Intel H61 Chipset Review: (Almost) All the Features for Less

The H61 was released without too much fuss a while ago. As with previous, lower-end chipsets (the G31, and G41), it seems that Intel is trying to extend the reach of their new processors by providing a cheaper platform for their new Sandy Bridge family of CPUs. From the naming scheme, the H61 is, presumably, a cut-down version of the H67 addressed to people who don’t really need some of the more advanced capabilities offered by the latter. The differences between those two chipsets can be learned from the table below.

As you can see, the H61 is set apart from the H67 by a number of key differences. The first one is fewer amount of available PCI-Express lanes and USB 2.0 ports on the H61. The second, more important difference lies on H61’s lack of AHCI and RAID features. It seems that these differences would severely affect the chipset’s overall performance, but in our tests, we will try to prove if it’s really the case. See the simple illustration below to learn of the H61’s working mechanism.

Intel has already released a number of new motherboards based on this chipset, they are:

What are the differences between those motherboards? Let’s take a look at the table below.