Motherboards - Page 13

We are getting closer and closer to Intel's big reveal and release of its next-gen 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" CPUs and with it the 600-series chipset, and more specifically the flagship Z690 chipset that will power the just-leaked AORUS Z690 Master motherboard.

The new AORUS Z690 Master motherboard has had its official marketing picture leaked, with the new ultra-premium motherboard ready to rock and roll with Intel's flagship Core i9-12900K processor. You can see those delicious next-gen DDR5 DIMMs and PCIe 5.0 here, but we don't know if there's just 1 x PCIe 5.0 x16 slot and 2 x PCIe 4.0 x16 slots just yet.

There's dual 8-pin EPS power connectors, the LGA1700 socket that's ready for Intel's new 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" CPUs, and a huge M.2 slot thermal guard that will keep those 7GB/sec+ NVMe M.2 SSDs. It's a beautiful looking motherboard, that's for sure.

We now have our first look at ASRock's new Z690 motherboards, all ready to rock and roll with Intel's next-gen Alder Lake CPUs.

ASRock's new flagship Z690 Taichi motherboard is looking mighty fine, with the company making good use of the tweaks it has done across the motherboard, including its use of RGB lighting. We've got some DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 goodness here as well, ready for the very latest technology.

There's also the ASRock Z690 Extreme, and Z690 Steel Legend motherboards which will make up the higher-end motherboards. There's also the Z690 PG Riptide motherboard, while there'll also be the Z690 Phantom Gaming 4 and smaller Z690M Phantom Gaming 4 for SFF gaming PCs.

Intel's new Alder Lake CPU platform is about as close as it can be to me smelling that fresh silicon, with BIOSTAR now officially teasing its next-gen Z690-based motherboards.

BIOSTAR is preparing at least two Z690 motherboards with new Racing and Valkyrie Z690 motherboards, which will take Intel's new LGA1700-based 12th Gen "Alder Lake" CPUs. We don't know if these new BIOSTAR motherboards are DDR5 or DDR4, since Alder Lake can accept both -- but I'd say at least one, if not both of these new motherboards, are ready for next-gen DDR5 memory.

Here's the official tweet in question from BIOSTAR which is teasing its next-gen motherboards, of course without spoiling that they're based on the new 600-series chipset from Intel and ready for the next-gen Alder Lake family of CPUs.

GIGABYTE is working on a plethora of 600-series motherboards, ready for Intel's unleashing of its 12th Gen "Alder Lake" CPUs that are not too far away now.

We have the flagship GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS EXTREME motherboard which will feature what should be a beautiful, kick-ass monoblock and rock out with its new RAM out in DDR5 support. There'll also be AORUS MASTER and AORUS TACHYON motherboards, exclusive with next-gen DDR5 RAM.

GIGABYTE will be looking after DDR4 owners with the AORUS ELITE, AORUS PRO, and AORUS ULTRA which will all include DDR4 RAM support. GIGABYTE is reportedly introducing a new model in the AORUS ELITE STEALTH, so expect to see more on that over the coming months.

If you've been holding off on buying an AMD Ryzen CPU with the new Zen 3-powered Ryzen 5000 series, then the motherboard you've been waiting for is here: EVGA's new super-enthusiast X570 DARK motherboard.

EVGA's new X570 DARK motherboard has its AMD AM4 socket rotated 270 degrees, and just 2 x DIMM slots which is the optimal for extreme overclocking (1 DIMM per channel). There are 2 x PCIe 4.0 x16 slots, and a single M.2 NVMe SSD. You won't need much on this board, but with 4TB+ capacities on super-fast PCIe 4.0 SSDs you can build quite the beast with the EVGA X570 DARK.

Enthusiasts will be buying the EVGA X570 DARK motherboard for its 17-phase Digital VRM, with the huge power delivery cooled by extensive finned heat sinks. The aluminum-finned heat sinks cool the VRMs and the PCH through a large copper heat pipe. The dual DIMM slots limit you to 64GB, but there's not many situations where you'd be buying a motherboard like this and wanting to put 128GB into this board.

