Owning a high-end desktop system is rarely cheap, but one advantage of Intel’s X299 high-end desktop platform over AMD’s equivalent is that motherboards can be bought for noticeably lower prices. It’s been around for a bit longer, but they were also a little cheaper to start. Of course, the much cheaper price of AMD’s CPUs … Read more
ASRock X399M Taichi Review – Due to the colossal size of AMD’s TR4 CPU socket, we never imagined Threadripper motherboards would dip below the ATX form factor, but ASRock has worked its mini magic once again, as we also saw with its epic X299E-ITX/ac mini-ITX X299 motherboard. The X399M Taichi doesn’t quite shrink to mini-ITX, but … Read more
Asus ROG Strix X470-i Gaming MINI-ITX X470 MOTHERBOARD Since AMD’s X470 chipset was launched earlier this year, mini-ITX seems to be far more popular than micro-ATX, with not a single of the latter yet available with AMD’s AM4 socket. Asus’ ROG Strix X470-i Gaming is the most premium mini X470 board now. [content-egg module=Amazon template=custom/gallery_images] … Read more
While ASRock’s X299-ITX/ac is the undisputed king of small form factor high-end desktop (HEDT) motherboards, micro-ATX still offers a handy space-saving size with the benefit of more ports and, unlike the ASRock board, the MSI X299M Gaming Pro Carbon AC can house full-sized DIM Ms in its quad-channel memory slots. It’s also over cheaper than … Read more
Gigabyte’s B450 I Aorus Pro WiFi is aiming high, especially considering it uses AMD’s B450 chipset as opposed to X470. Thankfully, on mini-ITX boards at least, there’s next to no difference between the two chipsets, as there’s no space to make use of the additional features that the more expensive X470 chipset offers anyway. [sc … Read more
Z390 ATX MOTHERBOARD A very now and then a motherboard manufacturer goes all-out and leaves the rational worlds of value and price points far behind to create an ultimate flagship. We’ve already seen MSI’s MEG X399 Creation, with its air-cooled M.2 PCI-E card and mega power circuitry, and less recently. ASRock’s X99 Extreme 11, with … Read more
MSI Z370 SLI Plus review – We’re still waiting for Intel to release Coffee Lake chipsets other than the expensive Z370 model, not least so that its non-K-series CPUs can offer better value once you factor in the motherboard price. It seems we’ll have to wait a bit longer in order to pick up boards that … Read more
Gigabyte’s Z590I Vision D is the first mini-ITX Z590 motherboard we’ve seen in the flesh, and it packs a wallop as far as features go. You’d hope so too, given that it costs nearly £, but it’s likely a fair chunk of that price tag is taken up by the Z590I Vision D’s key feature, which … Read more
It’s been a very long time since we’ve had enthusiast motherboards supporting two types of memory from a single chipset, but that’s exactly what’s happened with Z690. Read our ASUS TUF Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 Review. There’s a clear divide between Asus’ upper and lower product stack, though, with its Prime and TUF ranges more likely … Read more
Where aren’t many options below £ at the moment if you want a Z590 motherboard with the cooling and power circuitry needed to properly push Intel’s K-series CPUs, while keeping your PCI-E 4 SSD cool. Gigabyte’s Z590 Vision G comes close, though, costing just over £, but sporting some decent credentials and a funky white … Read more
Asus’ mini-ITX motherboards usually get released a few weeks after a major chipset launch, but this time around Asus has seen fit to get its new Z690 dinky offering out the door on day one. The ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi looks absolutely stunning, and Asus has also thrown in some funky engineering to make … Read more
Z690 MOTHERBOARD [wpsm_toplist] It’s okay, we know what you’re thinking. Sadly, that isn’t a typo and the latest iteration of the popular Maximum Hero does indeed cost more than £500. The reason for this whopping price compared with previous Hero boards is likely down to several reasons, not least of all the absolute monster of … Read more