Most of us know by now that Coffee Lake desktop-grade processors won’t be compatible with older 200-series motherboards. New information has surfaced from folks at Hardware.info regarding the compatibility of existing Kaby Lake CPUs on Z370 mainboards. It’s worth noting that both Coffee Lake and Kaby Lake processors feature the same LGA 1151 socket.
Interestingly folks at Hardware.info have gotten their hands on an early sample of a Coffee Lake processor. Based on their findings, it seems that Kaby Lake CPUs will not be compatible with Z370 motherboards. Oddly, it was found that Coffee Lake processors do fit perfectly on Z270 motherboards, and likewise with Kaby Lake CPUs with Z370 mainboards.
Despite this unfortunate discovery, consumers shouldn’t be quick to dismiss the possibility of Kaby Lake processors being compatible with Z370 motherboards in the future. This may be possible through a BIOS update – if Intel decides to pursue it, of course.
Either way, it looks like one will have to purchase a Z370 motherboard if one wishes to “upgrade” to a Coffee Lake processor. As for Skylake and Kaby Lake owners, you may want to stick with your 200 and 100-series motherboards for now. Hopefully, Intel will make a BIOS update available for Z370 motherboards to support older LGA 1151-based CPUs in the near future.
(Source: Hardware.info via TechPowerUp, Overclock3D)
