Intel Haswell not compatible with 9-series chipset

Hardware

August 29, 2013

Inte’s Haswell CPU family may not be electrically compatible with the upcoming 9-series chipset designed by Intel.

Despite Haswell and its successor, Broadwell, using the same sockets, the 9-series chipset will require a different power circuit, in addition to changes in how high temperatures are handled.

Reports and documents leaked to VR-Zone make mention of new motherboard design guidelines to work around five new power requirements for the 9-series chipsets and the Broadwell processors.

This means that motherboard manufacturers may release their 9-series boards for the Haswell refresh launch, but will have to release new revisions of their designs to support the new processor family.

It’s up to the vendors now to decide if they delay their products to incorporate the new design guidelines, or risk angering enthusiasts who won’t be able to use their brand new boards with the Broadwell lineup.

Intel Broadwell motherboard design changes

Haswell is the first of Intel’s processor families to bring about some radical changes in the silicon, integrating the VRM chip to allow Intel greater control over operating voltages and Turbo Boost states.

In 2014, the company is planning a refresh of the Haswell silicon, possibly dropping fabrication size to 14 nanometer, the smallest they’ve ever attempted. After the Haswell refresh, Broadwell will be the next family that Intel will concentrate on.

But despite similarities in the sockets used, Broadwell changes things a lot, incorporating not only PCI-Express lanes that can be used for SSD drives (bypassing the slow progress of SATA) but also the first DDR4 memory controllers for the consumer market.

Broadwell is also slated to be the first of Intel’s consumer chips that will ship in BGA form, ditching a socket to lower platform cost and electrical interference.