Intel confirms 10nm Desktop Processor plans with a vague statement

Intel confirms 10nm Desktop Processor plans with vague statement

Intel confirms 10nm Desktop Processor plans with a vague statement

Yesterday, rumours started to emerge that Intel had abandoned their 10nm plans for desktop processors, leaving the company on 14nm technology until their 7nm node is ready in 2022. If true, this report signals a hard time for Intel, revealing two years of process tech advantage for their rivals. 

Now, Intel has released a statement to Tom’s Hardware which confirms that the company has plans to release 10nm processors on desktop platforms. However, Intel goes into no further details. This leaves many questions, such as the form of Intel’s 10nm desktop processors. 

Below is Intel’s full statement regarding their 10nm desktop processor plans, clarifying that desktop products mean “desktop CPUs” in a later statement. 

 

   We continue to make great progress on 10nm, and our current roadmap of 10nm products includes desktop.

 

While Intel has confirmed that 10nm desktop processors are coming, it does little to counter yesterday’s rumours. Right now, there’s no desktop CPU roadmap from Intel that includes 10nm, and the above statement could be true with as little as a NUC release of today’s Ice Lake mobile CPU silicon. 

Intel’s rumoured abandonment of 10nm desktop processors referred specifically to Intel’s socketed desktop CPUs. Intel’s 10nm replacements for Coffee Lake/Comet Lake. Intel has not told us when to expect 10nm socketed desktop processors, which leaves plenty of room for these 10nm rumours to be valid. 

It is also possible that Intel’s 10nm desktop processors could be HEDT variants of the company’s planned Ice Lake server processors. Those processors would be considered 10nm desktop processors, even if they don’t replace Intel’s mainstream desktop processors.

While Intel has promised 10nm desktop processors, there is no confirmation that they will deliver a 10nm replacement for processors like the i9-9900K. With Comet Lake being rumoured to release in early 2020 on 14nm, it seems unlikely that we will see a 10nm desktop CPU release before 2021. Beyond that, Intel has given us no indication that their Comet Lake successor will be using 10nm.  

Intel confirms 10nm Desktop Processor plans with vague statement  

Intel statement leaves us wondering one thing. Will their 10nm desktop release be another Broadwell? Remember Intel’s 14nm Broadwell i5-5675C and i7-5775C CPUs? Probably not, because it wasn’t considered a full-on replacement for Intel’s 22nm Haswell series processors. We had to wait until the release of Skylake before we saw overclockable K-series silicon from 14nm. Will Intel’s 10nm desktop CPUs be like this? 

We hope that Intel will be able to solve their 10nm manufacturing issues and release high-end 10nm silicon in the near-term future. We need both Intel and AMD to be on their A-game to continue pushing the PC industry forward, and that means that Intel needs to put their 10nm woes to bed. 

You can join the discussion on Intel’s 10nm desktop processor plans on the OC3D Forums.Â