10th Generation Ice Lake processors for 2-in-1 laptops and tablets, and other low-power devices have just started shipping, but Intel has now launched another 10th generation family, namely Comet Lake, that is also designed for the same type of products. But instead of being manufactured using a 10nm process, Comet Lake processors will rely on Intel’s “highly optimized” 14nm process technology leveraging “improvements in intra-node optimizations”.
There will be Y-Series and U-Series like in other low-power high-performance Intel processors with respectively 7W and 15W TDP, and those processors will come as Core i3/i5/i7 parts
Intel Comet Lake family is the first to offer a 6-core processor in the U-series family and will provide faster CPU frequencies, faster memory interfaces, support for Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) and Thunderbolt 3. The new processors are said to deliver up to 16% overall performance gains, and over 41% better productivity and multitasking on Microsoft Office 365 compared with the previous generation (Whiskey Lake).
Comet Lake highlights:
- Up to 6 cores and 12 threads
- Up to 4.9 GHz max turbo frequency
- Up to 12MB Intel Smart Cache
- Configurable up to 25W for maximum performance (U-series)
- Configurable down to 4.5W for 4-core fanless designs (Y-series)
- Up to 1.15 GHz graphics frequency
- LPDDR4x, LPDDR3, DDR4 memory speed increase to 2666 MT/s
Eight Comet Lake processors have been announced so far with the following specifications:
- Comet Lake U-Series:
| Processor | Cores Threads |
Graphics (EUs) | Cache | TDP/ UP TDP |
Base Freq (GHz) | Max Single Core Turbo (GHz) | Max All Core Turbo (GHz) | Graphics Max Freq (GHz) | |
| Intel Core i7-10710U | 6/12 | 24 | 12MB | 15W/25W | 1.1 | 4.7 | 3.9 | 1.15 | |
| Intel Core i7-10510U | 4/8 | 24 | 8MB | 15W/25W | 1.8 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 1.15 | |
| Intel Core i5-10210U | 4/8 | 24 | 6MB | 15W/25W | 1.6 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 1.10 | |
| Intel Core i3-10110U | 2/4 | 23 | 4MB | 15W/25W | 2.1 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 1.00 |
- Comet Lake Y-Series:
| Processor | Cores Threads | Graphics (EUs) | Cache | Down TDP/ TDP/ UP TDP |
Base Freq (GHz) | Max Single Core Turbo (GHz) |
Max All Core Turbo (GHz) | Graphics Max Freq(GHz) | |
| Intel Core i7-10510Y | 4/8 | 24 | 8MB | 4.5W/ 7W/9W |
1.2 | 4.5 | 3.2 | 1.15 | |
| Intel Core i5-10310Y | 4/8 | 24 | 6MB | 5.5W/ 7W/9W |
1.1 | 4.1 | 2.8 | 1.05 | |
| Intel Core i5-10210Y | 4/8 | 24 | 6MB | 4.5W/ 7W/9W |
1.0 | 4.0 | 2.7 | 1.05 | |
| Intel Core i3-10110Y | 2/4 | 24 | 4MB | 5.5W/ 7W/9W |
1.0 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 1.00 |
It’s nice to see both single-core and multi-core boost frequency shown for once since it will give a better idea of the performance under load. U-Series support LPDDR4x-2933, LPDDR3-2133, and DDR4-2666 memories, while Y-Series only support LPDDR3-2133 RAM.
