Motherboards - Page 23

In reply to some media outlets claiming that ECS is looking to palm off or close its motherboard manufacturing capabilities, ECS Global Channel Marketing Department employee May Chuang reached out to us to clarify that these claims are incorrect with words straight from the the ECS president, Sunny Yang.

The official letter addressed the issue directly, stating that "We [ECS] feel regret to learn the untrue report from DIGITIMES," furthering that ECS would like to "formally clarity that ECS would never give up any opportunity to work on own-band DIY motherboard as what we always commit to our valuable customers."

DIGITIMES claimed that the information it received was from "Taiwan makers," however ECS took this as an opportunity to point out that it continues to progress in research and development in the motherboard industry with no means of escape planned for the immediate future.

Complete with an Intel Celeron N3150 1.6G Quad-core CPU built in to the motherboard, BIOSTAR has enabled its N3150NH model to support up to 8GB of DDR3L-1600 or 16GB DDR3L-1066 memory.

Other features include one PCI-E 2.0 slot, a gigabit Realtek RTL8111H Ethernet controller, Realtek ALC662 6 Channel HD Audio, HDMI and VGA-out.

With gamers in mind, BIOSTAR added in a recent press release that this motherboard features Smart Speed LAN - allowing a program to monitor your "PC's network behavior," meaning you can prioritize what is important and limit whatever is not.

Computex 2015 - Showcasing what ECS has to offer in the Intel Z170 chipset department is the Z170-CLAYMORE and the Z170-BLADE offerings.

The Z170-CLAYMORE boasts four memory ports capable of DDR4 Dual-Channel support up to 32GB, five PCIe x16 slots and a display outputs including HDMI 2.0 and Display Port. Adding to this is 2-Way graphics support for those looking at increasing performance.

Next up is the Z170-BLADE. Also supporting Intel's 6th Generation processors, expect four RAM bays supporting Dual-Channel DDR4 up to 32GB, two PCIe x16 slots, one PCIe x1 slot and further 2-Way video card support. Adding to this is six SATA (6Gb/s) ports and a single M.2 offering. Outputs on this board include HDMI, SVI, D-Sub and Display Port sitting alongside a 6-Channel (5.1) HD audio output by Realtek, two USB 3.1 ports, siz USB 3.0 ports and four USB 2.0 offerings.

Computex 2015 - The red MSI dragon has a strong showing this year in Taipei, seeing motherboards on display across the X99 and Z170A models.

First up is the X99A GODLIKE GAMING motherboard, featuring support for Intel Core i7 LGA 2011-3 socket processors, eight RAM bays supporting Quad-Channel DDR4 RAM at 3300MHz (overclocked) up to 128GB total, five PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots supporting 4-way SLI or Crossfire, one M.2 SATA port (32G/bs) ten SATA ports (6G/bs) and two Killer Gigabit LAN cards coupled with one Killer Wi-Fi module. For the audio lovers there is also added support for a 6.3mm Hi-Fi audio jack.

The other X99 motherboard on display is the X99A GAMING 9 ACK, sporting similar features but with the addition of two USB 3.1 ports and one less Killer LAN card. This model motherboard also took home a BC award thanks to its cool looking design.

Adding to yesterday's exclusive release of the GIGABYTE Z170X-Gaming G1 motherboard, our man on the ground Steven Bassiri went for a closer look and this is what he discovered.

Today GIGABYTE showed off its top of the line next generation gaming motherboard, the Z170X-Gaming G1. Off the bat you can tell that the board is totally different than anything GIAGBYTE has done before. To start things off GIGABYTE has added RGB LEDs to the board and through an application you can control them and make them whatever color your heart desires.

A nice mix of white shielding and red slots add to the aesthetic appeal of the product. While we don't know too much about the product, we do know a few things. First off the 20 phase (16+4) VRM is powered by IR components and PowIRstages. The memory also seems to use an IR PWM and powerstages. The heat sink has built in watercooling as well.

