Motherboards News - Page 2

ASUS has revealed its new TUF GAMING B760M-BTF WIFI D4 motherboard, and it features a rare physical design in that the BTF series is all about hiding the connectors on the underside of the motherboard. ASUS notes this will allow clean cable management for that cable-free minimalist look.

ASUS TUF GAMING B760M-BTF WIFI D4 motherboard

BTF stands for "Back To (the) Future" for reasons we assume relate to ASUS engineers being huge fans of the 1980s time-travel classic Back to the Future rather than the cryptic "new era for all PC DIY gamers." Hiding the connections on the underside of the motherboard is something we've seen briefly in the past from the likes of MSI, but it looks like ASUS is set to follow up with the concept, with this new motherboard being the first of more BTF motherboards.

In addition to the main power connectors, the underside houses USB connectors for front panels, fan headers, and an M.2 PCIe Gen 4 slot for additional storage. Of course, this motherboard will require a compatible case, as only a few PC cases provide access to where the underside connectors are placed.

A new report covering motherboard shipments from four of the biggest names in the game - ASUS, GIGABYTE, MSI, and ASRock - has revealed that 2022 was a devastating year. According to DigiTimes (via Tom's Hardware), citing supply-chain sources, there was a decline of around 10 million in motherboard shipments compared to the previous year.

The usual suspects of economic downturns and a post-pandemic slump are listed as the reasons, which is in line with recent reports about overall PC shipments seeing a similarly massive decline in 2022.

Even though 2022 saw the release of new CPUs from Intel and AMD, with the latter introducing a new motherboard chipset in the form of AM5, it wasn't enough to cover the shortfall in demand for new PC hardware.

GIGABYTE's new mid-range B760 AORUS Elite motherboard has been spotted, the first custom B760-based motherboard so far... check it out:

The new GIGABYTE B760 AORUS Elite motherboard isn't a high-end board, with no support for DDR5 memory and in its place DDR4 memory... so it is the perfect motherboard for someone who is looking at a new CPU like Intel's mid-range Core i5-13600K processor, but didn't want to buy DDR5 memory, too.

AMD has been struggling to sell its new Ryzen 7000 series CPUs given that consumers need to buy a higher-end X670 or B650 motherboard, which require DDR5 memory for the most part... but if you're waiting to upgrade to Intel's new 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" CPUs and didn't want to invest in DDR5, there are new motherboards on the way.

GIGABYTE has just announced that its "Instant 6GHz" feature is now available for their Z690 motherboards with a simple BIOS update, ready to boost performance on Intel's Core i9-13900K and Core i7-13700K processors.

The new Instant 6GHz feature on GIGABYTE's fleet of Z690 motherboards will add another 3% performance for single-core on the Core i9-13900K and Core i7-13700K processors. This new Instant 6GHz feature is great for Z690 motherboard owners who have the new Core i9-13900K or Core i7-13900K, without needing to buy a new Z790 motherboard to hit 6.0GHz.

GIGABYTE Z690 motherboard owners will simply need to upgrade to the latest BIOS on their motherboard to enjoy the Instant 6GHz feature, with the system automatically tweaking CPU voltage and Vcore Load Line Calibration of the Intel Core i9-13900K and Core i7-13700K processors, detecting the two most optimized cores to handle 6.0GHz, providing an additional 3% of single-core performance, just like the Z790 motherboards easily do.

Intel is reportedly gearing up for a February 2023 reveal of its next-gen HEDT platform in the form of the upcoming Sapphire Rapids "Fishhawk Falls" Xeon CPUs... but with it we'll see the W790 chipset, and now, we have a Canadian retailer listing pricing for a W790 motherboard real, real early.

Intel's upcoming 4th Gen Xeon Scalable CPU will be based on the Sapphire Rapids CPU architecture, which will be unveiled on January 10 according to the latest rumors... meanwhile, Canadian retailer ATIC has listed -- very early, very, very early I might add -- the SuperMicro X13SWA motherboard which is based on the upcoming W790 chipset.

SuperMicro X13WSA-TF motherboard based on the W790 chipset (source: ATIC)

MSI has unleashed a new special BIOS for its mid-range B660M Mortar MAX Wi-Fi motherboard, which when teamed with the Intel Core i5-13600K "Raptor Lake" processor can be overclocked to a hefty 5.8GHz, mighty impressive stuff.

