Wednesday, March 2nd 2022
Intel wants 700-Series Chipset Motherboards without DDR4
Although Intel's upcoming 13th generation of desktop CPUs that goes under the code name of Raptor Lake, are expected to retain support for DDR4 memory, it has come to our attention that Intel will make a big push towards DDR5 when the platform launches later this year. Intel is apparently already asking motherboard makers to avoid using DDR4 in combination with the upcoming 700-series chipsets and the only reason for this would be to speed up the transition to DDR5. According to various leaks and rumors we should expect to see support for DDR5 at 5600 MHz for Raptor Lake, which is at least a step in the right direction.
What this doesn't mean, is that Intel has removed support for DDR4 in the CPUs, as it's still very much present and is expected to work fine in 600-series chipset motherboards. As such, there shouldn't be any issues upgrading to a new CPU, at least not after a quick UEFI update. From our understanding, it's partially related to the fact that DDR4 and DDR5 motherboards have quite different UEFI code when it comes to the memory support and in turn it means that the board makers are going to end up spending a lot more time getting their boards working, as is already the case with the 600-series chipsets. We can sort of understand Intel's sentiment here, but we're also expecting to see some motherboards based on the 700-series chipsets with DDR4 support, least not from the likes of ASRock that has always liked to create non-conforming motherboards. However, this also looks like it's the end for DDR4 support from Intel, which wasn't entirely unexpected.
What this doesn't mean, is that Intel has removed support for DDR4 in the CPUs, as it's still very much present and is expected to work fine in 600-series chipset motherboards. As such, there shouldn't be any issues upgrading to a new CPU, at least not after a quick UEFI update. From our understanding, it's partially related to the fact that DDR4 and DDR5 motherboards have quite different UEFI code when it comes to the memory support and in turn it means that the board makers are going to end up spending a lot more time getting their boards working, as is already the case with the 600-series chipsets. We can sort of understand Intel's sentiment here, but we're also expecting to see some motherboards based on the 700-series chipsets with DDR4 support, least not from the likes of ASRock that has always liked to create non-conforming motherboards. However, this also looks like it's the end for DDR4 support from Intel, which wasn't entirely unexpected.
57 Comments on Intel wants 700-Series Chipset Motherboards without DDR4
So will those OEMs have enough PMIC and VRM at that time ?
DDR4 support is said by the guys behind the processors to still be important, and they are very well aware of the world situation of DDR5's availability.
While not a promise, a guarantee of DDR4 support has been granted by decision makers, especially in the more budget friendly part of the ecosystem.
The push with the new chipset will be newer versions of IO, and i even heard a hint about something relating to a retroactive upgrade of CPU M.2 speed standard to 5.0, but nothing concrete
www.techpowerup.com/292432/intel-unintentionally-shares-700-series-chipset-spec
Yes, that doesn't confirm PCIe 5.0 for the NVMe lanes from the CPU, but that seems very likely.
Regarding the M.2 support, from what I reckon, that would be for 12th gen CPU's too. Again, not concretely confirmed
The funny thing to me, is that I do understand that some, or even a large quantity of current boards could support a PCIE5 M.2 for the CPU?
As of to why, I never got an answer
I had the information verified today, hence why I wrote it up, even though I guess it could still be considered a rumour. But it's not for you to hang out here and post in the forums? And how do you recon that would work? The 12th gen CPUs only have PCIe 4.0 lanes for the NVMe interface.
Those units are running very close to what they will run at in terms of finalization and shelf quality - already.
About use of 12th gen for nvme - maybe the opposite is true in this case, where 13th gen could provide that backwards to 600 series. That said, I won't be surprised if marketing decides to block this upgrade About this part, nah, not so much. There's a bit of difference in my eyes between being behind publishing this stuff as an official item and between just throwing hints online about what I know, and what can't get me in personal trouble
Guess Intel should furnish ddr5 with the chips
Intel should be fine with this they leave plenty of room in the box seeing there's no cooler included :laugh:
We all know Intels fascination for new sockets every other chipset.
Intel doesn't seem to be having any shipping issues.
Post Meteor Lake is where NBT (Next big thing, their code name for a new P core) Core uArch will land, and this is where Intel might deploy another new socket
www.wepc.com/tips/am5-socket-what-we-know/
It's understandable that Intel's corporate drones want to scream about their "market leadership" and other childish e-peen enhancement techniques, but here's a reality check: There's a war in Europe with a downright scary escalation path and another war brewing in the Asia-Pacific region, which threatens global economy on a fairly large scale. Semiconductor shortages continue to ravage people's wallets. Forcing consumers to buy expensive memory which has little practical meaning and mostly serves the manufacturer's wallet makes sense in the high-end market, but doing it for the whole portfolio doesn't seem reasonable at this point in time. Winding down the corporate greed seems more productive but unlikely.