It's no mystery that Intel is going to launch its 14th Gen Raptor Lake Refresh CPU lineup soon and as such, motherboard vendors are doing a soft refresh of their existing product lineups & offering new Z790/B760 chipset designs that come with better I/O, VRMs, cooling capabilities and more. As of today, MSI has introduced its next-gen Z790 MAX series of motherboards which are essentially a "maxing-out" of their original designs and offering something fresh to consumers.
For today's review, we take a look at MSI's MEG Z790 ACE MAX and MSI MAG Z790 Tomahawk MAX, both of which are aiming at the high-end market with prices of $699 and $329 US, respectively. We are still a month away from the launch of the Next-Gen CPUs so expect a revisit of these boards on the newer chips when they are available.
The Intel LGA 1700 Platform
Intel's Raptor Lake-S desktop CPUs feature support on LGA 1700 socket which is also used by the Alder Lake CPUs. The Raptor Lake-S CPUs launched alongside the 700-series motherboards. You can expect all the top-notch specs from the Z790 motherboards with the best overclocking & fine-tuning capabilities.
Another interesting thing to talk about the Z790 PCH is its process node and dimensions. The Z790 PCH is based on the 14nm node and measures at 98mm2 which is slightly larger than the Z590 PCH featured on LGA 1200 socket motherboards.
Intel Desktop Platform Chipset Comparison
| Chipset Name | Meteor Lake-S (MTL-S) PCH / 800 Series (Z890) | Raptor Lake-S (RPL-S) PCH / 700 Series (Z790) | Alder Lake-S (ADL-S) PCH / 600 Series (Z690) | Rocket Lake-S (RKL-S) PCH / 500 Series (Z590) | Comet Lake-S (CML-S) PCH / 400 Series (Z490) | Coffee Lake S (CNL-H) PCH / 300 Series (Z390/H370, B360, Q370, H310) | Coffee Lake S (KBL-R) PCH / Z370 Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Process Node | TBD | 14nm | 14nm | 14nm | 14nm | 14nm | 22nm |
| Processor | 22, 14 (TBD) | 24,16C,12C,10C,6C,4C (TBD) | 16C,12C,10C,6C,4C (Full corporate/consumer SKU stack at launch) | 8C, 6C (Full corporate/consumer SKU stack at launch) | 10C, 8C, 6C, 4C, 2C (Full corporate/consumer SKU stack at launch) | 8C, 6C, 4C, 2C (Full corporate/consumer SKU stack at launch) | 8C, 6C, 4C (6 Consumer SKUs at Launch) |
| Memory | Up To DDR5-5600+(Native) | Up To DDR5-5600 (Native) Up To DDR4-3200 (Native)? | Up To DDR5-4800 (Native) Up To DDR4-3200 (Native) | Up To DDR4-3200 (Native) | Up To DDR4-2933 (Native) | Up To DDR4-2666 (Native) | Up To DDR4-2666 (Native) |
| Media, Display & Audio | eDP / 4DDI (DP, HDMI) Display Capabilities | eDP / 4DDI (DP, HDMI) Display Capabilities | eDP / 4DDI (DP, HDMI) Display Capabilities | DP 1.2 & HDMI 2.0, HBR3 HDCP 2.2 (HDMI 2.0a w/LSPCON) 12-bit AV1/HEVC & VP9 10-bit Enc/Dec, HDR, Rec.2020, DX12 Integrated Dual-Core Audio DSP With USB Audio offload SoundWire Digital Audio Interface | DP 1.2 & HDMI 1.4 HDCP 2.2 (HDMI 2.0a w/LSPCON) HEVC & VP9 10-bit Enc/Dec, HDR, Rec.2020, DX12 Integrated Dual-Core Audio DSP SoundWire Digital Audio Interface | DP 1.2 & HDMI 1.4 HDCP 2.2 (HDMI 2.0a w/LSPCON) HEVC & VP9 10-bit Enc/Dec, HDR, Rec.2020, DX12 Integrated Dual-Core Audio DSP SoundWire Digital Audio Interface | DP 1.2 & HDMI 1.4 HDCP 2.2 (HDMI 2.0a w/LSPCON) HEVC & VP9 10-bit Enc/Dec, HDR, Rec.2020, DX12 Integrated Dual-Core Audio DSP |
| I/O & Connectivity | TBD | Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20G) Integrated Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi6E/ 7 BT CNVio) with Gig+ Integrated SDXC 4.0 Controller Thunderbolt 4.0 | Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20G) Integrated Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi6E/ 7 BT CNVio) with Gig+ Integrated SDXC 4.0 Controller Thunderbolt 4.0 | Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20G) Integrated Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi6E/ BT CNVi) Integrated SDXC 3.0 Controller Thunderbolt 4.0 (Maple Ridge) | Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2 Integrated Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi / BT CNVi) Integrated SDXC 3.0 Controller Thunderbolt 3.0 (Titan Ridge) w/ DP 1.4 | Integrated USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Integrated Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi / BT CNVi) Integrated SDXC 3.0 Controller Thunderbolt 3.0 (Titan Ridge) w/ DP 1.4 | Integrated USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Thunderbolt 3.0 (Alpine Ridge) |