MSI B660M Mortar MAX Wi-Fi mobo + Intel Core i5-13600K overclocked to 5.8GHz (source: HKEPC)

At first, the Intel Core i5-13600K couldn't be overclocked on B660 chipset-based motherboards -- exclusive OC was allowed on the Z790 and Z690 motherboards -- but now the mid-range MSI B660 Mortar MAX Wi-Fi motherboards can be pushed with some impressive overclocking through the special BIOS.

Up until now, overclockers could only push the BCLK to 102.9MHz on the MSI B660 Mortar MAX Wi-Fi motherboard, but with the new Special BIOS that the company has released in the form of the "E7D97IMS.123U24" BIOS, you can push the BCLK up to an impressive 125MHz. The BIOS lock hurt overclocking, until now... since the 102.9MHz hurdle would only allow for a 5.25GHz CPU frequency.

Sonic the Hedgehog fans are going to be kinda blown away, just like I am, with the announcement of the new ASRock Z790 PG Sonic motherboard. Yeah, there's an official Sonic the Hedgehog motherboard on its way.

The new ASRock Z790 PG Sonic motherboard features Sonic the Hedgehog himself all across the motherboard, with a spinning ring emblazoned on the rear IO cover... which I must admit, looks awesome. The entire motherboard as Sonic the Hedgehog splashed across it, with the new ASRock Z790 PG Sonic motherboard celebrating the release of SEGA's new Sonic Frontiers game, co-launching with the new Sonic-themed motherboard.

As for the motherboard itself, the new ASRock Z790 PG Sonic motherboard is ready for any Intel 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" CPU -- right up to the flagship Intel Core i9-13900K processor -- with PCIe 5.0 connectivity that's ready for a next-gen GPU or add-in cards of the future. Better yet, ASRock provides a Sonic-fast-worthy Blazing M.2 PCI-Express 5.0 M.2 slot that's ready for next-gen SSDs.

BIOSTAR has just unleashed its new flagship Z790 VALKYRIE motherboard, featuring Intel's new Z790 chipset which includes support for Intel's just-launched 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" CPUs and PCIe 5.0 GPUs and PCIe 5.0 SSDs of the future.

BIOSTAR's new Z790 VALKYRIE motherboard

The new BIOSTAR Z790 VALKYRIE motherboard joins the rest of BIOSTAR's new 700-series motherboards, featuring a beautiful design that the company says "exuberates the pinnacle" of BIOSTAR's product design and technical prowess.

We have support for the new LGA1700-based Intel 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" CPUs, DDR5 memory that BIOSTAR says the new Z790 VALKYRIE is good for up to 128GB of DDR5-7800 memory with some insane overclocking. You'll want a high-end Intel Core i9-13900K processor to go along with it, especially if you're pushing up to that insane DDR5-7800 point.

GIGABYTE has unleashed its next-gen Z790 motherboards now Intel has released their new 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" family of CPUs, led by the Core i9-13900K... which has an easy 6GHz overclocking mode on their new Z790 boards.

GIGABYTE's new Z790 motherboards will feature an "Instant 6GHz" feature for the flagship Intel Core i9-13900K processor, which boosts up to 5.8GHz by default, while another 200MHz will push it up to 6GHz easily. GIGABYTE's new Z790 motherboards will automatically tweak CPU voltage and Vcore Load Line Calibration to detect the most two optimized cores running at 6.0GHz.

I don't think most people will even bother, but there are some that will want to easily overclock their new Core i9-13900K processor to 6.0GHz, with GIGABYTE making it easier to hit those crazy frequencies. You'll only be getting around 3% more performance boost on a single core, but every MHz counts, we all know that.

ASRock's new mid-range B650 motherboards have leaked, with the new flagship ASRock B650E Taichi smiling for the leaker camera in all its... uh... E-ATX form factor glory.

The new ASRock B650E Taichi motherboard is a bigger E-ATX motherboard with 24+2+1 VRM phase design and the new AMD AM5 socket, while the current-gen B550E Taichi from ASRock has a 16 phase (14+2) design and comes in a regular ATX form factor.

We've got 1 x PCIe 5.0 x16 slot for a new graphics card, as well as 1 x Blazing M.2 (PCIe Gen5 SSD capable) slot, and then 2 x Hyper M.2 (PCIe Gen4 SSD capable) and 4 x SATA3 for storage. ASRock injects some super-speed connectivity onto the back of the B650 Taichi motherboard with 1 x Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 Type-C, multiple USB 3.2 Gen2 ports, 10 x USB 3.2 Gen1 ports, and 4 x front USB 2.0 ports.