[SOLVED] Intel LGA 1200 Chipset/CPU Question

box o rocks

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Newbie question here... I noticed that Intel 500-series chipset boards accept both 10-series and 11-series CPUs. But Intel's previous 400-series chipset LGA boards only support 10-series CPUs. No BIOS update available to upgrade. Both boards/CPUs are the same LGA 1200 socket. Why is it always necessary to buy a new motherboard when Intel makes a new CPU line? Purely a profit thing, or is there some technical reason?
 
There is a technical reason.
Some of the budget 400 series motherboards used 14nn tech and are not suitable for a bios upgrade.
New chipsets and motherboards are constantly released.
They are better or are cheaper to build.
New processors need capabilities that may not be present in older chipsets.
It looks like upcoming ryzen and alder lake processors are going to need a new socket.
Fortunately, it seems like there will be cooler mount adapters so you can keep your old cooler.
Noctua has announced this.
DDR5 ram is coming with the next gen so be prepared for that.

As a practical matter, a cpu upgrade is accompanied by a motherboard change.
 

box o rocks

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Apr 9, 2012
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There is a technical reason.
Some of the budget 400 series motherboards used 14nn tech and are not suitable for a bios upgrade.
New chipsets and motherboards are constantly released.
They are better or are cheaper to build.
New processors need capabilities that may not be present in older chipsets.
It looks like upcoming ryzen and alder lake processors are going to need a new socket.
Fortunately, it seems like there will be cooler mount adapters so you can keep your old cooler.
Noctua has announced this.
DDR5 ram is coming with the next gen so be prepared for that.

As a practical matter, a cpu upgrade is accompanied by a motherboard change.
Thank you for the explanation. Makes sense now.
Seems like AMD is a little more flexible in this area than Intel.