Intel has confirmed the existence of Arrow Lake in its road map, which many refer to as Intel 15th gen but rumors suggest the naming convention may be changed to Core Ultra 200. It has been suggested for a very long time that Arrow Lake processors will use the new LGA 1851 socket, therefore requiring new motherboards. The flagship motherboard everyone expects will be the Z890 but the naming of the new models is mere speculation at this point. It now looks certain that brands such as Gigabyte, Maksun, and potentially many more will unveil next-generation motherboards at Computex 2024.
Z890 motherboard release date speculation
As the new rumored chipset will feature a new socket to accommodate the next-generation processors, we will likely see it released at the same time as the chips. This is quite common but an exact release date for either is still unknown. All we know at this stage is 15th gen is expected in Q4, 2024. Intel processors (Alder Lake/ Raptor Lake) have been on the LGA 1700 socket since 2021.
Z890 motherboard specs rumors & features we would like to see
We aren’t going to know very much spec-wise until a potential reveal at the upcoming Computex event but a couple of rumors are circulating at the moment. This is unverified information and very little to go off, originally from Faceit.ir (an Iranian tech site) and reported widely by others, so take the below with a large pinch of salt. As mentioned Intel 15th gen will be on the LGA 1851 Socket apparently until 2026. AMD, however, will be sticking with its current socket for the rumored X870. Other possible specs include:
- DDR5 RAM only with support for up to 6400 Memory (Native JEDEC)
- Increased PCIe Gen 5.0 Lanes
- Wi-fi 7
- No hyper-threading support
It is also rumored that Z890 motherboards will support Thunderbolt 4 as standard, which could mean there is potentially Thunderbolt 5 support coming in the future. Thunderbolt 5 would be a feature we would love to see, something Intel announced last year.
Z890 motherboard model list speculation
From the same rumor around possible specifications was a model list, supposedly from upcoming Z890 Gigabyte and Maksun boards. It showed eight new motherboards based on the Z890 chipset and there wasn’t really any takeaway from this other than we could be about to see AI branding. What these AI features could be (probably performance-related), their application, and who they are marketed at is a mystery for now, if true.
List of speculated models:
- GIGABYTE Z890 AORUS XTREME AI ΤΟΡ
- GIGABYTE Z890 AORUS MASTER AI TOP
- GIGABYTE Z890 AI TOP
- GIGABYTE Z890 AORUS MASTER
- GIGABYTE Z890 AORUS PRO ICE
- GIGABYTE Z890 AORUS ELITE WIFI
- GIGABYTE Z890 AORUS ELITE AX
- GIGABYTE Z890 A ELITE X ICE
- MS-iCraft Z890 VERTEX
- MS-iCraft Z890 ARCTIC
- MS-iCraft Z890 PACIFIC
- MS-Terminator Z890-A
- MS-iCraft Z890ITX
- MS-ESPORT Z890M WIFI
- MS-Challenger Z890M WIFI
