Motherboards News - Page 30

Released in an ATX form-factor format and carrying support for AMD AM3+ processors, GIGABYTE's new 990X-Gaming SLI motherboard is said to be a direct continuation of its AMD 970 motherboard releases, as reported by techPowerUp recently.

Designed to be built with an AMD FX-8370 processor, this new product features support for up to 32GB of dual-channel DDR3 RAM running at 2400MHz speeds, further packing in two PCI-E x16 slots, PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and legacy PCI options. Other ports include two USB 3.1 Type-A, four USB 3.0 ports, an Intel-powered I-218C gigabit Ethernet connection and 10-channel audio thanks to a 115 dbA SNR CODEC. Wrapping up the feature list are storage offerings including a single 20 Gb/s M.2 port and six SATA 6 Gb/s ports.

With this board set for release soon, reports say that it should hit the shelves at around $100.

Sporting support for DDR4 and its paired 'boost technology', MSI has announced its new mATX B150M Gaming Pro motherboard, coming packed with an MSI DS B1 Gaming mouse for free as part of the package - described in a recent press release as a "great and nimble" peripheral.

DDR4 Boost is described by MSI as "fully isolating the memory circuitry from other components" which helps ensure "the purest possible memory signal for maximum performance and stability." Further packed with an LED illuminated LAN connector that comes with 15KV anti-surge protection, this new product also contains an isolated audio PCB for better quality sound.

MSI has not yet announced a release date or pricing.

BIOSTAR has gone completely LED crazy, introducing its VIVID LED DJ technology on multiple RACING series motherboards, including customization and personalization features to allow for maximum control.

BIOSTAR's VIVID LED DJ technology will help users synchronise their case color schemes with RGB onboard motherboard lighting, helping create a uniform lighting experience. Used in unison with BIOSTAR's 5050 LED Fun product, simply plug the strips into your motherboard and control everything through the VIVID software, creating a central place for all users to have maximum control over their color schemes.

This new LED technology is now available across a slew of BIOSTAR motherboard releases, including those from the Z170, B150 and H170 families. If you're interested, these products can be bought through Newegg.

Intel's unreleased Broadwell-EP powered Xeon processor has hit eBay, with the Xeon E5-2600 v4 processor being an 18-core part (36 threads thanks to Hyper-Threading) and priced at a pretty damn decent $999.

The new Intel Xeon E5-2600 v4 works on existing X99-based motherboards, with a base clock of 2.2GHz, and Turbo frequency of 3GHz. The new Xeon CPU is based on Intel's 14nm process, with a big note that this particular CPU is an engineering sample with the 'A0' stepping which means it's an early sample.

It features 2.5MB of L3 cache per core, with 45MB LLC cache in total. The Xeon E5-2600 v4 comes with a 145W TDP. Now, this super-awesome 18-core Xeon E5-2600 v4 works with the Supermicro X10SR series with the BIOS R 2.0, while the X10DR series works with the BIOS R 2.0 release.

Quoted in a recently issued press release as a "Reliable motherboard for Intel system builders," BIOSTAR has announced the release of its H110MD PRO motherboard which supports the Intel H110 chipset.

Featuring support for up to 16GB of DDR3L-1600 memory, this mATX motherboard further offers a single PCI-E 3.0 x16 port, two PCI-E 2.0 x1 slots, four SATA 3 ports, four USB 3.0 ports (2+2) and a total of six USB 2.0 ports (4+2). This black and yellow product comes further packed with Realtek GbE LAN, solid capacitors and BIOSTAR features including Watch Dog, Smart Speed LAN and a temperature monitor.

This product is said to be "available soon" from the official BIOSTAR eBay store, here.

While your child or smaller sibling may have no idea what they're used for, BIOSTAR has announced the return of PS/2 ports in its H170GT3 RACING motherboard.

Paired with features such as eight USB 3.0 and four USB 2.0 ports, BIOSTAR further promises four DDR4 slots, two PCI-E x16 3.0 ports, a single M.2 32GB/s port and more on this new model. If you're after a little bling, this product also comes fully optioned with BIOSTAR's Vivid LED DJ feature, further providing LED strips on the motherboard and one-touch mode selection for eco and performance boost profiles.