Intel will have its new 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" CPUs and 600-series motherboards launching in October or November 2021, just weeks away really -- and now we have some news on the ASUS Z690 motherboards in various forms.

ASUS will have a plethora of Z690 motherboards for you to choose from, with the choice between DDR5 + DDR4 RAM for some of the models. It all starts with the flagship ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme motherboard, which also includes the FORMULA, HERO, and APEX motherboards as well -- all of them will have DDR5, and only DDR5.

There are 3 x ROG STRIX Z690 motherboards, a TUF GAMING Z690 board, and a heap of PRIME Z690 motherboards that will have varying levels of technology, features, and sizes. In the middle of the ASUS Z690 avalanche of motherboards we have the ProART Z690-CREATOR 10G motherboard which sounds like a "content creator" motherboard that'll have 10GbE LAN and I'm sure a butt-load of I/O connectivity.

GIGABYTE's next-gen AORUS Z690 motherboards have been listed early by a naughty Australian retailer, with the AORUS Z690 Master and AORUS Z690 Elite motherboards teased.

The new GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS Master is listed for $768.90 AUD which works out to around $500 USD (if you account for the 10% GST on the Australian pricing) while the GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS Elite listed for $438.90 AUD which means it should cost under $400.

GIGABYTE will launch its new Z690 family of motherboards including the new flagship Z690 AORUS Master and Z690 AORUS Elite motherboards next month, after Intel launches its new 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" CPUs that will include support for both DDR5 RAM and PCIe 5.0 technology.

EVGA has been doing a drip-drip-drip method of unveiling and teasing its new -- and first-ever AMD motherboard, the upcoming EVGA X570S DARK motherboard.

The new EVGA X570S DARK motherboard was recently teased by Vince "Kingpin" Lucido, teasing the absolutely beautiful motherboard in all its OC glory. It features the upgraded X570S chipset, with EVGA passively cooling it on the motherboard -- there's also 2 x DIMM slots, EVGA's infamous (and also awesome) angled power connectors, and on-board reset and power buttons.

There are 2 x PCIe 4.0 x16 slots here, so you can throw in any graphics card you want -- or two, or you could use the second PCIe 4.0 slot for a high-end NVMe RAID card. There's a single M.2 NVMe slot on the EVGA X570S DARK motherboard, which is attached to the high-speed PCIe 4.0 interface.

MSI has teamed with EK on the new EK-Quantum MSI MPG X570S CARBON EK X motherboard, which not only rocks AMD's new X570S chipset -- but a pre-installed monoblock made by EK. Check it out:

The new EK-Quantum MSI MPG X570S CARBON EK X rocks a beautiful pre-installed monoblock, cooling any Ryzen CPU right up to the flagship Ryzen 9 5950X processor, as well as the VRM section of the motherboard. Important for when you want to crank up the overclocking on your Ryzen CPU.

The cooler solution on the motherboard has been tailor-made for EK-Quantum MSI MPG X570S CARBON only, with an included EK-Leak Tester that sells for $40, is included with the motherboard. The base of the monoblock is made from nickel-plated electrolytic copper -- meanwhile, the top is made from quality CNC-machined cast acrylic glass material, and partially covered by a carbon fiber style pattern. It looks so nice.

Intel's next-gen Z690 chipset has been spotted on a new prototype motherboard, at least according to a post on the Bilibili forums with someone uploading a photo of their prototype Intel Z690 motherboard.

The poster even says he's an "NDA War God" and while it shows the purported Intel Z690 motherboard, we have no additional information or details about the board from these photos. The board itself is a high-end variant, with up to 23 power stages around the CPU socket, which is normally here with high-end and enthusiast motherboards.

