Intel Z690 vs H670 vs B660 vs H610: chipset comparison

We can’t tell you straight away, it will depend on your budget and the components you have studied to connect to it throughout its life. After all, a chipset is nothing more than a hub that takes the signal from different interfaces for different devices and expansion cards and unifies them into a common point to communicate with the processor.

However, not everyone needs the same number of expansion bays or output ports, and not all users need to support memory or processor overclocking. This is why we took the four Intel 600 chipsets (Z690, H670, B660 and H610) for the Intel Core 12 with Alder Lake-S architecture and we compared them according to the capacities that each one grants.

CPU and memory overclocking capability

Not all users need to be able to overclock their processors, but in case we do, it is important that the motherboard has the necessary characteristics in terms of CPU power to be able to perform the clock speed increases. corresponding.

For motherboards with an Intel 600 chipset, only the Z690 supports CPU overclocking. So if you’re looking to speed up your Core 12, the only option you have is the high end. On the other hand, faced with XMP 3.0 support for DDR5 or DDR4 speed boosts, we can go for any chipset except the H610, which also doesn’t support overclocking. of memory.

CPU interfaces

All peripheral interfaces connected to the PC are concentrated and unified on a single side to communicate with the processor with the aim of reducing circuitry and complexity of the motherboard. DMI 4.0 on the 600 series with a bandwidth of 16 billion transfers per line per second. The Direct Media Interface is Intel’s proprietary variant over PCI Express which is used for the connection between the chipset and the CPU. To communicate the memory controller, called Northbridge, with the peripheral controller, called Southbridge. In the Intel 600 chipsets version 4.0 has been reached, with 8 lines for the Z690 and H670 chipsets, although 4 lines in the case of the B660 and H610 and, therefore, with less bandwidth.

Apart from the I / O interfaces provided by the various chipsets, there are others which are provided directly by the CPU, this means that it is the processor which is responsible for managing them and not the chipset, however the motherboard must have integrated the necessary connections to connect the peripherals.

PCI Express from processor

The capacity for PCI Express 5.0 is supplied by the CPU, however the bay communication interface is required to connect the graphics card. If we have a motherboard with a Z690 or H670 chipset, we can choose a 16 or 8 line connection, but in case our choice for a B660 or H610 card, we cannot use the second option.

The second point related to the processor are the 4 PCI Express 4.0 lines that it provides to connect an NVMe SSD, in this case all the chipsets except the H610, which lacks the connection lines to said interface, give us the possibility of connecting a high speed SSD drive. If you go for the more discreet option of the Intel 600 chipsets, you won’t be deprived of the possibility of connecting such a case, however, it will use the lines provided by the chipset itself and not by the processor.

PCI Express lanes on Z690 H670 B660 and H610

Despite the existence of PCI Express 5.0, we still have a large number of devices that support the fourth generation interface. In the event that our choice is a card with a Z690 or H670 chipset, our options in this case will be the same. We can use the PCI Express 5.0 interface to connect two expansion cards with two M.2 drives inside which take advantage of the two sets of 8 PCI Express lanes each.

This is ideal for mounting low end workstations based on high speed storage, but we cannot use the 5th gen interface for the graphics card and the Z690 and H670 only provide 12 PCIe Gen lanes. 4 on the chipset. Well, in this case these are combined with the 4 tuned by the CPU to be able to connect a graphics card under the fourth generation interface.

The case of the B660 is different, it does not have support to unfold the PCIe Gen 5 interface from 16 to two 8-rails, that is why it is advisable to use it for the graphics card and leave the interfaces Gen 4 for NVMe SSD. Where we have up to 10 in total, a strange figure to say the least, since if this chipset allowed 8 rows then we could see plates with 3 bays for M.2 disks, but that’s why we don’t will see only two. As for the H610, it’s surprisingly the only Intel 600 chipset that doesn’t support PCIe Gen 4.

PCI Express 3.0

Finally we have the case of third generation PCI Express lanes, the Z690 chipset supports up to 16, the H670 12, the B660 remains with 8 and lastly the H610 with 4 lanes, in the latter case the only one. way to connect NVMe SSD to PC.

Although the chipset does support an interface, that doesn’t mean that it is physically present, for most users the fourth and fifth generation interfaces are sufficient and we will not see PCI Express arrays with third generation speed, more that all for space. This is an atavistic interface which, apart from the H610’s 4th gen PCI Express support, is of little use to most users.

USB interfaces and Z690 H670 B660 and H610

The next point in this comparison is the USB or rather the maximum number of ports a motherboard can carry to connect peripherals and at what speeds. That is why we have prepared a table for you so that you know the speed of each of them and the maximum amount you can find from each.

Just because, for example, a card with an Intel Z690 chipset supports up to 14 USB 2.0 ports doesn’t mean we’ll see them on the back of the card, it’s nothing more than a maximum. Of course, when buying a motherboard, check how many USB connections your peripherals need and which ones. Having too many universal serial bus ports is much better than running out of them, especially when it comes to high speed ports.

SATA

Although the SATA interface has its days numbered, there are still people who use conventional hard drives that use this interface. If we opt for a card with a Z690 or H670 chipset, we can connect up to 8 units to our PC, while with B660 or H610 it will be 4 the maximum number. Anyway, this is more than enough for the majority of users who generally do not have more than 2 hard disks plus the increasingly absent drive for optical disks. Thus, none of the motherboards of the Intel 600 chipset are insufficient in this regard.