| Storage | PCIe 5.0 (CPU Lanes), 6x SATA 3.0 | Next-Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 5.0 (CPU Lanes), 6x SATA 3.0 | Next-Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 5.0, 6x SATA 3.0 | Next-Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 4.0, 6x SATA 3.0 | Next-Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 3.0, 6x SATA 3.0 | Next Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 3.0, 6x SATA 3.0 | Next Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 3.0, 6x SATA 3.0 |
| Max PCH PCIe Lanes | Up To 24 (Gen 4) TBD (Gen 3) | Up To 20 (Gen 4) Up To 8 (Gen 3) | Up To 12 (Gen 4) Up To 16 (Gen 3) | Up To 24 (Gen 3) | Up To 24 (Gen 3) | Up To 24 (Gen 3) | Up To 24 (Gen 3) |
| Max CPU PCIe Lanes | Up To 20 (Gen 5) Up To 4 (Gen 4) | Up To 16 (Gen 5) Up To 4 (Gen 4) | Up To 16 (Gen 5) Up To 4 (Gen 4) | Up To 20 (Gen 4) | Up To 16 (Gen 3) | Up To 16 (Gen 3) | Up To 16 (Gen 3) |
| Max USB Ports | TBD | Up To 5 (USB 3.2 Gen 2x2) Up To 10 (USB 3.2 Gen 2x1) Up To 10 (USB 3.2 Gen 1x1) Up To 14 (USB 2.0) | Up To 4 (USB 3.2 Gen 2x2) Up To 10 (USB 3.2 Gen 2x1) Up To 10 (USB 3.2 Gen 1x1) Up To 14 (USB 2.0) | Up To 3 (USB 3.2 Gen 2x2) Up To 10 (USB 3.2 Gen 2x1) Up To 10 (USB 3.2 Gen 1x1) Up To 14 (USB 2.0) | Up To 10 (USB 3.2) Up To 14 (USB 2.0) | Up To 10 (USB 3.1) Up To 14 (USB 2.0) | Up To 10 (USB 3.0) Up To 14 (USB 2.0) |
| Security | TBD | N/A | N/A | N/A | Intel SGX 1.0 | Intel SGX 1.0 | Intel SGX 1.0 |
| Power Management | TBD | C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby | C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby | C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby | C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby | C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby | C8 Support |
| Launch | 2024 | 2022 | 2021 | 2021 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
The LGA 1700 socket is here now. The new socket adds more pins to the socket and changes the dimensions entirely. The new LGA 1700 socket offers 500 more pin connections to the CPU, allowing for more communication channels with the board itself and accommodating electrical pin configurations that are required to support Next-Gen, 13th & 12th Gen CPUs.
So as for the socket details, Intel has gone with an asymmetrical design since the Alder Lake CPUs are no longer square-shaped. The latest desktop CPUs will come in a 37.5x45.0mm package and are supported by the 'V0' socket which we know as LGA 1700.
The socket also changes the mounting positions to a 78x78mm grid rather than a 75x75mm grid. The Z-height has also changed to 6.529mm compared to 7.31mm on the previous LGA 12**/115* sockets.
Cooler Compatibility With LGA 1700 Socket
To make their existing coolers compatible with Intel's Raptor Lake & Alder Lake CPU lineup, many cooling brands have released LGA 1700 upgrade kits which feature mounting hardware for the new socket. But the Intel Raptor Lake and the Alder Lake CPU platform aren't just featuring a brand new mounting design but the CPU dimensions themselves have changed too.
The LGA 1700 (V0) socket not only has an asymmetrical design but also comes with a lower Z-stack height. This means that proper mounting pressure is needed to make full contact with the Intel Alder Lake IHS. Certain cooler manufacturers have already been using larger cold plates for Ryzen and Threadripper CPUs to make proper contact with the IHS but these are mostly higher-end and new cooling designs. Those who are still running older AIOs with round cold plates could have trouble maintaining the required pressure distribution which could lead to inadequate cooling performance.
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