The LGA 1700 socket was first introduced with Intel's 12th generation Core processors, code-named "Alder Lake," in 2021. Intel's 13th generation Core processors continue to use the LGA 1700 socket.
This article will discuss which motherboards support the LGA 1700 socket and provide recommendations for CPUs and compatible motherboards, CPU coolers, and memory.
Check out my Recommended LGA 1700 CPUs and Motherboards
below.
Chipsets for 12th, 13th, and 14th Generation CPUs
Motherboards for Intel processors are made with chipsets provided by Intel. Each chipset offers a unique set of capabilities. However, motherboards must explicitly support features and capabilities for you to use them. Verify that a motherboard supports the features and capabilities you desire.
For 12th, 13th, and 14th Gen Intel Core processors, you'll need a motherboard with an LGA 1700 socket and a 700-series or 600-series chipset.
Intel's 700-series chipsets were primarily designed for 13th generation Core processors but are backward compatible with all 12th generation Core processors.
Because 600-series chipsets were designed for the 12th generations Core processors, they may limit the capabilities of a 13th Gen system.
You will need a motherboard with overclocking support to overclock 12th, 13th, and 14th Gen CPUs. Motherboards with the Z790 and Z690 chipsets typically support CPU overclocking. Otherwise, you can use a motherboard with Intel's other 700-series or 600-series desktop chipsets (e.g., H770, B760, H670, B660, H610).
The W680 and Q670 chipsets are intended for workstation and business use cases; their availability in stand-alone motherboards is limited.
To use 13th Gen Intel Core CPUs with the 600-series chipsets, you'll need an updated BIOS. You either need to purchase one with an updated BIOS, perform the update with a 12th Gen CPU installed, or use the USB BIOS Flashback feature (if available).
Products that ship with a compatible BIOS are typically marked as "Ready" for 13th Gen Intel processors.
for a specific LGA 1700 Core CPU:
| Z790 | H770 | B760 | Z690 | H670 | B660 | H610 | W680 | Q670 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended Usage | For Enthusiast Gamer PCs | For General Home and Gaming PCs | For Budget PCs | For Enthusiast Gamer PCs | For General Home and Gaming PCs | For Budget PCs | For Barebones PCs |
For High-End Creative/ | For Nicer Business PCs |
| Motherboard Availability | Limited | Limited | |||||||
| Launch Date | Q4 2022 | Q1 2023 | Q1 2023 | Q4 2021 | Q1 2022 | Q1 2022 | Q1 2022 | Q1 2022 | Q1 2022 |
|
CPU Overclocking See Exceptions: MOTHERBOARD | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Memory Overclocking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| PCIe 5.0 Slots via Processor | One x16 or Two x8 | One x16 or Two x8 | One x16 | One x16 or Two x8 | One x16 or Two x8 | One x16 | One x16 | One x16 or Two x8 | One x16 or Two x8 |
| PCIe 4.0 Slots via Processor | One x8 | One x4 | One x4 | One x4 | One x4 | One x4 | None | One x4 | One x4 |
| PCIe 4.0 Lanes via Chipset | Up to 20 | Up to 16 | Up to 10 | Up to 12 | Up to 12 | Up to 6 | None | Up to 12 | Up to 12 |
| PCIe 3.0 Lanes via Chipset | Up to 8 | Up to 8 | Up to 4 | Up to 16 | Up to 12 | Up to 8 | 8 | Up to 16 | Up to 12 |
| Memory Channels | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Integrated Wireless | Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (Gig+) | Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (Gig+) | Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (Gig+) | Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (Gig+) | Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (Gig+) | Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (Gig+) | Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (Gig+) | Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (Gig+) | Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (Gig+) |
| DMI 4.0 Lanes | 8 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 |
| USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) | Up to 5 | Up to 2 | Up to 2 | Up to 4 | Up to 2 | Up to 2 | None | Up to 4 | Up to 4 |
| USB 3.2 Gen 2x1 (10 Gbps) | Up to 10 | Up to 4 | Up to 4 | Up to 10 | Up to 4 | Up to 4 | Up to 2 | Up to 10 | Up to 8 |
| USB 3.2 Gen 1x1 (5 Gbps) | Up to 10 | Up to 8 | Up to 6 | Up to 10 | Up to 8 | Up to 6 | Up to 4 | Up to 10 | Up to 10 |
| USB 2.0 Ports | 14 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 14 | 14 |
| Wi-Fi 6E | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SATA 3.0 Ports | Up to 8 | Up to 8 | Up to 4 | Up to 8 | Up to 8 | Up to 4 | Up to 4 | Up to 8 | Up to 8 |
| PCIe RAID | 0, 10, 15 | 0, 10, 15 | None | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | None | None | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 |
| SATA RAID | 0, 10, 15 | 0, 10, 15 | 0, 10, 15 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | None | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 |
MOTHERBOARD The motherboard must support overclocking to use overclocking capabilities. Motherboards with Z-prefixed chipsets more commonly support overclocking.
