HWiNFO has added preliminary support for ASUS's next-generation Z690 & ROG Maximus XIV motherboards based on the LGA 1700 socket which will support Intel's Alder Lake CPUs. ASUS hasn't yet announced its Z690 chipset-based lineup but they are expected to be unveiled in the second half of 2021.

ASUS Z690 & ROG Maximus XIV LGA 1700 Socket Motherboards For Intel Alder Lake CPUs Get Preliminary Support in HWiNFO

The support for ASUS Z690 & ROG Maximus XIV motherboards is added just a few weeks after the company added support for Intel's 13th Gen Raptor Lake-S Desktop CPUs. We know that both, the Intel Alder Lake-S (12th Gen) and Raptor Lake-S (13th Gen) Desktop CPUs will feature compatibility with the LGA 1700 socketed motherboards. The Intel Alder Lake-S chips will initially get supported by the 600-series chipset family while a 700-series PCH refresh is planned for the Raptor Lake CPU lineup.

Following is the changelog from the latest version of HWiNFO:

Enhanced sensor monitoring on ASRock Z590 OC Formula and Z590 Phantom Gaming-ITX.Fixed unintentional waking up of some NVIDIA dGPUs disabled by Optimus technology.Added reporting of PCI Express Resizable BAR capability and status for all devices.Enhanced sensor monitoring on MSI Z590 PLUS, MEG Z590 UNIFY, and B560M PRO WIFI.Enhanced monitoring of AMD Navi14.Restored monitoring of AMD Navi21 with Radeon Adrenalin 21.3.1.Fixed monitoring of Vcore and VDIMM on ASUS PRIME Z590-A and STRIX Z590 series.Added ability to collapse sensor groups.Aggregated some sensor values into nodes (collapsed by default) to reduce the amount of information on the screen.Improved GUI responsiveness in some situations.Enhanced sensor monitoring on EVGA Z590 FTW and Z590 DARK.Improved support of Intel Rocket Lake.Fixed reporting of Core Performance Order on AMD Raven, Renoir, and Cezanne.Updated for proper support of AGESA 1.2.0.1 Patch A.Improved detection of AMD ThreadRipper PRO and next-generation ThreadRipper.Improved reporting of Intel Integrated GPU clock.Enhanced sensor monitoring on ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VIII EXTREME.Added monitoring of Global Frequency Limit on AMD Zen2/3 CPUs.Added monitoring of DRAM Read/Write Bandwidth on AMD Zen2/3 CPUs.

CPU-Z also added support for Intel Alder Lake & Z690 motherboards last month so it looks like that these platforms have started appearing more often within the online databases, allowing hardware & diagnostic tool makers to add initial support for them. ASUS's ROG Maximus XIV & Z690 boards will be aimed at the high-end segment and will support the next-generation DDR5 memory too. We have listed the full details for the Z690 platform below:

The Intel Alder Lake Desktop CPU Platform - 600-Series Chipset Including Z690 Flagship

When it comes to the desktop platform, the Intel Alder Lake Desktop CPUs will feature support on the brand new 600-series platform which would include the Z690 motherboards. The motherboard will carry the LGA 1700 socket which is designed around Alder Lake and future generation CPUs. It also looks like only the flagship Z690 motherboards will be able to support DDR5 memory with native speeds of up to 4800 MHz whereas cheaper motherboards based on mainstream & budget-tier chipsets (H670, B650, H610) will retain DDR4-3200 support.

The Intel 600-series platform including Z690 motherboards with LGA 1700 socket will support Alder Lake Desktop CPUs. (Image Credits: Videocardz)

In addition to that, Intel Alder Lake CPUs will feature 16 PCIe Gen 5.0 and 4 PCIe Gen 4.0 lanes. The chipset will offer Gen 4 and Gen 3 lanes although the exact amount of lanes is currently unknown. As for the rest of the features for 600-series chipset motherboards, you can see them below:

eDP / 4DDI (DP, HDMI) Display Capabilities2-Channel (Up To DDR5-4800 / Up To DDR4-3200) Memory Supportx16 PCIe 5.0 / x4 PCIe 4.0 Lanes (CPU)PCIe Express 4.0 & PCIe Express 3.0 Support (600-Series Chipset)SATA 3.0Integrated WiFi 6EDiscrete Thunderbolt 4 (USB 4 Compliant)USB3 (20G) / USB3 (10G) / USB3 (5G) / USB 2.0Intel LAN PHYIntel Optane Memory H20 (H10 Successor)

The package size for the chips is 45.0 x 37.5 mm whereas the existing LGA 1200 package is 37.5 x 37.5 mm. We also know that the Intel Alder Lake CPUs will come with a max core configuration of 16 cores and 24 threads (8 cores / 16 threads based on Golden Cove & 8 cores / 8 threads based on Gracemont). Expect more information by Intel in its upcoming events which are scheduled for 23rd March.

Intel Mainstream CPU Generations Comparison: