Intel Rocket Lake-S mass production to start in January

We're approaching CES 2021, which means more information about Intel's plans for Rocket Lake-S desktop processors is making its way out ahead of time. This week, we have a new leak reporting that mass production for these processors will kick off in January. Meanwhile, two motherboard manufacturers have confirmed that Intel 400-series motherboards will support 11th Gen Core series processors. 

The first leak comes from @OneRaichu, showing a roadmap suggesting that Rocket Lake-S processors should be Ready-To-Ship (RTS) by the third week of March up to the second week of April, but the first units might be shipped between the fourth and seventh week of 2021.

The roadmap also shows that the first engineering samples (ES1) were produced back in late June, with the second version (ES2) of them being made in mid-August. Additionally, there are the qualification samples (QS), which were apparently made in the first week of December. This ties in with the recent engineering sample performance leaks that have been popping up.

?
But I think the person can buy it in Feb….
Because of the real prod time in Jan.. pic.twitter.com/8UPDrr3EWM

— Raichu (@OneRaichu) December 24, 2020

Regarding support for Rocket Lake-S processors on Intel 400-series motherboards, @momomo_us shared what seems to be a marketing banner from Biostar stating that its Z490 motherboards now support the 11th Gen Intel Core processors. The product pages of Biostar Z490 motherboards have been updated with this information.

Besides Biostar, it looks like ASRock has also added support for the upcoming CPUs on some of its Intel 400-series motherboards. This news also came from @momomo_us, who shared the list of ASRock Z490/W480/H470 motherboards supporting the 11th Gen Core processors:

• Z490 Aqua
• Z490 Taichi
• Z490 Extreme4
• Z490 Steel Legend
• Z490 PG Velocita
• Z490 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3
• W480 Creator
• H470 Steel Legend

Intel Rocket Lake-S processors are expected to be announced during CES 2021, which takes place from January 11th to January 14th. Intel 500-series motherboards should also be announced at the same time.

KitGuru says: It sounds like there could be an unfortunate gap between announcement and consumer availability, but all should be made clear soon. Are you planning on upgrading your CPU in the new year? Will you be waiting for Rocket Lake-S availability? 

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