Recommended LGA 1700 Motherboards and CPUs
Best Intel 13th Gen High-Performance CPU and Motherboard
- Our recommended Intel 13th gen high-performance enthusiast CPU:
- Up to 5.8 GHz max-turbo stock speed: perfect for games, video editing, and high-intensity tasks.
- 24 cores (8 Performance + 16 Efficiency): This combination makes it a great all-around system that can handle any task you throw at it.
- Virtualization features make it great for running virtual machines.
- Check the latest price of the Intel Core i9-13900K on Amazon
- For the Intel Core i9-13900K CPU, you'll need a motherboard with overclocking support to overclock the CPU. Motherboards with the Z790 chipset typically support CPU overclocking. Otherwise, you can use a motherboard with Intel's other 600-series desktop chipsets (e.g., Z690, H670, B660, H610).
- Our recommended motherboard to pair with the i9-13900K:
- PCIe 5.0 support
- It supports up to 128 GB of DDR5 memory (DDR5 provides the fastest memory speeds)!
- 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port is faster than any home Internet speed available with tons of room to spare for file transfers.
- Wi-Fi 6E makes it easy to reach the fastest speeds and future-proof your Wi-Fi system.
- Bluetooth 5.3 is great for streaming music to Bluetooth headphones.
- Five x4 NVMe M.2 slots, which is fantastic! One of these supports PCIe 5.0 speeds, and the rest run at PCIe 4.0 speeds.
- USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 offers 20 Gbps USB speeds!
- Check the latest price of the MSI MEG Z790 ACE Gaming Motherboard on Amazon
Best Runner-Up Intel 13th Gen CPU and Motherboard
- Our recommended Intel 13th gen high-performance CPU:
- Up to 5.4 GHz max-turbo stock speed: perfect for games, video editing, and high-intensity tasks.
- 16 cores (8 Performance + 8 Efficiency): This combination makes it a great all-around system that can handle almost any task.
- Virtualization features make it great for running virtual machines.
- Check the latest price of the Intel Core i7-13700K on Amazon
- For the Intel Core i7-13700K CPU, you'll need a motherboard with overclocking support to overclock the CPU. Motherboards with the Z790 chipset typically support CPU overclocking. Otherwise, you can use a motherboard with Intel's other 600-series desktop chipsets (e.g., Z690, H670, B660, H610).
- Our recommended motherboard to pair with the i7-13700K:
- PCIe 5.0 support
- It supports up to 128 GB of DDR5 memory (DDR5 provides the fastest memory speeds)!
- 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port is faster than any home Internet speed available with tons of room to spare for file transfers.
- Wi-Fi 6E makes it easy to reach the fastest speeds and future-proof your Wi-Fi system.
- Bluetooth 5.3 is great for streaming music to Bluetooth headphones.
- Five x4 NVMe M.2 slots, which is fantastic! One of these supports PCIe 5.0 speeds, and the rest run at PCIe 4.0 speeds.
- USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 offers 20 Gbps USB speeds!
- Check the latest price of the ASUS ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming WiFi 6E on Amazon
Best Value Intel 13th Gen CPU and Motherboard
- Our recommended Intel 13th gen best value CPU:
- Up to 5.1 GHz max-turbo stock speed: great for games, video editing, and high-intensity tasks.
- 14 cores (6 Performance + 8 Efficiency): This combination makes it a great all-around system that can handle almost any task.
- Virtualization features make it great for running virtual machines.
- Check the latest price of the Intel Core i5-13600K on Amazon
- Our recommended Value motherboard to pair with the i5-13600K:
- PCIe 5.0 support
- It supports up to 128 GB of DDR4 memory.
