Motherboards - Page 29

[update] I've been informed by Gigabyte that it was not an actual build issue, but a BIOS-related problem. Gigabyte recommend that users who own the below boards update their BIOS immediately, or contact Gigabyte directly (details on this link). Gigabyte have stated it was an isolated case and can be fixed with the use of the F7 BIOS.

I do apologise greatly for the mistake, to both our readers and Gigabyte.

Last week, YouTube user "japan0827" uploaded a video of his overclocked testbed releasing a plume of smoke. Of course, being upset, posted on various Asian message boards with detailed pictures of the board that failed: a Gigabyte X79-UD3, and more specifically, a MOSFET in its CPU VRM.

Today is the big day for Intel and its new Sandy Bridge-E processors and X79 Express chipset platform. The NDA just came off moments ago and now we can give you the full run-down on the ASRock X79 Overclock King Series of motherboards based off the new platform.

Last week we met up with Chris Lee, Director of Marketing, at the ASRock HQ here in Taipei where he gave us a full introduction to its first batch of X79 motherboards. ASRock is launching with five X79 boards right now including the Extreme3, Extreme4-M (Micro-ATX), Extreme4, Extreme7 and the Extreme9.

We spent most of our time in the video above focused on the top-dog, the ASRock X79 Extreme9. This board is packed out with loads of good features including eight DDR3 DIMM slots for quad-channel memory support, five PCI-E x16 slots, active fan cooling for the X79 chipset, loads of SATA-III ports and full digital VRM power management with 18 phases of power for RAM (2) and CPU (16).

Now that the Intel NDA is up for the X79 Express chipset, we can finally let fly with all of our content on the subject. Our latest is from the GIGABYTE headquarters here in Taipei where last week we visited them and got a good look at their range of motherboards to support the new Socket 2011 Intel processors.

Since we've already spent a good amount of time previewing some GIGABYTE X79 boards and others, we didn't want to focus too much on the boards themselves, but some of the features included. We will start off with the all new 3D Dual UEFI BIOS. 3D, you say? Yes - well probably not the kind of 3D you are thinking with movies and the need to pull out some fancy active shutter glasses.

This new BIOS from GIGABYTE focuses on an easy to use experience for people who may be venturing into the BIOS for the first time, yet it is still loaded full of advanced settings for advanced users and overclockers who know what they are doing. When first loading the BIOS, you are shown a full size picture of your motherboard, which can be rotated to show different angles of the board. Using your mouse, you move the cursor over different parts of the system and it gives you a description of what type of options and settings you can change for that part of the motherboard.

Earlier today, MSI shot us an e-mail with some teaser shots of their various boards. Instead of an update to that post, this motherboard deserves its own spot on the news page just because it looks like a boss.

Enter, MSI's Big Bang XPower II, which features eight DIMMs, ten SATA ports (!), a slew of PCIe ports enough to plug in eleventy million cards, X-Fi MB2 on-board, and what stands out on its military black theme, is a row of 6 bullets that make up a magazine as a heatsink. We have never seen this before, except for oh wait, Gigabyte's G1 Sniper boards, but hey, two can play at this game, right?

The board itself is so big that MSI have had to change their underwear from ATX to XL-ATX to accomodate the extra girth.

My inbox this morning had some glorious news, a tease of the upcoming Sandy Bridge-E boards from MSI. Included, was the super high-end Big Bang XPower II board, all the way down to the smaller micro-ATX X79MA-GD45. If you like pics, there's a bunch below:

First up is the X79A-GD65 8D, which does look quite pretty. It sports various features such as the usual quad-channel DDR3, but includes THX TruStudio PRO sound, CrossFire X and SLI support. It also includes eight SATA ports and eight DIMMs if you're RAM and Storage crazy like most of us.

Next up is the X79A-GD65, only featuring four DIMMs and six SATA ports. This is obviously just a step down from its stronger, bigger brother.

GIGABYTE wants to have something that is more functional than the competitions' UEFI setup programs, and this is where GIGABYTE 3D BIOS steps up and into the ring to have a swing at things. When you hit DEL at POST to load up the setup program, it starts up the 3D BIOS home screen. On the home screen, you find a 3D rotatable image of your motherboard.

Cool, right? Well, you can use your mouse to spin the board around and check it out - certain parts of that motherboard image can be clicked to open up settings related to it. Let's say you want to click on the SATA ports on that image, click it and the program will open up SATA controller settings. Clicking on the memory slots brings up the memory tuning settings window. Very, very cool.

