Intel Z390 Express Chipset Detailed

[btarunr]

Intel released a product brief of its premium mainstream-desktop (MSDT) chipset, the Z390 Express. Positioned above the Z370 Express, the chipset has an exhaustive feature-set. It supports current 8th generation Core "Coffee Lake" processors, and is ready for the next-generation. Like all other 300-series chipsets, the Z390 interfaces with the LGA1151 processor over a DMI 3.0 chipset-bus. Much like the Z370, it features 24 downstream PCI-Express gen 3.0 lanes. Its storage setup remains unchanged from the Z370 - six SATA 6 Gbps ports with AHCI and RAID support; and up to three 32 Gbps M.2/U.2 connectors.

The differences begin with the chipset's integrated USB connectivity. The Z390 Express directly puts out six 10 Gbps USB 3.1 gen 2 ports, and ten 5 Gbps USB 3.1 gen 1 ports. If that's not a lot, it also puts out fourteen USB 2.0 ports (a total of 30 USB ports). Another major feature is Intel SmartSound technology, which the document specifies as an "audio/voice offload" DSP. This should, in theory, reduce the CPU's load in processing the audio stack. At the physical level it's still the company's "Azalia" HD audio bus wired to an audio CODEC with close to zero native signal processing. Perhaps some of that processing is done inside the chipset. The concept appears to be borrowed from edge-computing, and triggered by the rise in voice-command interface, so the chipset can natively process speech-to-text conversions.



With the Z390 Express, Intel is also updating the platform's networking feature-set. The chipset supports a 1 GbE MAC interface, and recommends motherboard manufacturers to include an Intel Wireless-AC 9560 card, with 802.11ac and Bluetooth 5. Almost every Z390 motherboard will feature wireless networking, and most of them will include Intel's recommended WLAN card pairing. No new CPU overclocking features are detailed in the document.

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[TheLostSwede]

Where exactly does it say it supports two Gigabit Ethernet MACs?
I think you need to look at that diagram again, as the SMBus is a management bus.
You can obviously add as many Ethernet ports as you wish via PCIe.

Also, for those that want to read Intel's PDF, have a look here - https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...sets/desktop-chipsets/z390-chipset-brief.html

 

[btarunr]

Where exactly does it say it supports two Gigabit Ethernet MACs?
I think you need to look at that diagram again, as the SMBus is a management bus.
You can obviously add as many Ethernet ports as you wish via PCIe.

Also, for those that want to read Intel's PDF, have a look here - https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...sets/desktop-chipsets/z390-chipset-brief.html

Chipset supports up to two MACs. You can either give those to two 1 GbE controllers, or one 1 GbE and the WLAN card. This is no different than previous Intel chipsets. The chipset puts out MAC_0 and MAC_1 (two MACs), and on boards with just one Intel GbE controller, motherboard designers wire it to MAC_1 (for whatever reason, maybe they misread the docs), which results in the driver adding a "#2" to the controller's name string in device manager.

As you said, you can add as many networking controllers (with their native MAC) as you want, via PCIe or USB.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Chipset supports up to two MACs. You can either give those to two 1 GbE controllers, or one 1 GbE and the WLAN card.

As you said, you can add as many networking controllers (with their native MAC) as you want, via PCIe or USB.

That's not how it works. Ethernet MACs and Wi-Fi MACs are quite different. Also, Intel is using something called CNVio for their new Wi-Fi stuff which as far as I can tell, is a reduced pin-count interface to keep costs down. Some details here https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/intel/cnvi
There's no way you could connect a wired Ethernet MAC to that.
Also, Gigabit over wireless is still just marketing.

 

[Hood]

Nothing really ground-breaking here. More USB ports? SmartSound? Fast networking? No thanks, I'm fine.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Nothing really ground-breaking here. More USB ports? SmartSound? Fast networking? No thanks, I'm fine.

You prefer no USB ports, stupid sound and slow networking then?

 

[btarunr]

I think Intel sees a future in which gamers yell at their PC "give me that x sword with a y spell" in the heat of gaming, and Microsoft is probably making Cortana as smart as Alexa/G-assistant. That's why the need for voice processing CPU offload.

So pro gamers will end up sounding like cattle auctioneers IRL (combining keyboard+mouse+voice for that competitive edge).

 

[Flanker]

I think Intel sees a future in which gamers yell at their PC "give me that x sword with a y spell" in the heat of gaming, and Microsoft is probably making Cortana as smart as Alexa/G-assistant. That's why the need for voice processing CPU offload.

So pro gamers will end up sounding like cattle auctioneers IRL (combining keyboard+mouse+voice for that competitive edge).

You forget the gaming chair

 

[btarunr]

You forget the gaming chair

And GodMode energy drink, so you could overclock your heart and blabber even faster.

 

[R-T-B]

I think Intel sees a future in which gamers yell at their PC "give me that x sword with a y spell" in the heat of gaming, and Microsoft is probably making Cortana as smart as Alexa/G-assistant. That's why the need for voice processing CPU offload.

So pro gamers will end up sounding like cattle auctioneers IRL (combining keyboard+mouse+voice for that competitive edge).

