The Latest on Intel's 11th GEN Processors: Will They be LGA 1200?

The Latest on Intel's 11th GEN Processors: Will They be LGA 1200? Following Intel's recent confirmation that their 11th Generation of processors will be released in the latter half of 2018, speculation has been rampant over what the next generation of Intel processors will entail.

When it comes to picking out your next CPU, there are a lot of options out there to choose from, but one of the most important questions to ask yourself is whether or not you need an LGA-1200 processor. Learn all about these chips and if they're right for you in this article!

What is an 11th gen CPU?

If you haven’t heard, Intel recently revealed details about its 10th gen processors and how they will work with current 8th gen Core processors. In short, some future motherboards will use soldered chipsets instead of BGA chipsets.

This means that an 8th gen processor won’t work in a 10th gen motherboard—but a 10th gen CPU will fit in either type of board. Why is BGA/soldered important?: Before I answer that question, let me clear up something else—the names BGA and soldered aren't interchangeable terms for CPUs with no sockets or boards with soldered chipsets.

New Features

The first thing people will ask is whether these new chips are worth an upgrade. The answer to that question will have a lot to do with what they're already running, but if you're planning to build a whole new system, then there are some things you should know.

The 11 Series' biggest upgrades will come in form of performance and power efficiency—Intel is claiming overall 50% better performance over 10-series chips, as well as 30% less power usage at idle. There will also be additional enhancements to both software and hardware security with these next-gen processors.

Test Bench

To date, every processor manufactured by Intel has had an Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS). This heat spreader is responsible for distributing heat from inside of a chip to its edges, where heat can then escape. As chips get faster and smaller, they also get hotter; and as more transistors are packed into a single chip, their cooling needs change.

The current crop of processors have IHSs made of some type of aluminum alloy—the very same material used in high-end CPU coolers. But according to renowned leaker TUM_APISAK (who posted at WCCFtech), we may see a switch from an IHS to a lid—known as LGA-1200 in CPU terminology—for Coffee Lake processors.