The visual elements all look spiffy, including smooth fonts, curves and lavish use of alpha. The fine tuning pages don't look like a re-skinned, mouse-enabled version of the old interface, but now include genuine GUI elements like sliders, tickboxes, radio buttons and tabs. A video demo of this is available below:

We've seen quite the frey of final revision X79 motherboards being readied up to coincide with the big Sandy Bridge-E launch in just a little over a week from now, but MSI's X79MA-GD45 has just been exposed and should peak interest for many particularly due to one bold attribute - it is built around the Micro ATX form factor.

I bet you're already thinking of how cool it would be to have so much power hiding inside a nice compact mATX chassis for your gaming pleasure. The board doesn't disappoint in the features dept. either and should be quite the solid board with the use of MSI's Military Class III components all round.

Taking a good look at the pictures, we can see there are four DDR3 slots and a couple PCI-E x16 slots for SLI or CrossfireX goodness. The board has two SATA 6.0 Gbps ports and four more SATA 3.0 Gbps ports along with a couple USB 3.0 ports on the rear I/O and two more via headers. A Clear CMOS button is conveniently provided on the rear I/O along with 7.1 channel audio (including both S/PDIF coaxial and optical outputs) and Gigabit ethernet.

Any reason to show off some more Sandy Bridge-E / X79 related goodness is a good one, especially now with it being one of the hottest topics thanks to the launch right around the corner. And thanks to Biostar we can give you some more of it with pics and details on their upcoming TPower X79 motherboard for the next-gen LGA-2011 platform from Intel.

The board, while being by Biostar who tend to be renowned for delivering a more no frills, lower priced piece of hardware, looks to be quite strong by design overall, with no real shortcomings over the many other X79 motherboards we've been lucky enough to see pre-launch; unless of course you compare it directly to something like ASUS' Rampage IV Extreme.

The TPower X79 uses an impressive looking 8-phase DuraMax VRM power setup with active phase control and direct FETs. There are two 8-pin EPS connector points on the board along with the 24-pin ATX as well as an optional 4-pin Molex used for added PCIe slot stability. The board also sports POSCAP capacitors in the CPU area along with a high quality clock generator. This together with Biostar's history of producing more simplified OC'ing motherboards that gave some record-setting results gives reason to believe the TPower X79 could be a real force to be reckoned with in the overclocking stakes for Sandy Bridge-E.

ASRock have come out swinging today with some Sandy Bridge-E flavored teasing. ASRock shot off e-mails all across the world announcing they were showing off some X79-based motherboards. No list of specifications or features were included, but we do have some delicious photos to show you.

First up, we have the X79 Extreme9 which sports eight DIMM slots, five PCI Express x16 slots, dual auxiliary 12V power connectors, 12 SATA ports and network connectivity/audio are powered by what looks to be Creative's new Core3D audio chip. The Extreme 9 features a hot-as-hell color scheme and fills out along the rest of ASRock's X79 line.

Next up we have the Extreme7 which throws out the add-on card and two DIMM slots, but adds a PCI slot into the mix. Because two of the DIMM slots were thrown overboard, the Extreme7 features more extreme VRM cooling. As you can see, it sports a tiny little fan just like the Extreme9 - one of the biggest downfalls of these boards.

While most attention is now on Sandy Bridge-E with the mid November launch date closing in fast and Bulldozer having left a trail of despair, that doesn't stop Z68/LGA1155 remaining with a super firm hold of the market thanks to its characteristics in providing a brilliantly balanced, high performance platform for all types of users.

That said, it's worth mentioning that MSI has just outed another Z68 offering in m(icro)ATX form - the Z68MA-G43 (G3). The highlight of this particular offering is, as its model name denotes, the inclusion of PCI-Express Gen 3 via a couple PCI-E (3.0) x16 slots.

Apart from that, it gives much of what you'd expect from such a board - four DDR3 DIMM slots, a couple SATA 6.0 Gbps ports, four SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, a couple USB 3.0 ports, Gigabit ethernet, 7.1 channel audio and for video output there's D-Sub, DVI and HDMI on tap. MSI rounds the feature set out with its OC Genie II overclocking facility and of course, that lovely UEFI BIOS we've all quickly grown to love.

Yesterday we attended an ASUS motherboard technology seminar in Taipei where we were introduced to its range of upcoming Intel X79 Express chipset based motherboards. These motherboards will support second generation Intel Core i7 processors for high-end desktop systems using the new and larger LGA 2011 socket.

Intel has super tight restrictions on what can be said about these new products and as we are bound by an Intel NDA, we need to stick to the rules. That is one of the reasons why the video below might seem a little cryptic at times - we both had to be very careful what we said. The man in the video below is Jack Cheng who is with the ASUS motherboard R&D team and was kind enough to tell us some ASUS ROG driven features of the Rampage IV Extreme X79 motherboard.

