Intel Z690 Chipset for 12th Gen Alder Lake Leaked

September 15, 2021 John Nester News, Processors 58

Recently, an image of an Intel Z690 chipset was leaked by a member of the Chiphell forums. The Z690 will be the foundation for the next generation of Intel motherboards. It is significantly larger than the current Z590 chipset, but how that will affect its performance remains to be seen. Launch for these next-generation products are expected around November 19th, but that is not set in stone.

Here is what we currently do know about this latest chipset. The Z690 will use 8 lanes of Direct Media Interface (DMI) 4.0 to communicate directly with the CPU. Up to 6 SATA 6 GB ports and 40 USB devices (ranging from USB 2.0 through USB 3.2 Gen 2×2) can be used simultaneously. A single x16 PCIe 5.0 or 2×8 PCIe 5.0 will be directly connected to the CPU while up to 12 lanes of PCIe 4.0 and 16 lanes of PCIe 3.0 will be routed through the chipset. Below is a complete details chart as we know it today.

Stay tuned as we will report additional information as it becomes available.

-John Nester (Blaylock)

About John Nester 399 Articles

John started writing and reviewing PC components for Overclockers.com in 2015, but his passion for PCs dates all the way back to the early 1980s. His first personal computer was a Commodore 64 with a cassette drive. As a dedicated member of the news team, he focuses his articles on new product releases and software updates. He reviews a wide variety of PC components including chassis, storage drives, keyboards, and more. John works in technology as a C.A.D. designer for a major automotive manufacturer. His other passions in life include motorcycles, hunting, guns, and football.

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mackerel

Member

4,288 messages 1,053 likes

#1 Sep 16, 2021

Where does the Nov. 19 date come from?

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Blaylock

"That Backfired" Senior Member

8,075 messages 1,029 likes

#2 Sep 16, 2021

There are a few articles that reference this date, though it has not been confirmed and is merely speculation.

Sources

WCCFTECH
Videocardz

This latest speculative date was started by WCCFTECH I think, though I have no solid evidence. Earlier speculation was October 5th. That obviously has passed.

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mackerel

Member

4,288 messages 1,053 likes

#3 Sep 16, 2021

Earlier speculation was October 5th. That obviously has passed.

Isn't Oct. 5th the date for Win11 release? Given Alder Lake really needs Win11 to make the most of it, I think that sets the earliest date. How much would MS and Intel work together to launch on the same date? Of course, later in the year remains open. IMO avoiding the time around US thanksgiving and christmas would seem logical, and that November date is getting close to Thanksgiving.

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EarthDog

Gulper Nozzle Co-Owner

77,599 messages 4,270 likes

#4 Sep 16, 2021

10-5 is for windows 11 correct.. AL needs W11 to work properly. 10-5 has not passed yet, but that date is for windows.

AL is to come out in late Oct/Nov last I 'heard'. There's rumors for the 19th and earlier around. ;)

Edit: great article from anand...https://www.anandtech.com/show/16881/a-deep-dive-into-intels-alder-lake-microarchitectures

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Blaylock

"That Backfired" Senior Member

8,075 messages 1,029 likes

#5 Sep 16, 2021

Correct. I meant speculation for launch on October 5th has passed and mid to late November is the new speculation. Nothing has been announced so we won't know for sure until we get closer to the actual launch date.

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Woomack

Benching Team Leader

13,771 messages 3,071 likes

#6 Sep 16, 2021

I heard that DDR5 samples will be ready for the premiere in the 2nd half of Nov. This is what two vendors told me. On the other hand, someone else promised motherboard samples for the second half of Dec/beginning of Jan so there can be a delay or a "paper premiere". I guess we will know for sure in ~2-3 weeks.

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EarthDog

Gulper Nozzle Co-Owner

77,599 messages 4,270 likes

#7 Sep 16, 2021

For sure, Windows will be released then. :p

Otherwise, AL things many weeks later.

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superducky

Team 32 Folding Member

431 messages 132 likes

#8 Sep 21, 2021

The 5Gb LAN is interesting to me. What's the point? I said the same thing about 2.5G but, seriously, who is going to bother putting it down on the board with a PHY? Plus 5Gb is a weird half step that some network gear might have issues with. Anyone that cares is going to have 10GbE gear already imo.

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mackerel

Member

4,288 messages 1,053 likes

#9 Sep 22, 2021

Lots of higher end mobos already have 2.5G, and the cost difference to set up a home network at 2.5G is a LOT cheaper than at 10G if you want more than 2 copper ports. This has been a long time frustration of mine, that there are no 10G switches that don't cost well into the hundreds to get more than 2 ports, which would be needed for anything other than a point to point connection. There is a 5 port 2.5G switch for around a hundred or so. That'll do for a higher performance part of a home network. Once 5G start rolling out I'd guess it'll start replacing 2.5G while still far below 10G pricing. Also, if the mobo doesn't have a high speed NIC, 10G copper is about 3x the cost of 2.5G too. If you really need 10G, you'll have to pay for it. 2.5G isn't quite no cost over gigabit, but it is a lot closer.

BTW 2.5G is fast enough for single HD network transfers to not be a limit, which is my personal use case. Moving stuff to bulk storage. 5G would be about the sweet spot for SATA SSD transfers.

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Woomack

Benching Team Leader

13,771 messages 3,071 likes

#10 Sep 23, 2021

10GbE is on the market for a couple of years. I really have no idea why we could see 10GbE even in desktop motherboards some years ago, and later "high-end" series had 2.5GbE. Now is 5GbE ... what popular network hardware is even supporting that? A big part of the consumer market moved to 2.5GbE in cheaper solutions and 10GbE in more expensive. If 10GbE was more popular then it would be already much cheaper than it is right now. Instead of pushing 10GbE, we can see some weird solutions like 2.5 or 5Gb.
I had at least 3-4 motherboards with 10GbE LAN ~3 years ago. After that, "refreshed" versions came out with 2.5GbE. So I made a 10GbE network at home and new motherboards have slower LAN. 5GbE is another stupid standard that isn't even supported by most devices. Most are like 1GbE/10GbE. New cheaper are like 1GbE/2.5GbE. Many that support 10GbE don't support anything between 1GbE and 10GbE so you can have a 10GbE switch that won't support 2.5GbE or 5GbE.

Business series are already going for 50/100Gb while the new great desktop standard will be 5? ... For me this is a stupid idea as maybe it's faster but requires replacing all network devices to make it work and this standard is not something that will last for long years. Like 2.5Gb started to be quite popular maybe a year ago so those who recently replaced all devices at home won't be happy.

Not to mention that most motherboards with 2.5GbE Intel LAN had faulty controllers and were working at 1GbE anyway. It was fixed only in some part. I hope that Intel won't repeat that mistake.

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