Motherboards
BIOSTAR has launched its AM5-based A620MS motherboard today, bringing a new low-end option for PC users on a budget. Though BIOSTAR has not disclosed what MSRP it the A620MS motherboard will carry, the specifications of the board make it clear that it targets the lowest-end segment of the market, though it makes use of the regular A620 chipset instead of the even less expensive A620A chipset. The A620MS sports some features typical for mATX A620 boards (which make up the vast majority of current models): two DDR5 DIMM slots that support up to two 48GB sticks, an M.2 PCIe 4.0 slot for SSDs, four SATA III ports, and a PCIe Gen4 x16 slot. The motherboard also has four debug LEDs for diagnosing CPU, RAM, GPU...
GIGABYTE to Launch the Z87X-SLI
Hearing the name ‘Z87X-SLI’ took me aback. Z87 supports SLI already, right? Why would a manufacturer need to confirm SLI usage on the Z87 chipset: it is...
24 by Ian Cutress on 12/2/2013Gaming Motherboards under $175: Holiday 2013
Glad tidings we bring, and this time it comes in the form of gaming oriented motherboards. As an ex-semi-serious gamer (local clan matches, LANs), the motherboard in my...
10 by Ian Cutress on 11/27/2013Best Mini-ITX Motherboards: Holiday 2013
As part of a stream on holiday buying guides (Black Friday and jolly Noël around the corner), here is my take on the season’s mini-ITX offerings, covering both AMD...
34 by Ian Cutress on 11/23/2013ASUS Maximus VI Impact Review: ROG and Mini-ITX
In previous generations, the ASUS Republic Of Gamers (ROG) range has been split across three models – the micro-ATX Gene, the gaming oriented Formula and the more overclocker friendly...
69 by Ian Cutress on 11/22/2013ASRock Launch Z87 Extreme11/AC with 22 SATA Ports and the H81 Pro BTC for Cryptocurrency Mining
This week ASRock are launching a high/low combination of motherboards for Haswell. The first one is going to be one of the wildest designs on the Z87 platform...
20 by Ian Cutress on 11/18/2013GIGABYTE Launches $170 Z87 G1.Sniper
Astute followers of the Z87 motherboard market might start to notice a trend. For each generation we have had gaming focused motherboards, designed with hardware to lure gamers...
9 by Ian Cutress on 11/8/2013ASUS Announces Rampage IV Black Edition, Coming 11/19
The extreme end of Intel’s performance platform is a relatively small end-user market, but despite this we had requests back at Sandy Bridge-E launch to test a good number...
15 by Ian Cutress on 11/8/2013ASRock Z87E-ITX Review: Motherboard Juxtaposition
In the office I am currently running through a series of smaller sized motherboards – both micro-ATX and mini-ITX. Due to the size, there is plenty of scope...
43 by Ian Cutress on 11/6/2013EVGA X79 Dark Review
Investing into the high performance Intel arena can be expensive. Alongside that $330/$580/$1050 CPU (or more for Xeons) there has to be a motherboard up to the task...
23 by Ian Cutress on 10/23/2013ECS Reveals Bay Trail-D Mini-ITX Line
With Intel's Bay Trail platform and Silvermont Atom cores in the news for tablets, we have spotted their use in mini-ITX platforms as far pack as Computex 2013 where...
41 by Ian Cutress on 10/23/2013GIGABYTE Z87X-OC Review: Overclocking Oriented Orange at $200
Last generation saw a new type of product in motherboards: the cheap OC oriented SKU. At $200-240 we had a single option specifically designed for OC, with other...
23 by Ian Cutress on 10/11/2013Ivy Bridge-EP Compatibility Announced from ASUS and GIGABYTE
Along with the most of the consumer level X79 products being upgraded for Ivy Bridge compatibility, arguably Xeon compatibility for the server side of each motherboard manufacturer is more...
4 by Ian Cutress on 9/13/2013GIGABYTE Tease X79 Refresh: X79 G1.Assassin 3
With plenty of eyes all around IDF, there are some oppertune moments to see some exciting hardware on display. Over at VR-Zone, these eyes caught glimpst of GIGABYTE's...
9 by Ian Cutress on 9/12/2013MSI Z87I Review: Mini-ITX Haswell for $140
I am always excited when a mini-ITX motherboard bound for the mainstream market crosses my desk. In a small PCB, compared to full sized ATX, it can be...
47 by Ian Cutress on 8/27/2013GIGABYTE Launch H81 Series Motherboards
When it comes to our motherboard reviews, we typically attempt to focus on the high sellers with distinguishing features - this normally means chipsets aimed at the mainstream to...
24 by Ian Cutress on 8/24/2013GIGABYTE F2A85XN-WiFi Review: FM2 and Richland in mini-ITX
Mini-ITX is an exciting form factor, as with every CPU generation we can make something small and faster with better features over the previous gen. GIGABYTE recently released a...
32 by Ian Cutress on 8/21/2013ASUS Introduces Z87-Deluxe/Quad: World’s First Thunderbolt 2 Certified Motherboard
For those that might not be too familiar with the standard, Thunderbolt is Intel’s high-bandwidth, do-everything connector, designed as a potential future path for all things external to a...
56 by Jarred Walton on 8/19/2013GIGABYTE Announces FM2+ A88X Series Motherboards for Kaveri
The evolution of the Bulldozer module, through Piledriver, and Steamroller on Kaveri to come has been an eventful journey. Despite recent rumors floating around the Internet reporting delays...
24 by Ian Cutress on 8/16/2013ASRock Z87M OC Formula Review: mATX OC at $190
The typical mainstay for the overclocker is the ATX size, with ample room for large coolers and multi-GPU setups. Is micro-ATX up to scratch? ASRock thinks so...
26 by Ian Cutress on 8/14/2013MSI Z87 XPower Review: Our First Z87 with PLX8747
When it comes to motherboard extravagance, X58 heralded some mightily expensive boards, and a choice few from X79 and Z77 also raised this baton. So where does a...
35 by Ian Cutress on 8/12/2013