Noctua’s latest announcement is the first official recognition of the rumored LGA2066 socket for the forthcoming X299 Basin Falls platform, which marks a departure for Intel’s HEDT platform. In the past, HEDT processors shared the same socket as the E5 Xeon server family, such as the 2011-3 socket with Broadwell-E. Last year, we discovered the massive LGA 3647 socket that Intel is deploying for Purley (aka Xeon Skylake-EP).
Noctua also had a prototype cooler on hand at the show, which confirmed the new socket will support both Purley and Knights Landing platforms. Of course, such lavish socket accommodations would make little sense for the casual enthusiast; Intel added the extra pins to support whiz-bang enterprise technology like 100Gbps Omni-Path and three UPI interconnects. As we opined at the time, LGA3647 likely served as an initial indication that Intel would offer a separate socket for the HEDT platform.
Sure enough, Noctua’s press release claimed that the new Basin Falls X299 platform will employ the LGA 2066 socket for Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X. The naming scheme also marks another departure for Intel, this time from the “E” branding typically associated with its HEDT processors.
Owners of older Noctua CPU coolers will be happy to discover that the company is now offering a free mounting upgrade for those of you planning on upgrading to Intel’s upcoming LGA2066 platform and Skylake-X CPUs.
It should be noted that most current Noctua coolers already include the SecuFirm2 mounting system for LGA2011 that’s compatible with LGA2066 motherboards without the need for upgrades or modifications. In fact, this kit is compatible with most Noctua retail coolers produced since 2005, except for the NH-L9i and NH-L9a low-profile models.
Noctua CEO Roland Mossig stated:
We’re determined to provide the best possible support to our customers and, over the years, we’ve sent many thousands of mounting kits free of charge to users who wanted to upgrade to new platforms. With Skylake-X just around the corner, we’re pleased to announce that we’ll extend this offer for LGA2066. Owners of older Noctua retail heatsinks that don’t support LGA2011/LGA2066 out of the box will be able to upgrade to the new socket free of charge!
