Intel Rocket Lake is rumored to be the next generation desktop processor from the chip giant, and a just-leaked slide seems to offer the first concrete information about the new Intel CPU. Of course, we need an update on the Intel Comet Lake processors first, but the Rocket Lake silicon should be the first new Core architecture for desktops since Skylake. You can find out when that will be at ...... Well, all hardware launches are subject to change now.

This slide, leaked by Videocardz and purportedly from Intel sources, promises "improved performance with new processor core architecture."

The 10nm Tiger Lake mobile chip will be available later this year for laptops (your near) and appear to be a precursor to Rocket Lake desktop parts, and they feature the new Willow Cove core architecture.

Willow Cove not only further enhances the single-threaded performance of the Sunny Cove architecture, but also includes a redesigned cache, new transistor optimizations, and much needed security features. This will give Rocket Lake the edge it needs to compete with AMD's Ryzen chips; by the time it launches in 2021, Ryzen will probably be in its fifth generation. Tough times.

Alongside the new architecture will be Xe graphics silicon, but since Rocket Lake S is a desktop part, don't expect Intel to put too many GPUs on it. After all, you'll be slapping a next-generation AMD RDNA 2 or Nvidia Hopper graphics card into your virtual Rocket Lake rig.

Also, this slide promises PCIe 4.0 support for Intel 500 series motherboard platforms, something that Comet Lake's 400 series boards will not offer. It's been a long time coming; PCIe 4.0 support is provided directly from the CPU itself, offering an x16 interface for GPUs and x4 lanes for NVMe SSDs. This is a lot of bandwidth.

So will this be Intel's first 10nm desktop processor? There is no confirmation in the latest slides, but it has long been expected that Rocket Lake is a roll of the 14nm dice, with a huge number of ++++++ letters behind it, and a back port of advanced core architecture to an older process node.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, given the performance Intel has squeezed out of the 14nm node so far. The best CPU for gaming is still Intel, for now. Before that can happen, however, the sludge of Comet Lake CPUs must be waded through, and who knows when that will be.