Motherboard Compatibility for Wolfdale and Yorkfield Processors
by Gary Key on October 29, 2007 4:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Quick Take
It appears that a user with an Intel chipset based on the X38, P35, P31, G31, G33, or G35 chipset should not have a problem getting the system to POST and generally operate with either a Wolfdale or Yorkfield processor. However, the vast majority of motherboards based on these chipsets will require a BIOS update to offer proper CPU recognition and performance optimizations. The good news is those requirements are being fulfilled now and we should see an avalanche of BIOS releases over the next few weeks for these motherboards.
The support for the 945GC chipset will be based on the supplier and there will not be official support from Intel for the P965 chipset. However, we do expect to see unofficial support on a few of these boards with MSI already providing BIOS support. Note that there are no guarantees beyond stock performance if the boards operate at all with these processors. We should have further information next week on the P965 and Yorkfield.
The only "current" chipset family that seems to have any questions at this time is the NVIDIA 680i SLI. This is not due to the chipset itself, but the designs of the motherboards that use it. Several of the original 680i SLI motherboards had to be revised for the Kentsfield family of processors to work correctly. Those that were not revised are subject to the supplier performing extensive qualification testing on their motherboards before official support is granted. Otherwise, it appears that only a BIOS update will be required to provide full support for the 45nm processors - basically the same requirement for most of the Intel chipset boards.
The GeForce 7150/7100 series motherboards work fine, though we will still see new BIOS revisions to optimize performance. Support for the GeForce 7050 and 650i SLI motherboards will be on a supplier by supplier basis according to the information we have at present. We have not been provided an answer yet on the 650i Ultra boards, but we expect them to be in the same category as the 650i SLI motherboards.
All in all, motherboard support for the Wolfdale/Yorkfield processors should be widespread based upon the latest chipsets available for the Core 2 family. How and when the BIOS support for these new processors will be fully mature is a question that we hope to fully answer of the course of the next week. It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that newer motherboards and chipsets are almost a "sure thing" while older Core 2 boards may have some difficulty. If you already have a Core 2 system, however, performance improvements while nice may not be enough to convince you to upgrade right now. Nehalem is only about a year away, and at least there we can state unequivocally that a new chipset and motherboard will be required.
It appears that a user with an Intel chipset based on the X38, P35, P31, G31, G33, or G35 chipset should not have a problem getting the system to POST and generally operate with either a Wolfdale or Yorkfield processor. However, the vast majority of motherboards based on these chipsets will require a BIOS update to offer proper CPU recognition and performance optimizations. The good news is those requirements are being fulfilled now and we should see an avalanche of BIOS releases over the next few weeks for these motherboards.
The support for the 945GC chipset will be based on the supplier and there will not be official support from Intel for the P965 chipset. However, we do expect to see unofficial support on a few of these boards with MSI already providing BIOS support. Note that there are no guarantees beyond stock performance if the boards operate at all with these processors. We should have further information next week on the P965 and Yorkfield.
The only "current" chipset family that seems to have any questions at this time is the NVIDIA 680i SLI. This is not due to the chipset itself, but the designs of the motherboards that use it. Several of the original 680i SLI motherboards had to be revised for the Kentsfield family of processors to work correctly. Those that were not revised are subject to the supplier performing extensive qualification testing on their motherboards before official support is granted. Otherwise, it appears that only a BIOS update will be required to provide full support for the 45nm processors - basically the same requirement for most of the Intel chipset boards.
The GeForce 7150/7100 series motherboards work fine, though we will still see new BIOS revisions to optimize performance. Support for the GeForce 7050 and 650i SLI motherboards will be on a supplier by supplier basis according to the information we have at present. We have not been provided an answer yet on the 650i Ultra boards, but we expect them to be in the same category as the 650i SLI motherboards.
