Intel have lastly, formally, taken the wraps off their upcoming Z390 chipset, the high-end substitute for the present Z370 motherboards we have identified was coming for round half a yr. Coming vaguely lukewarm on the heels of the mainstream H370, H310, and B360 motherboards, the brand new chipset will full the most recent Intel lineup, all utilizing the identical platform controller hub (PCH).
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The present top-end Intel Coffee Lake motherboard, the Z370, nonetheless makes use of the previous 22nm Kaby Lake PCH, whereas the newer, however lower-end, mainstream boards have been launched with 14nm silicon based mostly on the unreleased Cannon Lake PCH. Unfortunately, because of the elevated reliance of Intel on 14nm chip manufacturing they’re not producing enough to keep manufacturing H310 motherboards. Fingers crossed they’ll have sufficient capability to get a good variety of Z390 boards out of the door once they do launch later within the yr.
But given the restricted improve the Z390 chipset represents we doubt there’s going to be a selected rush on the brand new boards, except there’s some type of incentive. Maybe a synthetic locking of a possible eight-core Coffee Lake to the shiny new mobo?
There’s nonetheless no official launch date set for the Z390 motherboards within the new Intel documentation, however we had heard rumours of a September launch, so we’re anticipating to see a lot of them adorning the stands of each motherboard maker out at Computex in June.
All it appears the Z390 chipset goes to supply over the previous Z370 is native help for the higher-speed USB 3.1 Gen2 interface. Most Z370 boards have some non-chipset help for USB 3.1 Gen2 utilizing different firms’ silicon, so it’s not like this isn’t one thing you have already got entry to in your high-end Coffee Lake motherboard.
The Z370 boards had been solely meant to be stop-gap boards, permitting Intel to launch the Coffee Lake lineup early utilizing the Kaby Lake chipset. The plan was for Z370 to have only a six-month shelf life, with Z390 launching alongside the opposite mainstream boards within the spring, however it could have been tough to get mobo producers to get on board with such a restricted lifespan. Hence Z390 getting pushed all the best way again in the direction of the tip of this yr.
By that point we would even have an AMD-based Z490 board getting launched simply to confuse and frustrate everybody. Bless ‘em, they’re actually going for Intel nomenclature jugular proper now…
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