Intel is getting ready to release desktop CPUs based on its Kaby Lake architecture and to make upgrading as painless as possible, Asus has made available UEFI updates for a whopping 87 LGA 1151 motherboards.
The neat thing about Kaby Lake is that it uses the same LGA 1151 socket as existing Skylake processors. In most cases a UEFI/BIOS update will be required to recognize the new CPUs. To make sure user upgrades go smoothly, Asus and its firmware teams have been compiling and validating updates for the company's extensive lineup of 100-series motherboards, which you can download for dozens of mobos.
"The current support list includes no fewer than 87 ASUS motherboards, with more to be added in the near future. So, if you already own or are thinking of purchasing one of our 100-series motherboards, you can rest assured it will work with the next-gen CPUs," Asus says.
Asus recommends using its EZ Flash 3 utility or USB BIOS Flashback software to flash your motherboard's firmware. It also suggests performing flash at stock settings so that everything goes smoothly.
On top of a slew of UEFI updates, Asus hints that it may have some tricks up its sleeve when Kaby Lake arrives.
"While we can’t share the juicy details with you yet, we can tell you that our R&D department has been working with the CPUs for several months, uncovering everything they have to offer. Things are maturing nicely; in due time, we’ll post a slew of guides and info here on Edge Up that you don’t want to miss," Asus says.
Kaby Lake is Intel's 7th generation Core processor architecture. It's also the second consecutive "tock" in Intel's "tick-tock" release cadence that's been in place for several generations of CPUs.
So-called ticks are new process nodes (such as 14nm Broadwell) while tocks represent a brand new architecture on the same node (such as 14nm Skylake). But with Intel's 10nm Cannonlake not scheduled to arrive until late 2017, it decided to fill the gap with Kaby Lake and alter (at least for now) its release cadence.
Going forward, the new pattern is Process, Architecture, and Optimization, with Kaby Lake being the "Optimization" for the 14nm node.
Getting back to UEFI updates, you can see a full list of the 87 motherboards that can be prepped for Kaby Lake here.