Some of the big ASUS features with this board include the OC Key for simple on-screen and very much on-the-fly overclocking, subzero sense for finding out temperatures under extreme cooling conditions and VGA hotwire for putting your video card through hell and back. There is also the X-Socket which allows you to bring along your old coolers and they'll work on the new 2011 socket - it will also be good for extreme LN2 overclockers and their pots. Besides just the video above, there is a selection of pictures below in the gallery which we took.

Yesterday we attended an ASUS motherboard technology seminar in Taipei where we were introduced to its range of upcoming Intel X79 Express chipset based motherboards. These motherboards will support second generation Intel Core i7 processors for high-end desktop systems using the new and larger LGA 2011 socket.

Followers of ASUS will know the Sabertooth motherboard from previous generations and some will also be happy to know that it is back again with the X79 Express chipset. Impressive cooling is a big part of the Sabertooth and Jack Cheng who is with the ASUS motherboard R&D team and was kind enough to go on video and tell us about some of the ASUS driven features of this motherboard.

It's not just cooling though, with the included software powered by the impressive Digi+ VRM power control design you get really good monitoring (12 different parts of the board are digitally thermally monitored) and control over the board and all the different aspects of it using the included Thermal Radar software. There are no real big single handed massive features that will take the crown for the Sabertooth, but the message being sent is that it's "tough".

We just got back from an ASUS motherboard technology seminar in Taipei today where we were introduced to its upcoming range of next-gen Intel motherboards.

Right at the end of the presentation, ASUS announced that it will be offering a full game bundle of Battlefield 3 with its upcoming next-gen Rampage IV Extreme ROG motherboard.

ASUS were not prepared to release any details on pricing at this stage, but they did mention that you would save a lot of money by selecting the bundle version. ASUS will also offer normal versions of the motherboard without BF3 bundled.

GIGABYTE has unveiled their X79-based boards on their Facebook page, and boy do they look good. There's four boards on show, the G1.Assassin 2, X79-UD7, X79-UD5 and finally, the X79-UD3. All four boards feature totally different color schemes with the G1.Assassin 2 sporting a green PCI-e slot look, with that sexy as hell looking chipset heatsink in the shape of a pistol.

Next up is the X79-UD7 that features an orange and black scheme, just in time for Halloween in just under a week! The X79-UD5 features a very nice looking blue and black combination and finally, the X79-UD3 features a gun-metal grey and black combo. All of the boards look very hot indeed.

The boards all sport different looks and specs when compared to their first unveiling at IDF 2011, now featuring Digital PWM's. GIGABYTE are calling it 3-Way Digital Power, 1 CPU Digital PWN, and 2 Memory Digital PWMs. The PWNs in the picture seem to be based on (from what I read on Xtreme Systems) IR/Chil's newest PWM technology as the controllers seem to be VRD12 and VRD 12.5 certified. Interesting time ahead for enthusiasts! Not only do these boards look sweet, but they now use International Rectifier Digital PWM's!

It's not surprising we're sighting so many X79 boards with their final trimmings in place so close to the big launch we're all eagerly anticipating. But on all accounts, not just with launches, it's nice when someone does that little something more to help stand out and ECS have certainly pulled that off with some images they've pumped out of their upcoming X79R-AX Black series motherboard.

Okay, all eyes to the left... the LEFT! Ummm, hello? Is anyone reading this? ....Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the girl doesn't come with the motherboard....

Now that I have your attention again, here's another image without any evil distractions so we can get down to business.

EVGA have slapped the performance/enthusiast world with a shocker: the SR3, dual-socket LGA2011 2P enthusiast desktop/workstation motherboard in the E-ATX form factor. Socket 0 is wired to eight DDR3 DIMM slots (two DIMMs/channel) while socket 1 to four slots (1 DIMM/channel).

In LGA2011 2P systems, the processor residing in socket 0 is wired to the PCH, while the processor sitting in socket 1 is wired to the one on socket 0 using two QPI links, closing the daisy-chain. Socket 0, apart from its 4GB/s DMI link, sports a PCI-Express 2.0 x4 (another 4GB/s) link to supplement the DMI link, this is so the storage controllers don't get bottlenecked with just DMI.

Both processors contribute to the PCI-Express lane budget of the motherboard. The board features seven PCI-Express x16 slots, which four are capable of PCI-Express 3.0 x16, every slot is PCI-Express 3.0 x8 capable. NVIDIA 4-way SLI support is there, and the motherboard is set to support Sandy Bridge-EP Xeon processors.