Computex 2015 - Straight from the horse's mouth, we have been given an exclusive look into the new GIGABYTE Z170x Gaming G1 motherboard sporting some fantastic new features.

Complete with 20 phases of IR powered VRM (16+4 phases), the new Intel Thunderbolt and USB 3.1 controller as a two in one to provide USB Type-C on the back panel, an amazing new network setup and brand new metal shielding on the PCIe slots.

Delving into the network options, GIGABYTE is offering a unique and brand new setup with this motherboard model, seeing a three-way KILLER NIC setup (the KILLER Double Shot Duo or Pro) with two being wired and one wireless. What's even cooler is that the motherboard will dedicate the fastest connection to the most taxing process (for example, a game) and reserve the other two networks for background tasks like VoIP or downloads.

Computex 2015 - Another fanless PC to add to the growing list is GIGABYTE's GA-N3150M-D3P, boasting an Intel Celeron N3150 Quad Core SoC running at 1.6GHz and Dual-Channel DDR3L UDIMM RAM up to 8GB in capacity across two ports. This motherboard is a sure fire competitor for the new range by ASUS as covered by us today.

Further features include HDMI and D-SUB outputs, humidity protection through a new glass fabric PCB design, GbE LAN with high ESD protection and PCIe plus PCI interface options for expansion card options.

Once again there's nothing AMD on offer.

Computex 2015 - The list is here and the list is long - GIGABYTE has shown off the qualified Thunderbolt device list this week in Taipei and it ranges form displays to HDD's, adapters and more.

Next to a display of a neat SLI-Windforce video card setup featuring Corsair Dominator RAM and a Plextor SSD is the list that some have been waiting for.

Including products from companies like Apple, Promise, Sonnet, Bufflom LaCie, Seagate, Western Digital, Blackmagic, Matrox, AJA, Elgate, Netstor, Sharp, CalDigit, Promise, HighPoint, LG and Dock, there is obviously quite a lot of supported devices ranging from video editing components to hard drives and displays.

Computex 2015 - On display in the suite this year by GIGABYTE is what can only be described as a plethora of Intel motherboards, including Z170 Chipset, H170 Chipset and B150 Chipset models on offer.

The Z170 models begin with the GA-Z170-HR3 dual-channel DDR4 four port product with UEFI DualBIOS technology, two way PCIe support, 3 SATA-Express connectors (16 G/bs) and green GbE LAN with cFos Internet Accelerator Software. There's the GA-Z170M-D3H with four Dual-Channel DDR4 slots, a two way PCIe setup, four M.2 SATA connectors (32 G/bs), three SATA Express connectors (16 G/bs) and GbE LAN with cFos Internet Accelerator Software. Wrapping up the Z170 offerings is the GA-Z170-HD3 which includes four Dual-Channel DDR4 slots, two way PCIe support, four M.2 SATA connectors (32 G/bs), three SATA Express connectors (16 G/bs) and Audio Noise Guard technology with LED trace path lighting.

Up next is the H170 chipset, providing users with the GA-H170-HD3 supporting 6th Generation Intel Core Processors, four Dual-Channel DDR4 slots, two way PCIe connections, four M.2 SATA connections (32Gb/s) and two Sata Express ports (16G/bs). The GA-H170M-DS3H offers much the same but with different audio options and the GA-H170M-D3H offers only one PCIe video card port.

Computex 2015 - With the world fighting for USB 3.1 Type-C and Type-A to be integrated into all products, ASUS has taken a different route with one of its motherboard options, producing the world's first reversible USB 2.0 onboard port.

A little weird yes and you might be thinking of it as old technology and useless. However, this could mean amazing applications in budget motherboards and office systems - no longer will you rock up to work, school or university and fiddle around with your presentation for 10 minutes trying to plug your USB key in.

Although I've tried to justify this technology to you, it's really up to the users to decide if they like it or not.

