Intel server platform going for Socket LGA4677 with PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 memory

While AMD just recently implemented PCIe Gen 4.0 on the latest motherboards and graphics cards, we've already seen some PCIe Gen 5 announcements. As it seems, Intel is already working on some PCIe Gen5 designs, specifically for their data-center centric products. 

The news with an accompanying photo was posted by a reporter from Japanese PC Watch, on Twitter, showcasing an a mockup socket. If you look at the photo and focus on the timeline, you'll spot LGA4677 which will likely reach the market by 2021 as the successor to Ice Lake and Cooper Lake.

That product series will support PCIE 5.0 and an eight-channel DDR5 controller, it's called the Sapphire Rapids platform. According to previous reports the new core architecture called Willow Cove would be used, passing Sunny Cove it would get even more L3 cache (per core) and enhanced security features albeit little is known at the moment. As you can see from the photo, the new socket itself was not caught on camera however there are some technical drawings available. The new LGA4677 socket is produced by TE Connectivity and has considerably more pins, my guestimated guess would be 4677 of them. And with 4677 pins that are going to be one massive socket. 

BTW the LGA4189 mention would be the Ice Lake processor generation for the server market for 2020, which as it looks from this data, will be succeeded already in 2021.

Sources: Kazuki Kasahara (Twitter) , Computerbase, via SH SOTN (email).