Looks like various documents about a new COM-HPC standard are already published and for example Kontron seems to prepare server kind board 160x160mm in the standard and specs. published is:
Size D form factor – 160 x 160 mm
Nextgen Intel® Xeon®
U p to 20 cores, processor TDP up to 120 W (different table in the same pdf mentions 150W)
32x PCIe Gen 4.0 lanes + 16x PCIe Gen 3.0 lanes
Up to 8x LAN Ports for various configuration:
100GbE/2x 50GbE/4x 25GbE + 4x 10GbE
Memory: Max 512 GByte DIMM-DDR4 with 4x DIMMs
Optional onboard storage NVMe
Industrial temperature versions
Embedded management controller
The board seems to be scheduled for 2021. So it looks like the hope for lower power Xeon with some cores may still be right.
Size D form factor – 160 x 160 mm
Nextgen Intel® Xeon®
U p to 20 cores, processor TDP up to 120 W (different table in the same pdf mentions 150W)
32x PCIe Gen 4.0 lanes + 16x PCIe Gen 3.0 lanes
Up to 8x LAN Ports for various configuration:
100GbE/2x 50GbE/4x 25GbE + 4x 10GbE
Memory: Max 512 GByte DIMM-DDR4 with 4x DIMMs
Optional onboard storage NVMe
Industrial temperature versions
Embedded management controller
The board seems to be scheduled for 2021. So it looks like the hope for lower power Xeon with some cores may still be right.