Asustek readies 21 mainboards for Intel’s ‘Skylake-S’ processors

Being the world’s largest maker of mainboards, Asustek Computer traditionally offers the broadest lineup of motherboards for all new microprocessors. This fall Asus plans to introduce 21 new platforms designed for Intel Corp.’s upcoming code-named “Skylake-S”central processing units.

Intel’s “Skylake-S” processors will be supported by the company’s new 100-series core-logic sets, including Z170, H170, H110, B150, Q150 and Q170. The vast majority of platforms for the channel and retail markets will be based on either the high-performance Z170 and H170 core-logic sets or the inexpensive H110 chipset. Other core-logic sets will be aimed at OEMs and producers of PCs for corporate customers.

Asustek plans to offer 13 mainboards based on the Intel Z170 chipset that supports overclocking of microprocessors, including flagship Sabertooth Z170, Maximus VIII Extreme, Maximus VIII Gene and Maximus VIII Hero, reports BenchLife web-site. The list of other Intel Z170-based mainboards for LGA1151 processors includes Z170 Pro Gaming, Z170-A, Z170-Deluxe, Z170-G, Z170-K, Z170-P and Z-170 Pro. Asustek will also offer two – Z170M-E and Z170i Pro Gaming – motherboards for compact systems in micro-ATX and mini-ITX form-factors respectively.

The world’s largest maker of mainboards will also offer five platforms based on the Intel H170 chipset, including H170 Pro Gaming and H170-Plus in ATX form-factor, H170M-E and H170M-Plus in micro-ATX form-factor as well as H170i Plus in mini-ITX form-factor.

The list of Intel H110-based motherboards from Asus will include three models: H110H4-TM for ATX chassis, H110M-C for micro-ATX cases and H110i-Plus for compact mini-ITX systems.

The majority of Asustek’s mainboards for Intel’s “Skylake-S” microprocessors will rely on 288-pin DDR4 memory modules, but those designed for smaller systems will likely support 204-pin DDR3L SO-DIMMs.

Features, capabilities and prices of Asustek’s upcoming LGA1151 mainboards for Intel “Skylake” processors are currently unknown.

Intel's 100-series chipsets will feature a number of substantial upgrades when it comes to support for PCI Express 3.0 and some other things. The Z170 and the Q170 core-logic sets aimed at premium PCs will feature 20 PCI Express 3.0 lanes, whereas the H170 will support 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes. The expanded support of PCI Express 3.0 will let mainboard makers to implement multiple SATA Express and M.2 ports for high-performance solid-state drives with up to 4GB/s of bandwidth (in case of PCIe 3.0 x4 interface). In addition, it will be possible to implement multiple additional PCI Express x8/x16 slots for multi-GPU systems. The Q170 will support corporate-oriented technologies like vPro, active management, small business advantage and some other.

Asustek Computer and Intel did not comment on the news-story.

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KitGuru Says: Expect Asustek and other makers of mainboards to demonstrate their LGA1151 mainboards for Intel’s upcoming code-named “Skylake-S” microprocessors at the Computex Taipei 2015 trade-show in early June. Thanks to improved chipsets, the news platforms promise to be really powerful.

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