Intel reportedly discontinuing production of H310 Chipset to push consumers to more expensive motherboards

[AlTech]

Intel is reportedly discontinuing production of their entry level H310 chipset to push consumers towards more expensive B360 and Z370 chipsets.

 

The company has allegedly been unable to produce enough Chipsets in the 300 series on their current fab process and so has decided to kill off H310 as a means to enable better availability of B360, Z370 and potentially a newer 300 series chipset if Intel is working on a new one .

 

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A report straight out of DigiTimes, citing industry sources, says that Intel has discontinued production of its H310 chipset. The decision has apparently stemmed from lower than expected production capacity for chipsets on the 14 nm process. When that happens, production focus must shift to a specific part: in this case, Intel obviously went with the option with the lower opportunity cost, and increased production of the Z370 chipset: the one with the increased feature-set, and, most likely than not, higher margins.

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After a single month of tight supply for the H310 chipset, motherboard makers are now forced to use Intel's B360 chipset in their more cost-conscious options as well - a part which carries higher cost, and thus precludes manufacturers from hitting all the price points they usually would with a fully vertical Intel chipset lineup. 

So yeah, I'm confused as to how and why the B series Intel chipset is more high end than the H series since the H series typically was the mid range option with the B series being budget entry level parts.

 

Still, the only plausible explanation other than availability of Z370 and B360 motherboards is if Intel is planning to launch Z390 in time for the 8700K's successor.

 

Source: https://www.techpowerup.com/244021/a-push-for-the-higher-margin-intel-reportedly-discontinues-production-of-its-h310-chipset

[ItsMitch]

2 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

The company has allegedly been unable to produce enough Chipsets in the 300 series on their current fab process

How can a multi-billion dollar company not be able to produce some chipsets? Intel is  reallllllly mind boggling company. 

[AlTech]

Just now, SC2Mitch said:

How can a multi-billion dollar company not be able to produce some chipsets? Intel is  reallllllly mind boggling company. 

It's a matter of their fab process for chipsets. Apparently they can't reliably produce H310 chipsets because of all the other chipsets they produce. You're definitely not the only one confused 

[ItsMitch]

1 minute ago, AluminiumTech said:

It's a matter of their fab process for chipsets. Apparently they can't reliably produce H310 chipsets because of all the other chipsets they produce. You're definitely not the only one confused 

When you make so much shit you get confused, kappa

[Sauron]

So H310 came late to the party and was the first to leave... Intel really wants to make their i3 line completely pointless, don't they?

[yian88]

Z or nothing

[Christophe Corazza]

To sprinkle some salt in the wounds 

 

Who can remember that when Ryzen came out, Intel sent a presentation into the world where theyclaimed that AMD would be unreliable in terms of deliveries? https://www.techradar.com/news/intel-disses-amds-new-processors-in-what-could-be-an-epyc-fail

 

Intel about AMD:

"Poor Track Record, Inconsistent Supplier"

 

And the solution from Intel? Just buy that more expensive one. Brilliant! 

[dizmo]

I don't see why this matters at all. If you look at pricing, H310 boards are a whopping $8 cheaper than B360 boards.

If there was enough push back from board manufacturers they could simply ask for a small price break and voila. Same price.
Or, those who are building budget PC's can skip a Starbucks trip and they're at the same cost.

 

Really, at pricing that close, it doesn't make any sense to produce both SKUs.

[CTR640]

42 minutes ago, SC2Mitch said:

How can a multi-billion dollar company not be able to produce some chipsets? Intel is  reallllllly mind boggling company. 

Simple: they are lying and they don't want you to buy affordable motherboards, so you end up being forced to buy their expensive motherboards.

 

I do not and can not believe a multi-billion company, which is 10 times AMD, cannot produce enough affordable motherboards. This bullshit simply reeks to....bullshit.

