Motherboards
During Computex 2024, ASRock held an event to unveil some of its upcoming X870E motherboards, designed for AMD's Zen 5-based Ryzen 9000 series processors. ASRock's announcement includes a pair of Taichi-branded boards, the X870E Taichi and the lighter X870E Taichi lite, which uses AMD's X870E (Promontory 21) chipset for AM5. The current flagship model announced from ASRock's X870E line-up for Ryzen 9000 is the ASRock X870E Taichi. ASRock is advertising a large 27-phase power delivery through 110A SPS, suggesting this board is designed for overclockers and all-around power users. Two PCIe 5.0 x16 slots (operating in either x16/x0 or x8/x8) provide high-speed bandwidth for cutting-edge graphics cards and other devices. Meanwhile, ASRock has gone with 4 DIMM slots on this board, so system builders will...
Intel Begins End-of-Life Plan For Coffee Lake 300-Series Chipsets
Intel has begun plans to discontinue its 300-series chipsets, including the higher-end Z390, Z370 chipsets, as well as its longer life B and H series chipsets. The 300-series chipsets...
22 by Gavin Bonshor on 1/5/2021Cost Increases and Tariffs: ASUS to Increase MSRP on Graphics Cards and Motherboards
It is fairly easy to state that 2020 has had a deep effect on the supply chain mechanics of creating electronics and electronic components. Not only have there been...
21 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 1/5/2021The ASRock Rack B550D4-4L, a B550 Motherboard with BMC
ASRock Rack, the professional arm of ASRock, has launched an interesting B550 model which is aimed at the server and workstation market, but uses the mid-range chipset. The ASRock...
10 by Gavin Bonshor on 1/4/2021Supermicro C9Z490-PGW Motherboard Review: Comet Lake with 32 CPU PCIe Lanes
More widely known for its server-grade models, Supermicro always launches a small number of consumer motherboards, sometimes with some extra flair and hardware we don't see from the regular...
27 by Gavin Bonshor on 12/21/2020Biostar Launches B550M-Silver: Micro-ATX with 2.5 GbE and Wi-Fi 6
Biostar has launched its latest AMD B550-based board, the B550M-Silver. Aimed at gamers looking to use AMD's latest Ryzen 5000 processors, it brings a host of premium features to...
39 by Gavin Bonshor on 12/14/2020Supermicro X12SAE W480 Motherboard Review: For Xeon W-1200 Workstations
We have seen numerous Intel Z490 motherboards over the months since Intel's platform for Comet Lake was announced back in April. While the Z490 is designed for regular consumers...
57 by Gavin Bonshor on 12/11/2020The GIGABYTE B550I Aorus Pro AX Motherboard Review: All The Small Things
Sometimes less is more, and when it comes to motherboards the mini-ITX form factor has some of the most enthusiastic fan club members. Small form factor systems are becoming...
76 by Gavin Bonshor on 12/7/2020ASRock x Razer: New Razer Taichi Edition X570 and B550 AMD Motherboards
ASRock and Razer have today announced a product collaboration. Two of ASRock's premium models for AM4 are being updated with Razer styling and Razer Chroma connectivity: the X570 and...
31 by Gavin Bonshor on 11/30/2020AMD EPYC Rome in (Deep) Mini-ITX? ASRock Rack's New ROMED4ID-2T
ASRock Rack has unveiled its latest small form factor motherboard designed for AMD's EYPC processors, the ROMED4ID-2T. It is based on a new proprietary form factor similar to Mini-ITX...
25 by Gavin Bonshor on 11/26/2020ASRock First For B450 Ryzen 5000 Support: Beta BIOSes Now Available
One of the big unknowns for the newest AMD Ryzen 5000 processors is whether or not there will be support on all 400 series chipset-based motherboards. After initially saying...
25 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 11/19/2020The NZXT N7 Z490 Motherboard Review: From A Different Direction
It's been nearly two years to the day since NZXT last released a motherboard, which was the Z370 N7. NZXT initially used ECS as its motherboard OEM, but has...
46 by Gavin Bonshor on 10/7/2020ASRock Z490 Aqua Motherboard Review: The $1100 LC Monoblock Flagship
It is no secret that Intel's 10th generation processors are power-hungry. Intel has been squeezing every last drop of MHz out of the 14 nm process with its fastest...
51 by Gavin Bonshor on 10/2/2020The ASRock Z490 PG Velocita Motherboard Review: It Means SPEED
For the foreseeable future, or at least until Intel's Rocket Lake is likely to be unveiled, Intel's main platform for consumers is currently the Z490 chipset for Comet Lake...
16 by Gavin Bonshor on 9/21/2020EVGA Launches Z490 Dark K|NGP|N Edition: Built for Overclockers
One of the biggest names on the extreme overclocking scene is Vince 'K|NGP|N' Lucido, who is highly regarded as one of the best sub-zero overclockers. He is a longtime...
59 by Gavin Bonshor on 9/8/2020ASRock B550 Taichi Review: The $300 B550 Motherboard with Chutzpah
Outside of its Aqua series of motherboards, which come with exquisitely crafted monoblocks, ASRock's Taichi brand has been a critical part of the company's offerings in the land of...
63 by Gavin Bonshor on 8/21/2020AMD Releases the A520 Chipset: For Ryzen on a Budget
AMD has officially lifted the lid on its latest entry-level chipset designed for its Zen 2-based Ryzen 3000 and 4000 processors, the A520 chipset. Following AMD's mid-tier B550 chipset...
41 by Gavin Bonshor on 8/18/2020The Z490 Mini-ITX Showdown: GIGABYTE's Z490I Aorus Ultra and MSI's MEG Z490I Unify Reviewed
The mini-ITX form factor is as popular as ever, with a handful of options already available for Intel's new LGA1200 socket. Over the years motherboard vendors have been perfecting...
22 by Gavin Bonshor on 8/4/2020GIGABYTE's New Z490 Aorus Master WaterForce Combo with Bundled 360mm AIO
Up until now, GIGABYTE has reserved the monoblock clad WaterForce series for its flagship Aorus Xtreme models. In an interesting move to further enhance the performance of the Intel...
13 by Gavin Bonshor on 8/3/2020The ASUS ROG Strix B550-F Gaming Wi-Fi Motherboard Review: Premium Value
Motherboards based on AMD's B550 chipset have exploded onto the scene. Despite B550 being a cost-down version of X570 for the budget market, motherboard manufacturers have gone a little...
41 by Gavin Bonshor on 7/22/2020Colorful Announces Two sub-$130 micro-ATX B550 Motherboards
With AMD's B550 models now on the shelves, a lot of focus around its launch was based on pricing - or rather the lack of very low-cost entry-level models. The...
50 by Gavin Bonshor on 7/9/2020