Coffee Lake Not Supported by Intel’s 200-Series Motherboards
by Ian Cutress on August 2, 2017 5:12 PM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- Intel
- LGA1151
- 200-series
- Core 8th Gen
- Coffee Lake
- 300-Series
In a stunning bit of Twitter, a tweet from one of the leading motherboard manufacturers has stated that Coffee Lake, Intel’s 8th Generation Core processors, will not be supported on the current generation of 200-series motherboards.
No，Coffee Lake CPU is not compatibilble with 200 series motherboards.
— July 31, 2017
Information like this is usually kept under wraps until an Intel reveal, but it seems to have been mindlessly posted to Twitter on July 31st, an account that last tweeted on April 11th before this tweet occurred. This tweet has since been deleted.
At this point, due to the similar microarchitecture to Kaby Lake being used in Coffee Lake, most of the technology press were under the impression that the Coffee Lake processors would be compatible with LGA1151 socket motherboards, namely the 100-series and 200-series. With the above tweet essentially confirming that Coffee Lake will not be supported, it means that either the new CPUs will not be LGA1151, or that the motherboards will lock-out the processors by firmware, or the CPUs and sockets will use a different notching system to ensure the wrong processor cannot be put in the wrong board. It does mean however that 200-series users hoping to upgrade to a Coffee Lake processor (which early reports are suggesting might be up to six cores, but this has not been announced) will not be able to.
There are many potential reasons for the change if the socket is still LGA1151. The obvious one would be product segmentation on Intel’s part, which would stick in the craw for a number of the user base. The second one that it might actually be a physical requirement for the processor – if previously unused pins are required for power and/or control for different elements of the DVFS in the chip. This would depend on new features on the chip, which could extend to different power management, different graphics, or different IP blocks that require separate pin-out connections. Intel might also be using a different power system for voltage regulators, which might not be compatible with current 200-series motherboards.
At this point, nothing has been made official. The fact that this was stated on Twitter so far from any launch date that we know of is an interesting development.
*The name of the manufacturer has been removed by request after this news was published.
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smilingcrow - Wednesday, August 2, 2017 - link
Intel's strategy is to have 2 design teams working at the same time on different platforms with a lot of freedom to not worry about compatibility.This is clear from examples such as integrating the VRMs on die which was short lived and allegedly is making a comeback.
This of course is bad news for enthusiasts who hope to upgrade their CPU but is good news for everyone else.
Why? Because as the vast majority of systems aren't upgraded it means that when Intel builds a new platform they don't have to compromise it to keep compatibility.
Why should the vast majority potentially lose some performance in their new platform PC just to keep compatibility for the few?
Whilst I think that is a fair attitude in reality I'm not sure how significant any performance losses would be and whether Intel are just being cynical so they can sell new motherboards to the small minority of bleeding edgers.
I think it's a mix of the two and the OEMs love a new platform in the same way that car salesmen/women love a mid cycle refresh.
flgt - Wednesday, August 2, 2017 - link
This^. The vast majority buy platforms. Businesses buy a PC, run it until end of warranty for 3-5 years and then trash it. Same for laptops. That's what drives the revenue. It does suck for enthusiasts though.mapesdhs - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Given the scale of the industry and the resources involved, it makes a total nonsense of all the G20 b.s. about climate change measures costing $100 trillion for a mere 10 month delay in what would happen anyway. Yeah like they really care when the very nature of some industries means resource exploitation is not exactly efficient. :D Hmm, could build a very nice wall for a $100T...HStewart - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
yes... you be surprise on how old some of machines are in Point of Sale world. In that world Core 2 processor can be consider new. It allow about quantity - when you 500 to 1000 stores with 5 to 8 machines each - that adds up quick.And when they get upgraded - it not replacing single CPU - it replacing entering machine.
On corporate side, it is exactly what you say - about 3 to 5 years - and desire is Laptop not desktops - because Laptop can be taking into meeting rooms and labs.
Spunjji - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
This would bear out if they had indeed been releasing platforms that were unrestrained in their pursuit of the giddy heights of better performance. Sadly that has not been borne out in reality. The see-saw back and forth on voltage regulation has done diddly-squat for actual progress (if one way was indeed better than the other, why would new and better performing chips go back to the old way?)austinsguitar - Wednesday, August 2, 2017 - link
this is a joke. we have seen silicon used in z270 and it has been working in nearly every leaked image and test. intel, you will not be my next cpu company. do you here me? this is the last straw for me and im sure thousands of others that bought z270 earlier this year.nevcairiel - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
So one leak says it works, one leak says it doesn't, and you just believe the latest one you hear? :)AlyxSharkBite - Wednesday, August 2, 2017 - link
Well this made my upgrade decision easy. I just built a Ryzen7 system for my gf and it runs really nice since I have to toss my current mobo (Thanks Intel) I think I'll go Threadripper.mapesdhs - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Pretty much my line of thinking too. I had built a Ph2 965 system for my gf, but it lacks a lot of the newer tech I'd prefer it to have for modern compatibility. So, Ryzen for her, TR for me.nagi603 - Wednesday, August 2, 2017 - link
Well, the joke is on you, intel, my next system will probably be a threadripper one.