Report claims that there is “no reason” why Z370 can’t support Kaby Lake
Report claims that there is “no reason” why Z370 can’t support Kaby Lake
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A report from Guru3D has stated that Intel is intentionally restricting backwards compatibility on their Z370 chipset, with the publication stating that several of Intel board customers have told them that backward compatibility could merely be a firmware update away.Â
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If this is true, Intel has restricted the firmware of their new Z370 chipset to prevent Kaby-Lake CPUs from functioning on the platform. This will prevent any form of backwards compatibility on new Z370 motherboards, despite the fact that it is easily possible with the right firmware changes.Â
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This does not necessarily mean that Coffee Lake CPUs could function properly on Z270 motherboards, as Z370 motherboards are designed to be able to deliver more power to certain regions of the CPU and provide a different voltage path. Sadly, the exact changes that have been made to Z370 to support Intel’s additional CPU cores are unknown. Â
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It is understandable why Intel would restrict Z370 in this way, provided this information is true, as Z370 backwards compatibility would add a lot of confusion into the mix, likely causing many to assume that Z270 or even Z170 motherboards also support Coffee Lake, given their use of the same LGA 1151 socket design.Â
Even so, this would be a rather poor excuse from Intel, though it is unlikely that we will ever get any official verification on this matter unless a Kaby-Lake compatible Z370 firmware start leaking online.Â
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You can join the discussion on Intel’s reported firmware restrictions on Z370 on the OC3D Forums. Â
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