GIGABYTE has just walked into a room and they've got their latest board on them, as they've walked through the metal detectors, a security guard has asked them "Do you have any metallic items, keys, loose change", and just as they've whipped their trench coat open to not reveal an arsenal of weapons as Neo did in The Matrix, they've shown a gun against their thigh underneath their stocking.

Enter, GIGABYTE's X79 series motherboard, the GIGABYTE G1.Assassin 2. Just look at that heatsink array... it is shaped like a damn pistol! GIGABYTE, why have you done this? It just makes you even more awesome than you were before. The G1.Assassin 2 sports the X79 chipset, which is set to support the upcoming LGA2011 socket CPUs. The board itself features Bigfoot Networks' Killer E2100 platform, as well as an on-board Creative Soundblaster X-Fi digital audio processor.

But its the revised 'Locked and Loaded' heatsink array that will attract people to this motherboard. You can't call the board an Assassin if its not deadly. The previous Assassin board sported an AK47-themed clip, and now this one takes it up a notch to a pistol. 'Locked and Loaded', GIGABYTE surely are ready, taking aim at the competitors motherboards, literally.

EVGA have unveiled their new X79 Classified (E799) motherboard for the socket LGA2011 which is specifically designed for overclockers. EVGA chose to unveil their top-tier board at the GeForce LAN 6 and have unveiled quite the beauty indeed. The X79 Classified uses the traditional LGA2011 motherboard layout, but with wide open spaces to make insulating it (against condensation) much easier. The CPU power seems to sport some high-grade VRM design, where it draws power from two 8-pin EPS connectors apart from the 24-pin ATX (that is nicely right-angled).

The X79 Classified also sports four DDR3 DIMM slots, one per memory channel. A 4-phase memory VRM, a large contiguous heatsink covers most hot components in the central-right region. Expansion slot wise we have four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (two are x16 capable, all four are x8 capable, depending on the population used), and one PCI-Express x16 (electrical x4). X79 Classified is NVIDIA 4-way SLI capable, too.

The board is built on a the XL-ALTX form-factor, and requires cases that have at least 10 expansion slot bays. Storage connectivity includes two SATA 6Gbit and four SATA 3Gbps, two eSATA ports are powered by a third-party controller. USB3.0 wise we have 10 ports, driven by numerous VLI-made controllers, right on the rear panel, two available by front-header. 8+2 channel HD audio with optical SPDIF output, two GbE controllers, Bluetooth, and EVBot connections.

Closing in on the big X79 / Sandy Bridge-E launch in mid November and today we get a peek of another X79 board with all the final fancy trimmings in place. This is ASRock's entry into the next-gen LGA2011 field with its X79 Extreme7. It inevitably won't be the only X79 from ASRock to turn up at launch, but it's the first we get to take a good look at pre-launch thanks to some chaps over at XFastest.

Sporting a 16-phase VRM with high grade chokes and server grade poscap capacitors, you know this is one serious piece of hardware straight off the bat. There are six DDR3 slots total, split into three on either side of the socket that are powered via a 4-phase VRM and are ready to provide some of that lovely quad-channel DDR3 goodness. The overall heatsink design looks super serious (and rather awesome!) with there even being heatsinks over the memory VRM areas that are connected to the heatsink over the CPU VRM via heat-pipes.

As for expansion slots, there are five x16 slots total with two being able to run full bandwidth PCI-E 3.0 x16, and four at PCI-E 3.0 x8 bandwidth (dependant on the add-on card configuration). You get 11 SATA ports internally, seven of which are SATA 3Gb/s and four being SATA 6Gb/s, while there is also an eSATA 3Gb/s port on the rear I/O.

A couple weeks back we saw MSI make a bold claim that GIGABYTE's "PCI-Express 3.0" implementation on many of its motherboards is, to have put it bluntly, "Fake". MSI even went to the extent of creating a number of detailed slides to express their views on why GB is supposedly misleading its buyers with the "Ready for Native PCIe Gen.3" tag on as many as 40 of its motherboards.

Of course, it wasn't difficult to imagine GIGABYTE would respond at some point in relation to this claim, and sure enough, that occured just the other day.

With that being a somewhat wishy washy response in unsurprising defence, what I felt particularly news worthy was ASRock's comedic approach to the whole situation, with a new advertisement showing up via its Facebook page that puts its own range of PCI-E 3.0-ready boards up on a pedestal, not that they ever really came down off it seeing as they were one of the first to roll in PCI-E 3.0-ready boards anyway.