Today, Intel 8th Gen Coffee Lake processors will be available on the market. At the same time, more than 50 new motherboards integrated with the latest Intel Z370 chipset will be sold by AIB partners like ASRock, ASUS, Biostar, ECS, EVGA, GIGABYTE, Maxxsun, MSI, and Supermicro.

As reported earlier, Intel 8th Gen Coffee Lake desktop processors are not compatible with older 100 or 200 series motherboards even though it features the same LGA 1151 socket. These powerful Intel 8th Gen processors are only compatible with Z370 motherboards. The same can be said for the Z370 motherboard; it does not support older CPUs based on Kaby Lake and Skylake architectures.

Compatibility issues

More than just the increase in the number of cores, Intel 8th Gen Coffee Lake desktop processors offer enhanced overclocking (per core) not seen in previous generations. As Anand Srivatsa, general manager of the Desktop Platform Group at Intel, said, “Our 8th Gen Intel Core desktop processors deliver tremendous improvements across the board and – for gamers, in particular– offer an unbeatable experience.”

With these newfound heights in terms of performance and a new level of gaming experience, improved power delivery is needed, of which, the new Intel Z370 chipset was designed to do. Aside from improved power delivery for 6-core processors and overclocking, the Z370 PCH supports memory support for DDR4-2666, HDR support, integrated Intel wireless AC, support up to 10 USB 3.1 Ports, up to 6 USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) ports, and PCIe 3.0 x4 storage support.

It also supports Intel Optane memory for added accelerated system responsiveness of up to 2.1 times. Plus, it gives support for other Intel technologies such as Rapid Storage Technology and Smart Sound Technology with quad-core audio DSP.

AIB partner Z370 motherboards

Leading AIB partners have launched their respective Z370 motherboards today in line with Intel’s worldwide release of the new desktop processors based on Coffee Lake architecture.

ASUS offers a total of 13 new motherboards based on their ASUS ROG Maximus, ROG STRIX, PRIME, and TUF series.

Gigabyte Technology used its gaming brand, AORUS, to match Intel’s new gaming desktop processors.

Gigabyte plans to release eleven Z370 motherboards under the AORUS brand. Meanwhile, ASRock will release a total of ten new motherboards using their Gaming, Pro, FATAL1TY, and Taichi brands.

MSI has twelve (12) new gaming motherboards integrated with the Z370 chipset. Biostar only has two motherboards with Z370 chipset; however, both are high-end motherboards: the Racing series Z370GT7 and Z370GT6.
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