Motherboard Compatibility for Wolfdale and Yorkfield Processors

Quick Take

It appears that a user with an Intel chipset based on the X38, P35, P31, G31, G33, or G35 chipset should not have a problem getting the system to POST and generally operate with either a Wolfdale or Yorkfield processor. However, the vast majority of motherboards based on these chipsets will require a BIOS update to offer proper CPU recognition and performance optimizations. The good news is those requirements are being fulfilled now and we should see an avalanche of BIOS releases over the next few weeks for these motherboards.

The support for the 945GC chipset will be based on the supplier and there will not be official support from Intel for the P965 chipset. However, we do expect to see unofficial support on a few of these boards with MSI already providing BIOS support. Note that there are no guarantees beyond stock performance if the boards operate at all with these processors. We should have further information next week on the P965 and Yorkfield.

The only "current" chipset family that seems to have any questions at this time is the NVIDIA 680i SLI. This is not due to the chipset itself, but the designs of the motherboards that use it. Several of the original 680i SLI motherboards had to be revised for the Kentsfield family of processors to work correctly. Those that were not revised are subject to the supplier performing extensive qualification testing on their motherboards before official support is granted. Otherwise, it appears that only a BIOS update will be required to provide full support for the 45nm processors - basically the same requirement for most of the Intel chipset boards.

The GeForce 7150/7100 series motherboards work fine, though we will still see new BIOS revisions to optimize performance. Support for the GeForce 7050 and 650i SLI motherboards will be on a supplier by supplier basis according to the information we have at present. We have not been provided an answer yet on the 650i Ultra boards, but we expect them to be in the same category as the 650i SLI motherboards.

All in all, motherboard support for the Wolfdale/Yorkfield processors should be widespread based upon the latest chipsets available for the Core 2 family. How and when the BIOS support for these new processors will be fully mature is a question that we hope to fully answer of the course of the next week. It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that newer motherboards and chipsets are almost a "sure thing" while older Core 2 boards may have some difficulty. If you already have a Core 2 system, however, performance improvements while nice may not be enough to convince you to upgrade right now. Nehalem is only about a year away, and at least there we can state unequivocally that a new chipset and motherboard will be required.