel partners such as SuperO, EVGA, Biostar, and Colorful. We have roundups ready for the listed lineups in the links below and more information dropping in later today!

ASUS Z490 Motherboard Lineup RoundupAORUS Z490 Motherboard Lineup RoundupASRock Z490 Motherboard Lineup RoundupMSI Z490 Motherboard Lineup RoundupBiostar Z490 Motherboard Lineup RoundupEVGA Z490 Motherboard Lineup RoundupColorful Z490 Motherboard Lineup RoundupSuperO Z490 Motherboard Lineup Roundup

Before we talk more about the Z490 platform itself, let's take a look at the Intel 10th Generation Desktop CPU lineup.

The 10th Generation Desktop CPUs, The Last Revision of Skylake With The Highest Number of Cores/Clocks To Date

TheIntel Comet Lake-S or the 10th Generation Core Family is expected to be the last CPU lineup to reuse the 14nm Skylake architecture. The Skylake architecture has been with us since 2015 and Intel has yet to replace it for desktop consumers. The architecture has seen several optimizations and key refinements that have led to an increase from 4 cores and 8 threads to 10 cores and 20 threads. The same 14nm process has also been improved to the point that the flagship CPU speeds have seen a massive jump from 4.20 GHz boosts to 5.30 GHz boosts.

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There are a total of 32 SKUs planned for Intel's 10th Gen Desktop family which include six unlocked SKUs. There's the flagship Core i9-10900K which is followed by the Core i7-10700K and the Core i5-10600K. The Core i3 variant is missing but it's such a crucial SKU that would be targetting a very competitive market and it would be a bad decision for Intel to not launch an unlocked quad-core part in the budget tier segment.

Intel Core i9-10900K - 10 Cores, Up To 5.3 GHz Single-Core, 4.9 GHz All-Core at $488 US

The Intel Core i9-10900K will be the flagship part of the 10th Generation Desktop CPU family. Intel has a few tricks up their sleeves to offer even better performance than the Core i9-9900KS. The i9-10900K features 10 cores, 20 threads a total cache of 20 MB, and a 125W TDP. The chip has a base frequency of 3.7 GHz and a boost frequency of 5.1 GHz. However, using Intel's Turbo Boost Max 3.0 technology, the chip can boost up to 5.2 GHz on a single-core and what's even better is the 4.9 GHz all-core boost. Some of the features of this particular chip include:

Up to 4.8 GHz All-Core TurboUp to 5.3 / 4.0 GHz Thermal Velocity Boost Singe / All-core TurboUp to 5.2 GHz Intel Turbo Boost Max 3.0Up to 10C and 20TUp to DDR4-2933 MHz dual-channelEnhanced Core & Memory OverclockingActive Core Group Tuning

Here's the interesting part, the chip would also get Thermal Velocity Boost, similar to the current flagship parts. CPUs that support this algorithm, like the Core i9-10900K, would feature even faster boost frequencies of 5.3 GHz (single-core) and 4.9 GHz (all-core). However, as the name suggests, only top-tier cooling solutions would be able to allow full utilization of the Thermal Velocity Boost feature. So unless you rock a high-end AIO liquid cooler or a closed-loop setup, don't expect a sustained velocity boost but rather short bursts until the threshold is hit. It will be interesting to know the full extent of the features that this function has to offer and what kind of cooling would the Core i9-10900K requires in general. A few benchmarks of the Core i9-10900K versus the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X CPU can be found here.

Intel Core i7-10700K - 8 Cores, Up To 5.1 GHz Single-Core, 4.7 GHz All-Core at $374 US

The Intel Core i7-10700K would be featuring 8 cores and 16 threads. The chip would house 16 MB of total cache and a TDP of 125W. The chip would feature a base clock of 3.8 GHz, a boost clock of 5.0 GHz (single-core), and 5.1 GHz (single-core) with Turbo Boost Max 3.0. The chip will be 100 MHz faster in single-core but slower across all-cores by 100 MHz than the Core i9-9900K which retails for over $500 US. Since this is an i7 part, expect pricing to fall around $350-$400 US.

Intel Core i5-10600K - 6 Cores, Up To 4.8 GHz Single-Core, 4.5 GHz All-Core at $262 US

The Intel Core i7-10600K would be featuring 6 cores and 12 threads. The chip would house 12 MB of total cache and a TDP of 125W. The chip would feature a base clock of 4.1 GHz, a boost clock of 4.8 GHz (single-core), and 4.5 GHz (all-core). The chip would be faster than the 8th Gen flagship, the Core i7-8700K, featuring a higher base and boost clock across a single and all-cores. The Core i5 should be retailing in the $220-$270 US segment which is a decent price for a fast 6 core and multi-threaded chip.

A photo released on April 30, 2020, shows a die from a 10th Gen Intel Core processor. (Source: Intel Corporation)

Intel 10th Gen vs AMD Ryzen 3000 Desktop CPU Prices:

10th Gen Comet Lake-S 65W/35W Desktop CPU Family

The rest of the lineup is made up of the 65W SKUs which come in Core i9, Core i7, Core i5, and Core i3 flavors. Having a 65W Core i9-10900 with 10 cores and 20 threads which still boosts up to 4.5GHz across all cores and 4.6 GHz if you include the Thermal Velocity boost is pretty good plus 5.2 GHz on a single-core doesn't sound that bad at all, considering this is a 65W chip (at its base frequency).

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The Intel Core i3 lineup is also worth pointing out as it is made up of 3 SKUs which seem to be part of the initial launch family. The Core i3-10320 would be leading with 4 cores, 8 threads at 65W. 8MB of cache, clocks of up to 4.6 GHz with a single-core, and 4.4 GHz on all-cores sound decent enough for what is supposed to be a budget chip retailing under $150US. The full list of SKUs along with their specs can be seen in the table below.

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Intel 10th Gen Core Comet Lake Desktop CPU Family: