Tuesday, December 21st 2021
AMD's Upcoming X670 Chipset Could be A Dual B650 Package, Very Difficult for ITX Board Integration
As we approach the next generation of AMD's Ryzen processors, accompanying chipsets will follow the launch of their main co-host device. Enabling different levels of features across the new processor generation, chipset versions are limiting the number of options a platform offers to the end-user. AMD is designing its motherboard chipsets in collaboration with a Taiwanese design firm ASMedia. They usually develop a few chipset types covering low-end, middle-end, and high-end motherboards segments. However, it seems like the high-end motherboard segment could be populated with the same silicon as the middle-end section of the chipset stack; note a few Chinese forum members on BiliBili.
As they note, the high-end AMD X670 chipset could be a multi-chip module (MCM) design incorporating two middle-end B650 chipsets. A combination of two B650 dies is allegedly forming an X670 chipset, and that is what AMD could force motherboard makers to use. By doing so, the Mini-ITX motherboard form factor could be challenging to design and manufacture, meaning that the package of the X670 chipset could be rather extensive. This rumor should, of course, be taken with a massive grain of salt as we don't know how this would function. However, it financially makes sense as AMD wouldn't need to design and request manufacturing for an additional chipset variant.
Source:
via 9550pro (Twitter)
As they note, the high-end AMD X670 chipset could be a multi-chip module (MCM) design incorporating two middle-end B650 chipsets. A combination of two B650 dies is allegedly forming an X670 chipset, and that is what AMD could force motherboard makers to use. By doing so, the Mini-ITX motherboard form factor could be challenging to design and manufacture, meaning that the package of the X670 chipset could be rather extensive. This rumor should, of course, be taken with a massive grain of salt as we don't know how this would function. However, it financially makes sense as AMD wouldn't need to design and request manufacturing for an additional chipset variant.
35 Comments on AMD's Upcoming X670 Chipset Could be A Dual B650 Package, Very Difficult for ITX Board Integration
MCM package means multiple dies together as one. To make one big chip.
The first M.2 and the first x16 PCIe connector are directly wired to the CPU, and last time I checked the most you can offer is a second M.2 on the back of the ITX board. There are no other expansion slots, limited connector space for the MOBO, ece.
There is 0 need for x670 on mini itx in the first place. Both the X and B series allow CPU and memory overclocking.
EDIT: I want to add that the same applies to micro ATX. Dual GPU is dead and buried at this point, and most expansion cards have no need for the extra PCIe 4.0 bandwidth that the X series provides. Even things like 10G cards are still using 3.0x4 connectors, sata III backplanes are using 2.0x4. Noboody wants to make these with a 4.0x1, and anyone with a serious number of SSDs on backplanes is going to threadripper anyway.
Maybe I'm missing something,b ut there is no reason we cant have nice VRM designs on B series boards, like the old days when the P, Z, and H series all coexisted and all had nice options.
Unlike Intel, AMD does not restrict features like overclocking to the higher end chipset, the only difference were bandwith and features.
The gaming market has proven to be full of consoomers that will overspend needlessly on gaming PCs, see also people buying $600 i9s to play Cod when an i5 is just fine, or those that used to buy HDET CPUs for "moar corars" for their gaming machines. Or the endless RGB disasters.
There are poeple out there that will demand a X series chipset for their mini ITX board for reasons.
And as he pointed out in his reply - "This is the first riddle".
As far as I have seen, no one has guessed yet.
EPYC had iTX ( not real iTX size but close )
I don't see the point why X670 can't have iTX
If ppl want to invest on unreasonable platform, let them and charge them hard.
It's a shame AMD do not bite the bullet and design their own chipset, then maybe we would have decent USB without throughput and connectivity issues.
As for this topic
If the X670 = 2*B650 is true, it means 2X more connections
It would face the same situation
There is physically no more space on the ITX board to fit the connectors.
Boardmakers would have to either waste all the potential they could have, or make unconventional designs (like the separated SATA connector board of X299 ITX).
We've seen some shift of that paradigm with amd's B-series chipsets. B550 ITX boards specifically outcompeted the X570 equivalents by being designed and released at a later time. Some vrms got tweaked, some features upgraded and on top of that there was less heat, less noise and less ...price. The foremost downside in form of second m2 slot being gen3 wasn't really much of an issue for majority of people.
It came out before the B550, and noone bothered to make another ITX board with Thunderbolt, so it's still the only game in that town. They didn't even add a second m.2 or tb3 to try and justify X570.
But I really hope this rumor turns out to be false, because the last thing I need is more ITX board complications.
Saying ITX boards don't need the "premium" chipset is like saying ITX boards don't need to exist, maybe not for you but someone will make use of it.Not really, MCM's purpose is more about being able to get bigger chips without having to pay to fab the big dies the top end products are using. SLI/Crossfire was more about parallel processing.