LGA 1151 Socket Compatibility?

[ToastDog]

I've been out of the gaming community for nearly a decade and I'm trying to reeducate myself on the hardware. I currently own a GA-Z170XP-SLI motherboard, which has the LGA 1151 socket. It says that it supports Gen 6 and Gen 7 Intel processors. I understand that the LGA 1151 socket is also used on newer generation processors, but there are also different "series" of this socket (series 1, 2, 300 etc)  - will the a newer processor work on this motherboard or will it be stuck with the series 1 & 2 versions of the socket? Am I reading into the socket types too much? Or should I just bite the bullet and do an all new build? 

[Dr. Will0hlep]

That motherboard only supports 6th and 7th gen Core CPUs (plus some Pentiums and Celerons). See this list on the products website.

https://www.gigabyte.com/Ajax/SupportFunction/Getcpulist?Type=Product&Value=5496

 

See @YoungBlade for a possiable (but not recommended option)

[YoungBlade]

Intel 300 series chipsets only support 8th and 9th gen, and 100/200 series only support 6th and 7th gen. They are the same socket, but the pinout is used in a different way to lock out compatibility.

 

However, some people have made BIOS mods that let 100 and 200 series motherboards support 8th and 9th gen Intel CPUs. If there happens to be a BIOS mod available for your board, and you're willing to risk bricking the board to get 8th or 9th gen CPUs to work, you can give it a shot. But I wouldn't recommend this - as I said, it can brick your board if something goes wrong.

[RONOTHAN##]

7 minutes ago, ToastDog said:

will the a newer processor work on this motherboard or will it be stuck with the series 1 & 2 versions of the socket?

It's complicated. A newer CPU can work on your board, but Intel doesn't want it to and they artificially limited support. There are ways of getting around it by modifying BIOS files and the CPU itself, but those workarounds are sketchy at best and not something I'd trust to work in a system I rely on. 

 

Besides, 8th/9th gen hardware on the used marked is incredibly overpriced for what it is, so unless you already have a CPU or can get one from a friend for cheap it doesn't really make sense to buy them. Current gen gear will usually end up cheaper overall for the same performance tier, even factoring in that you have to buy a new motherboard at the same time. 

 

7 minutes ago, ToastDog said:

Or should I just bite the bullet and do an all new build? 

Definitely do a new motherboard/CPU, though without knowing everything else in the system it's not possible to say if everything else is worth saving or not. 

 

1 minute ago, YoungBlade said:

as I said, it can brick your board if something goes wrong.

Not to mention that these almost always require you to modify the CPU itself by shorting two of the pins, but also not having the jumper you solder on being tall enough to the point where it would permanently bend pins in the socket. If something goes wrong, both the CPU and motherboard are dead.

[ToastDog]

Thank you @RONOTHAN## (and others who have commented). I'll start looking into upgrading the board, cpu and gpu. Most everything else I think that I can reuse until the time that I have a little more $$ to upgrade them too.