According to a report on digitimes, Intel plans to launch three new 7 series chipsets – Z77, Z75 and H77, supporting its upcoming 22nm Ivy Bridge-based CPUs and the existing 32nm Sandy Bridge-based CPUs, in March or April 2012. For the enterprise market, Intel is set to launch Q77, Q75 and B75 chipsets with new vPro technologies to replace its existing Q67, Q65 and B65 chipsets, according to sources from motherboard makers.
The Z77 and Z75 will both support CPU overclocking functionality. All three chipsets will have integrated audio supporting HDMI/DP audio output, and will provide two SATA 6Gbps ports, supporting Intel Smart Response technology as well as four USB 3.0 ports, and 10 USB 2.0 ports.
The Q77 and Q75 chipsets provide four USB 3.0 and 10 USB 2.0 ports, while B75 chipsets provide only eight USB 2.0 ports. Q77 features two SATA 6Gbps ports with Q75 and B75 both only featuring one. Of the three chipsets, only Q77 supports Intel Smart Response technology.
For its next-generation notebook platform Chief River, Intel is set to launch QS77, QM77, HM77, HM76 and HM75 in March and April 2012.
Intel is also set to ship its high-end X79 chipset in August.