Motherboards - Page 8

We got to check out MSI's new 'Project Zero' range of motherboards at Computex 2023 earlier this year, and when paired with the company's compact and stylish Project Zero compatible case and new slimline GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs, it was hard not to be impressed.

Like initiatives from ASUS and GIGABYTE, Project Zero looks to redesign the traditional PC motherboard by placing all of the connectors (the stuff that needs cables) to the underside of the motherboard. The result is a cleaner and more eye-catching build - especially in the age of PC cases with tempered glass panels.

The good news is that it looks like the launch is right around the corner, with product pages with full specs and details for two Micro-ATX Project Zero motherboards popping up online - the MSI B650M PROJECT ZERO for AM5 Ryzen 7000 Series processors from AMD and the MSI B760M PROJECT ZERO for LGA1700 Intel Core 14th, 13th, and 12th Gen CPUs.

ASRock has just the WRX90 and TRX50 motherboard release train, announcing their new WRX90 WS EVO and TRX50 WS motherboards that are ready for AMD's new Ryzen Threadripper 7000 and Ryzen Threadripper PRO 7000WX series CPUs.

The company has created its new motherboards to support either 4-channel or 8-channel DDR5 RAM, supporting up to 1TB/2TB DDR5 ECC RDIMM memory, PCIe 5.0 connectivity, server-grade storage expansion including Slim-SAS and MCIO, super-fast 10GbE networking, and so much more.

ASRock said that its new WRX90 and TRX50 motherboards would give you the ultimate performance for almost every application, such as content creation, video rendering, high-end workstations,, and even AI machine learning.

We've already seen early teases of GIGABYTE's upcoming TRX50 AERO-D motherboard, but now ASUS has its official announcement of the ASUS Pro WS TRX50-SAGE WIFI motherboard, which handles AMD's new families of Ryzen Threadripper 7000 and Threadripper PRO 7000 series CPUs.

The new ASUS Pro WS TRX50-SAGE motherboard can handle the flagship Threadripper PRO 7995WX processor, which features 96 cores and 192 threads of mind-boggling processing power. If you want the HEDT-focused Ryzen Threadripper 7980X processor, you'll get 64 cores and 128 threads of HEDT power inside of your system.

ASUS also provides 5 x PCIe x16 slots, with 3 of them being PCIe 5.0 compatible, so you can install a bunch of high-end SSDs on Gen5 connectors for some 64GB/sec SSD action. ASUS includes 10GbE and 2.5GbE networking ports here, as well as support for SlimSAS NVMe technology. Power-wise, we've got a 36-phase VRM design, with two fans on each side -- keeping those VRMs nice and cool when you're powering a 64-core or even 96-core CPU. There's also DDR5 memory here in quad-channel, thanks to it not being a consumer board, with ECC memory support.

AMD just announced its new Ryzen Threadripper PRO 7000 WX series CPUs alongside its new HEDT-destined Ryzen Threadripper 7000 series CPUs. The former offers up to a blistering 96 cores and 192 threads of Zen 4 processing power, while the HEDT-focused chip features up to 64 cores and 128 threads of Threadripping power.

Both of AMD's new Ryzen Threadripper 7000 series CPUs are compatible with the new TRX50 chipset. At the same time, AMD has the new WRX90 chipset for ridiculously high-end workstations and servers that want every single drip and drop of performance, features, PCIe lanes, and more that the more expensive CPU + motherboard combo offers.

But for the HEDT market, which is much stronger and more passionate -- with the money to spend on a HEDT workstation -- this new TRX50 chipset mixed with a super-fast new thread-heavy CPU from AMD, then the new GIGABYTE TRX50 AERO D motherboard will be a treat.

ASUS is working on a wide range of new ROG Z790 motherboards, ready for Intel's upcoming 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" processors that are right around the corner, led by the new flagship Core i9-14900K processor.

We already knew of the new ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 motherboards in recent leaks. Still, now we're getting some new photos of the ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Formula, ROG Maximus Z790 APEX Encore, and the new ROG Strix Z790 motherboards that will work with the new Raptor Lake Refresh CPUs from Intel.

ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Formula motherboard: we have an interesting "ROG Water-Cooling Zone" that lets you hook a liquid cooling loop directly into the motherboard. This will water-cool the super-hot VRMs that are being pushed to the max when you're overclocking your Core i9-14900K processor on this board.

I don't think it's a surprise to anyone out there who keeps up with the latest leaks and news in the technology industry, the secret? Intel is launching its new 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" CPUs on October 14, and now GIGABYTE is coming to the party with some new Z790 motherboards that confirm Intel's new 14th Gen Core processors.

GIGABYTE has been requesting that reviewers don't show any details of Intel's upcoming 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" processors on the packaging or the motherboards themselves. But, the internet being the internet means that didn't happen exactly how GIGABYTE would've hoped, and now we have some leaks confirming Raptor Lake Refresh chips aren't too far away at all now.

You can see in the image above that Overclock3D has the new GIGABYTE Z790 AORUS PRO X motherboard in-house, but they've hidden the 14th Gen Core CPU part out of the top right.

Intel is poised to launch its new 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" family of processors on October 14, and with it is going to be a huge new wave of 700-series motherboards, with the new flagship Z790 motherboards getting an upgrade across the board (pun not intended) from the likes of motherboard makers including ASUS.

ASUS has already had its new ROG Maximus Z790 Formula motherboard teased with its sleek black-and-white design, but now we're seeing more Z790 motherboards leaked from the Taiwanese gaming giant. ASUS has provided some teaser photos of its new wave of Z790 motherboards, including the upcoming ROG Strix Z790 Wi-Fi II and Z790-F Wi-Fi II motherboards to join the leaks on the ROG Maximus Z790 Formula and ROG Apex Z790 Encore motherboards.

Once ASUS has released all of its new Z790 motherboards, the company will have a grand total of 27 different motherboards available in a variety of shapes, sizes, and designs. This includes Mini-ITX, regular ATX, the bigger E-ATX form factors as well as black-and-white aesthetic choices, RGB lighting, water-cooling goodness, and oh-so-much more.

ASUS has a wide range of new Z790-based motherboards in all different shapes, sizes, and colors... but now we're getting a look at the new ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Formula motherboard, and boy, does it look GOOD.

We've already been introduced to the ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Dark Hero, the ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming Wi-Fi II, and the TUF Gaming Z790-Pro Wi-Fi motherboards... while also being teased with the ROG Maximus Z790 APEX Encore motherboard, and now we're being teased by the ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Formula motherboard. The new ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Formula motherboard sports a black-and-white design, which would make it PERFECT for your new black-and-white-themed gaming PC build.

Intel won't have its next-gen LGA 1851 socket out until 2024, so we're seeing a new wave of 700 series chipsets with the flagship Z790 sitting in pole position. ASUS is capitalizing on this with its upcoming ROG Maximus Z790 Formula motherboard, matching the look and style of its predecessor in the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Formula motherboard.

MSI's MEG Z790 ACE MAX is a new, premium, and feature-packed motherboard designed for "Intel's Next-Gen and 13th Gen Core processors." With that, it will probably be the final high-end board from MSI that will use the LGA-1700 platform before Intel transitions to the new LGA-1851 socket with the arrival of Meteor Lake in 2024.

Intel's 14th Gen processors, the "Raptor Lake Refresh," are set to launch in October, and on the high-end, we've already seen some impressive benchmarks leak for the flagship Intel Core i9-14900K and KF models. One of the reasons single-core performance looks to present a sizable boost over the current 13th Gen series of CPUs comes down to the out-of-the-box boost clock sitting comfortably at 6.0 GHz.

And with that, it looks like the enthusiast Z790 ACE MAX board from MSI will offer a simple single-click 'P-Core Beyond 6 GHz+' overclock option in the BIOS that will support up to 6.3 GHz.

MSI has released a new BIOS update for its AM5 motherboards, ushering in a new "High Efficiency" mode that gives gamers a performance boost of 12%.

The new AGESA 1.0.0.7c BIOS update gives support for higher frequency DDR5 memory modules, while simulatenously fixing some issues that were discovered in older version of the firmware. According to a report by WCCFTech, MSI's newest BIOS update adds "High Efficiency" mode, which is a new feature that brings in optimizations through pre-configured memory profiles for popular modules.

