Why do W790 motherboards only support Xeon-W processors (see: ASRock > W790 WS R2.0)
while the predecessors like C621A, x99, x79 support both Xeon-W/Core-X and the server Xeons (see: ASRock > C621A WS, ASRock > X79 Extreme6, ASRock > X99 Extreme4)
Is intel just being a shitty company or it there a technical reason for that?
They use different chipsets. This is info from Intel, so maybe they’re justifying the sale, but this is where I got that info:
Older platforms also used different chipsets like x99, x79 but still supported server Xeons
Most likely because Intel didn’t want to keep a shared microcode base between the two processors (SPR-WS and SPR-SP) going forward.
The two processors are actually structurally unique with different numbers of PCIe lanes and accelerators. All that being said, the earlier engineering sample (I think some QS as well) SPR-SP CPUs do work on W790 motherboards that offer earlier microcode (which rules out gigabyte and asrock if memory serves), but they don’t exactly work perfectly with PCIe lanes missing and other strangeness.
Not support the final version of Xeon,but support every ES Xeon F3 D0 stepping.
Because this is the cheapest option,you can buy for 400-500 usd 60 core cpu.
JUST enough deviation, to not allow such CPU compatibility [LGA pinouts, Chipset,…]
