Intel Z890 could be the only Arrow Lake chipset to support CPU overclocking

Arrow Lake CPUs and motherboards are expected to debut in October

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Rumor mill: Intel's upcoming Arrow Lake-S processors will be accompanied by motherboards featuring 800-series chipsets. Earlier leaks provided some details about what the top-of-the-line Z890 chipset will offer, but a new report has now revealed additional information about the other SKUs.

According to tipster Jaykihn, the full 800-series lineup will include at least five different chipsets: Z890, W880, Q870, B860, and H810. Among these, Z890, B860, and H810 are aimed at consumers, while W880 targets workstations. Q870, on the other hand, is designed for enterprise devices. The leak doesn't mention H870, suggesting it may not initially be part of the 800-series lineup.

The flagship chipset in the 800-series, the Z890, will be featured in high-end motherboards catering to enthusiasts and serious gamers. These boards are expected to offer 60 HSIO lanes, including 26 from the CPU and 34 from the chipset.

The leaked information also indicates that Z890 will support up to 48 PCIe lanes, two USB4/TB4 ports, eight DMI Gen4 lanes, 24 PCIe 4.0 lanes, eight SATA III (6 Gbps) ports, 14 USB2 ports, five USB 3.2 (20Gbps) ports, 10 USB 3.2 (10Gbps) ports, and 10 USB 3.2 (5Gbps) ports.

Most notably, the Z890 chipset is rumored to be the only one supporting CPU IA, BCLK, and memory overclocking. The W880 will reportedly have similar specifications to the Z890 but will only support memory overclocking. If this rumor proves true, enthusiasts may need to invest in expensive Z890 motherboards to satisfy their overclocking needs.

Regarding the other chipsets, the Q870 is rumored to feature 44 PCIe lanes, while the H810 will only have 24. Neither chipset will support memory overclocking. The B860, with 34 PCIe lanes, is said to be the only other chipset besides Z890 and W880 to support memory OC. All these chipsets will offer fewer I/O options compared to the top-tier Z890 and W880.

The tipster notes that these specifications are preliminary, although he doesn't expect Intel to make significant changes in the final products. Furthermore, the leaked specifications are said to be specific to the Arrow Lake-S "Core Ultra 200" CPUs and may vary somewhat for non-K and Xeon processors.