Lately the introduction of every new Intel Socket 775 processor has required a new round of motherboards. With Kentsfield scheduled for a November release, a question on the minds of many readers is whether Kentsfield will work in the current Socket 775 favorites. Will a BIOS upgrade provide the support needed for Kentsfield or will we need new board upgrades to accommodate the new quad-core processor?

We asked Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, ECS, DFI, Abit, and Biostar which of their boards would support Kentsfield, and which BIOS revision was required for that support. We received replies from everyone, but DFI said it would be a few days until they could provide this information.

The rest of the companies provided a list of Kentsfield compatible motherboards, but some of the lists raised more questions than they answered. Some of the models will be familiar to readers as boards they can currently buy, but look very closely. Some of the Kentsfield compatible boards will be new revisions that will be released in October/November.

We will add the additional information when it is available to keep the list as up to date as possible, but for now this is the best information we could find on what works with Kentsfield. Keep in mind that Kentsfield is a high-end CPU, even more so than Core 2 Duo, and as a result the available boards supporting Kentsfield are definitely slanted to the high-end of Socket 775 motherboard offerings.


Abit

Abit advised that four models currently support Kentsfield:
AW9D-MAX AW9D AB9 PRO AB9

Asus

Asus provided complete details on their models and BIOS revisions that would support Kentsfield.

ASUS Kentsfield Compatible Motherboards
Model	Platform	BIOS Revision
P5WDG2 WS Professional	Intel 975X/ICH7R	BIOS 0307 and later
P5W64 WS Professional	Intel 975X/ICH7R	BIOS 0116 and later
P5W DH Deluxe	Intel 975X/ICH7R	BIOS 1403 and later
P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP	Intel P965/ICH8R	BIOS 0709 and later
P5B Deluxe	Intel P965/ICH8R	BIOS 0709 and later
P5B	Intel P965/ICH8	BIOS to be released
P5B-E	Intel P965/ICH8R	BIOS to be released
P5B-E Plus (No US Model)	Intel P965/ICH8R	BIOS 0108 and later
P5B-V	Intel G965/ICH8	BIOS 0403 and later

MSI

Version 2 of the 975X Platinum is also called the MSI 975X Platinum PowerUp Edition. This model, MS-7246, was recently introduced to support Core 2 Duo and is a different model than the older MSI 975X Platinum, which is also called MS-7246, but does not support either Core 2 Duo or Kentsfield.

MSI Kentsfield Compatible Motherboards
Description	Model #	BIOS Revision
975X Platinum V.2	MS-7246	BIOS V7.2 or later
P965 Platinum	MS-7238	BIOS V`1.1 or later
P5N Diamond	MS-7320	NO BIOS Update Needed
P5N Platinum	MS-7350	NO BIOS Update Needed

It appears recent MSI 975X and 965 boards will have no problem supporting Kentsfield Quad Core processors.



Gigabyte

Gigabyte provided an extensive list of models that would support Kentsfield. However, all of these models are Revision 2 boards that will be released in mid- October. Gigabyte made it very clear that all Revision 2.0 boards below will fully support Kentsfield.

Gigabyte Kentsfield Compatible Motherboards
Model	Platform
GA-975X-DS5	Intel 975X
GA-965P-DQ6	Intel P965
GA-965P-DS4 (Not Available in Americas)	Intel P965
GA-965P-DS3	Intel P965
GA-965P-S3	Intel P965
GA-965G-DS4 (Not Available in Americas)	Intel G965
GA-965G-DS3	Intel G965
GA-965GM-DS2	Intel G965

Gigabyte also advised AnandTech that some current P965 Revision 1 boards would also support the Intel Core 2 Quad with a BIOS upgrade. Gigabyte will be providing a compatibility list of current boards that support Kentsfield as soon as testing and BIOS updates are complete. We previously reported that Gigabyte's new lineup of P945 boards would support Kentsfield. However, as of 10-02-2006 Gigabyte engineering has confirmed that none of their 945P boards will support Kentsfield.


ECS

ECS is in the final stages of testing BIOS revisions that will support Kentsfield. The Intel Core 2 Quad will be supported by:

ECS Kentsfield Compatible Motherboards
Model	Platform	BIOS Revision
ECS PX1	Intel 975X	9/27/06 or later BIOS
ECS P965T-A v.1.0B	Intel P965	9/27/06 or later BIOS

Biostar

Biostar has advised that the only model they will have in production that supports Intel Core 2 Quad will be the TForce P965. Production of that model has been delayed and the final release, with Kentsfield support, will be in November.


Our Take

It appears that most Intel 965 and many Intel 975 boards will support the upcoming quad core Kentsfield with just a BIOS upgrade. Existing motherboards based on other chipsets did not make any of the Kentsfield compatibility lists provided by the motherboard manufacturers. Kentsfield is still over a month away from introduction and there will likely be further developments in motherboard compatibility. For the latest information on what works with Kentsfield always check with the manufacturer's website.