Upgrading from Haswell to Broadwell will require a new motherboard

[skitz9417]

well that sucks 

 

 

The 22nm Haswell processors have only been available to buy since June this year, but the focus is already shifting to Intel’s next generation of chips and chipset. Notably the 9-series chipset and Broadwell processors.

Broadwell will see Intel move to a 14nm manufacturing process with the chips expected to arrive in the second half of next year. However, don’t expect that shiny new 8-series motherboard you purchase today to be compatible with a Broadwell processor, even if it does carry the same chip socket. It looks likely Intel is going to break compatibility.

Broadwell is expected to continue using the LGA 1150 socket just like Haswell does, but the 9-series chipset will incorporate a few compatibility breaking changes. They include a 1.05V requirement for V_PROC_IO, support for a new type of power supply, and a different chip topology requiring a modified THRMTRIP output buffer.

 

 

http://www.geek.com/chips/upgrading-from-haswell-to-broadwell-will-require-a-new-motherboard-1568738/

[Kuzma]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand *looks at AM3+*

[Emperor_Piehead]

I would imagine skylake will need a new motherboard/socket also.

[leomtg]

I think they should support a socket of about 2-3 years. Changing sockets every year is like telling the consumer they just don't care about us. :angry:

[TheRetiredSlave]

Would there be any major reasons to upgrade to Broadwell if you already have a high-end Haswell system?

 

It seems to me that most people wouldn't really be affected by this.. Gamers wouldn't upgrade their CPUs for at least a few generations simply because the performance difference between one gen and another isn't too big nowadays. Extreme overclockers would be getting the newest and the best motherboards with every generation of CPU. Professional users would probably be keeping their systems for as long as possible, and then buying new systems to replace the oldest ones. And finally the average consumers wouldn't even know the difference.. Is there any major market demographic that would need to get a new CPU without getting a new motherboard as well?

 

I guess this is kind of bad news, but Intel already has been changing their sockets every time we blink anyway, so it's already been impossible to take an outdated system and make it fresh with just a CPU swap.

[nightlitezzz]

Well back to AM3, wait that's gone too? I'll just wait for AM4 then...

[ologiic]

Eh don't have any reason to upgrade to that anyways. Haswell is more than enough for me. 

[Ashiataka]

Would there be any major reasons to upgrade to Broadwell if you already have a high-end Haswell system?

Exactly. This is a fuss over nothing. Anyone who's planning on upgrading from Haswell to Broadwell clearly has enough money to be on a yearly update cycle anyway so no problem.

[ajoy39]

well that won't be confusing if they use the same socket but break compatibility. 

[ajoy39]

Would there be any major reasons to upgrade to Broadwell if you already have a high-end Haswell system?

 

It seems to me that most people wouldn't really be affected by this.. Gamers wouldn't upgrade their CPUs for at least a few generations simply because the performance difference between one gen and another isn't too big nowadays. Extreme overclockers would be getting the newest and the best motherboards with every generation of CPU. Professional users would probably be keeping their systems for as long as possible, and then buying new systems to replace the oldest ones. And finally the average consumers wouldn't even know the difference.. Is there any major market demographic that would need to get a new CPU without getting a new motherboard as well?

 

I guess this is kind of bad news, but Intel already has been changing their sockets every time we blink anyway, so it's already been impossible to take an outdated system and make it fresh with just a CPU swap.

 

 

Exactly. This is a fuss over nothing. Anyone who's planning on upgrading from Haswell to Broadwell clearly has enough money to be on a yearly update cycle anyway so no problem.

enthusiasts do. This is on the AMD side obviously but I got an 8120 to start when they first came out and I'll be getting an 8350 soon. 

[Lyons]

So basically, 'f*ck you customers'. Surely they could squeeze more out of the 1150 socket and 22nm process, sockets usually last 2 cycles  :unsure: Intel is just so money oriented and it's obvious they care more about mobile CPU's than desktop ones. Cloud computing and the high cost of hardware is really screwing the desktop market.

[Exotath]

Bummer. But as complete as this news looks....I am going to take it kind of lightly. Broadwell is far off and as far as we know....only exists on paper. Kind of hard to get upset over something that doesn't exist yet.

[MdX MaxX]

enthusiasts do. This is on the AMD side obviously but I got an 8120 to start when they first came out and I'll be getting an 8350 soon. 

