Items tagged with motherboards
Top tier motherboard makers have started rolling out new products based on AMD's X399 chipset, presumably in anticipation for second-generation Ryzen Threadripper chips that are right around the corner. That includes the beastly slice of silicon with 32 cores and 64 threads that AMD has been teasing since Computex. Starting with ASUS, the company did not announce any new motherboards, but did introduce a cooling kit for its existing ROG Zenith Extreme. The cooling kit consist of a small fan, bracket, SOC heatsink, and set of screws. It is intended to keep vital parts of the motherboard from overheating...
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If past leaks are any indication, Intel is getting ready to launch a handful of 9th generation Core processors, essentially a refresh of Coffee Lake, including one or two 8-core CPUs. To go along with the new chips, Intel is also prepping a Z390 Express chipset. When will it all come out? A newly leaked roadmap points to October as the target. The time frame is outlined in what is purportedly an official Intel slide, posted to a Chinese-language website (HKEPC). We can not say for sure if it is real. Supposing it is legitimate, Intel's 6-core and 8-Core Coffee Lake-S Refresh CPUs and Z390 chipset...
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At long last, AMD's hardware partners have formally introduced a slew of new motherboards based on the company's B450 chipset. Whereas AMD's X470 is aimed at power users and enthusiasts, B450 boards typically target buyers on a budget. Prices vary depending on features, of course, but for the most part B450 motherboards should check in at under $200. The main thing you give up with B450 versus X470 is multiple GPU support (CrossFireX and SLI). Otherwise, B450 and X470 are overall pretty similar—they have the same number of PCIe Gen3 lanes (16 with Ryzen 7 CPUs), both support overclocking,...
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There is evidence to suggest that existing motherboards based on Intel's H310 Express chipset will support the company's rumored 8-core processors when they arrive, by way of a BIOS update. That specific evidence is a picture of an ASRock H310CM-HDV/M.2 motherboard with a sticker that reads "8 Core CPU Support" on the packaging. As always, we have to take this sort of thing with a healthy dose of skepticism, if only because we have no idea where the photo originates from. The folks at Videocardz posted the picture, but did not mention its source. It would not be difficult to Photoshop a supposed...
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Following the recent launch of AMD's second generation Ryzen processor family, the company is gathering up its first generation chips and packaging them into 'Combat Crates', which are like PC starter kits for enthusiasts. There will be at least two different versions, each one containing a first generation Ryzen processor bundled with a Radeon RX 500 series graphics card and a motherboard. What has been seen so far seems to suggest a partnership with MSI, at least for the first couple of Combat Crates. The folks at Videocardz posted a pair of press renders, one of which outlines the contents of...
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With AMD's second-generation Ryzen CPUs set to land on April 19, we're beginning to see the inevitable flood of supporting motherboards coming from AMD's close partners. As has become tradition, ASUS has plenty of boards to choose from, right out-of-the-gate. That includes five boards from ASUS' Republic of Gaming series, and another under the TUF brand. The flagship in this new line-up is the ROG Crosshair VII Hero, which features a second SKU that adds Wi-Fi into the mix. As the flagship, this board has all the bells and whistles, and generally speaking, it's likely to be the best suited for...
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Less than a week from now, AMD's retail partners will start shipping the company's second generation Ryzen processors, such as the Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600. There will be a rash of new motherboards too, based on AMD's X470 chipset. Several of them are already available to preorder at places like Amazon and Newegg, with prices ranging from around $140 on up to $300. To be clear, you don't have to upgrade your platform for second generation Ryzen CPUs if you already own a socket AM4 motherboard—a BIOS update will do the trick and you should be good to do. The new X470 chipset is basically...
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Motherboard makers are gearing up to launch new products based on AMD's X470 chipset, all of which will launch alongside the Santa Clara chip developer's upcoming Ryzen 2000 series. Other than perhaps putting some last minute touches on revised BIOSes and drivers, the new hardware is ready to go. And leading up to the launch, leaked images of a handful of Gigabyte X470 boards have popped up online. Gigabyte is never shy when it comes to releasing a whole bunch of boards for any particular chipset. With the X470 coming into view, Gigabyte will have ready at least three higher end options for gamers,...
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Cryptocurrency mining is a phenomenon that many gamers and even some cities are having issues with. Gamers aren't happy because the miners are buying up all the graphics cards out there and making them hard to find and driving prices up. Some cities aren't happy because the miners are slurping up vast amounts of electricity and raising the rates for everyone in the town, this is exactly what happened in a small New York town recently. That said, for those that are willing to make an effort, even if on part time basis, re-purposing your gaming system can be a worthwhile and profitable effort,...
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AMD Ryzen fans looking forward to getting hands on a Second Gen Ryzen chip and needing a new motherboard to strap it onto will have a trio of slick new mainboards from ASUS apparently, and those boards have had their specs leaked rather extensively. The three new Ryzen boards are AMD X470-series chipset models promising enhanced features, refined designs, and other improvements that remain a bit mysterious. Some details on all three boards leaked, along with some layout design images and specs, via user going by the name of emissary42 on the Hardwareluxx forums. ASUS X470 PRO Specs The...
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AMD and its hardware partners are not letting any grass grow underneath their collective feet. That much was made evident at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where AMD announced its 2nd generation Ryzen and Threadripper processors. That means new motherboards are on the horizon as well. We had a chance to look at one in person, Gigabyte's upcoming Aorus X470 Gaming 7 WiFi. Gigabyte said it listened to a lot customer feedback when designing this motherboard. Apparently Gigabyte really does frequent the comments sections in articles, as well as look at what people are saying in web forums...
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More AMD RYZEN love is being announced at CES 2018, this time from prominent motherboard maker MSI. Small form factor (SFF) PCs can be fantastic build projects. They significantly decrease the footprint of your PC, often without compromising performance, whether it’s to accommodate confining dorm-living or a convenient portable build for LAN and eSports gaming. But first you need a strong but diminutive foundation. Enter the MSI Mini-ITX B350 PRO AC motherboard for RYZEN. The Mini-ITX B350 PRO AC is an AM4 socket motherboard for RYZEN processors and is packed with a surprising array of features...
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When we think of Threadripper, we envision big and burly builds stuffed chock full of high performance hardware. The kind of system that dominates a room, and would elicit a Tim Allen grunt. Well, ASRock has something different in mind, at least in regards to size. Going in the complete opposite direction, ASRock is gearing up to release the world's first micro ATX (M-ATX or mATX) motherboard for Threadripper. That motherboard is the X399M Taichi, essentially a smaller version of the regular ATX-sized X399 Taichi. Like its bigger brother, the X399M Taichi sports a TR4 socket to accommodate AMD's...
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AMD this year set the foundation for competing in the performance CPU sector with Ryzen, and it will build upon the underlying Zen architecture over the next several years, at least through 2020. Looking ahead to 2018, AMD and its manufacturing partners GlobalFoundries will transition from a 14-nanometer LPP process to 12nm LP, which it will use to launch refreshed Ryzen processors under the codename Pinnacle Ridge. Over at PCI-SIG, the standards body that oversees PCI Express technologies, there is a new Promontory 400 series platform listed, presumably for these new CPUs. The Promontory platform...
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