Z270, H270, Q270, Q250, B250 – What is the Difference?

Introduction

Consumer Chipsets (Z270 & H270)

*In addition to the 16 PCI-E 3.0 lanes from the CPU
**This represents roughly how many PCI-E devices (LAN, USB, Thunderbolt, etc.) are able to use the available chipset PCI-E lanes

While there are a number of differences between the two consumer chipsets, the first and most commonly known difference is that the Z270 chipset fully supports CPU overclocking, while the H270 does not. Some motherboard manufacturers will likely allow some overclocking capability with H270, but full overclocking (including core multiplier, BCLK, and voltage) should be limited to Z270.  

The second major difference is in regards to how the CPU PCI-E lanes can be used. Of the 16 PCI-E 3.0 lanes that are available from all Kaby Lake and Skylake CPUs, Z270 allows you to use them either as one full x16 lane, two x8 lanes, or one x8 and two x4 lanes. The primary use of this feature is to allow for the use of multiple video cards in SLI or Crossfire, but it can also be used to allow for a higher number of other PCI-E add-on cards as well.

The chipset lanes are a bit different: while a few may be used for add-on devices, they are mostly there for additional features the manufacturer has built into the motherboard that are not native to the chipset like WiFi, more USB ports, additional LAN ports, and the new M.2 or U.2 storage drives. The number of lanes available changes based on the chipset with Z270 having 24 PCI-E 3.0 lanes whereas H270 has 20 PCI-E 3.0 lanes. The biggest impact of having fewer lanes is that there is less opportunity for manufacturers to add additional features to the board, although another factor is the number of x4 M.2 devices that can be used on the chipset: Z270 can support 3 such devices while H270 can only support 2.

As far as connectivity goes, Z270 and H270 can both support 6 SATA drives and have the same total number of USB ports (14) – although Z270 can have two more USB 3.0 ports than H270 (10 versus 8). Regarding additional feature sets, both support Smart Sound Technology, Rapid Storage Technology, although only Z270 supports Smart Response Technology (otherwise known as SSD Caching). For business-based customers who need the upgrade stability and security features of vPro and SIPP, it is worth noting that neither of these chipsets support this feature.

Business Chipsets (Q270, Q250, B250)

*In addition to the 16 PCI-E 3.0 lanes from the CPU
**This represents roughly how many PCI-E devices (LAN, USB, Thunderbolt, etc.) are able to use the available chipset PCI-E lanes

Of the three business-class chipsets, Q270 is the only one that has the ability to split up the PCI-E lanes from the CPU two or three ways. In addition to the more flexible CPU PCI-E lane configurations, Q270 also has a much higher number of PCI-E lanes available via the chipset. Where Q270 has 24 PCI-E 3.0 lanes, Q250 has only 14 PCI-E 3.0 lanes and B250 has just 12 PCI-E 3.0 lanes. This small number of lanes means that Q250 and especially B250 motherboards will likely lack features like M.2, WiFi, or extra USB ports provided through third party controllers.

As far as connectivity goes, all three chipsets can support 6 SATA drives and have the nearly the same total number of USB ports (14 for Q270/Q250, 12 for B250). For the additional feature sets, only the Q270 chipset supports Smart Response Technology and vPro although both Q270 and Q250 support SIPP.

Conclusion

Keep in mind that the chipset is only one of the many factors you should take into consideration when choosing a motherboard. If there is a specific feature you need like CPU overclocking or M.2 support, knowing what each chipset offers gives you a great starting place. But even from there, you still have to sort through the large number of motherboards that use that chipset. If you don't find a motherboard that fits your needs in terms of rear or internal ports, layout, or other functionality, you may even need to look at a different chipset instead. 

For example, while the H270 chipset may sound like the ideal choice for the majority of our customers, we have found that the Z270 motherboards are often a better fit even if a customer doesn't need the extra features present in the Z270 chipset. The main reason is that motherboard manufactures tend to add more additional ports, headers, and features on their Z270 motherboards since that is what is considered the "premium" chipset. Often times, just a couple of additional ports can make the difference between a motherboard working for a customer out of the box or needing to use add-on PCI-E cards to get the wanted functionality.

In general, we tend to recommend the Z270 chipset for users who want to be sure they are getting all the features they may possibly need. However, H270 can be great in small form factor systems (such as our Echo systems) since things like additional PCI-E lanes are not a big deal for mini-ITX motherboards that have only a single PCI-E slot.