Here is the information on Intel’s latest motherboard chipset. The Intel Z97 chipset is good for both 4th generation (Haswell) and the coming Intel’s 5th generation CPUs. Today, we have prepared the specification of the Intel’s latest Z97 chipset All of the information here was originally from Intel’s official website.
– Intel Z97 Chipset Information-
The Intel® Z97 Chipset with 4th and 5th generation Intel® Core™ processors deliver excellent performance for an unparalleled PC experience. New responsiveness capabilities and unlocked flexibility together with stunning 3-D visual and graphics support1 allow you to reach your full gaming potential.
| Feature | Benefit |
| Support for the 4th and 5th generation Intel® Core™ processors | Supports the 4th and 5th generation Intel® Core™ processors with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.02, Intel® Pentium® processors, and Intel® Celeron® processors. |
| Overclocking3 | The Intel® Z97 Chipset also enables overclocking features of unlocked 4th and 5th generation Intel Core processors. |
| Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST)4 | With additional hard drives added, provides quicker access to digital photo, video, and data files, and greater data protection against a hard disk drive failure with RAID 0, 5, and 10. Support for external SATA (eSATA) enables the full SATA interface speed outside the chassis, up to 3 Gb/s. |
| Intel® Rapid Storage Technology for PCI Express* Storage | Enables Intel® Rapid Storage Technology features with PCI Express*-based SSDs. |
| Intel® Rapid Recover Technology (Intel® RRT) | Intel’s latest data protection technology provides a recovery point that can be used to quickly recover a system should a hard drive fail or if there is data corruption. The clone can also be mounted as a read-only volume to allow a user to recover individual files. |
| Intel® High Definition Audio (Intel® HD Audio)5 | Integrated audio support enables premium digital surround sound and delivers advanced features such as multiple audio streams and jack re-tasking. |
| Intel® Smart Response Technology6 | Implements storage I/O caching for faster response times of application startup and quicker access to user data. |
| Intel® Smart Connect Technology7 | Provides faster application refresh by allowing applications to be updated in a low power state. |
| Intel® Rapid Start Technology8 | Allows quick system resume from the hibernate state. |
| Universal Serial Bus 3.0 | Integrated USB 3.0 support, provides greater enhancement in performance with a design data rate of up to 5 Gb/s with up to six USB 3.0 ports.9 |
| Universal Serial Bus 2.0 | Hi-speed USB 2.0 support with a design data rate of up to 480 Mb/s with up to 14 USB 2.0 ports. |
| Serial ATA (SATA) 6 Gb/s | Next generation high-speed storage interface supporting up to 6 Gb/s transfer rates for optimal data access with up to six SATA ports.10 |
| Serial ATA (SATA) 3 Gb/s | High-speed storage interface supporting up to six SATA ports. |
| Intel® Device Protection Technology with Boot Guard11 | Helps protect the system’s pre-OS environment from viruses and malicious software attacks. |
| eSATA | SATA interface designed for use with external SATA devices. Provides a link for 3 Gb/s data speeds to eliminate bottlenecks found with current external storage solutions. |
| SATA port disable | Enables individual SATA ports to be enabled or disabled as needed. This feature provides added protection of data by preventing malicious removal or insertion of data through SATA ports. Especially targeted for eSATA ports. |
| PCI Express 2.0 interface | Offers up to 5 GT/s for fast access to peripheral devices and networking with up to eight PCI Express 2.0 x1 ports12, configurable as x2, x4, and x8 depending on motherboard designs. |
| 4th and 5th generation Intel Core processor PCI Express 3.0 Interface | Intel® Z97-based platforms enable the processor PCI Express 3.0 port to be configurable as a 1×16, 2×8, or 1×8 and 2×4 which enables support for Thunderbolt™ technology13 depending on desktop motherboard designs. |
| USB port disable | Enables individual USB ports to be enabled or disabled as needed. This feature provides added protection of data by preventing malicious removal or insertion of data through USB ports. |
| Intel® Integrated 10/100/1000 MAC | Support for the Intel® Ethernet Connection I217-V. |
| Green technology | Manufactured with lead-free and halogen-free14 component packages. |
The original Intel Z97 information website: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/chipsets/performance-chipsets/z97-chipset.html