Intel's upcoming LGA 1700 / LGA 1800 socket for 12th Gen Alder Lake and 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs has been pictured. The socket will be offered on the brand new 600-series chipset boards and next-generation 700-series motherboards too.

Intel's LGA 1700 / 1800 Socket Pictured, Will Be Featured on 600/700-Series Motherboards With 12th Gen Alder Lake & 13th gen Raptor Lake CPU Support

Just yesterday, we got to see the first pictures of the Intel Z690 chipset which will be featured on the high-end 600-series motherboard lineup. The Intel LGA 1700 / 1800 socket has in fact more than 1700 pins as made evident by the name. While Intel Alder Lake CPUs will feature 1700 gold contact pads, it is likely that future CPUs that are compatible with the socket might feature even more contacts hence the '15R1' has the extra 100 pins reserved for them. Now we have seen the socket before in both physical form and in blueprints but this is the first time we are seeing it on the unreleased motherboards.

From what we know so far, the 12th Gen Alder Lake and 13th Gen Raptor Lake are confirmed to feature support on the LGA 1700 / 1800 socket. With 14th Gen Meteor Lake CPUs, Intel might be launching a new socket due to a new chiplet design but that remains to be seen.

The Intel Alder Lake-S Desktop CPU has been pictured and its backside shows 1700 contact pads. (Image Source: Performance Inquisitor)

So as for the socket details, Intel is going with an asymmetrical design which poses since the Alder Lake CPUs are no longer square-shaped. The Alder Lake desktop CPUs will come in a 37.5x45.0mm package and will be supported by the 'V0' socket which we know as LGA 1700. The new socket also changes the mounting positions to a 78x78mm grid rather than a 75x75mm grid. The Z-height has also changed to 6.529mm compared to 7.31mm on the previous LGA 12**/115* sockets.

This would lead to two big changes, first of all, CPU coolers will have to be mounted properly over the CPU which needs to be confirmed with the vendor prior to installation, and secondly, new and refreshed mounting brackets need to be shipped by cooler manufacturers for Intel Alder Lake and LGA 1700 support.

Intel LGA 1700 / LGA 1800 'V0' Socket Details (Credits:Videocardz)

As for how the pins would be arranged, the Intel LGA 1700 socket will use a similar 'L' shaped design with two contact areas similar to the existing LGA 1200 socket but only in a much wider compartment since it needs to house 500 more pins.

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 both DDR5 and DDR4 memory with native speeds of up to 4800 Mbps & 3200 Mbps (respectively) whereas the cheaper motherboards based on mainstream & budget-tier chipsets (H670, B650, H610) will retain DDR4-3200 support.

The first pictures of the Intel Z690 Platform Control Hub have leaked out over at Bilibili.

In addition to that, Intel Alder Lake CPUs will feature 16 PCIe Gen 5.0 (x16 or x8/x8 for Graphics and SSD) and 4 PCIe Gen 4.0 lanes. The chipset will offer 12 Gen 4 and 16 Gen 3 lanes. 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)6 x SATA 3.0 (6 Gbps) PortsUp To 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 PortsUp To 10x USB 3.2 Gen 2x1 PortsUp To 10x USB 3.2 Gen 1x1 Ports16 USB 2.0 PortsIntegrated WiFi 6E/7 AX211 (CNVio) with Gig+Discrete Thunderbolt 4 (USB 4 Compliant)USB3 (20G) / USB3 (10G) / USB3 (5G) / USB 2.0Intel LAN PHYIntel Optane Memory H20 (H10 Successor)

The Intel Alder Lake Desktop CPU lineup isexpected to launch in Novemberalong with the respective Z690 platform and DDR5 memory kits.

Intel Mainstream CPU Generations Comparison: