Intel has recently announced that its new Z490 motherboards for the 10th-gen Comet Lake-S lineup will also support the next generation of CPUs. Rocket Lake-S will be Intel’s next generation of CPUs to replace the recently released Comet Lake-S series.
Gigabyte Announced Motherboards Will Support 11th Gen Chips
According to details in a Gigabyte Aorus Livestream, Gigabyte announced that its Z490 motherboards will support Intel’s 11th generation Rocket Lake CPUs.
It makes sense that Intel would set up their new processors in this way. It will save those with a Z490 motherboard from having to buy a new one if they upgrade to a Rocket Lake processor in the future. If the Rocket Lake processors rendered the new Z490 obsolete this soon, it wouldn’t be a very popular move for Intel. So, this may not come as a massive surprise for many out there.
PCIe 4.0 Support Explained
At the moment, it’s interesting to note that Comet Lake processors don’t currently support PCIe 4.0. However, many Z490 motherboards do, which will be handy by the time Rocket Lake is launched. That is assuming that Rocket Lake will come with PCIe 4.0 which seems pretty likely given that it’s the next step up.
So, if you’ve been wondering why the new Z490 motherboards are PCIe 4.0-ready and feel like it’s overkill, it looks like there was a good reason after all. If you do decide to upgrade to Rocket Lake when it comes out, you will still have a good motherboard that can support it and offer BIOS updates when necessary.
For those motherboard manufacturers who haven’t included PCIe 4.0 support yet, they will need to make some changes by the time the 11th generation CPUs hit the shelves.
When Is Rocket Lake Due to Be Launched?
At the moment, a lot of this is speculation. Intel hasn’t come out and officially said much about their plans for PCIe 4.0 in the future. However, according to a recent benchmark leak, it looks like Rocket Lake may be coming much sooner than we think.
If we hear any more news about the upcoming Rocket Lake processors, we will keep you updated.