If you own an Intel motherboard with a Z170 or Z270 chipset, you might believe that it only supports CPUs up to Intel’s 7th generation, known as Kaby Lake. Even the CPU socket’s pinout …
They don’t, but they define the socket the processor slots into and probably did this to market the newer chips as more advanced than they are (by bundling a minor chip upgrade with an additional chipset upgrade that may have more uplift).
I see no other reason to kneecap upgrades like this when upgrading entails the consumer buying more of your product.
That’s exactly what it is. I previously had Intel hardware for a few generations, but I got seriously pissed off that every time I wanted to upgrade, they had come up with a new incompatible socket and discontinued everything older so I had to also buy a new motherboard.
I think they might be a bit better at supporting older sockets these days, but still, too many sockets and incompatible chipsets.
For some reason I don’t think I even knew Intel made motherboards.
They don’t, but they define the socket the processor slots into and probably did this to market the newer chips as more advanced than they are (by bundling a minor chip upgrade with an additional chipset upgrade that may have more uplift).
I see no other reason to kneecap upgrades like this when upgrading entails the consumer buying more of your product.
That’s exactly what it is. I previously had Intel hardware for a few generations, but I got seriously pissed off that every time I wanted to upgrade, they had come up with a new incompatible socket and discontinued everything older so I had to also buy a new motherboard.
I think they might be a bit better at supporting older sockets these days, but still, too many sockets and incompatible chipsets.