ASRock has officially confirmed that Intel’s upcoming Coffee Lake CPUs will not be backward compatible with existing 200-series motherboards. This, of course, debunks previous rumours regarding Coffee Lake CPUs using the same type of socket as Kaby Lake and Skylake processors.
ASRock’s announcement may displease some Intel consumers, as most were expecting their 200-series motherboards to be compatible with Intel’s upcoming processors. For those who aren’t aware: Intel’s current generation of CPUs are using the LGA1151 socket, which was first introduced about two years ago with Skylake CPUs.
Now, however, it looks like Intel is working on a new socket for its Coffee Lake CPUs – which means consumers will have to purchase a compatible motherboard once those processors are out. That aside, rumours strongly suggest that Intel’s Coffee Lake CPUs are going to be launched sometime this year.
On the bright side, consumers can at least look forward to new “features” that’ll come with Coffee Lake-compatible motherboards. While we’re still not quite sure what those features may be, Intel may indeed look to introduce some unique features to remain competitive against AMD’s AM4 processor offerings – most of which are backwards compatible.
Regardless, if you’re planning to get yourself a shiny new Intel Coffee Lake processor, you’d better start saving up for a new motherboard as well.
(Source: VideoCardz, Overclock3D)
