In fact, we have to see the motherboard chipset as part of the same processor, because it includes a series of communication interfaces that would normally be placed inside the processor itself, but since they do not depend on so much bandwidth and latencies are placed on a separate chip. , usually far from the central processor, but on the same motherboard.
The chipset is nothing more than a hub of these different interfaces which, through a high speed interface, connects to the central processing unit, which in the case of Intel processors is the direct media interface or the DMI interface. That is to say that the chipset accesses the various peripherals via its interfaces and transmits information to the CPU via this interface, which moreover in the case of the Z690 is twice as fast per transmission line as the Z590 and the Z490 when using version 4.0 and not 3.0.
Parts of the motherboard that do not depend on the chipset
| Characteristic | Z490 | Z590 | Z690 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Socket | LGA 1200 pins | LGA 1200 pins | LGA 1700 pins |
| Supported memory | DDR4 | DDR4 | DDR4 or DDR5 (depending on the card) |
| CPU supported | Intel Core 10 Intel Core 11 |
Intel Core 10 Intel Core 11 | Intel Core 12 |
| Memory channels | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| DIMM slots | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Maximum RAM supported | 128 GB | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| PCI Express lanes | x16 | x20 | x16 PCIe Gen 5, x4 Gen 4 |
| PCI Express version | 3.0 with Intel Core 10 4.0 with Intel Core 11 |
3.0 with Intel Core 10 4.0 with Intel Core 11 |
4.0 and 5.0 with Intel Core 12 |
| DMI lines and version | x4 3.0 | x8 3.0 | x8 4.0 |
Nowadays, CPUs usually already include a small I / O hub inside, which gives access to certain interfaces for components and peripherals without needing the chipset included on the board to act, but what it does. It is necessary is the PCB of the motherboard and all its routing to communicate said component with the CPU.
The clearest example today is the interface to RAM known as Northbridge and it was previously a separate chip until Intel incorporated it into their processors, but let’s not forget that ‘AMD did it first. Although today other I / O interfaces have been integrated into the CPU such as PCI Express.
Of course, DIMMs for RAM and PCI Express slots are supplied by the motherboard, however if you follow the cabling lines you will see that they are connected to the CPU.
So the support for these I / O interfaces is really given by the CPU, which has socket compatibility with a specific type of chipset. Let’s see below what are the differences between Z690, Z590 and Z490 chipsets which are more dependent on the CPU than the chipset itself. Thus, DDR5 and PCI Express Gen 5 memory support comes from the processor and if in the future a CPU compatible with the LGA1700 socket appeared, however with a DDR4 interface and supporting only PCIe Gen 4 could not use the higher standards. recent.
I / O interfaces on Z690, Z590 and Z490 chipsets
Here are the interfaces that do not have the ability to communicate directly with the system memory as they do not have the same addressing and therefore require the IOMMU unit, which is in the chipset, to communicate with the system RAM or rather the DMA units integrated into these peripherals.
It must be taken into account that the CPU for reasons of latency and speed will never execute its programs from the memory of the peripherals, but rather that they are the ones which send their information to the RAM or to the CPU directly through the chipset. cause an interruption. Therefore, it does not matter to have these interfaces on a separate chip, as it does not affect the performance when using them, apart from generally requiring little bandwidth.
PCI Express on Z690, Z590 and Z490
The first of the I / O interfaces provided by the chipset and the most important for components and peripherals is PCI Express, since it not only communicates the graphics card with the RAM and therefore also with the CPU, but also because ‘it allows to connect M. 2 modules mainly used for NVMe SSDs. The Z490 and Z590 chipsets have 24 PCI Express 3.0 lanes, while the Z690 increases the number of lanes to 28 by adding 12 Gen 4 lanes.
USB, SATA and Wi-Fi support interfaces
With the large number of devices that use the universal serial bus in the market, it is important that any chipset support different generations of USB.
- The Z690, Z590 and Z490 offer a capacity of up to 14 USB 2.0 ports.
- The same goes for the USB 3.2 Gen 1 x 1 at 5 Gbit / s ports with a link with 10 ports for the three generations of Intel chipsets.
- As for the maximum of USB 3.2 Gen 2 x 1 ports at 10Gbps, we have that the Z690 and Z590 are again tied to 10, but the Z490 is more limited with 6 ports.
- The older of the three ports does not support 20Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2×2, the Z590 does with 3 ports, although the one with the most support is the Z690 with 4.
Then we have the SATA ports, which are used to connect conventional hard drives, low speed SATA drives, and optical format drives and burners. All three interfaces support SATA 3.0 or 6 Gb / s, but with the difference that the Z690 supports up to 8 interfaces and the Z590 and Z490 only have 6 of these interfaces, which seems odd to us. since it is a port in the process of extinction. .
Finally, we have the support for wireless networks, where the new chipset supports WiFi 6E and therefore the motherboard can contain more advanced built-in radio, and the other chipsets only for WiFi 6 standard. .
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