Intel 11th Gen Core Rocket Lake-S CPUs: Euro pricing leaks

Intel used CES 2021 as a platform to announce its 11th Gen Core Rocket Lake desktop CPUs last week. We learned a little about the technology behind the new desktop processors - GPU architecture, graphics, and AI – and got the chance to digest a well-rounded preview of what the upcoming flagship Core i9-11900K would offer, with some benchmarks thrown in for good measure.

Comparing these processors against the Comet Lake-S generation which they will replace, they could be worthwhile updates for those already on LGA1200. The generational IPC uplift is claimed to be as much as 19 per cent, graphics are up to 50 per cent faster, and there will be an Intel Deep Learning Boost too. If you aren't upgrading but going all-in on a new platform you can even benefit from Intel's addition of PCIe 4.0 with the 500-Sereis motherboard chipsets. However, it must be noted that the new flagship has dropped to 8C/16T compared to the 10C/20T of the flagship Comet Lake processor.

Intel said the 11th Gen Core Rocket Lake-S CPUs will be available before the end of Q1 2021, so they will likely be released in the latter half of March. Unfortunately, though the date is quite clear and not that far off, we didn't have much of an idea about pricing, until now.

Dutch computer store 2Compute has accidentally listed pricing for numerous RKL-S CPUs online, in Euros of course. TechPowerUp has typed it out nicely and calculated the price increase/ decrease vs the previous gen Intel CPUs for your convenience, as below:

Core i9-11900K | €500 (~$604) | 8.9% Price Decrease

Core i9-11900KF | €476 (~$574) | 6.1% Price Decrease

Core i9-11900 | €408 (~$493) | 7.6% Price Decrease

Core i9-11900F | €384 (~$464) | 3.9% Price Decrease

Core i7-11700K | €377 (~$456) | 14.6% Price Increase

Core i7-11700KF | €353 (~$427) | 11.7% Price Increase

Core i7-11700 | €306 (~$370) | 4.1% Price Increase

Core i7-11700F | €282 (~$341) | 4.1% Price Increase

Core i5-11600K | €243 (~$294) | 4.3% Price Increase

Core i5-11600KF | €219 (~$265) | 4.3% Price Increase

Core i5-11600 | €207 (~$250) | 6.7% Price Increase

Core i5-11500 | €188 (~$227) | 6.8% Price Increase

Core i5-11400 | €169 (~$204) | 6.3% Price Increase

Core i5-11400F | €146 (~$176) | 2.1% Price Increase

At the head of the list you can see that the flagship Core i9-11900K is nearly 9 per cent cheaper than the i9-10900K but offers two fewer physical cores and four fewer processing threads. With the intergenerational IPC uplift I'm sure Intel has still made sure the new processor a better performer than the SKU it replaces though.

On the other hand, the new Core i7-11700K (and KF) come with significant price increases. The price hikes could be an obstacle to the idea that this processor might be Team Blue's price-performance contender. Another important factor in the landscape that RKL-S will launch into is whether AMD can start to increase the supply of its Ryzen 5000 desktop CPUs by the end of March. AMD could also benefit from increasing the range of Zen 3 chips available for PC DIYers to address Intel's upcoming processors across the range of price points.

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I said this in OC3Ds thread, this is a segmentation nightmare as every i5 is a 6/12 with 12MB cache is effectively just various performant dies in the same bin but there will always be a frank basis that this is the same process across the entire stack. And that's 146-243 EUR, a 100EUR various for quality on the same chip. It's going to be quite confusing.

It gets worse when you look at the i7/i9s when it's the exact same silicon across the entire stack. You can pay either 282EUR for an 8/16 CPU or pay 500EUR for a CPU, it'll have the exact same features as the others (except the F series), you'll just either overclock or not.

I'd really like to know what is the actual difference between an i7/i9 in this lineup, is it just an artificial microcode lockout for features? Or is there something else (performance discounted).

Edit: One thing I am thankful for is SMT across the entire stack now, imagine the segmentation if they still broke all that up xD

Wasn't the launch price of the 10900k about $500? I thought it was the usual unavailability that pushed up its price to well over 500?

Who exactly are these new CPU's for?

No one in their right mind is going to step down from 10c 20t 10900 parts, the platform will be EOL by the end of the year and those with older CPU's wanting to upgrade, will surely wait for the new Alder-Lake platform.

LOL… i9 price reduction based on ‘name’ but you could argue it's actually a price increase when you compare core counts because (from a simplified standpoint) it's basically a ‘better’ i7-10700k… you got to love marketing lol

I'm more interested in how much downward pressure the 11700F at 282 euros might put on the price of 5800X at £400 currently. A 5800X at £300 or less would be more sensible. Or perhaps AMD will just counter with a 5700X at £300 or less. I don't see any competition for the 5900X and 5950X any time soon though unless the RKL chips are so fast that they can challenge the higher core counts of 5900X with pure Ghz… Looking at the reported PL2 of 250W, suffice to say I have my doubts :(

Intel 11th Gen Core Rocket Lake-S CPUs: Euro pricing leaks

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