According to embargoed marketing materials received by VideoCardz, GIGABYTE’s upcoming Z490 motherboards will support PCIe 4.0. That would normally be exciting news, if it weren’t for the persistent rumor that Intel’s 10th Gen Comet Lake-S processors are stuck on PCIe 3.0 and can’t take advantage of those speeds. This is even alluded to by GIGABYTE’s admission that the PCIe 4.0 functionality of its Z490 will be “limited.”
“Gigabyte does not directly confirm what the limitation is, however, it is more than likely related to Rocket Lake-S series still being under embargo,” wrote VideoCardz. “Intel Rocket Lake-S series is expected to launch after the Comet Lake-S series, either as part of the 10th Gen Core series or as 11th Gen Core later this year.”
The implication is that Intel’s Rocket Lake-S processors, which do support PCIe 4.0 (according to leaked roadmaps), will be backward compatible with the Z490 platform, allowing manufacturers to get a head start on the feature set of the 11th generation. This has created an interesting conundrum for Intel fans – why would any of them even bother with Comet Lake-S, being that Rocket Lake-S must be right around the corner?
Gigabyte PCIe 4.0 Hardware Design
- 2x PCIE 4.0 Slot (Reinforced PCIe 4.0 x16 or x8/x8 with lower impedance)
- M.2 PCIe 4.0 Slot (M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 slot with lower impedance)
- PCIE 4.0 Turbo B-Clock (External clock generator for PCIe 4.0 overclocking)
- PCIE 4.0 Switches (Switch PCIe 4.0 x16 into PCIe x8/x8)
- PCIe 4.0 Re-driver (Boost & strengthen PCIe 4.0 signals to longer lengths)
- 3.3x Slot Signal Stability
- 4x Lower Low Signal Loss PCB
