H Series Disappears, B Series Enters, Intel 900 Series Chipset Parameters Exposed, Overall One Level Up

What will the next generation be named?

Intel's next-generation 900 series chipsets have been leaked. These are all new chipsets serving Nova Lake-S desktop CPUs, including five major series: Z990, Z970, W980, Q970, and B960.

Sharp-eyed friends must have already seen that, hey! Where is the H910? Ah, yes, the H series is absent this generation, and there is an extra Z970. In the past, when the number of digits was still two, it actually ended with 7, such as Z97, Z87, Z77. Later, when it came to the 400 series, in order to avoid the naming of X470 next door, Intel raised the number of digits to x90, all the way to the now exposed Z990. So now, Zx70 is back again.

First of all, it is important to know that the 900 series chipset motherboard requires a new interface LGA1954. This motherboard will be launched simultaneously with the Nova Lake-S of the same period.

Now let's introduce each chipset in detail. In the high-end range, we welcome the Z990 and Z970 versions. Both versions of the motherboard are overclockable and unlocked, and have richer functions than other chipsets. The flagship Z990 chipset will provide a total of 48 PCIe lanes, two USB4/TB4 ports, 12 PCIe 5.0 lanes, 12 PCIe 4.0 lanes, 8 SATA 3.0 ports, up to 5 USB 3.2 20 Gbps ports, and will provide IA OC, BCLK and memory OC support.

For the Z970 chipset, Intel has configured it with 34 PCIe lanes and one USB4/TB4 port. There are no PCIe 5.0 lanes on the chipset, but there are 14 PCIe 4.0 lanes, half of the SATA III ports (4 pairs of 8), and up to 2 USB 3.2 20 Gbps ports. In terms of overclocking features, the platform will retain IA OC and Memory OC support, but BCLK OC will be limited to Z990 motherboards.

On the consumer-grade entry-level motherboard, the B series has become the entry-level, but compared to the Z chipset, the B960 is almost completely consistent with the Z970. The only difference is that CPU overclocking support is turned off. Of course, memory overclocking is still retained.

The other two are W980 and Q970. The W and Q series are for workstations and commercial products, respectively. The W980 chipset is comparable to the Z990, but the CPU overclocking function is turned off, and the memory overclocking function is retained, after all, stability is the main consideration. The Q970 has more scalability than the Z970, but all three overclocking functions are turned off.

The result is obvious. If you want to get the most complete experience, the Z990 motherboard is the choice, because Intel provides considerable powerful expansion while improving the playability of deep players, that is, opening up BCLK external clock overclocking. But in this way, the intermediate Z970 motherboard seems a bit awkward - overclocking players go for the Z990, and the B960 has enough material for players who do not overclock.

The leaker twi@jaykihn also made it clear that there is no entry-level H series motherboard this time, such as H910 and H970, etc.

It is expected that in late May, we can see some 900 series motherboard designs displayed by manufacturers, and the final release, if the new CEO's wrist is strong enough, can be released as early as the Q3 quarter, otherwise it should be seen in the Q4 quarter.