It looks like Intel's Comet Lake processors have been listed in the latest Linux support list which indicates that we might be looking at up to 10 cores with the upcoming lineup of processors. In regards to the process node, the Comet Lake family is likely to be built upon the 14nm process node but with a higher number of cores than what's currently available on Intel's mainstream S platform.
Intel Comet Lake Processor Lineup To Feature Up To 10 Cores, Notebooks With Up To 8 Cores
The Linux support list includes Comet Lake-S, Comet Lake-H, and Comet Lake-U families. Intel's Comet Lake-S parts are aimed at the desktop platform and we can see two parts that have been listed, a 10+2 and an 8+2 SKU. The Comet Lake-S 10+2 SKU indicates that the chip would feature 10 cores and GT2 graphics. This is a higher core count than the Coffee Lake-S 8+2 part such as the Core i9-9900K. The other part is the Comet Lake-S 6+2 SKU which features 6 cores and the same GT2 graphics chip. This chip would be replacing the 6 core, Core i7-9700K.
One thing to consider is that if the 10 core part does come at higher frequencies like the 8 Core Coffee Lake Core i9-9900K, then we might be looking at some extreme power consumption and temperature figures as the processor is still based on the 14nm node and we know how that performs with higher core count processors and frequencies that are around the 5 GHz mark. You'd definitely require some high-end liquid cooling setups to keep this beast cool and in terms of pricing, don't expect this chip to cost below $550 US.
Intel Comet Lake-S/H/U CPU Support Listings in Linux CoreBoot:
The high-performance notebook family would be receiving two parts, the Comet Lake-H 8+2 with 8 cores and GT2 graphics and also the Comet Lake-H 6+2 with 6 cores and GT2 graphics. The high-end notebook parts would likely be launching soon with faster clocks.
Some of the high-end notebook parts may already have started appearing on the internet. We know that Intel already has Coffee Lake H and HQ series 8th Generation parts out for high-end notebooks. Now considering that the Comet Lake family will essentially be a refresh of existing Coffee Lake parts, they might end up being branded as the 9th Generation parts too with Intel moving to a new naming scheme when 10nm finally hits retail. This theory also goes in line with the Frost Canyon NUC roadmap leak which we got last year.
We already know several 9th Generation "H" series parts which were listed by Intel earlier and include the following:
- Intel Core i9-9980HK (8 Core/16 Thread/ Up To 5.0 GHz)
- Intel Core i9-9880H (8 Core/16 Thread/ Up To 4.8 GHz)
- Intel Core i7-9850H (8 Core/8 Thread/ Up To 4.6 GHz)
- Intel Core i7-9750H (8 Core/8 Thread/ Up To 4.5 GHz)
- Intel Core i5-9400H (4 Core/8 Thread/ Up To 4.3 GHz)
- Intel Core i5-9300H (4 Core/8 Thread/Up To 4.1 GHz)
The remaining Comet Lake entries are the Comet Lake-U parts which are designed for ultra-low power platforms. The Comet Lake-U series includes 6 core, 4 core, and 2 core parts, all of which feature GT2 graphics. There's also a single Comet Lake-ULX part with a quad core and GT2 chip design. This would be aimed at the more exclusive Core M devices but we cannot confirm this at the moment.
Now one thing is for sure, don't expect any major core enhancements aside from the core count jump and increased clocks. The Comet Lake lineup is essentially going to be one of the last CPU refreshes for the 14nm node before Intel finally shifts their lineup to 10nm. It's easy to say that the desktop and high-end notebook parts would stick to 14nm this year with 10nm arriving next year. The 10nm Ice Lake CPUs will arrive this year but only around during the end of the year holiday season and in low power notebook platforms. It will be interesting to see how the 10 core parts on the LGA 1151 platform compare against the Ryzen 3000 series parts that are rumored to feature up to 16-12 cores.