Intel's fresh new LGA1700 socket is shown here, with dual EPS connectors for the high-end board. We have 3 x M.2 connectors which is nothing new. I'm looking forward to the final form Z690 motherboards, which we'll see kick off later this year, and the bigger next-gen CPU fight between AMD and Intel in 2022 and beyond.

We know it's coming, but now it's a big step closer -- EVGA's new X570-based DARK series motherboard, which will take an AMD Ryzen CPU.

It has been 5 years since AMD unleashed the AM4 socket and now EVGA is crafting what should be one of the very best X570 motherboards ever made. A new teaser photo was posted by Vince "KINGPIN" Lucido, and I'd dare say if Vince is posting pictures of the EVGA X570S DARK motherboard, then we're not far from the announcement of the board.

But then there's a far bigger issue -- EVGA announced its Intel Z590-based DARK and FTW motherboards over 6 months ago now and they're still not available. So sure, EVGA could reveal its new X570S DARK motherboard any day or week now, but it could be the end of 2021 or even into 2022 before we see it in the flesh.

ASUS has just announced a list of compatible motherboards that are ready for Windows 11 -- with the key player here being the TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module) as it is a requirement of Windows 11.

ASUS updated their FAQ a couple of days ago to include a list of motherboards that are compatible with Windows 11, ready to rock and roll with TPM 2.0 and all. Before you begin, ASUS warns its users:

"Windows 11 has not been officially released and there might be stability issues with the Insider Preview build as it has not passed formal hardware validation and qualification. The installation or upgrade to the Windows 11 Insider Preview or any third-party software is done at your own discretion and risk. You will be solely responsible for any damage to your system or loss of data that results from that activity. ASUS will not be liable for any losses and damages in connection with the use of Windows 11".

BIOSTAR has announced which motherboards in its family of Intel and AMD motherboards supports Microsoft's next-gen Windows 11 operating system.

Windows 11 has full support from BIOSTAR and a particular list of motherboards that support the TPM 2.0 chip required for Windows 11, with TPM being the Trusted Platform Module. You need that to install and run Windows 11, and BIOSTAR is making the world know exactly which boards will work with Microsoft's next-gen OS.

BIOSTAR's range of Intel chipset-based motherboards: Z590, B560, B460, H510, B250 motherboards will be fine while on the AMD side of the fence we have support from BIOSTAR for Windows 11 with AMD chipsets that include the X570, B550, A520, X470, B450, X370, B350, and A320 series motherboards.

EVGA has been at the top of enthusiast motherboards for years now, but they've been totally absent from the AMD chipset world -- and that is all about to change:

The company teased "Darkness is coming" on Twitter, teasing that EVGA is working on a new DARK series motherboard with an AMD chipset -- presumably X570S (without the active chipset cooling). EVGA wasn't clear on what motherboard is coming, nor was the company clear about when its new DARK series motherboard would grace AMD Ryzen gamers.

Just as we're ramping up into the next-gen AM5 chipset and new Zen 4 architecture, EVGA has waited in the wings with what should be one of the most enthusiast level motherboards that money (will soon be able) to buy. AM4 is sticking around for a while it seems, and EVGA should have a truly kick ass Zen-ready X570/S motherboard.

We might not see this happen right away, but we're going to move away from that damn 24-pin power connector going into motherboards towards something far smaller, better, and more power-efficient.

Intel seems to be the one that is pushing for the new power-efficient ATX12VO power standard, with the launch of its upcoming 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake-S" platform. But the thing is: motherboard makers and PSU manufacturers aren't happy with the news.

It would mean a new 10-pin power connector on your motherboard -- so, a new motherboard. It would also mean a new 10-pin power connector ready on your new PSU, as the power supply can't feature any other power rails other than 12V. If voltage is lower or higher than 12V then it means the motherboard will be converting that power, and not the PSU like normal.