LAN is provided thanks to Intel's i219V technology and this motherboard operates around a H170 chipset, offering up compatibility with any LGA 1151 processor. If you're looking at graphics grunt, this new release will also support AMD Crossfire configurations, further allowing for extra spacing between the PCI-e X16 slots.

While recently searching GIGABYTE's website for BIOS updates for my X99 motherboard, I came across a new F20 BIOS for the X99-SOC Force, an update that brings support for a new and unreleased Intel processor.

GIGABYTE released BIOS F20 on 1/12/2106 for its entire X99 lineup, which supports a mysterious "2016 Q2 coming new CPU," as quoted from the website. Looking at Intel's roadmap for 2016, the next upcoming X99 CPUs will be based on the Broadwell-E microarchitecture, which has been highly anticipated by those who want 14nm on Intel's high-end platform. GIGABYTE's posting of this new BIOS reaffirms rumors and claims that current X99 motherboards will support Broadwell-E CPUs.

Looking at other motherboard vendor's sites, we could not find any hints of updated microcode for Broadwell-E support, which is not unusual given that Broadwell-E is not due for many months. Broadwell-E CPUs will work with current X99 motherboards as long as the X99 motherboard has been updated with Intel's latest microcode, so it is safe to say that if a motherboard is not shipped with Broadwell-E supporting BIOS versions then users might require Haswell-E CPUs for flashing. Releasing the BIOS so early before launch provides ample time for users to update their BIOS ROMs in anticipation for Broadwell-E CPUs, and so far, GIGABYTE is the only manufacturer providing Broadwell-E BIOS support.

GIGABYTE is always-on top of the overclocking challenges in the world, with the motherboard maker announcing its new GIGABYTE Z170 Winter OC Challenge, which will be hosted by HWBOT.org in February.

Overclockers from around the world are invited to overclock their sixth-generation Intel Core processors on GIGABYTE 100-series motherboards, with 5x motherboards to be won. Starting on January 31, there will be four different rounds for a chance of the big prize. The overclocker with the most ports from all stages of a category wins, which means the competition is super simple. The lucky draw includes a GIGABYTE Z170X-Gaming G1 motherboard, which isn't too shabby at all. As for the stages:

Round 1: Enthusiast, Rookie and Novice Overclockers - 2 Cores

CES 2016 - Supermicro is adamant about entering the gaming market. And that's a very good thing for gamers. They're known for producing some of the most reliable motherboards around for the workstation and data-center markets, and now they're taking all that engineering know-how into the gaming macrocosm.

They've had motherboards before that're geared towards gamers, but they haven't quite been too popular due to the association of them strictly with the enterprise segment. But Supermicro is adding a lot more motherboards to their roster in 2016. They're breaking out Z170 boards in micro-ATX and ATX flavors that'll feature some very cool color combinations and be backed by their incredibly strict validation process. They aren't a value brand, and they make equipment that's designed to last in 24/7 operating environments for many years, so they're a safe bet in most respects.

Supermicro will have a new Z170OCE overclocking friendly board in a green motif, as well as a micro-ATX H170 variant that'll carry on the red colors of it's big brother, the Core Gaming Z170. The new Z170OCE will have 6 USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB 3.1 and a Type-C port on the rear. It also has 6 SATA 3.0 ports and a PCIe x4 enabled M.2 slot just waiting for that NVMe enabled Kingston Hyper X Predator shown off at CES.

CES 2016 - ASUS had a tremendous showing at CES this year, with all manner of great new motherboards to look forward to and of course fantastic looking monitors. Now that Skylake has been out for a little bit, they're going to infuse the lower-end B150 chipset with some gaming love.

Even though these boards are not overclockable in the traditional (and official) sense, you can have a good stable board that uses all of the available resources that B150 has to offer, and in a small mini-ITX form-factor for those looking for a tiny, reliable and attractive package.

Underneath it'll be equipped with their Aura LED lighting that has a plethora of different colors and lighting effects. The board comes with MIMO enabled 802.11ac with an external 2x2 dual-band 2.5/5GHz antenna for maximum range and performance. There's an M.2 slot, and four separate SATA 6 ports for a mighty, yet great build. And better still is an on-board, dedicated water-pump header for the best possible cooling solutions.