Speaking of the Z97 Intel’s intent was to reserve Devil’s Canyon for the new Chipset only, but some motherboard makers (Asus) did not want to push that limit. They have been working on upgraded BIOSes for their Z87 chipsets that will allow users to run this new CPU. We have not heard from Intel about this move by Asus, but it follows the breaking of NDA on the Z97 by them so we have to wonder if Intel might be tacitly approving this.

No matter what, the new CPU should be a hit with the hard core enthusiasts, even if they have to pick up a Z97 board to run it. In most cases the guys that would be looking into a CPU at this level are going to want the latest and greatest anyway so the restriction was not a terrible idea. By removing this restriction all Asus is doing is making sure they can continue to maintain their Z87 base (and sell more boards) when this CPU hits the street. As of this writing the price of the new CPU should be around $400 again that is not a bad price for a CPU of this speed.

Tell us what you think in our Forum