Upcoming Intel Based Motherboards from GIGABYTE, ASUS, MSI and ASRock
by Ian Cutress on April 28, 2014 3:30 AM ESTASUS’ New Products
The ASUS set of images came about via a leak at an APAC event. Apparently one media representative invited to that event (and should have been under NDA) took pictures and then distributed them via Weibo in spite of the NDA. At this present time ASUS has not officially released any other pictures of its range, so we are left to decipher these blurry photographs.
The whole range seems to have removed the mustard color and gone for a more subtle dull metallic gold. The iconography is around the livery and a chipset heatsink with a circular image.
First up is the mini-ITX model:
Here ASUS have put the 24-pin ATX power connector outside the DRAM slots and the CPU power connector is in an easy to reach place on the top. The socket area is more central, meaning the chipset is squashed down towards the PCIe slot. The SATA ports are spread out such that two are near the 24-pin ATX (along with a USB 3.0 header) and two are inside the DRAM slots at the bottom.
On the high end of the market is the Deluxe:
The styling is easier to see here, especially with the power delivery heatsink reaching around three sides of the CPU socket. On the right there are some SATA Express ports, with an M.2 just between the chipset heatsink and what looks like the TPU switch. As the Deluxe is high up the scale of the board list, we see two USB 3.0 headers near the 24-pin ATX connector as well as an 802.11ac WiFi module on the rear IO. It looks like the audio also has had an update, and we move to Dual Intelligent Processors V (five).
The workstation model was also on display:
Despite the small grainy picture, we see four PCIe slots and a heatsink exactly where a PLX8747 would be, suggesting an x8/x8/x8/x8 PCIe layout for four-way SLI. It is perhaps interesting that we see this on the WS and not on the Deluxe. Like the Deluxe we have dual USB 3.0 headers, SATA Express ports and an M.2 slot. There are dual two-digit debugs at the bottom for enhanced error reporting, and the chipset heatsink is larger than the others, perhaps to accommodate a controller or two.
There is also an image of three ROG motherboards being released, including the Hero, Gene, and the Ranger which is new to the brand.
TUF gets some love as well with the Sabertooth:
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Antronman - Monday, April 28, 2014 - link
Nope.With the same chip, on a Gigabyte, MSI, ASRock, and RoG mobo, the chip will always be able to pull off lower voltage on the same OC on an RoG.
willis936 - Monday, April 28, 2014 - link
You're going to have to cite some threads with some actual numbers and caps or else you're just blowing smoke.Achaios - Monday, April 28, 2014 - link
Looks like someone is -shamelessly- copying ASUS ROG. I am a member at OVERCLOCK.NET, and almost every member who has got his rig published there owns an ASUS Maximus VI Hero ROG board, myself included. We don't need to see sales figures to understand how well the Gigabyte Z87 series of boards with those pathetic colour schemes, emphasis on useless sound chips, and contempt for overclockers and enthusiasts has sold even with prices as much as 30% cheaper than ASUS.nevertell - Monday, April 28, 2014 - link
Don't call the sound codecs useless. Although, if one were serious about their audio quality, they'd have a discrete DAC, but nevermind.Creig - Monday, April 28, 2014 - link
Looks like someone is -really- taking their ASUS purchase too seriously. I've used Gigabyte motherboards in the past and found them to overclock decently, to be rock-solid in every day usage and they weren't overly expensive considering all the features they offered. I would have no problems purchasing either an ASUS or Gigabyte motherboard for my next upgrade.The_Assimilator - Monday, April 28, 2014 - link
Looks like MSI is betting that SATA Express will fall flat, at least this generation. If that means their boards are cheaper than the competition's, could be a big win for them.It's disappointing that you still have to go for high-end expensive motherboards to get 2x USB 3 internal headers. Hopefully Intel will give out more USB 3 ports (minimum 10, please) in the Skylake chipset.
Hrafn - Thursday, May 1, 2014 - link
I must admit I'm having a hard time seeing SATA Express's niche. Given the availability of multiple SATA3 ports on most MBs SATA-backward compatibility would not seem to be a major selling point. M2 seems ideal for small-but-fast system drives and full PCIE cards for those requiring maximum size and speed (which generally go together on SSDs). Is there really a potential market for PCIE 2.5" drives, particularly given SATA Express's complex cabling?rjlew88 - Monday, April 28, 2014 - link
Love the Z_7 boards! The only one clearly indicated as "Z97" is the pic for IMG_1656.JPG. I hope you continue to bring us the comps between Z67, Z77, and Z87 with the new Z97 for reference. Thanks. Long live Sandy and Ivy!!cm2187 - Monday, April 28, 2014 - link
What about that 32GB RAM limit? Will intel increase it?peterfares - Monday, April 28, 2014 - link
Probably not soon, they want you to buy server hardware if you want more than 32GB. And what do you really need more than 32GB for?