While Intel has forced consumers to upgrade their motherboard with every new wave of CPUs since Skylake, Colorful apparently has a more cost-effective solution. Hardware leaker @momomo_us recently discovered that Colorful's H310M-E V20 accepts four generations of Intel Core chips, spanning from Skylake to Coffee Lake Refresh.
The H310M-E V20 comes in a compact, micro-ATX form factor and, of course, features a LGA1151 CPU socket. Colorful only lists compatibility for Coffee Lake and Coffee Lake Refresh processors, but the the CPU-Z screenshots below show the H310M-E V20 working with with previous Kaby Lake and Skylake processors as well. This would make the H310M-E V20 the jack of all trades in the H310 motherboard world.
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With the ample processor support aside, the H310M-E V20 isn't the best motherboard you can buy when it comes to specs and is everything you'd expect from your typical budget H310 offering. The board only has two DDR4 RAM slots and supports DDR4-2666 memory modules. The motherboard lacks an M.2 port, and you're restricted to four SATA III connectors for your hard drives and SSDs.
The expansion slot configuration on the H310M-E V20 is as basic as it gets. The motherboard supplies one PCIe 3.0 x16 slot and one PCIe 2.0 x1 slot for housing graphics cards and other expansion cards.
The H310M-E V20 utilizes two third-party controllers. Thanks to the Realtek RTL8111H controller, the motherboard has a Gigabit Ethernet port. Additionally, the Realtek ALC662 audio codec provides a 6-channel audio experience through three 3.5mm audio jacks.
Connectivity options on the rear panel come down to two PS/2 ports, one HDMI port, one VGA port, two USB 3.0 ports and two USB 2.0 ports. Fortunately, the motherboard has one USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 header, meaning you can have up to four more USB ports for connecting peripherals.
The H310M-E V20 is currently listed on Amazon for $82.89.
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Zhiye Liu is a news editor, memory reviewer, and SSD tester at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.
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TCA_ChinChin So I guess the outrage at Intel removing motherboard support every generation was justified?Reply -
dalauder Reply
Sarcasm? We all know Intel was just milking the cash cow when they kept claiming a socket change was necessary. I think AMD proved a socket can easily last 5 years. How long did AM3 last? 2009-2016?TCA_ChinChin said:So I guess the outrage at Intel removing motherboard support every generation was justified? -
TCA_ChinChin Reply
There are still many on this forum and many others and still claim that a socket change was necessary (even good).dalauder said:Sarcasm? We all know Intel was just milking the cash cow when they kept claiming a socket change was necessary. I think AMD proved a socket can easily last 5 years. How long did AM3 last? 2009-2016? -
w_o_t_q iReply
It depend on CPU specs ... If more current, voltage, data flow need extra pins .... This show that support of CPU on certain socket is depend on MB builders greed .... The same goes for AMD which cut out PCIe Gen4 support for x470 motherboards ...TCA_ChinChin said:There are still many on this forum and many others and still claim that a socket change was necessary (even good). -
TCA_ChinChin Reply
AMD still supports CPUs for x470, even x370. PCIe Gen4 doesn't even exist on Intel platforms. Why is it MB builder's greed when the same companies make x370, b350, b450, x470, and x570 support the almost all generations of Ryzen between them, but when making Intel boards, they lock down support? If all MB builders were trying to make the most money, then they would have almost limited the AM4 socket compabibility.w_o_t_q said:It depend on CPU specs ... If more current, voltage, data flow need extra pins .... This show that support of CPU on certain socket is depend on MB builders greed .... The same goes for AMD which cut out PCIe Gen4 support for x470 motherboards ... -
w_o_t_q Reply
PCIe Gen 4 was removed by patch from AMD and MB makers in theory had option not apply it ... But greed was stronger. ;) If You look on x570 mb its supports only 2000 and 3000 series of CPU. Official list on webpage. The similar approach goes for any AM4 generation chipset mb, the same as for Socket 1151. Consider chipset will support only max 3 generations. Then same will happens when 4000 desktop cpu will go out, x570 will supported it, but most likely x470 not. And yes CPU will have Your favorite AM4TCA_ChinChin said:AMD still supports CPUs for x470, even x370. PCIe Gen4 doesn't even exist on Intel platforms. Why is it MB builder's greed when the same companies make x370, b350, b450, x470, and x570 support the almost all generations of Ryzen between them, but when making Intel boards, they lock down support? If all MB builders were trying to make the most money, then they would have almost limited the AM4 socket compabibility. -
TCA_ChinChin Intel only ever supports 1, maybe 2 generations a socket. AMD has supported mostly all AM4 processors on their motherboards. With Intel, you don't even have a choice. Stop being a fanboy, AMD's implementation of their motherboard platform is superior to Intel's.Reply -
w_o_t_q Reply
I mention about X570 right now it supports 2 generations most likely it support 4000 desktop cpus (we find out that in the end of this year may be if Corona virus will not disturb it). I like more Intel approach about socket design all pins are in socket making more safe to transport and install cpu. If mb support 2 or 3 generations of cpu it no matter .... After 2 gens You would like to buy new mb just for sake of stability ...TCA_ChinChin said:Intel only ever supports 1, maybe 2 generations a socket. AMD has supported mostly all AM4 processors on their motherboards. With Intel, you don't even have a choice. Stop being a fanboy, AMD's implementation of their motherboard platform is superior to Intel's. -
TCA_ChinChin Okay, for you its more convenient, but there are a lot of people who would have been a lot happier and want more CPU support for their mobos. Having pins on the CPU makes it easier to fix bent pins than when pins are in the socket, but thats also personal preference. Intel can have pins in the socket AND have multi-generation support, especially since they've been rebranding skylake for so long.Reply -
dalauder Reply
AMD didn't cut out PCIe 4.0 on x470. The motherboards couldn't consistently support it. AMD hasn't shied away from giving out features it could in the last 15 years, for the most part, so I'm betting there were plenty of motherboards with power deliver system issues.w_o_t_q said:It depend on CPU specs ... If more current, voltage, data flow need extra pins .... This show that support of CPU on certain socket is depend on MB builders greed .... The same goes for AMD which cut out PCIe Gen4 support for x470 motherboards ...
That's kind of obvious considering that all X570 boards need active cooling on the chipset.