Yesterday Intel launched a bunch of new Skylake processors that are here to complement the enthusiast Core i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K processors that were launched a few weeks ago. The new chips are cheaper than the two enthusiast parts and cover a broader spectrum of the CPU market going down to the mid-range segment thanks to the inclusion of a few Core i3 processors.
Along with the introduction of the new Skylake chips Intel also announced a number of new LGA 1151 chipsets that again cover the high- to mid-range market segment – please meet the H170 and H110 plus the specifications for the business-oriented Q170, Q150 and B150 chipsets. Now thanks to the arrival of cheaper Skylake chips and chipsets you can have a Skylake system that will not break the bank.
While the Intel Z170 chipset is enthusiast-oriented the H170 and H110 chipsets are not. They serve two main purposes – to bring the Skylake generation to people who do not want to spend tons of cash on a new system. The new H170 and H110 core logic systems are consumer-oriented and lack some of the features seen in Z170 but are still pretty good solutions. The H170, for instance, does not have support for overclocking and the ability to divide the CPU’s PCI-e 3.0 lanes between multiple GPUs. The chipset also loses a few USB 3.0 ports when compared to Z170 and some HSIO lanes but it keeps the same RAID, memory and SATA features seen in Z170.
The new H110 chipset is a cut-down version of the Z170 (and H170 for that matter). It does not have support for RST, Smart Response Technology, Smart Sound Technology, Small Business Advantage 4.0, RAID, overclocking and multi-GPU configurations and loses half of the USB 3.0 ports seen in Z170. The number of HSIO lanes is also cut down compared to H170 and memory support is limited as well – you can only have a single DIMM memory module per channel. In addition the chipset does not support PCI-E 3.0 – instead it offers eight PCI-E 2.0 lanes. This makes the H110 chipset perfect for budget-oriented motherboards and this is where we will see it in the near future.
The Q170, Q150 and B150 chipsets are business-oriented and they get to keep Small Business Advantage 3.0, Small Business Basics, Intel Platform Trust Technology, and Intel Smart Sound Technology. The Q170 chipset is very close to what Z170 offers – it has all the Z170 features except overclocking and is the only chipset in the Skylake line to have vPro and Active Management technologies.
The Q150 is a cut-down version of the Q170 and as such lacks many business-oriented technologies, keeping SIPP support only. The Q150 also lacks support for PCI-E storage RAID solutions and has a reduced number of HSIO lanes and USB 3.0 ports. The B150 chipset is the cheapest of the three – it is a cut-down version of Q150 and thus it loses all business technologies except for the most basic ones and nearly half of the USB 3.0 ports seen in Q170.
Motherboards based on the new chipsets are expected any time soon so let the big Skylake system building begin now!
Source: Tomshardware.com