Features - Intel launches high-end Z97 chipset

[HEXUS]

All the details on Intel's new chipset and in-depth reviews.

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[kalniel]

Who ends an embargo on a Sunday?

But the use of just two lanes is somewhat surprising and disappointing given that, for example, the SandForce SF3700 SSD controller and Samsung XP941 M.2 SSD can use up to four lanes while, looking across to laptops, the 15in MacBook Pro also uses a four-lane PCIe topology for storage. Common sense indicates that Intel limits this because it merely runs out of usable PCIe lanes; the Z97 chipset, in sum, doesn't offer anything above the 24 present in Z87, of which 16 PCIe 3.0 are reserved for graphics stemming from the CPU.

Which is a good point - hope you review ASrock's Z97 board which has a neat work around for this problem

[Stuen4y]

Maybe even Intel do not care and just want to finish with the whole nonsense about the Z97 and Haswell Refresh. And the chipset does not even feature the M.2 and SATA Express on its own (as in its presence means the motherboard will have those features), it just enables their use by the manufacturers... Must be hard to write reviews at this moment. What would you say... Its all great, but we don't really need this...

[kalniel]

And the chipset does not even feature the M.2 and SATA Express on its own (as in its presence means the motherboard will have those features), it just enables their use by the manufacturers...

Enables.. or mandates?

[Stuen4y]

Enables.. or mandates?

I have not seen the full line-up of the manufacturers yet but I bet there will be models without M.2 and/or SATA Express featuring the fully fledged Z97 chipset. It is a fusion of standards after all, nothing dramatically new.

Though, if you have any different information, I (and presumably other people) would love to hear it. This is why a forum is for, after all.

[3dcandy]

Neither is a must have technology, but M.2 is a great leap forward allowing excellent capacities and speed in small SSD boot drives...

[Irien]

Seems like really poor form on Intel's part that Haswell refresh can't be used in 8-series boards. We're basically down to one-year of CPU-support (or less?) for a given board generation now I'm assuming the socket format hasn't changed?

Bearing in mind that with a suitable BIOS, a lowly H61 can run any Sandy or Ivy Bridge part, it really seems like Intel have decided to cut ties to 1st Gen Haswell too soon

[kalniel]

I have not seen the full line-up of the manufacturers yet but I bet there will be models without M.2 and/or SATA Express featuring the fully fledged Z97 chipset. It is a fusion of standards after all, nothing dramatically new.

We'll have to see. Let's just say I'm rather sceptical that all motherboard manufacturers have just unanimously decided to incorporate a bunch of relatively high bill of materials parts that will be used only by a minority of their customers.

Seems like really poor form on Intel's part that Haswell refresh can't be used in 8-series boards.

Where can I buy this Haswell refresh?

[azrael-]

Funny how Intel apparently wastes the 9-series name on a single Z97 chipset which doesn't even bring all that much new to the table. I'd probably have called it something like Z87X.

BTW, has anyone heard of a similar refresh for Xeon CPUs and chipsets? I'm thinking of the E3 and C2x6 series, respectively.

[kalniel]

btw, has anyone heard of a similar refresh for xeon cpus and chipsets?

x99.

[azrael-]

x99.

But isn't that more of a replacement for the X79 chipset and targetted at Haswell-E? I was thinking of socket 1150 Xeons (E3 series).

[kalniel]

Oh I see, not familiar with Xeon models. I'd have though they would wait longer between Xeon refreshes than desktop.

[azrael-]

Oh I see, not familiar with Xeon models. I'd have though they would wait longer between Xeon refreshes than desktop.

The Xeon E3 series is *very* similar to the common desktop Core i series. For instance, notice how much my Xeon E3-1245v2 resembles a Core i7-3770 (FWIW, I've switched to Xeons because of the ECC memory feature).

Because they're basically the same chips the E3 Xeons are usually released in roughly the same timeframe as the corresponding Core i CPUs.

Apparently, there *are* new "Haswell Refresh" Xeons inbound. So, what remains to be seen is whether or not we'll see an equivalent of the Z97 chipset for them.