der8auer claims Intel LGA-1151v2 was pointless

German overclocker der8auer analyzed the Intel LGA-1151v2 socket and concludes the extra pins on the Z370 and Z390 are pointless. Testing reveals the extra pins are completely unnecessary and were most likely only implemented to force enthusiasts to upgrade to a new motherboard. Compared with the Z170 and Z270 series, the new socket has 18 more power supply pins, as well as 14 additional ground pins. Der8auer tested current load on pins and concludes there's no reason why the old socket couldn't handle Coffee Lake:

In the next test, Hartung artificially limited the power supply of the processor. He simply taped 18 pins on the downside of an i9-9900K to restore the same status as the Z270. He then tested in this configuration. Neither the socket nor the processor behaved differently or were damaged. Even more taped pins don’t make a difference. der8auer also tested with 28, 38, 45, 56 and 69 taped pins. In the most extreme version, almost 50 percent of the power supply pins are not in use, which means a load of 1.92 ampere per pin. And even in this test environment, neither the processor nor the socket suffered any visible damage or disadvantages after six hours of continuous testing.