Intel calls last orders on 300-series motherboard chipsets

It's 400, or indeed the 500 series, from here on out

Intel is to sunset its 300-series motherboard chipsets, according to Chipzilla's prodict change notifications (PCN).

A Product Change Notification (PCN) published by Chipzilla [PDF] earlier this week sets out the discontinuation schedule, with the deadline for last orders set for 23 July 2021. After that point, orders become non-cancellable and non-refundable. Intel expects the last units to ship by 28 January 2022 at the latest.

Launched in 2017, the 300-series chipset was designed to cater for Intel's eight and ninth-generation Core processors, and uses the LGA 1151 socket. The semiconductor giant has named seven specific desktop variants to be culled (Z370, H370, Z390, B360, H310C, B365, and H310D), as well as one mobile variant (QMS380).

In a separate PCN [PDF] published by Intel, it confirmed the desktop platform controller hubs (PCH) Q370 and H310, as well as mobile PCHs including HM370, QM370, and CM246 are also going to be discontinued. The last product order date is set for 23 July and the last shipment date is 28 January 2021.

Intel released the successor to the 300 series last year, called the 400 series. These bring with them support for the newest generation of Comet Lake processors, as well as a new socket design called LGA 1200.

Separately, Intel is expected to release the 500-series chipsets later this month, coinciding with this year's edition of the CES trade show. These will likely include support for PCIe 4.0 (which AMD has supported since 2019, starting with its X570 chipset), as well as Intel's 14nm Rocket Lake processors.

This news follows a flood of product culls from Intel as it tidies up its lineup ahead of future product releases.

The most significant withdrawal happened on 7 December, when Intel formally announced [PDF] the discontinuation of its ninth-generation Coffee Lake Refresh (often referred to as Coffee Lake-R) chipsets, affecting both desktop and laptop hardware. This wholesale purge extends to both entry-level Celeron and Pentium Gold platforms, as well as the top-tier Core i9-9900K.

As with the 300 series, Intel has outlined a staggered approach, with the last orders expected by 25 June before the entire lineup is formally killed by 24 December. ®