These pre-configured memory profiles offer high bandwidth and lower latency through their optimizations, specifically through tweaks of the DDR5 DRAM timings and Memory Timing Presets. Users are able to select between each of the memory timing presets, which are; Tightest, Tighter, Balance, and Relax. If you are interested in seeing testing results for the new BIOS update, check out this link here.

Windows 11 users with MSI motherboards have run into an issue with the latest preview update for Microsoft's OS in some cases, as was made clear earlier this week - and now we've had some further feedback from MSI on a workaround.

To backtrack a moment, the original problem was made apparent when reports came in from those running the latest BIOS from MSI for motherboards with Intel 600 and 700 chipsets. Those affected observed that after installing optional update KB5029351, their PC has crashed with a BSoD declaring that they have an 'unsupported processor' - a worrying message to see indeed.

For PC owners encountering this error, the good news is that KB5029351 will hopefully just uninstall itself, with Windows 11 rolling back the patch and returning to normal on reboot.

With the next generation of Intel CPUs on the horizon, board makers are preparing for a new silicon to hit their hardware. This is where GIGABYTE's new Z790 X motherboards come in - with the company proudly stating that they will "fast track" you to Gen X thanks to simplified and improved overclocking capabilities, more expansive DIY options, better connectivity, and DDR5 auto XMP Booster profiles of DDR5-8266+.

The line-up is varied, covering a range of new boards for the next generation of CPUs, including the new Z790 AORUS XTREME X, the MASTER X, PRO X, and ELITE X. Different models will offer varying features, but the entire Z790 X range from GIGABYTE AORUS is all about delivering the very best DD5 performance alongside featuring a robust and impressive VRM design.

For DDR5, you're looking at auto-boosting DDR5-5600 to DDR5-6000, and with GIGABYTE's implementation of auto-boost XMP profiles, you can push kits up to speeds of over DDR5-8266 on a dual-channel 4 DIMM board with a single click. Awesome. The Z790 X series will automatically set DDR5 modules to the highest profile.

We got our first in-person look at MSI's 'Project Zero' motherboard design at Computex 2023, which moves power and other connectors to the back of the board for a cable-free look. Today comes the official unveiling and product listing for MSI's latest motherboard, the B650M PROJECT ZERO for AMD AM5 and Ryzen 7000 CPUs using the midrange B650 chipset.

Per the product images, we see that the 24-pin ATX connectors, EPS12V CPU, and other case headers are all situated on the back of the board, making the MSI B650M PROJECT ZERO motherboard a very special release for the company.

Of course, you'll need to ensure you've got a compatible case with the necessary space to make it work - but it's an exciting look at the future of motherboard designs.

There has been a major shake-up in the AMD AM5 motherboards for the Ryzen 7000 line-up of CPUs thanks to a new BIOS update that offers a massive boost to high-speed DDR5 memory modules and stability. With MSI's extensive AM5 motherboard range, the company has confirmed that the new firmware is now available across its full X670E, X670, B650, and A620 product line.

With a detailed list of boards and links to download the new firmware available via MSI's official blog post for the AMD AGESA PI 1.0.0.7c BIOS update, the only models that will have to wait until sometime this week to get the update are the MSI MAG X670E TOMAHAWK WIFI and MSI B650M PROJECT ZERO motherboards.

To demonstrate the massive increase in high-speed memory support, MSI shared a couple of examples, one on MSI's PRO B650-P WIFI Motherboard running a DDR5-7200 MHz "EXPO" certified kit and another with MSI's flagship MEG X670E ACE Motherboard achieving a speed of DDR5-8000 MHz.

Motherboards that look good usually cost a lot more than your budget off-the-shelf black offerings, and ASRock is looking to change that with the launch of its first all-white motherboard range for Intel and AMD platforms in the Micro-ATX form factor.

Although the company says these are "all-white," they feature some stylish black and silver connectors and flourishes - but we'll give them a pass because they look very cool.

All-white PC components are popular right now, as highlighted by our recent look at the stylish new ASRock AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX Taichi White 24GB. For ASRock's new all-white motherboards, the new look applies to three models; two for Intel CPUs and one for the AMD AM4 CPUs.