If you want one of the ultimate PC gaming setups right now, you owe it to yourself to have GIGABYTE's new custom Z590 AORUS Xtreme Waterforce motherboard to be on your radar. Check it out:

GIGABYTE is using not just 1 but 2 different LED readouts that will not only look great, but they'll provide you with useful information like displaying the temperature of the water or the CPU. It's not just the read-outs though, as the huge monoblock takes over across a huge chunk of the board across both the Z590 chipset and those super-fast PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSDs as well.

It wouldn't be a motherboard that cost $1600 and had a gigantic monoblock if it didn't rock great power delivery, with GIGABYTE using 20+1 stage VRM with 100A power stages. You should be able to crank everything to the max when overclocking, with GIGABYTE even including built-in leak detection with its new Z590 AORUS Xtreme Waterforce motherboard. If a leak is detected, it will automatically shut down your entire PC.

Oh my word has MSI crafted something special with its new MEG Z590 ACE Gold Edition motherboard, which rocks actual 24K gold on its heat sink. Check it out:

The new MSI MEG Z590 ACE Gold Edition motherboard features a unique design, with an equally unique gold/silver/black theme throughout the board. MSI uses a direct 19-phase digital VRM with 90 Amp Smart Power Stages driven through 2 x 8-pin power connectors.

An actual genuine 24K gold foil heat sink is used, with platinum-colored parts scattered on top which would look fantastic in the right system alongside some G.SKILL Trident Z Royal RAM. We have an 8-layer PCB with 2oz Thickened Copper and support for up to DDR4-5600 RAM, so you should be good for overclocking.

The next-gen ASUS Z690 motherboards are still a little while out but thanks to the latest version of HWiNFO, the software now includes support for the unreleased Z690 chipset and the ASUS ROG Maximus XIV family of motherboards.

Intel's next-gen LGA 1700 socket will be the star of the show on the Z690 motherboard, which will launch alongside and support the 12th Gen Core CPUs otherwise under the Alder Lake architecture. The new Alder Lake-S flagship CPU should end up being the Core i9-12900K -- and will work on the new Z690 chipset.

The new Alder Lake-S platform will also deliver PCIe 4.0 like Rocket Lake-S recently did, but we'll be getting some next-gen DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0 support. The flagship Z690 chipset looks to be the only one that supports DDR5-4800 memory, while lower-end H670, B650, and H610 chipsets will support up to DDR4-3200 memory.

Russia has just unveiled its first B450 motherboard that is ready to take AMD Ryzen CPUs -- with Russia's CS Group and Philax announcing it is making "at least" 40,000 motherboards and 50,000 monitors.

The reason? Russia wants to lessen its reliance on securing products internationally, so making them in-house is the first step with the introduction of the new B450-based motherboards and 50,000 monitors on the way. The new motherboards might be under development still, but they've been passing all of the tests, certified for Russian government use, and can now be pre-ordered by certain clients in the country.

Philax used the ASRock B450M Pro4 because you can add a TPM module, a requirement for use by the government -- TPM or Trusted Platform Module, is a specialized chip on the motherboard that stores RSA encryption keys used by the system for hardware-based authentication.

MSI's new MEG Z590 Unify-X motherboard has been used to break the world record for DDR4 memory frequency, with an insane DDR4-7200 memory overclock.

Taiwan-based overclocker Toppc used the MSI MEG Z590 Unify-X motherboard alongside some Kingston HyperX Predator 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 memory, reaching DDR4-7200 speeds. With Toppc using Intel's new Core i9-11900K processor, with just 2 cores and 2 threads enabled and the CPU downclocked to 1.5GHz with 1.505V of voltage.

LN2 cooling was used for the overclocking record, with the DDR4 memory set to CL58-63-63-63-2 3600 MHz (1:27). MSI's new MEG Z590 Unify-X motherboard was built for this very task: memory overclocking and smashing memory world records and I think MSI has just done that without a problem -- and we're only weeks into the launch of Rocket Lake-S.