I picture that going over about as well as that voice controlled super soaker in the 90s:

There is a reason these things are now incredibly rare and valuable... most were never purchased and ended up in dumpsters.

 

[btarunr]

 

[Assimilator]

Nothing really ground-breaking here. More USB ports? SmartSound? Fast networking? No thanks, I'm fine.

Considering there are currently a grand total of zero motherboard chipsets that offer native USB 3.1 gen2 ports, so adding 6 is pretty impressive. Especially when each requires the equivalent of a PCIe 3.0 x2 link.

 

[Caring1]

Considering there are currently a grand total of zero motherboard chipsets that offer native USB 3.1 gen2 ports, so adding 6 is pretty impressive. Especially when each requires the equivalent of a PCIe 3.0 x2 link.

Asrock X470 itx announced the other day, has Gen 2 USB 3.1 ports.

 

[R-T-B]

Asrock X470 itx announced the other day, has Gen 2 USB 3.1 ports.

Are those from the chipset though? That's the big news. Everyone and their dog has the ASMedia addon chips.

 

[Caring1]

Are those from the chipset though? That's the big news. Everyone and their dog has the ASMedia addon chips.

"The AMD X470 chipset puts out the remaining two SATA 6 Gbps ports and two USB 3.1 gen 2 ports, including a type-C port."
Quoted from TPU.

 

[Space Lynx]

This is good news I think, it means there will probably be a BIOS update for next gen CPU's, and I won't have to upgrade my motherboard after all.

 

[Assimilator]

"The AMD X470 chipset puts out the remaining two SATA 6 Gbps ports and two USB 3.1 gen 2 ports, including a type-C port."
Quoted from TPU.

There doesn't seem to be anything official about this anywhere - I haven't been able to find an X470 block diagram (seriously AMD, Intel is able to release one before their chipset is even available, yet you can't do the same after your design is shipping?). If I am wrong I will happily admit it, but I would like more official evidence than a news article with no technical specs.

Interestingly enough, seems the content of said article has been stolen by a YouTube channel called "Mukesh Tech Studios" - might want to look into that, @btarunr.

 

[Octopuss]

Why do they still put USB 2 ports on motherboards? I don't get it.
Also, why mixture of different USB 3 types? Why not just the newest one?

 

[btarunr]

There doesn't seem to be anything official about this anywhere - I haven't been able to find an X470 block diagram (seriously AMD, Intel is able to release one before their chipset is even available, yet you can't do the same after your design is shipping?). If I am wrong I will happily admit it, but I would like more official evidence than a news article with no technical specs.

Interestingly enough, seems the content of said article has been stolen by a YouTube channel called "Mukesh Tech Studios" - might want to look into that, @btarunr.

Thanks. They seem to have stolen quite a lot of our stuff. I've taken it up with w1zzard.

 

[R-T-B]

"The AMD X470 chipset puts out the remaining two SATA 6 Gbps ports and two USB 3.1 gen 2 ports, including a type-C port."
Quoted from TPU.

Looks like I'm a bit behind the curve, thanks for the correction!

 

[erocker]

This is a little funny. Intel's been sandbagging the USB ports!

 

[Assimilator]

Why do they still put USB 2 ports on motherboards? I don't get it.

Mice and keyboards don't need anything faster than USB 2.0, and early USB 3.0 ports (especially those provided by 3rd-party controllers) had various compatibility and latency issues. For example, my Z77 board doesn't recognize my keyboard at boot if it's plugged into any of the VIA USB 3.0 ports, and when plugged into the Intel ones it's a 50/50 chance - so the only way to be sure I have keyboard at boot (i.e. when I need to enter the BIOS) is by using the USB 2.0 ports.

The picture today is much different - USB 3.0 is mature, the 3rd-party controller market is dominated by ASMedia who actually makes good stuff, and drivers aren't terrible CPU-eating crap. But like the even older myth that USB is slow and can't do key rollover (it can, just not more than 6 keys, and how do you even press more than 5 keys with one hand?) and so you need PS/2, the "USB 3.0 sucks for peripherals" myth persists.

Also, why mixture of different USB 3 types? Why not just the newest one?

USB 3.1 gen2 supplies twice the bandwidth of gen1, hence the differentiation. I don't know if there are manufacturing differences involved in the physical ports, but I'm certain the signalling traces on the motherboard have to be more robust to supply the required bandwidth, and of course the chipset and CPU have to be able to account for the higher throughput. So it's cost, and when most people don't even have devices that take advantage of USB 3 gen2, it just doesn't make sense to go full gen2.

This is a little funny. Intel's been sandbagging the USB ports!

Eh?

 

[R-T-B]

Why do they still put USB 2 ports on motherboards? I don't get it.
Also, why mixture of different USB 3 types? Why not just the newest one?

Because most devices are still usb 2 and pcie lanes / bandwidth aren't free.

 

[Octopuss]

I thought a port automatically works in USB 2 mode if you plug a mouse or something in it.

 

[Upgrayedd]

With high volume 10nm Cannonlake not expected until 2019 does this mean K chips are coming first and seemingly soon?