With PCIe 4.0 support and Rocket Lake processors, everything is not yet clear
Intel introduced the Comet Lake desktop processors yesterday. These CPUs switched to the LGA 1200 socket, although it’s not very clear why. But we know for sure that the same socket will be used by the Rocket Lake processors, which supposedly should be released at the end of this year.
When choosing the latest Intel processor, choose your motherboard very carefully so you don’t be left without the possibility of an upgrade
Yesterday, Gigabyte officially confirmed that its motherboards with Z490 chipset will support CPU Rocket Lake, which in general was understandable. Another question is whether new motherboards with more affordable chipsets will receive the same support. If not, this will be extremely bad news for Intel fans, since having bought a motherboard on H470 or B460 now, they will not be able to install a new generation of CPU in it.
Another question that went unanswered yesterday was PCIe 4.0 support. Comet Lake processors do not support this interface, but Rocket Lake will receive such support. Accordingly, even new motherboards may already have support for PCIe 4.0, which, however, cannot be used in any way.
It turned out that not everything is so simple. First, Intel itself says nothing about PCIe 4.0 support. Secondly, manufacturers of motherboards are also in no hurry to somehow share information on this subject. Some companies may find the label “PCIe 4.0 Ready” on the site, but it is completely unclear what is meant by this.
A third-party source claims that the implementation of PCIe 4.0 on motherboards with Z490 chipset will depend on manufacturers and specific models. In most cases, we are talking about two PCIe slots for video cards and one M.2 slot. The source also says that all MSI and ASRock motherboards (with the Z490 chipset) have support for the new interface, and Gigabyte Aorus and Vision motherboards also have it. But Biostar and Supermicro boards are completely devoid of PCIe 4.0 support.
Thus, if you are going to buy a new Intel processor now, with the calculation later to switch to CPU Rocket Lake, you need to be very careful when choosing a motherboard.
