Refresh Done Right? Intel Comet Lake Packs Up to 10 Cores

The latest updates to Intel's Linux DRM kernel driver and coreboot (previously known as LinuxBIOS) reveal some pretty interesting information about Intel's upcoming Comet Lake (CML) processors. 

Comet Lake is pegged as the successor to Intel's Coffee Lake and Whiskey Lake processor architectures. The description in the update to the Linux DRM kernel driver claims "Comet Lake comes off of Coffee Lake". Hence, it's safe to assume that Comet Lake is yet another refresh in Intel's practice of rewarming the Skylake architecture and that Intel will fab Comet Lake chips on the already saturated 14nm manufacturing process. The driver update also says Comet Lake parts will continue to use the existing Gen9 (Generation 9) graphics processor, which debuted with Skylake. There are mentions of both GT1 and GT2 (GT standing for Graphics Technology) configurations.

On the other hand, coreboot, an open source project to replace the BIOS and UEFI, has some vital information on Comet Lakes. According to the Github page, Comet Lake-U (CML-U) processors, which are primarily aimed at laptops, carry up to six cores, while the Comet Lake-H (CFL-H) and Comet Lake-S (CML-S) chips feature up to 10 cores.

Rumors on the street are that AMD's forthcoming Ryzen 3000-series desktop processors could purportedly pack a whopping 16 cores on a single chip. During AMD's presentation at the CES 2019 tech show in January, an eight-core, 16-thread Ryzen 3000-series chip was trading blows with Intel's Core i9-9900K, which could have pressured the Santa Clara chipmaker to cranking Comet Lake's core count to 10 cores for safe measure.

Intel is expected to launch its Comet Lake processors around the middle of the year. It's possible Intel could announce the chips at Computex 2019, which starts May 28. As always, we'll be at the venue to bring you the latest in computer hardware news, so stay tuned.