Last week, Gigabyte suggested Intel was working on a new wave of LGA1700 processors—likely a Raptor Lake refresh for expanded DDR4 support during these memory-constrained times. It has even been busy releasing BIOS files for B760 and H610 motherboards to ensure full compatibility once those chips arrive, which it expected was around "early 2027".
This week, Gigabyte has scrubbed all mention of those forthcoming chips, removed the blog post, and replaced it with another that's much less explicit.
Here's the important bit from Gigabyte's blog post last week:
"Built on socket LGA1700 and expected to launch in early 2027, the new processors bring fresh performance to an established platform, and Gigabyte users can be ready from day one."
That's now been deleted.
Gigabyte posted a new blog post on October 13 on the same topic. It notes that Gigabyte has expanded LGA1700 processor support across Z790, B760, and H610 motherboards—adding Z790 chipsets to the list.
Notably, this one lacks any explicit mention of upcoming Intel chips:
"[Gigabyte] today announced a new BIOS update that delivers more comprehensive LGA1700 processor support across its entire lineup of Intel Z790, B760 and H610 motherboards. The update extends compatibility to a wider range of processors on the established Socket LGA1700 platform, giving Gigabyte users more choice and more possibility to grow."
There's some press release ju-jitsu going on here. Gigabyte appears to have said something it shouldn't about new Intel chips, and in correcting its mistake, it now has to justify a bunch of new BIOS files that exist in large part for supporting said new chips.
The BIOS files themselves give the game away. Take the Z790 Aero G, for example. It received a new BIOS update on September 29, 2026 with the note: "Preparation for upcoming processor support."
Hey, you can put two and two together.
I've had a look around MSI and Asus support pages for any sign of similar updates for their Z790 motherboards, but they have made no explicit mention of support for future processors.
Nevertheless, it sure looks like new LGA1700 chips are readying for launch in the new year. Intel did say it is planning to keep them around, after all.
These are likely to be mostly Raptor Lake refresh, so new spins on the 14th Gen chips. Though Intel does like to mix and match architectures at times, like the Core i5 13400, which could've been both Alder Lake or Raptor Lake.
Here's hoping Intel applies the same logic to these chips as it did the Arrow Lake refresh, such as the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus. Same chips, much lower costs.