AMD and its AM5 motherboard partners are rolling out the new AGESA 1.0.0.7B BIOS, which improves DDR5 memory support. And early reports indicate that the previous limit of DDR5-6000 has increased significantly to DDR5-7000 and even DDR5-8000.

The new BIOS improves memory synchronization and stability with high-speed DDR5 modules with SOC voltage tuning within the 1.2-1.3V range, which is within the limits outlined by AMD. This post over on Twitter shows the new BIOS running on an ASRock B650 LiveMixer motherboard and DDR5 memory, hitting an impressive speed of 8000 MT/s.

This post on Twitter from chi11eddog also showcases an even faster DDR5-8200 result with the new BIOS on a more premium MSI X670E Ace board. Specs-wise, the build is rocking the flagship AMD Ryzen 9 7950X CPU with OLOy DDR5 memory rated at 7600 MT/s overclocked-a massive improvement over previous AM5 DDR5 speeds.

We first looked at the new ASRock's new Z790 Taichi Lite and B650E Taichi Lite motherboards back at Computex 2023 during our tour of the company's impressive booth and product line-up. The 'Lite' branding is all about releasing a range of premium Taichi boards with affordability in mind without sacrificing features and build quality.

And now, the Z790 Taichi Lite for Intel CPUs and B650E Taichi Lite for AMD CPUs are here, featuring a robust 24-phase VRM and support for PCIe 5.0 graphics cards and M.2 SSDs. Both feature IO support the latest USB 4 spec, too, with the only big thing bringing the cost down is the lack of RGB lighting - though you do get RGB headers for devices like CPU fans and other cooling.

Thunderbolt, Killer 2.5 GbE LAN, Wi-Fi 6E, and plenty of USB expansion make up the design of ASRock's new Z790 Taichi Lite and B650E Taichi Lite motherboards, and you can check out the full specs below.

ASRock had several goodies to showcase at Computex 2023, with everything from displays to graphics cards and motherboards. On that front, it had a couple of notable new high-end entries that will take full advantage of the new Wi-Fi 7 standard that can hit a theoretical data rate of 46 Gbps.

The flagship Wi-Fi 7 board from ASRock is the Phantom Gaming Z790 Nova Wi-Fi 7, which features a 20+1+1 Phase Power Design and plenty of expansion opportunities. Storage-wise, it features a single 'Blazing' M.2 slot (PCIe Gen 5x4), five additional 'Hyper' M.2 Slots (PCIe Gen 4x4), and three SATA ports.

USB-wise, you're looking at 19 in total (10 on the rear and 9 on the front), with two being Type-C and four being USB 3.2 Gen2. In addition to Wi-Fi 7, you've also got an impressive Realtek 5GbE LAN connection.

One of the big themes of Computex 2023, at least in terms of complete PC builds, was looking at ways to improve cable management through the smart motherboard and case design. With MSI creating everything from motherboards to fast SSDs to GPUs and cases, it was no surprise that 'MSI Project Zero' was on hand to showcase a glimpse at the p[otential future of cleaner and more visually appealing builds.

It all comes down to a brand-new motherboard design with no visible circuits or cabling on the front, which in turn leads to a clean-looking build. All the major stuff is on the back of the Micro-ATX MSI B650M Project Zero motherboard, from the chunky 24-pin motherboard power connector, front panel connectors, RGB headers, fan headers, and even SATA connectors.

The B650 chipset supports the current generation of AMD Ryzen 7000 series processors, dual PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots, DDR5 memory, 2.5G LAN, and support for Wi-Fi 6E. What separates the MSI Project Zero build from similar stealth projects at Computex 2023 is that everything you see here is on track for a release this year.

A large number of GIGABYTE motherboards are reportedly affected by a vulnerability that could be seriously bad news.

That's according to cybersecurity outfit Eclypsium, which runs a system that heuristically picked up backdoor-like behavior in PCs with GIGABYTE mobos in the wild.

Embarking on an investigation and subsequent analysis, Eclypsium pinned down the problem to GIGABYTE's firmware and a compact updater app therein (designed to ensure the firmware stays fully up to date).