[pas008]

27 minutes ago, CTR640 said:

Simple: they are lying and they don't want you to buy affordable motherboards, so you end up being forced to buy their expensive motherboards.

 

I do not and can not believe a multi-billion company, which is 10 times AMD, cannot produce enough affordable motherboards. This bullshit simply reeks to....bullshit.

 

and cheapest of both mobos is what $8 difference?

oh maybe there isnt a huge demand for them

[TahoeDust]

What a dumb attempt to throw shade at Intel.  Petty and insecure.  

[Trixanity]

I think the biggest question of all is why the hell they're producing chipsets on 14nm? For reference AMD chipsets are on 55nm. 

 

You'd think they'd have some 22nm or even 32nm capacity available to do the job.

[AlTech]

3 minutes ago, Trixanity said:

I think the biggest question of all is why the hell they're producing chipsets on 14nm? For reference AMD chipsets are on 55nm. 

 

You'd think they'd have some 22nm or even 32nm capacity available to do the job.

You may want to explain why having 14nm chipsets makes no sense and why 22nm or 32nm chipsets are good enough.

 

Also, according to Wikipedia, Z370 is built on 22nm whilst the rest for Coffee Lake are on 14nm .

 

So why would they make make H310, H370 and B360 using 14nm but then use 22nm for Z370? .

 

For a large company Intel can do quite silly things.

[Trixanity]

2 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

You may want to explain why having 14nm chipsets makes no sense and why 22nm or 32nm chipsets are good enough.

 

Also, according to Wikipedia, Z370 is built on 22nm whilst the rest for Coffee Lake are on 14nm .

 

So why would they make make H310, H370 and B360 using 14nm but then use 22nm for Z370? .

 

For a large company Intel can do quite silly things.

Z370 is a generation older in many aspects and launched much earlier. Remember CFL and Z370 was a limited initial launch. That explains why newer chipsets are on 14nm. 

 

14nm while of course better isn't necessary for chipsets. I don't know the internals of Intel's foundry business but in theory it should be more expensive to use. Combine that with the obviously limited capacity that actually required them to pull a product. That begs the question I asked. I don't know what Intel does with their old equipment but that shit is expensive so putting it to use churning out chipsets is a great idea.

 

As far as I know the chipset doesn't need the power or area gains from 14nm especially not in a desktop. I could understand it for laptops to squeeze every ounce of battery life you can. That's an area where AMD is struggling for example. They're posting less battery life despite a power efficient core design but something somewhere is using power that gives average to poor battery life (should be noted that the uncore stuff on die use a good deal of power during load but doesn't explain the numbers overall).

 

Could AMD benefit from using something a bit more modern than 55nm? Possibly but then again there's a big chunk of the chipset on die which does benefit from the 14nm process.

[Tokyo_Raven]

4 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

-snip-

Greed

Greed never changes.

[Christophe Corazza]

8 minutes ago, Tokyo_Raven said:

Greed

Greed never changes.

 

I would call it 'tactical market strategy'

[Tokyo_Raven]

1 minute ago, Christophe Corazza said:

 

I would call it 'tactical market strategy'

No thats just greed right there, I would rather cut production of H370 but whatever Intel wants to do, its their job and they have people in headquarters with very "gud" ideas.

[Dabombinable]

Well....its not like I myself was going to be buying into anything past LGA1150 for a while. And Intel doing this pretty much just screwed those who don't want a motherboard with a gimped chipset and can't afford Z370 boards

[pas008]

2 hours ago, Tokyo_Raven said:

Greed

Greed never changes.

 

2 hours ago, Tokyo_Raven said:

No thats just greed right there, I would rather cut production of H370 but whatever Intel wants to do, its their job and they have people in headquarters with very "gud" ideas.

read bottom quote

1 minute ago, Dabombinable said:

Well....its not like I myself was going to be buying into anything past LGA1150 for a while. And Intel doing this pretty much just screwed those who don't want a motherboard with a gimped chipset and can't afford Z370 boards

read below

5 hours ago, dizmo said:

I don't see why this matters at all. If you look at pricing, H310 boards are a whopping $8 cheaper than B360 boards.

