ASUS B660 motherboards limited to PCIe Gen4 interface?
We received a picture from one of the reviewers of the Intel Alder Lake platform featuring a printed label mentioning the ASUS PRIME B660-PLUS D4 motherboard. According to the source, ASUS shipped a Z690 motherboard in the wrong box, possibly inadvertently revealing important information on a mid-range Intel 600-series chipset:
ASUS PRIME B660 packaging with PCIe Gen4 information, Source: VideoCardz
The fact that B660 motherboards might not support Gen5 is actually a bit surprising considering that Gen5 lanes are attached to the CPU, not the chipset. However, the B660 chipset is aiming at the mid-range segment and 12th Gen Core non-K series. People who might want to upgrade to the LGA1700 platform with the minimum investment are not likely to jump on the Gen5 GPUs and SSDs right away (such devices are expected to launch in the first half of 2022). So needless to say Gen5 is not exactly a feature they might miss.
PCIe Gen5 lanes attached to CPU, Source: Intel
Intel will still be launching a higher-end H670 chipset which should still keep Gen5 support. However, it seems that the mid-range and entry-level segments (B660 and H610) will rely on the Gen4 standard for now. In terms of memory compatibility, it is unclear at the moment whether all B660 motherboards will rely on the DDR4 standard. The label above clearly mentions D4 but none of the B660 motherboards listed in a leak at Noctua cooling compatibility tool have mentioned DDR4 specifically.
ASUS B660 & H670 motherboards, Source: Noctua