Computex 2015 - For those not interested in the ASUS ROG gaming focus of Computex 2015, this company has also shown off a new range of server and workstation boards as displayed on a product wall.

Featuring the X99-M WS, the X-99 WS/IPMI and the X99-E WS/USB 3.1, there was no AMD to be seen as the drive seems to be for X99 Intel only.

All based on similar architecture, the X99-M WS board lays claim to being "the most powerful X99 mATX board for small form factor gaming and professional market[s]," offering Intel Socket 2011 Core i7 Xeon support and four memory slots holding up to 64GB in total.

Computex 2015 - ASUS has shown that it sure knows how to make an awesome system, showcasing the new X99 motherboard models within some great systems. What we build into the systems here (pictured) is the the X99-PRO/USB 3.1 and X99-DELUXE/USB 3.1 editions.

With this stunning ASUS X99 DELUXE build being completed by 'Mods by Davido_Libido' all the way from the UK, it's not too often you see the big players get into the local modding scene like this and it's certainly something great to see. This deluxe system is powered by a Thermaltake DPS G 1050w power supply, combined with an Intel 750 1.2tb SSD and is all housed within an InWin 909 chassis.

As for motherboard features, the X99-PRO/USB 3.1 boasts ultra fast USB 3.1 support combined with eight RAM ports capable of quad-channel and hosting up to 128GB of memory in total. The X99-DELUXE/USB 3.1 makes claim to 3x3 802.11ac Wi-Fi, USB 3.1 Type-A and a 'Fan Extension Card' for those looking to take things to the extreme.

Computex 2015 - We've just posted news of the new GIGABYTE mATX motherboard, helping show that the world is currently crazy about either super big or super small. ASUS has now joined the party with its higher specified X99M-WS micro-ATX offering with other applications in mind.

Supporting a LGA2011v3 socket based on the Intel X99 Express chipset, this new offering is powered by a single 24-pin ATX and two 8-pin EPS plugs. There's also an optional 6-pin PCIe power port, depending on how you put this beast to use.

Computex 2015 - The MT70-HD0 is certainly a server board to behold - featuring dual socket ARM support and coupled with an associated 2U rack mount, the H270-T70.

This new release is based on the Cavium ThunderX ARMv8 processor and are designed to utilize the full power of Cavium's 48 core ARMv8 2.5GHz ThunderX chip.

The half-width MT70-HD0 motherboard is designed for this 48 core beast, with GIGABYTE's recent press release showing off the sheer amount of processing power on offer by explaining that "each server node combines up to 96 cores with up to 1TB of high speed 2400MHz DDR4 memory, two 40Gb/s LAN ports directly controlled by the SoC processors.

We're only a couple of days away from Computex 2015 kicking off, with ASRock showing off two of their upcoming Z170-based motherboards in the form of the Z170 Extreme 7 and Z170 FATAL1TY Gaming K6 motherboards.

These two new boards will feature Intel's new Z170 chipset, which will handle the company's upcoming Skylake processors which are launching in Q3 2015. ASRock has spent some time on the design of the new Z170 motherboards, with a slick new look for these Skylake-powered motherboards. The boards use the LGA 1151 socket, with these new Z170-based motherboards supporting DDR4 RAM.

The ASRock Z170 Extreme 7 motherboard will feature four DDR4 DIMMs, SATA 10Gbps support, SATA Express, USB 3.0, Ultra M.2 support, and much more. ASRock has deployed its Purity Sound 3 design on an isolated part of the PCB, so you shouldn't have any interference with your audio on the Z170 Extreme 7.

GIGABYTE has just unveiled its latest workstation motherboard, the MW70-3S0, which can handle two CPUs that fit into Intel's 2011-3 socket. The new workstation motherboard has the usual high-end technologies, such as SAS 12Gbps storage support, as well as support for 3-way GPUs.