All in all, motherboard support for the Wolfdale/Yorkfield processors should be widespread based upon the latest chipsets available for the Core 2 family. How and when the BIOS support for these new processors will be fully mature is a question that we hope to fully answer of the course of the next week. It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that newer motherboards and chipsets are almost a "sure thing" while older Core 2 boards may have some difficulty. If you already have a Core 2 system, however, performance improvements while nice may not be enough to convince you to upgrade right now. Nehalem is only about a year away, and at least there we can state unequivocally that a new chipset and motherboard will be required.
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nowayout99 - Sunday, November 25, 2007 - link
The popular Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L board is Yorkfield-friendly with the F6 update.mbf - Monday, November 19, 2007 - link
...changed its mind about support for Penryn processors on i975X-based boards. As the newly revised list at http://event.asus.com/mb/45nm/">http://event.asus.com/mb/45nm/ shows there is now not a single i975X-based board on that list. Very strange when an even more aging chipset like the i945GC at least still supports the dual-core (Wolfdale) models. Strange stuff indeed...papi4baby - Thursday, November 15, 2007 - link
Thanks.MichaelD - Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - link
I have a Gigabyte P965-DS3 Rev1.0. Any word on Yorkfield compatibility?CZroe - Tuesday, October 30, 2007 - link
As is stands, I'm most interested in the Asus P5N32-SLI PLUS. It was made as a cheaper alternative to the P5N32-SLI and is superior because it uses all solid caps and remains feature-identical with the 680i board. The interesting part is that it is actually a combination of a 650i and an AMD chipset to get 2x16 PRG slots and more. This is why I am extremely curious to know if it supportes these next-gen CPUs. It is often incorrectly called a 680i board or a 650i board, so Asus had to come up with their own chpset name for it on the website (though no one seems to have gone along).Please ask and update because it's popular in high-end systems. Also, it is the cheapest board I could find with DTS Connect, so I'm sure a lot of mid-range HTPC buyers snapped it up too and they would like to know.
MAValpha - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
Wait, so abit is updating their 945G board, but not their once-flagship AB9 Pro or QuadGT? I'll be more than a little surprised if the VRM isn't compatible, as 1333FSB support certainly isn't the issue here...And more disappointing, DFI isn't doing anything with the RD600-based ICFX3200-T2R/G! Is this board just being swept under the rug as a costly mistake?
8KCABrett - Monday, April 7, 2008 - link
Actually, Abit does now have a beta BIOS which supports the 45nm CPUs out for a few more of their P965 boards, including the AB9 QuadGT.Here is a thread on the subject in the ABIT forums:
http://forum.uabit.com/showthread.php?t=136523">http://forum.uabit.com/showthread.php?t=136523
Here is the BIOS download post: http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?t=122393">http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?t=122393
Lord 666 - Saturday, September 20, 2008 - link
Took the plunge and tried installing a Q9550 into my Abit AB9 Quad GT. First tried the BIOS 17 that was on their Tawain site, but it was not marked beta. Watched the bios with the E6600 in board over the weekend, found it to be stable so I moved forward with installing the new CPU into an existing Vista Ultimate 32bit build.While the CPU was functional and noticeably faster than the E6600 that was in previously, there were random application errors during bootup and while idle. Right after bootup, there were application failures tied into Windows Media Center. After selecting a previously known working file with Windows Media Player, it would play the first second and then crash the application. WMC wasn't able to access live TV anymore because it stated my dinky USB TV tuner was not found (but saw it within device manager)
I wiped Vista and went to XP64 and have not had these issues... but that the same time don't have WMC and other XP 64bit issues.
Lesson learned is I should have stuck with the Q6600 with this board. In the process of finding a suitable board for the Q9550 and going to eventually pair the still rock solid QuadGT with a new Q6600.
Calin - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
There was a time when only VIA had support in chipset for the fastest FSB from Intel (the 133MHz front side bus P3 chipsets)CZroe - Tuesday, October 30, 2007 - link
I dunno... Weren't there even 440BX boards with 133FSB? I think you are talking about UDMA133/EIDE133/ATA133. That was not an official standard and IBM refusted to make drives supporting it. When IBM sold the division to Hitachi and nVidia nodded with UDMA133 on the nForce, we finally got UDMA133 Deskstar HDDs. ;)