If there was enough push back from board manufacturers they could simply ask for a small price break and voila. Same price.
Or, those who are building budget PC's can skip a Starbucks trip and they're at the same cost.

 

Really, at pricing that close, it doesn't make any sense to produce both SKUs.

 

[Brooksie359]

I'll be honest. I think they could just have z370 and b360 and that could cover the majority of the market relatively easily. The h370 and h310 always seemed kind a niche to me. I think the same could be said about AMD. X370 and b350 can cover the vast majority of the market and a320 seems even more niche. 

[Blademaster91]

6 hours ago, dizmo said:

I don't see why this matters at all. If you look at pricing, H310 boards are a whopping $8 cheaper than B360 boards.

If there was enough push back from board manufacturers they could simply ask for a small price break and voila. Same price.
Or, those who are building budget PC's can skip a Starbucks trip and they're at the same cost.

 

Really, at pricing that close, it doesn't make any sense to produce both SKUs.

I don't really see a problem either, $8-10 on a motherboard isn't much if you're on a budget when RAM is still one of the most expensive parts in a build.

[Christophe Corazza]

1 minute ago, Blademaster91 said:

I don't really see a problem either, $8-10 on a motherboard isn't much if you're on a budget when RAM is still one of the most expensive parts in a build.

 

$ 8 to $ 10 is indeed nothing.

It should always be put into context, which - in this case - is the whole build itsel.

[dizmo]

23 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

I'll be honest. I think they could just have z370 and b360 and that could cover the majority of the market relatively easily. The h370 and h310 always seemed kind a niche to me. I think the same could be said about AMD. X370 and b350 can cover the vast majority of the market and a320 seems even more niche. 

Agreed. Especially since a lot of the B series boards are just as feature rich as the H series boards, and a lot even have similar or better aesthetics. I kind of disagree about A320 though; at least those boards are actually significantly cheaper than the B series equivalents. At least I remember some being in the $38 range while B starts at like $65+.

17 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

Well, an H370 gives you the feats of a Z370 minus the OCing bit.  If I'm getting an 8700, non-k, I'd like the H370.

I find that often the Z series boards are the same price as the H though, and offer more in terms of ports or a better aesthetic.

H370 is an odd duck. If it were cheaper it'd make sense, but it's too close to a lot of the Z series boards.

5 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

I don't really see a problem either, $8-10 on a motherboard isn't much if you're on a budget when RAM is still one of the most expensive parts in a build.

Agreed. Honestly, if you're having trouble finding $8 to spend, you really shouldn't be buying a computer at all.

[Brooksie359]

2 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Agreed. Especially since a lot of the B series boards are just as feature rich as the H series boards, and a lot even have similar or better aesthetics. I kind of disagree about A320 though; at least those boards are actually significantly cheaper than the B series equivalents. At least I remember some being in the $38 range while B starts at like $65+.

I find that often the Z series boards are the same price as the H though, and offer more in terms of ports or a better aesthetic.

H370 is an odd duck. If it were cheaper it'd make sense, but it's too close to a lot of the Z series boards.

Agreed. Honestly, if you're having trouble finding $8 to spend, you really shouldn't be buying a computer at all.

B350 start below 65. I have seen b350 boards for 50 bucks and that's close enough to 38 to make the a320 seem like a poor choice imo.

[LAwLz]

It really amazes me how much this forum tries to twist anything Intel or Nvidia does into negative light. Intel or Nvidia could literally cure cancer, do it for free, and this forum would post:

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Nvidia/Intel wants to inject chemicals into people! Possible mind control drugs?

 

while AMD could run over someone's dog and the response would be:

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You don't need a dog anyway. In a sense, AMD did you a favor because now you will have more spare time. You should thank AMD.