The new GIGABYTE MW70-3S0 can handle three NVIDIA GeForce or AMD Radeon GPUs with full x16 PCIe speeds, but it also supports a fourth card where the full x16 speeds aren't required. GIGABYTE has attached a high-end LSI SAS 3008 controller, which supports up to eight SAS drives running at 12Gbps through two mini-SAS HD connectors.

Not only that, but the controller is capable of aggregating any SATA and SAS drives into the full 12Gbps data stream courtest of LSI's DataBolt technology. This means that users can simply tie in their SATA 3Gbps or SATA 6Gbps drives into the 12Gbps bandwidth, and enjoy increased speeds depending on the configuration used.

ASRock has recently issued out a press release stating their intentions to debut their new Z97 chipset motherboards featuring both USB 3.1 Type-A and Type-C ports alongside some new X99 Extreme 6 offerings.

One of the strange things on the new ASRock motherboard is that it may feature an X99 chipset, but it has just two DIMMs. This means we're only looking at dual-channel DDR4 RAM compared to what the X99 excels at: quad-channel DDR4. This omission is quite large, something that doesn't seem to be getting much notice.

USB 3.1 not only offers a much faster charging speed of 3A compared to the 0.9A of USB 3.0, but 10GB/s data rates can also be expected alongside USB Type-C offering an easier-to-connect reversible plug. All of ASRock's new X99 and Z97 motherboards will be shown off at their CeBIT 2015 booth in Hannover, Germany at hall 2, C54.

GIGABYTE has just unveiled four new motherboards in its growing line of motherboards, with the new X99 Champion series. The new X99-powered motherboards will arrive as the X99-Gaming 5P, X99-UD4P, X99-UD3P and the already famous X99-SOC Champion.

The new GIGABYTE X99 Champion series motherboards have support for RDIMM memory, which comes in up to 16GB per DIMM for some serious RAM setups. They also have GIGABYTE's Amp-Up audio technology, Killer E2200 or Intel's gigabit Ethernet controller. There's the usual all-digital CPU power design, IR Digital PWM, IR PowIRstage ICs, and server level chokes which ensure "server level reliability".

The new lineup of GIGABYTE X99 Champion series motherboards should be available at e-tailers and retailers near you soon.

ASRock has jumped out ahead of Computex 2015 in June, announcing some new USB 3.1-capable motherboards and PCIe cards. The company has announced that it will have a range of USB 3.1 products, including USB 3.1 PCIe cards that will either have two Type-A ports, or a combination of Type-A and Type-C.

Starting off with the motherboards, we have the Z97 Extreme6/3.1 and the X99 Extreme6/3.1. The Z97-based motherboard features a combination Type-A and Type-C card, where the X99 version includes two Type-A because the board already rocks a Type-C port on its I/O.

When it comes to the PCIe cards, which provide a huge 10Gbps of bandwidth that will be capable of saturating a USB 3.1 port. The two ports will have a combined throughput of 10Gbps, versus 10Gbps per port. The PCIe cards have power requirements, with the dual Type-A cards requiring a 4-pin molex connector, while the combo card requires a 4-pin custom/floppy-sized connector. Each card has up to 3 amps at 5V, which allows for 15W charging.

CES 2015 - We went on down to the GIGABYTE CES event here in Vegas, where we looked at all of the latest stuff that the company has on offer. So without further delay, let's dive right into the juicy goodness.

GIGABYTE just launched their greatly anticipated X99 SOC Champion. The board had been in the works for months, during that time top overclockers from around the world gathered to see how far GIGABYTE's champion could go. They ended up with 9 world records, 14 global firsts, 2 hardware firsts, and even the top X99 reference clock. This motherboard's name is well deserved.

I was invited to overclock at GIGABYTE's CES ballroom event, and the champion does live up to all the hype. Much of its success comes from the hardware on the board. Since the board has 4 SMT DIMMs instead of the typical 8 through-hole DIMMs found on most X99 motherboards, memory signaling is much cleaner and memory overclocks are higher as a result.