Upgrading your hardware every generation isn't required to be an enthusiast...  If there are no real benefits to upgrading, then why upgrade?  My 2600K will perform 99% as well as any LGA1150 CPU for my usage scenarios, so I'm hanging onto it for a while.  But I still consider myself an enthusiast.

 

Basically what TheRetiredSlave said.  If you wait for a reasonable upgrade cycle then you'll be changing motherboards anyway.  And if you have the money to burn on a new CPU every generation then you probably can afford to upgrade the motherboard at the same time, especially if you sell the old one.

 

This can be confusing for consumers building new, but hopefully Intel is smart and calls it LGA1150-2 or something.  And retailers/manufacturers will likely have NOT COMPATIBLE WITH BROADWELL plastered all over their Z87 boards anyway when the time comes.

[beebskadoo]

Still on Sandybridge...............bitches

[greenroost1445]

Bummer. But as complete as this news looks....I am going to take it kind of lightly. Broadwell is far off and as far as we know....only exists on paper. Kind of hard to get upset over something that doesn't exist yet.

your profile pic would suit this information perfectly

[mrthuvi]

1366 all over again.

[mr_pants66]

The only people i see this being a real problem for are the people that want to get a Broadwell cpu and pick up a cheaper high performance motherboard from the last gen.

[IPCharger]

To Intel:

[EChondo]

Uh, isn't this also because of DDR4? Right now DDR4 is server-side, so most likely they are switching sockets AND upgrading DIMM slots.

 

So if you want the latest and greatest, you'll be switching motherboards anyway.

[obsidian1200]

I'll be sticking with Ivy Bridge for another few years, unless Intel or AMD can blow my stockings off with an incredible chip.

[Ashiataka]

enthusiasts do. This is on the AMD side obviously but I got an 8120 to start when they first came out and I'll be getting an 8350 soon. 

Sure some enthusiasts do, but so what? If you've got enough money to afford a new CPU you can afford a new motherboard to go with it. Someone who's updating their CPU every year clearly doesn't have too many financial concerns so adding an extra motherboard is hardly a problem.

[fishymamba]

Still on Sandybridge...............bitches

 

Same here! I could still be using my old i7 Lynnfield and I would be fine.

[alicskysareblue]

So basically, 'f*ck you customers'. Surely they could squeeze more out of the 1150 socket and 22nm process, sockets usually last 2 cycles  :unsure: Intel is just so money oriented and it's obvious they care more about mobile CPU's than desktop ones. Cloud computing and the high cost of hardware is really screwing the desktop market.

 

not necessarily 20 to14 nm is a huge  jump, it is reported that  broadwelll will bring about the first use of sata express and ddr4 (at least in the top end),  theres a reasion why we will have a haswell refresh next year instead of broadwell.

 

personally I will be using my  computer until  sata express and ddr4 are standard (barring any unforeseen catastrophes) until then I am sticking to haswell. 

[mvitkun]

Uh, isn't this also because of DDR4? Right now DDR4 is server-side, so most likely they are switching sockets AND upgrading DIMM slots.

 

So if you want the latest and greatest, you'll be switching motherboards anyway.

I was reading through the comments waiting for somebody to bring that up,but will faster memory really make much of a difference?

I'd say buying anything over 2133mhz ram,for any purpose,is overkill.Personally I wouldn't go above 1866 because I want CL9 latency.

I mean until we see some ground breaking improvements on the cpu,where the i5's start being on par (or near so) with the last generations i7 (Nehalem -> Sandybridge) it won't matter much.

And even if it does happen, we'll be bottlenecked by the gpu before we are by the memory.

unless we get some 15-20% performance above the GTX Titan from the HD 9970,and 25-30% higher per core performance from intel's new chips I doubt the difference in memory bandwidth will be noticeable.

And the few applications where it could be useful,like video editing or 3D modeling,will most likely suffer due to the higher latencies, which may be inevitable,thus lowering it's performance to that of lower latency ram at lower speeds.

[Glenwing]

To be honest I'm not really that bothered.  Usually people don't buy a motherboard/CPU combo expecting to upgrade their CPU to the next gen in a few months anyway.  How many people do you know buying a new CPU every year?  Of all the people I know who have changed their CPU, they kept their old one long enough that even if Intel used the same socket for 2-3 years, they would have been on a new socket either way.  Maintaining old sockets and motherboard compatibility from previous generations means your ability to make significant changes to the CPU architecture and add features to the CPU, is very limited.