First Public Intel W890 Motherboard ADLINK ISB-W890 Workstation for Granite Rapids
The ADLINK ISB-W890 boards have been photographed, marking the debut public appearance of the first ever motherboard designed for the upcoming Intel W890 chipset. It will be installed in the 6th Gen Intel Xeon "Granite Rapids" workstation processors and gives a look at what immense power and connectivity are about to be expected from the next generation of professional computing.
CPU Support and Socket Details
The ISB-W890 is compatible with the LGA 4710-2 socket. This socket is also made for Xeon 6700P and 6700E server-grade processors, but the W890 is adjusted to work under the workstation environment. The platform will support the next Xeon 600 "Granite Rapids-WS" chips, rumored to have up to 86 cores. Notably, the board has features indicating it will support CPU overclocking for some selected "X" series models.
Memory and Form Factor
Built in the standard CEB form factor measuring 12” x 10.5” (305 x 267mm), the motherboard was architected for efficient placement within professional chassis. Memory capabilities include:
- Slots: 8x DDR5 RDIMM slots.
- Channels: 4-channel DDR5 architecture.
- Speed: Up to 6400 MT/s (1DPC) or 5200 MT/s (2DPC).
- Capacity: Individual modules potentially exceeding 1TB, depending on how they are manufactured.
Expansion Slots and PCIe Lanes
A significant part of this platform has to do with the variant PCIe lanes, dependent on the processor tier that has been installed.
Expert Stream (128 Lanes)
- 2x PCIe 5.0 x16
- 1x PCIe 4.0 x16
- 1x PCIe 5.0 x8
- 1x PCIe 4.0 x8
- 1x PCIe 5.0 x4
- 1x PCIe 4.0 x4
Mainstream Stream (80 Lanes)
- 2x PCIe 5.0 x16
- 1x PCIe 5.0 x8
- 1x PCIe 4.0 x8
- 1x PCIe 5.0 x4
- 1x PCIe 4.0 x4
Storage and Connectivity
For workflows particularly storage-heavy, the ADLINK ISB-W890 will provide a full suite of interfaces, including four MCIO x8 connectors, two M.2 NVMe slots (M-Key), two SlimSAS slots, and eight general SATA III slots.
The back and internal headers provide:
- Networking: 1x 1GbE LAN and 1x 2.5GbE LAN.
- USB: Different varieties of USB 3.2 Gen2 (Type-A and Type-C) and USB 3.0 ports.
- Management: IPMC headers, TPM pin header, and VROC connectors.
As benchmarks for the compatible chips begin to show in databases, 2026 time frames are likely to sound around CES.
