Your budget Intel motherboard might not be compatible with Intel 11th-gen processors
Rocket Lake-S won't be compatible with the H410 or B460 chipsets
Intel has officially confirmed that its upcoming 11th-generation Rocket Lake-S processors won’t be compatible with the entry-level H410 or B460 chipsets.
In an updated support page spied by VideoCardz, Intel reveals that while its 400-series chipsets will receive BIOS updates to support the new Rocket Lake processors, motherboards based on Intel B460 or H410 chipsets will not be compatible with upcoming 11th-gen Intel Core processors.
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This means that while boards based on the H470, Q470, or Z490 chipsets simply need a BIOS update for Rocket Lake compatibility, it’s game over for the B460 and H410.
However, it’s worth noting that these budget motherboards will offer support for Intel’s 11th-generation Comet Lake Refresh processors, which will include Celeron, Pentium and Core i3 CPUs.
This news will come as a surprise as many, as Intel's incoming Rocket Lake processors continue to use the LGA1200 socket. However, as explained by Tom’s Hardware, the H410 and B460 chipsets are based on an older 22nm process node and a BIOS update isn't enough to add support for the incoming desktop processors.
For those disappointed by the news that Rocket Lake-S desktop processors won’t the supported on the H410 or B460, some motherboard vendors have already began circumventing Intel's new rules.
Gigabyte, for example, will add support to its 'H410 and B460 motherboards' by leveraging the H470 chipset. The company's new H410M DS2V V2 and H410M S2H V2 are actually H470 chipset based and will provide cheaper entry points to the new Intel Rocket Lake-S series.
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Intel 11th Gen Core processors are expected to launch next month, following the release of Intel's Z590 motherboards.
Carly Page is a Freelance journalist, copywriter and editor specialising in Consumer/B2B technology. She has written for a range of titles including Computer Shopper, Expert Reviews, IT Pro, the Metro, PC Pro, TechRadar and Tes.