Sunday, January 3rd 2021
Intel 500-series Chipset Models Unveiled, Company Staring at Chipset Shortage?
In the run-up to its mid-January unveil of its 11th Gen Core "Rocket Lake-S" desktop processors and companion Intel 500-series chipsets, we get our first look at the three 500-series chipset models from Intel's stable for the DIY client market. This includes the top-tier Intel Z590, the mid-range B560, and the entry-level H510. Intel even made logos for the three chipsets, which could appear on the retail packaging and marketing materials of motherboards. While 11th Gen Core "Rocket Lake-S" processors are expected to be backwards-compatible with existing 400-series chipset Socket LGA1200 motherboards; there are major advantages to choosing a 500-series motherboard.
To begin with, motherboards based on the Z590 chipset feature a fatter 8-lane DMI 3.0 chipset bus between the processor and the PCH, which doubles the chipset bus bandwidth to 64 Gbps per direction. 500-series chipset motherboards also feature one CPU-attached M.2 NVMe slot, which works with "Rocket Lake-S," as the processor puts out 28 PCIe lanes. 16 of these go toward the PEG interface, 8 toward the chipset bus, and four toward this dedicated NVMe slot. In related news, Chinese tech publication MyDrivers reports that Intel is staring at a motherboard chipset shortage going into Q1-2021, with availability of the entry-mid 400-series chipsets such as the H410 and B460 being scarce. This could impact motherboard pricing.
Sources:
VideoCardz, MyDrivers
To begin with, motherboards based on the Z590 chipset feature a fatter 8-lane DMI 3.0 chipset bus between the processor and the PCH, which doubles the chipset bus bandwidth to 64 Gbps per direction. 500-series chipset motherboards also feature one CPU-attached M.2 NVMe slot, which works with "Rocket Lake-S," as the processor puts out 28 PCIe lanes. 16 of these go toward the PEG interface, 8 toward the chipset bus, and four toward this dedicated NVMe slot. In related news, Chinese tech publication MyDrivers reports that Intel is staring at a motherboard chipset shortage going into Q1-2021, with availability of the entry-mid 400-series chipsets such as the H410 and B460 being scarce. This could impact motherboard pricing.
21 Comments on Intel 500-series Chipset Models Unveiled, Company Staring at Chipset Shortage?
Z490 and all of the mobile chipsets are on 14nm and there appears to be no constraint or supply issue there.
DMI being 8x meansPCH-attached NVMe RAID0 should actually provide a performance benefit :twitch:
And despite popular belief, most of these foundries would still see 22nm equivalent to be cutting edge. GloFlo for example, appears to have 3 fabs and one of those is a 180nm fab. The other two look like they can do a mix of 12-32nm.
If they were to say, send that work to GloFlo, it would undoubtedly result in shortages elsewhere. AMD x570 for example is a GloFlo 14nm made from a Matisse IO die. Zen 3 ofc is still using GloFlo 12nm IO. Then there's PS5 / Xbox, Threadripper, and Epyc that all depend on GloFlo.
It is an interesting thought though. Intel could drop a couple billion on GloFlo and basically shut down AMD.
Anecdotal? I doubt it. Yesterday they had about 6 or 7 B460s/H410s and 25+ Z490s. Today they are down to 6 Z490s left.
On the up side, this might make the gen 10 drop in price for upgraders as people doing complete new builds won't have motherboards.
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They did get a bunch of Z490s in but all the 410/470/460 boards are gone. That was quick.
Using a trick on Microcenter's site, you can select an individual model and see stock at multiple stores. This one for example, an Asus B460M-Plus Gaming Wifi, which is pretty popular, looks out of stock in like 90% of their locations.
And this one, the B460-M DS3H which is a staple super cheap motherboard, is out of stock everywhere :
One Gen4 NVMe slot should be enough for most people.