- 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port is faster than any home Internet speed available with tons of room to spare for file transfers.
- Wi-Fi 6E makes it easy to reach the fastest speeds and future-proof your Wi-Fi system.
- Bluetooth 5.3 is great for streaming music to Bluetooth headphones.
- Three x4 NVMe M.2 slots, which is fantastic! These slots all support PCIe 4.0 speeds.
- USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 offers 20 Gbps USB speeds!
- Check the latest price of the MSI MAG B760 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4 on Amazon
Best Intel 12th Gen High-Performance CPU and Motherboard
- Our recommended Intel 12th gen high-performance enthusiast CPU:
- Up to 5.2 GHz: perfect for games, video editing, and high-intensity tasks.
- 16 cores (8 Performance + 8 Efficiency): Quite a few cores considering the frequency! This combination makes it a great all-around system that can handle almost any task.
- Virtualization features make it great for running virtual machines.
- Check the latest price of the Intel Core i9-12900K on Amazon
- For the Intel Core i9-12900K CPU, you'll need a motherboard with overclocking support to overclock the CPU. Motherboards with the Z690 chipset typically support CPU overclocking. Otherwise, you can use a motherboard with Intel's other 600-series desktop chipsets (e.g., H670, B660, H610).
- Our recommended motherboard to pair with the i9-12900K:
- PCIe 5.0 support
- It supports up to 128 GB of DDR5 memory (DDR5 provides the fastest memory speeds)!
- 10 Gbps Ethernet port is faster than any home Internet speed available with tons of room to spare for file transfers.
- Wi-Fi 6E makes it easy to reach the fastest speeds and future-proof your Wi-Fi system.
- Bluetooth 5.2 is great for streaming music to Bluetooth headphones.
- Four x4 NVMe M.2 slots, which is fantastic! Three of these run at PCIe 4.0 speeds, and one at PCIe 3.0 speeds.
- USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 offers 20 Gbps USB speeds!
- Check the latest price of the GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS Master on Amazon
Best Intel 12th Gen Value CPU and Motherboard
- Our recommended Intel 12th gen value CPU:
- Less than half the price of the i9-12900K, but still excellent performance at up to 4.9 GHz.
- 10 cores (6 Performance + 4 Efficiency): This core count makes it suitable for everyday multi-threading tasks, such as having tons of browser windows open.
- Virtualization features make it great for running virtual machines.
- Check the latest price of the Intel Core i5-12600K on Amazon
- For the Intel Core i5-12600K CPU, you'll need a motherboard with overclocking support to overclock the CPU. Motherboards with the Z690 chipset typically support CPU overclocking. Otherwise, you can use a motherboard with Intel's other 600-series desktop chipsets (e.g., H670, B660, H610).
- Our recommended motherboard to pair with the i5-12600K:
- PCIe 5.0 support
- It supports up to 128 GB of DDR5 memory!
- Three NVMe M.2 slots, which is excellent! These all run at PCIe 4.0 speeds.
- 2.5 Gb Ethernet port is faster than most home Internet speeds with room to spare for file transfers.
- USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 offers 20 Gbps USB speeds!
- Check the latest price of the GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS PRO on Amazon
Recommended LGA 1700 Coolers
The distance between heatsink screw holes for the LGA 1700 socket increased to 78x78 mm from the 75x75 mm spacing typical of recent sockets. This new spacing means you'll need a new cooler/
Locked Intel CPUs are typically bundled with a stock CPU cooler and are identifiable by the absence of the "K" in their model name. While these coolers are adequate for preventing the CPU from overheating, they may limit the processor's performance during demanding tasks such as gaming. Additionally, stock coolers may produce noticeable noise when running at maximum speed.
A higher TDP cooler is recommended to sustain the peak speeds for extended periods to ensure optimal performance.
A CPU cooler that is compatible with the LGA 1700 socket will be required. Several manufacturers introduced upgrade kits to accommodate the LGA 1700 socket size that allows LGA 1200 coolers to be used. So be sure to verify that any cooler you choose is compatible with your CPU.
Best LGA 1700 AIO Liquid Coolers
Enermax Liqmax III 360
Enermax Liqmax III 360 Supports LGA 1700: YES Max TDP: 360 watt Type: Liquid Cooler I was very impressed with the cooling capability of the Enermax Liqmax III 360, which boasts an excellent 360-watt TDP (Thermal Design Power).