More Details about Intel Comet Lake Y-Series
Since the lower power Y-Series are more likely to be featured on this blog, I’ll provide some further details about the 7W processor:
- Memory I/F – Dual-channel LPDDR3 2133
- Display
- Embedded DisplayPort (eDP) 1.4
- DDI with DP1.2/HDMI 1.4 and/or HDMI 2.0a with LPSCON converter
- Performance Features
- Intel Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel HT Technology)
- Intel Smart Cache technology with up to 8MB Last Level Cache (LLC) sharing between Processor and GFx cores
- Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
- Intel Speed Shift Technology
- Intel Thermal Velocity Boost (Intel TVB)
- PCH-Y Features:
- Up to 16x High Speed I/O high Flexible I/O
- Up to 10x PCI Express 3.0 lanes
- Integrated USB 3 (5 Gbps) Support
- Intel Smart Sound Technology (Intel® SST)
- Up to 6x USB 3 (5 Gbps) ports
- Up to 2 SATA 3.0 (6 Gbps) ports
- Up to 2 x4 Intel RST for PCIe 3.0 storage ports
- Intel Optane Memory Support
- Thunderbolt 3 Controller Support
- Integrated SDXC (SDA 3.0) Controller
Amber Lake-Y vs Comet Lake-Y
Intel also shared a comparison table showing the differences between the previous generation Amber Lake-Y processors and the upcoming Comet Lake-Y family.
| FEATURES | AMBER LAKE Y22 (5W) | COMET LAKE Y42 (7W) |
| CPU | 14nm CPU (up to 2 cores) / 22nm PCH | 14nm CPU (up to 4 cores) / 22nm PCH |
| GFX | Gen 9 Intel Graphics; up to 24EU | |
| Memory | LPDDR3 up to 1866 | LPDDR3 up to 2133 |
| Imaging | 4 Cameras, up to 13MP | |
| Media, Display, Audio | HDMI1.4/HDCP2.2, DisplayPort 1.2 Dual-Core Audio DSP for high fidelity, low power audio, and multi-voice services supported Wake on Voice |
HDMI1.4/HDCP2.2, DisplayPort 1.2, PCIe Gen 3 support for graphics Dual-Core Audio DSP for high fidelity, low power audio, and multi-voice services supported Wake on Voice |
| I/O & Connectivity | Windstorm Peak (802.11AC Wi-Fi 867 Mbps) Thunder Peak2 (Gigabit Wi-Fi 1.73 Gbps) Alpine Ridge Thunderbolt™ |
Cyclone Peak (802.11AX 2.4Gbps) Titan Ridge Thunderbolt w/ USB 3.1 Gen 2 & DisplayPort 1.4 or Alpine Ridge Thunderbolt |
| WWAN | XMM 7360 M.2 | XMM 7560 M.2 |
| Storage | Intel Optane SSDs/Memory, PCIe 3.0, SATA, SDXC 3.01, eMMC 5.0 | Intel Optane SSDs/Memory, PCIe 3.0, SATA, SD 3.0, eMMC 5.14 |
Performance is likely to be only marginally faster, but Comet Lake does offer better connectivity option with support for WiFi 6 and Thunderbolt. Based on the comparison, it appears they’ll also support discrete graphics cards which were not supported over PCIe for Amber Lake (TBC).
Comet Lake Laptops
While the processors have just been announced, Intel expects more than 90 additional designs based on the 10th Gen Intel Core processor family to hit the shelves before the end of the year. As reported by Liliputing, MSI has unveiled their first Comet Lake laptops with MSI Prestige with a 14″ or 15″ 4K display and powered by the hexa-core Intel Core i7-10710U processor, as well as MSI Modern with a Full HD display, and an Intel Core i5-10210U Comet Lake processor coupled with 8GB of RAM and 512GB PCIe NVMe of storage. Prices are said to start at $749 and $1,399 respectively, and you can already pre-order here and there with shipping scheduled for September.
Now those are shipping with Windows 10, but if you’re an Ubuntu fan/user, Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition is coming next month with a choice of Core i5-10210U quad-core processor or Core i7-10710U hexa-core processor and preloaded with Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. The Core-i5 model will be available in the US and Europe on September 5th, and the Core-i7 laptop in October. More details can be found on Barton’s blog.
You may want to check the Intel’s announcement and product page for more information on both Comet Lake Y and U-Series.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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