Thursday, August 2nd 2018
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MSI to Release BIOS Updates that Bring 9000 Series Compatibility to Z370 Motherboards
MSI has put up a news item announcing support for Intel's 9000 series CPUs on their Z370 motherboards. The announcement has, in the meantime, been promptly pulled, for whatever reason. Alongside the announcement for MSI's Z370 motherboards being "Optimized for Intel 9000 processors", the company released a list of 15 motherboard models in its lineup that sport the Z370 chipset which will receive BIOS updates to bring them up to speed, support-wise, with Intel's 9000 series.
Of course, there's a small hitch here: the wording in the promotional image isn't quite clear-cut in regards to exactly up to which core counts will actually be supported. The promo image speaks of "next-gen six-core CPU support", which may mean that only up to six-core, i5-tier Intel 9000 series CPUs will be supported, with the 8-core, 16-thread i9 lineup being a premium, Z390-only product. That would certainly play into Intel's usual way of doing things - they do have to justify the introduction of a new chipset, anyway. We'll have to wait and see - likely for some time, if the latest Intel roadmaps are any indication.
Sources:
MSI, via AnandTech, via Guru3D
Of course, there's a small hitch here: the wording in the promotional image isn't quite clear-cut in regards to exactly up to which core counts will actually be supported. The promo image speaks of "next-gen six-core CPU support", which may mean that only up to six-core, i5-tier Intel 9000 series CPUs will be supported, with the 8-core, 16-thread i9 lineup being a premium, Z390-only product. That would certainly play into Intel's usual way of doing things - they do have to justify the introduction of a new chipset, anyway. We'll have to wait and see - likely for some time, if the latest Intel roadmaps are any indication.
11 Comments on MSI to Release BIOS Updates that Bring 9000 Series Compatibility to Z370 Motherboards
Intel.....
And intel say "u wanna Gen9 8c/16t cpu, then u must buy Z390 mobo too"
Thats why the announcement was pulled, 'cause MSI forgot to clear it with Intel first...
2) Due to heat, the VRM becomes less efficient as it gets hotter.
3) Due to heat you are reducing the lifespan of the board (not a problem if you're upgrading every few years, but I do like a well preserved board to get 2nd hand)
The MSI Gaming M5 if one of the better boards, similar boards from other manufacturers can have a different kind of VRM setup, for better or worse. The boards themselves can have a lower VRM count, but then they have to make sure the heatsink is good enough if you try running something overclocked as voltage increases exponentially and so does the heat. That extra heat can have a lot of impact on builds with smaller cases, impeded airflow or almost no airflow due to no intake/exaust for the VRM area. Sometimes a manufacturer decides to put a stupid plastic shroud over the VRM which increases the temperatures.
Example, the rated speed at which my RAM runs is 3200MHz, guess what there's so much heat coming off-of the VRM it affects overclocking ability, and I have to dial back clock speed and voltage just to get the system stable again. Even if the VRM is not hitting 100c (which isn't the worse case scenario) 60-90+ Celsius degrees is enough to affect the rest of your components, particularly in worse scenarios as I mentioned above this paragraph.
As a consumer I don't like that I am getting less for my money than I did a while ago. A $120+ board with 3+1/3+2/4+1/4+2 phase configurations and a crappy heatsink on them is not acceptable in my book. But look manufacturers don't care, they get caught lying about how many phases they have and try to justify it by the amount of FETs and inductors, they're calling a 3+2-phase motherboard a 6-phase and people are buying them expecting the boards to be good. If they're not wired to a proper controller or at least have doubling, that extra crap is almost useless. Sure, better voltage control and doubling schemes add to cost, but that's what I expect at that price point and we're no longer getting it.
Not my business how you run your system, it is troubling to me when I cannot run my system how I want it when they're selling less for more money. It's not the first time and won't be the last.
MSI right now is keeping out of the BS. But Asus, Gigabyte and AsRock are cutting costs on boards recently by messing with VRM's.
MSI has put nikkos crap VRMs on even the coveted XPOWER line very recently.
This is the board I used to have for my Phenom II 1605T: www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/M5A99X_EVO/13.html - It was almost perfect.
Almost nobody makes boards like this anymore, especially for the price point. VRM's capable of 275W, and look at that heatsink! Unseen of today in mainstream platforms. THIS is a motherboard. It's almost like with audio, we used to be able to buy really expensive audio gear, but it was worth every penny because it was good, now audio gear costs more while having lesser quality.
Keep buying overpriced stuff and manufacturers make sure to continue down this path, don't buy and they discontinue products or at least stop support for them... These tactics of theirs drive me up the wall. I think there are no honest companies left on this earth, sad.