Coffee Lake CPUs + B/H series motherboards - what impact will this have?

[epsilon84]

With the belated launch of the H310, B360 and H370 chipsets, are entry level / mainstream locked CPUs like the i3 8100 and i5 8400 (and to a lesser extent, the i7 8700) now a much more attractive proposition? Do you think the new motherboards will have a big impact on the DIY market?

As an enthusiast and overclocker, I am not that excited by these locked chipsets, though I do see their place with the locked CPUs, especially those at the budget end, or for prebuilt systems.

 

[DaveSimmons]

These will be great for those of us who don't want to overclock. Overclocking used to be more important with intel, but is less so with the stock turbo clocks going so high. If I was building now instead of last December I could have saved $50 on a motherboard for my i7-8700.

They'll also be a good choice for SFF builds where the reduced airflow makes overclocking more difficult even for those who want to.

 

[epsilon84]

These will be great for those of us who don't want to overclock. Overclocking used to be more important with intel, but is less so with the stock turbo clocks going so high. If I was building now instead of last December I could have saved $50 on a motherboard for my i7-8700.

They'll also be a good choice for SFF builds where the reduced airflow makes overclocking more difficult even for those who want to.

True, though the price differential between a B360 and budget Z370 motherboard is only around $30 it seems (using Newegg prices), maybe $40 for the ultra budget B360 models, but frankly I wouldn't run an i7 8700 with those super cheap B360 boards anyway as the VRMs aren't necessarily up to the task of running an i7 8700 at max turbo under sustained loads: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1dHa2F3fvw (at 11:30)

I would highly recommend anyone considering a B360 motherboard with an i7 8700 to get one with VRM cooling, yes it will cost a bit more, but if you already spending $300 on a CPU, don't go super cheap on the motherboard.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I put some of my other thoughts in another thread in the mobo forum, but what it comes down to is this: Where is the feature differentiation? Intel supports 2x2 AC wifi, and USB3.1 Gen2 (10Gbit/sec), in the chipset, being that they are really CNL derivatives.

Which is all well and dandy, except most of the lowest-end mobos using these chipsets are the same boring feature-parity boards we saw in the Kaby Lake generation, except newer, and with a higher price tag.