Whenever a CPU socket will get a little bit lengthy within the tooth, it turns into a ready sport to see when new chips will render it out of date. While AMD followers rode the AM4 platform for five years, Intel sticks to a extra common two- to three-year cycle. So it’s a little bit of a coin flip as as to whether you’ll be capable to use the most recent Intel CPUs on a motherboard from a couple of years ago. But in response to information on a Z790 refreshed chipset from Gigabyte, Intel’s “next-gen” processors will keep on with the LGA 1700 socket, first launched in 2021. Pop these champagne bottles, frugal PC builders.

Which isn’t to say there’s nothing new within the refresh of the Z790 chipset, or the upcoming next-gen Intel CPUs themselves (most definitely referred to as 14th-gen, however Gigabyte wouldn’t affirm). In addition to a subtle branding shift and the same old mild functionality bump, a refreshed reminiscence controller and tweaks to the PCB and reminiscence format imply that purchasing a brand new motherboard will unlock some completely bonkers DDR5 DRAM speeds.

An indication confirmed to PCWorld had the reminiscence operating as quick as 8,266MHz with an overclock, one thing that’s not attainable on present {hardware} (at the very least not with out modification far past most individuals’s means). Gigabyte believes it’ll be the one vendor in a position to hit these speeds with modifications to the PCB, like new back-drilling expertise that reduces sign interference.

Gigabyte

Gigabyte’s new Aorus Z790 and B760 motherboards can even have some fairly cool tips on prime of the refreshed chipset. Redesigned M.2 slots, made with the scorching temps of PCIe 5.0 SSD drives in mind, have some built-in mitigating components. All the brand new fashions have re-engineered warmth dissipators, with the highest-end Z790 Xtreme X getting an identical “Xtreme” M.2 heatsink, which Gigabyte claims can calm down a Gen 5 drive by as much as 50 levels Celsius. All this tech will include a brand new EZ-Latch Plus system, that means screwless set up of each M.2 drives and heatsink, in addition to PCIe graphics playing cards and different enlargement playing cards (on the Xtreme X and Master X variations of the board).

Adam Patrick Murray/Foundry

Other components of the motherboard get redesigned “thermal armor” with new built-in warmth pipes and thermal pads, harder “load bearing” PCIe 5.0 slots that may deal with the chunkiest of GPUs with no secondary bracket, and Wi-Fi 7 capabilities for wi-fi fashions. The Z790 Xtreme X, the top-of-the-line mannequin, will get the flashiest function of all: a 5-inch LCD over the I/O cowl to indicate system information…or simply cool graphics. It’s the hottest thing in over-the-top builds.

Adam Patrick Murray/Foundry

We don’t know exactly when the refreshed Z790 motherboards will likely be out there, or the next-gen Intel chips that plug into them. We had been instructed that Z890 motherboards, presumably for Intel’s Fifteenth-gen chips and nearly actually a brand new CPU socket, positively received’t be popping out till someday subsequent yr.