Intel's 10th-gen Comet Lake-S desktop processors could be delayed
Leaked slide suggests chips might not debut next month after all
The release of Intel’s long-awaited 10th-generation Comet Lake-S desktop processors could be delayed.
Although the chipmaker has yet to give an official release date for its upcoming desktop CPUs, it’s been widely speculated that the new chips would arrive in April or May 2020 this year. However, an alleged company slide shared with employees, via Chinese website Uniokoshardware, suggests this might not be the case.
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As per the leaked slide, the embargo date for the announcement of the new chips is set for April 13 - June 26.
While this suggests that Intel doesn’t yet know when it’s planning to officially unveil the chips, it also suggests that we could be waiting until the end of June to catch our first official glimpse.
The year of delays
Such a delay wouldn’t be surprising. The coronavirus outbreak is causing problems in the supply chain; many manufacturers have reduced their output or suspended the production entirely as employees are forced to stay at home due to the risk of infection.
As per Tom’s Hardware, it wouldn't make sense for Intel to release its new CPUs if its partners aren't able to produce the motherboards to support them.
However, some are optimistically speculating that Intel could still be planning to debut the processor lineup on April 13 before launching the chips two months later, with others suggesting that the company is simply referring to the dates for the two separate lineups, K & KF series.
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The Comet Lake-S CPUs, which will continue to be based on the 14nm process, will deliver higher core counts and clock speeds than any previous desktop chips from Intel.
According to the leaked slide, the Intel Core i9-10900K will be the flagship chip in the lineup and will replace the current i9-9900K. It’s expected to boast 10 cores, 20 threads, a 125W TDP and base and boost frequencies of 3.7GHz and 5.1GHz, respectively.
This will be followed by the Intel Core i7-10700K, a chip with 8 cores and 16 threads, the Core i5-10600K with 6 cores and 12 threads, and the Core i3-10320 with 4 cores and 8 threads.
Unikoshardware has also shared an image of the Intel Core i5-10400. This will arrive as a 6-core/12 thread processor with a 2.9GHz base clock speed and 4.3GHz Turbo Frequency, according to the leaked image.
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Carly Page is a Freelance journalist, copywriter and editor specialising in Consumer/B2B technology. She has written for a range of titles including Computer Shopper, Expert Reviews, IT Pro, the Metro, PC Pro, TechRadar and Tes.