Broadwell and Z87

[stampedea]

I've got a motherboard I'm really happy with, and it has an 4790K in at the moment. Will I have to upgrade to Z97 if I want to put a Broadwell CPU in it, or can I just update the BIOS? Anyone heard anything about this? Just want to plan my hardware spend over the next year or so. thanks!!

 

[Ubrales]

The Z97 chipset from Intel, supports the current Haswell (22 nm) and upcoming Broadwell (14 nm) CPUs scheduled for release during mid 2015. Broadwell is essentially a die shrink of the Haswell process.

Broadwell is likely to offer a relatively small performance boost over the current Haswell chips. It is essentially the same architecture as Haswell, shrunk down to 14nm from the existing 22nm process.

(Skylake processors (6th gen CPUs) will be released in the second half of 2015. They have a new microarchitecture, 14nm process, and is more energy efficient).

Broadwell will work in your present motherboard, but for the marginal improvement I do not recommend doing so. Wait for Skylake and see what it has to offer.

 

[LucoTF]

... it has an 4790K in at the moment....

...Just want to plan my hardware spend over the next year or so. thanks!!

Your hardware spend in the cpu department should be zero, the 4790k will be good for a few years yet

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

I wouldn't be concerned about an upgrade from Haswell to Broadwell or Skylake, particularly if you're into overclocking. I suspect the die shrink will result in lesser overclocks, as it did with the shrink from Sandy Bridge 32nm to Ivy Bridge 22nm. As said, Intel's main focus of 14nm architecture seems to be geared toward energy-efficiency rather than raw power.

Some Z87 motherboards may support Broadwell and Skylake with a BIOS flash, but this will vary between manufacturers, so there's absolutely no guarantee. Z97 chipsets will support those processors out-of-the-box.

 

[DBGT_87]

I wouldn't be concerned about an upgrade from Haswell to Broadwell or Skylake, particularly if you're into overclocking. I suspect the die shrink will result in lesser overclocks, as it did with the shrink from Sandy Bridge 32nm to Ivy Bridge 22nm. As said, Intel's main focus of 14nm architecture seems to be geared toward energy-efficiency rather than raw power.

Some Z87 motherboards may support Broadwell and Skylake with a BIOS flash, but this will vary between manufacturers, so there's absolutely no guarantee. Z97 chipsets will support those processors out-of-the-box.

How can 1150 pin motherboard support 1151 pin cpu by updating the bios?

 

[stampedea]

Broadwell is 1150

 

[DBGT_87]

Broadwell is 1150

I am talking about skylake