New Intel 900-series leak suggests there are three upcoming motherboard chipsets gamers should care about

A photo of the MSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk WiFi motherboard, focused on the CPU and DRAM sockets.

(Image credit: Future)

With Intel's Nova Lake desktop CPUs expected to land later this year, we have finally got our first major leak of the motherboard chipsets to support them. The big takeaway is that they aren't all that different from the previous generation, but there now appear to be three of interest for prospective gamers.

Leaker Jaykihn took to X to post a chart with the specs of the Intel 900-series chipset, and if true, it suggests Intel has changed its naming nomenclature going forward. At the bottom end, we have the B960 and Z970, both of which offer 14 PCIe 4.0 lanes total.

Most of the specs of these two boards are similar, with two DMI Gen5 lanes to connect to the processor, one Thunderbolt 4 port, and an identical number of USB ports. The difference between the two is support for CPU overclocking—the Z970 supports it, the B960 does not, and neither support BCLK tweaking.

The H chipset seems to be missing from the 900-series table, suggesting that Intel has cut its lowest-end chipset entirely. The H810 offered a lot fewer lanes than anything listed in the 900-series here, so perhaps it's gone entirely, and good riddance. Jaykihm even suggests there are "No H-series board at all" in a follow-up post. However, the H810 did launch later than high-end boards in the 800-series, so that's always a possibility again.

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Intel 900-series chipset leaked specifications
Chipset	B960	Z970	Z990	Q970	W980
PCIe lanes	34	34	48	44	48
TB4 / USB4 ports	1	1	2	2	2
DMI Gen5 lanes	2	2	4	4	4
PCIe 5.0 lanes	0	0	12	8	12
PCIe 4.0 lanes	14	14	12	12	12
Sata 3.0 lanes	4	4	8	8	8
USB 2 ports	12	12	14	14	14
USB 3.2 (20 G) ports	~2	~2	~5	~4	~5
USB 3.2 (10 G) ports	~4	~4	~10	~8	~10
USB 3.2 (5 G) ports	~6	~6	~10	~10	~10
IA OC	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
BCLK OC	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Memory OC	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
PCIe 5.0 slot lane config	1x16	1x16	1x16, or 1x8 + 2x4, or 2x8, or 4x4	1x16, or 1x8 + 2x4, or 2x8, or 4x4	1x16, or 1x8 + 2x4, or 2x8, or 4x4
PCIe 5.0 storage lane config	1x4	1x4	1x8 or 2x4	1x8 or 2x4	1x8 or 2x4
ECC	No	No	No	No	Yes
Simultaneous displays supported	4	4	4	4	4
PCIe RAID 0/1/5/10 support	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
SATA RAID 0/1/5/10 support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel vPro + Standard Manageability	No	No	No	Yes	Yes

Historically, Intel used to use the Zx70 naming convention (like with the Z270), until AMD started doing the same with Ryzen-compatible motherboards. Intel shifted to Zx90 and Bx60 as a result, in what can only be described as a schoolyard game of 'my imaginary dinosaur is bigger than yours'. So it's a bit of a surprise that Intel appears to be going back to the Z970, which may look quite similar to any X970 motherboard from AMD.

Then, moving over to the Z990, which is the flagship chipset, we have 24 total PCIe lanes, which is the same as the Z890. Now, it uses four DMI Gen5 lanes, as opposed to eight maximum Gen4 lanes, but they offer a similar bandwidth, so there's not a distinct upgrade there. You're getting CPU OC, BCLK OC, and memory OC, as well as a large number of supported USB ports.

Previously, us gamers only really cared about the Z890 and B860 in the 800-series, there are now three worth considering: the B960, Z970, and Z990. If you are considering getting a Nova Lake chip, you will want to keep an eye on all three.

An ASRock B860 LiveMixer Wi-Fi motherboard on a desk. — ASRock B860 LiveMixer Wi-Fi motherboard (Image credit: Future)

The Q970 and W980 are both chipsets intended for business users, explaining the presence of the Intel vPro+ Standard Manageability (though this is now called Intel vPro Essentials). This means their capabilities will be wasted in a gaming rig. Plus motherboards with them don't look anywhere near as cool.

As of the end of last month, Nova Lake CPUs were confirmed to be on track for a release in late 2026, with Intel saying 'We have important customers in both datacenter and client and that needs to be our priority'. Naturally, with the memory crisis ongoing, and the knock-on effects of that when it comes to hardware supply, we can never be fully confident with estimated release dates, but Intel's knocked it out of the park in Panther Lake testing, so it's all to play for. We just need Nova Lake to be worth the upgrade.

Best gaming motherboard 2026

1. Best AM5 - AMD Ryzen 9000/7000:
MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi

2. Best budget AM5 - AMD Ryzen 9000/7000:
Asus TUF Gaming B650-Plus WiFi

3. Best midrange AM5 - AMD Ryzen 9000/7000:
ASRock B850 Steel Legend WiFi

4. Best AM4 - AMD Ryzen 5000/3000:
Asus ROG Strix B550-E Gaming

5. Best LGA1851 - Intel Core Ultra 200S:
Asus ROG Maximus Z890 Hero

6. Best budget LGA1851 - Intel Core Ultra 200S
ASRock B860 Steel Legend Wi-Fi

7. Best LGA1700 - Intel 14/13th Gen:
MSI MAG Z790 Tomahawk WiFi

8. Best budget LGA1700 - Intel 14/13th Gen:
Asrock B760M PG Sonic WiFi

👉Check out our full gaming motherboard guide👈

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James is a more recent PC gaming convert, often admiring graphics cards, cases, and motherboards from afar. It was not until 2019, after just finishing a degree in law and media, that they decided to throw out the last few years of education, build their PC, and start writing about gaming instead. In that time, he has covered the latest doodads, contraptions, and gismos, and loved every second of it. Hey, it’s better than writing case briefs.

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