Supports a variety of CPU sockets, including Intel LGA 2066, 2011-3, 2011, 1700, 1200, 1366, 1156, 1155, 1151, 1150 and AMD AM4, AM3+, AM3, AM2+, AM2, FM2+, FM2, FM1.
I found that the Enermax Liqmax III 360 operates quietly and unobtrusively, with a noise level of just 14-27 dBA, making it a great choice for anyone who values a quiet computing environment.
You can get the LGA 1700 Enermax Mounting Kit for LIQMAX III on Amazon or request a free LGA 1700 mounting kit via the LGA 1700 Mounting Kit Request Form.
If you are considering the Enermax Liqmax III 360, it's important to note that it will take up a decent amount of space in your computer case, so make sure to check the dimensions before purchasing.
The Enermax Liqmax III 360 has an impressive cooling capacity, providing efficient heat dissipation even under heavy workloads.
The quiet operation of the cooler made for a more comfortable and distraction-free computing experience.
Best LGA 1700 Dual-Fan Air CPU Coolers
Noctua NH-D15
Noctua NH-D15 Supports LGA 1700: YES Max TDP: 220 watt Type: Heatsink & Fans I found the dual 140 mm fans to be incredibly powerful, providing an impressive 220-watt TDP (183 NSPR) of cooling capability.
With support for such a diverse range of CPU sockets, I found the Noctua NH-D15 to be a very flexible and adaptable cooling solution. Its supported socket types include Intel LGA 1700, 1200, 1156, 1155, 1151, 1150, 2011, 2066 and AMD AM4, AM3, AM3+, AM2, AM2+, FM2, FM2+.
In my experience, the Noctua NH-D15 operates very quietly, with a noise level of just 24.6 dBA.
I am extremely satisfied with the Noctua NH-D15 cooler and would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a high-performance and versatile cooling solution.
Thermaltake TOUGHAIR 510
Thermaltake TOUGHAIR 510 Supports LGA 1700: YES Max TDP: 180 watt Type: Heatsink & Fans As someone who isn't a big fan of flashy LED lights, I appreciated the simplicity of the Thermaltake TOUGHAIR 510, which doesn't have any fancy lights but still looks great in my system.
I found that the dual 120 mm fans on the TOUGHAIR 510 did an excellent job of keeping an LGA 1700 CPU cool, even under heavy workloads.
If you're worried about the TOUGHAIR 510 taking up too much space in your system, Thermaltake offers a few single-fan variants that use different orientations, so you can choose the one that works best for your setup.
With a max speed of 2000 RPM, the TOUGHAIR 510 provides optimal cooling performance when you need it most.
With a 180-watt TDP (Thermal Design Power), the TOUGHAIR 510 offers solid cooling performance and is a great choice for anyone looking for a reliable and efficient cooling solution for their CPU.
Our Recommended RAM
Before purchasing memory, we suggest that you review your motherboard specification to verify which speeds are supported. For example, if a DDR4 motherboard stated that it supports "DDR4 3400(O.C.) / 3333(O.C.) / 3300(O.C.) / 3200 / 3000," that would mean that it could support DDR4-3400, DDR4-3333, and DDR4-3300 with memory overclocking, and DDR4-3200 and DDR4-3000 at stock speeds. Motherboard specifications also indicate the maximum capacity per stick of RAM (DIMM) and across all slots.
for a specific LGA 1700 CPU:
Recommended DDR5
- At an effective frequency of 5600 MHz, this memory hits the fastest DDR5 speed supported by Intel's 13th Gen CPUs without overclocking.
- 32 GB provides ample memory for gaming and multitasking.
- Optimized for Intel XMP 3.0.
Recommended DDR4
- At an effective frequency of 3200 MHz, this memory hits the fastest supported stock DDR4 speeds.
- It is also available in other (effective) frequencies for overclockers, including 3600 MHz and 4000 MHz.
- Lower-speed versions are also available on Amazon, in various capacities, including DDR4-2933 , DDR4-2666 , and DDR4-2400
- The low-profile form factor ensures that the heat spreaders don't get in the way of other devices, including your CPU heatsink.