Intel seems to be pushing motherboard makers to release their 700-series chipset motherboard with DDR5-Only memory support on the 13th Gen Raptor Lake platform.

Intel Pushing Motherboard Manufacturers To Release 700-Series Chipset Motherboard With Only DDR5 Memory Support To Increase Adoption Rate

According to a report by TechpowerUp, it is stated that motherboard makers are being pushed by Intel to release their next-gen motherboards based on the 700-series chipsets with DDR5 support only. The upcoming lineup of motherboards, which we talked about a few days ago, will hit shelves alongside the 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPU lineup.

While Intel's 13th Gen Raptor Lake Desktop CPUs will feature both DDR5 and DDR4 IMCs, the push is being done to increase the adoption rate of DDR5 memory. Intel doesn't want to remove DDR5 memory support from its Raptor Lake and the CPUs will retain both DDR5 and DDR4 compatibility, its just that 700-series chipsets, or the majority of them, will be DDR5-only designs, unlike several DDR4 options that are available in the 600-series family. It will be possible to run Raptor Lake chips with DDR4 memory on existing 600-series motherboards given that manufacturers release their respective BIOS support for them. Intel has already confirmed that the 13th Gen Rocket Lake CPUs will be compatible with existing motherboards.

Now, this isn't unexpected but since 700-series motherboards will be focused on the DDR5 standard, they will offer optimized support for higher clock speeds and it is stated that the 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs will support up to DDR5-5600 Mbps (Native) speeds which is a decent up-tick from the DDR5-5200 speeds currently supported by 12th Gen Alder Lake CPUs.

Now, this isn't exactly a bad move and it is very likely that Intel allows certain 700-series tiers to retain DDR4 support such as the entry-level H710 and B760 chipsets. AMD is also pushing DDR5 only support on its next-gen AM5 platform and we have seen recently that prices and availability for DDR5 memory are improving every passing month so by the time 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs launch, we can expect around DDR4-prices if not lower.

Intel Desktop Platform Chipset Comparison