Could someone please explain what chipsets are?

[frogzila]

I'm looking an some intel 1151 boards and I'm trying to establish what the differences are with very little success!

I've seen a matrix/chart of different board chipsets

But this means nothing to me! In layman terms; could someone please explain what the differences are?

Thanks! )

 

[pastymuncher]

Taking the current socket 1151 chipsets as a example.

The top chipsets such as the current Z370 and Z390 are the full featured ones and will have more pci-e lanes, more USB ports, more Sata 6Gbps ports, supports faster memory plus will overclock unlocked K series cpu's.

The H370 and Q370 chipset have most of the features of the Z series boards but only support memory up to 2666mhz and cannot overclock. they tend to be expensive for what they are and there is little point choosing them over a full feature Z series board.

The lesser chipsets, H310, B360 have less of everything, are restricted to 2666mhz memory and cannot overclock. They are mainly aimed at budget build but the B360 boards can be very good value if using a locked cpu such as the i5 8400 (B360 has more features than H310).

There is a article here about the current chipsets and what features each of them have.