Intel’s brand new Z590 motherboard platform has officially been unveiled and it comes with full support for 11th Gen Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs that are planned for launch in March 2021. The latest motherboards from Intel partners come with enhanced designs, offering increased I/O and superior power delivery system for Intel’s last 14nm desktop family.
Intel Z590 Platform Officially Introduced – PCIe Gen 4.0 & Full Support For 11th Gen Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs
Before we begin this roundup, let’s start by taking a look at the 11th Gen Desktop CPU family and the respective Z590 platform.
Intel’s Rocket Lake-S desktop CPU platform will feature support on LGA 1200 socket which made its original debut with Comet Lake-S CPUs although on 400-series motherboards. The Intel Rocket Lake-S processors will be launching alongside the 500-series motherboards but will be backward compatible with 400-series motherboards. In addition to the flagship Z590 motherboards, B560 motherboards will support memory overclocking which has been highly anticipated by budget PC builders.
Intel Desktop Platform Chipset Comparison
| Chipset Name | Coffee Lake S (KBL-R) PCH / Z370 Platform | Coffee Lake S (CNL-H) PCH / 300 Series (Z390/H370, B360, Q370, H310) | Comet Lake-S (CML-S) PCH / 400 Series (Z490) | Rocket Lake-S (RKL-S) PCH / 500 Series (Z590) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Process Node | 22nm | 14nm | 14nm | 14nm |
| Processor | 8C, 6C, 4C (6 Consumer SKUs at Launch) Enhanced IA and Memory Overclocking Gen 9 Intel Graphics GT2 (Up To 24 EUs) Consumer Only |
8C, 6C, 4C, 2C (Full corporate/consumer SKU stack at launch) Enhanced IA and Memory Overclocking Gen 9 Intel Graphics GT2 (Up To 24 EUs) Corporate/vPro & Consumer |
10C, 8C, 6C, 4C, 2C (Full corporate/consumer SKU stack at launch) Enhanced IA and Memory Overclocking Gen 9 Intel Graphics GT2 (Up To 24 EUs) Corporate/vPro & Consumer |
8C, 6C (Full corporate/consumer SKU stack at launch) |
| Memory | Up To DDR4-2666 (Native) | Up To DDR4-2666 (Native) | Up To DDR4-2933 (Native) | p To DDR4-3200 (Native) |
| Media, Display & Audio | DP 1.2 & HDMI 1.4 HDCP 2.2 (HDMI 2.0a w/LSPCON) HEVC & VP9 10-bit Enc/Dec, HDR, Rec.2020, DX12 Integrated Dual-Core Audio DSP |
DP 1.2 & HDMI 1.4 HDCP 2.2 (HDMI 2.0a w/LSPCON) HEVC & VP9 10-bit Enc/Dec, HDR, Rec.2020, DX12 Integrated Dual-Core Audio DSP SoundWire Digital Audio Interface |
DP 1.2 & HDMI 1.4 HDCP 2.2 (HDMI 2.0a w/LSPCON) HEVC & VP9 10-bit Enc/Dec, HDR, Rec.2020, DX12 Integrated Dual-Core Audio DSP SoundWire Digital Audio Interface |
DP 1.2 & HDMI 2.0, HBR3 HDCP 2.2 (HDMI 2.0a w/LSPCON) 12-bit AV1/HEVC & VP9 10-bit Enc/Dec, HDR, Rec.2020, DX12 Integrated Dual-Core Audio DSP With USB Audio offload SoundWire Digital Audio Interface |
| I/O & Connectivity | Integrated USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Thunderbolt 3.0 (Alpine Ridge) |
Integrated USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Integrated Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi / BT CNVi) Integrated SDXC 3.0 Controller Thunderbolt 3.0 (Titan Ridge) w/ DP 1.4 |
Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2 Integrated Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi / BT CNVi) Integrated SDXC 3.0 Controller Thunderbolt 3.0 (Titan Ridge) w/ DP 1.4 |
Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20G) Integrated Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi6E/ BT CNVi) Integrated SDXC 3.0 Controller Thunderbolt 4.0 (Maple Ridge) |
| Storage | Next Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 3.0, SATA 3.0 |
Next Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 3.0, SATA 3.0 |
Next-Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 3.0, SATA 3.0 |
Next-Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 4.0, SATA 3.0 |
| Security | Intel SGX 1.0 | Intel SGX 1.0 | Intel SGX 1.0 | N/A |
| Power Management | C8 Support | C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby | C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby | C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby |
| Launch | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
Main features of Intel’s Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs include:
- Increased Performance with new Cypress Cove core architecture
- Up to 8 cores and 16 threads (Double Digit IPC Gains Over Skylake)
- New Xe graphics architecture (Up To 50% higher Performance Than Gen9)
- Increased DDR4 3200 MHz Memory Support
- CPU PCIe 4.0 Lanes (Available on Z490 & Z590 Motherboards)
- Enhanced Display (Integrated HDMI 2.0b, DP1.4a, HBR3)
- Added x4 CPU PCIe Lanes = 20 Total CPU PCIe 4.0 Lanes
- Enhanced Media (12 bit AV1/HVEC, E2E compression)
- CPU Attached Storage or Intel Optane Memory
- New Overclocking Features and Capabilities
- USB Audio offload
- Integrated CNVi & Wireless-AX
- Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20G)
- 2.5Gb Ethernet Discrete LAN
- Discrete Intel Thunderbolt 4 (USB4 Compliant)
The architecture for Rocket Lake CPUs is said to be Cypress Cove which is reportedly a hybrid between the Sunny Cove and Willow Cove design but will feature Xe Gen 12 GPU architecture. We have also been told that the Z590 motherboard series with Thunderbolt 4.0 support will be announced later this year so expect more information on Rocket Lake CPUs in the coming months.
With the platform details out of the way, let’s start with the roundup. All Intel board partners have launched their respective lineup of Z590 / B560 and H510 series motherboards. You can check out by navigating through the pages provided below.
