Motherboards
Minisforum continues to diversify its business beyond compact PCs and this week it introduced a rather unusual Mini-ITX motherboard with an MXM slot. Typically used for graphics cards, Minisforum's Eyertec AD650i motherboard instead comes with an MXM adapter to house up to three M.2 SSDs. All together, the Mini-ITX board is able to drive 4 M.2 SSDs, as well as a couple of SATA SSDs for good measure. [making the platform suitable for an HTPC, NAS, or a small desktop that needs three M.2 drives.] The Minisforum AD650i Mini-ITX motherboard itself is based on Intel's laptop-grade Core i7-12650H processor (6P + 4E CPU cores, up to 4.70 GHz, 24 MB cache, UHD Graphics with 64 EUs, 45W PBP) that can be paired with up to 64...
ASRock 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 7/9/2020ASUS ROG Maximus XII Apex Now Available
Back in April, Intel released its Z490 chipset for its 10th generation Comet Lake processors with a choice of over 44 models for users to select from. One of...
20 by Gavin Bonshor on 7/1/2020The Intel W480 Motherboard Overview: LGA1200 For Xeon W-1200
During Intel's unveiling of the Z490 chipset and Intel Core 10th generation Comet Lake processors, Intel also announced its series of Xeon W-1200 processors. To accompany this announcement, without...
38 by Gavin Bonshor on 6/24/2020The AMD B550 Motherboard Overview: ASUS, GIGABYTE, MSI, ASRock, and Others
AMD’s budget motherboard range is often at times more successful than the bigger, full fat versions. Users have in the past got almost all of the same chipset features...
102 by Dr. Ian Cutress & Gavin Bonshor on 6/16/2020ASUS ROG Maximus XII Hero Wi-Fi Review: The Tale of Two Motherboards
Some of the recent discussions around motherboard design are whether the motherboard manufacturers are actually adhering to the CPU vendor specifications. If a motherboard manufacturer improves the base power...
34 by Dr. Ian Cutress & Gavin Bonshor on 6/11/2020ASRock Rack Offers Rome mATX Motherboard with only 6 Memory Channels
One of the items that makes a motherboard immediately standout is the amount of memory slots it has. For mainstream platforms, having two or four memory slots, for dual...
28 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 6/8/2020GIGABYTE Announces Z490 Aorus Ultra G2 Motherboard, with G2 Esports Tie-In
Collaborations between hardware vendors and Esports teams isn't a new thing, but it is becoming an apparent and common trend within the industry. GIGABYTE and G2 Esports has announced...
9 by Gavin Bonshor on 6/5/2020The Biostar Racing Z490GTN Review: $200 for Comet Lake mini-ITX
Small form factor boards are always a key talking point for any desktop market. The usual breakdown on Mini-ITX sales for any given generation is usually around 10%, and...
40 by Dr. Ian Cutress & Gavin Bonshor on 6/5/2020