Intel has been rumoured to be cooking up a Z970 chipset for its forthcoming Nova Lake launch for a while, and we’ve just spotted some shipping and customs records from Vietnam that back this up. Two Z970 motherboards that appear to be from ASRock have popped up in the logs at NBD, suggesting that Intel is indeed planning to approach the high-end motherboard market with a two-pronged attack.
The two boards listed in the records are the Z970 LiveMixer WiFi and Z970 Pro-A WiFi. Both LiveMixer and Pro-A are brands previously used by ASRock for motherboards, with the former aimed at content streamers, so it looks as though the company is planning to produce versions based on Intel’s rumoured Z970 chipset as well. All the records refer to PCBs shipping at the end of September 2026.
According to previous rumours, the Intel Z970 chipset supports CPU multiplier overclocking, but lacks the base clock tweaking of top-end Z990 boards. Regular Intel leaker Jaykihn has stated that Z970 will “replace most of the market currently covered by the B860.”
If that’s true, it marks a big change for Intel, which has only allowed multiplier overclocking on its most expensive chipset for years. Comparatively, while its cheaper B-series chipsets now at least allow you to overclock your RAM and use XMP profiles, they’re unable to overclock your CPU.
Comparatively, AMD unlocks overclocking across all its X-series chipsets and most of its B-series boards, giving it a competitive advantage over Intel in the enthusiast market. However, it looks as though Intel is adopting a big strange in strategy for Nova Lake.
VP and GM of Intel’s enthusiast channel, Robert Hallock, has previously stated that Intel is planning to offer more in the way of overclocking features for users on lower budgets. “You will see more unlocked SKUs over time, that is the goal,” he told tech outlet PC Games Hardware. “That should not be a feature reserved for the people paying the most amount of money.”
It looks as though this approach is going to encompass motherboards as well as CPUs, with the cheaper Z970 chipset enabling Intel users to gain access to overclocking features without spending big money.
Of course, bear in mind that Intel hasn’t officially announced either the Z990 or Z970 chipsets yet, so this is all still very much unofficial. We’ll only know all the details for sure when Intel finally lifts the lid on Nova Lake, with the company recently promising to share more details at the CES tradeshow in January 2027.
In the meantime, check out our guide to buying the best CPU for your needs if you want to buy yourself a new chip now.
