Intel adds support for Comet Lake and Ice Lake CPUs to Linux

In a recent update to the Linux kernel, support for Comet Lake and Ice Lake processors was added. This reportedly concerns processors for desktops, laptops and servers. The patch was signed by Intel’s senior graphics software engineer.

The update, which was discovered by Twitter user @Komachi_Ensaka, adds support to the Linux kernel for some Ice Lake CPUs, which are made on the 10nm process. Among the listed chip series would be desktop models. Earlier this month, it was rumored that Intel would not release desktop processors at 10nm, but the company quickly debunked this. At the time, Intel informed Tom’s Hardware that the progression of chips on the 10nm process is ‘going well’ and that Intel will also release desktop products on 10nm. Intel later specifically added that they meant desktop CPUs by this.

The patch adds support for two Comet Lake series, and four Ice Lake families. According to Komachi_Ensaka, the type of processor can be read from the suffix. The Twitter user states that the ‘IceLake’ series is intended for desktops, while the IceLake_L series would be laptop chips. According to Komachi, IceLake_X and IceLake_D entries should both include Xeon chips. There is, however, no concrete evidence for this.

The update contains no further information about the CPUs. For example, it is not yet known how many cores the CPUs have and at what clock speeds they run. More information about this will probably follow in the future. The Ice Lake mobile processors are already available.