ASUS Z590 ROG MAXIMUS XIII, TUF and PRIME Pictured

Keeping up with the trend of pictured upcoming boards today, we have initial photos of the ASUS ROG MAXIMUS XIII EXTREME GLACIAL, ASUS ROG MAXIMUS XIII HERO, ASUS PRIME Z590-A and the ASUS TUF Z590-PLUS WIFI, courtesy of VideoCardz and user harukaze5719 on Twitter. The EXTREM GLACIAL is clearly going to be a gorgeous but extremely expensive board, featuring built in waterblocks. The TUF and PRIME are also very attractive boards with large VRM heatsinks, dual M.2 slots with integrated heatsinks and more. Head on over for a better look at these boards.

GIGABYTE X570 AORUS MASTER OC Pictured

Courtesy of HXL on Twitter, we have our first pictures of the upcoming GIGABYTE X570 AORUS MASTER OC. This X570 based motherboard could be GIGABYTE’s answer to some recently announced competitive products like the MSI UNIFY X. The board appears to be stripped of the cosmetics like the rear I/O cover and shield, as well as featuring densely finned VRM heatsinks. The VRM itself appears to be a 12+2 setup judging solely from the photo. Only two DDR4 DIMMs are provided here, along with 2 8-pin CPU power headers. Clearly, this is a board aimed at the overclocking crowd. We’ll see what comes of this board when it is announced.

GIGABYTE Z490I AORUS ULTRA

The AORUS line from Gigabyte spans a broad range of products—laptops, peripherals, and core components. Across the enthusiast spectrum, the AORUS name denotes Gigabyte’s gaming-focused products. The AORUS motherboard range features a consistent naming scheme that includes the Pro, Elite, Ultra, Master, and Extreme motherboards. Within this line up, the Master serves as the high-end mainstream option offering prime features at a high, but attainable price point.

The Gigabyte Z490I AORUS Ultra features a robust VRM utilizing 90 A power stages, along with Q-Flash for a redundant safety net for ambitious overclocking. The Gigabyte Z490I AORUS Ultra also offers a full-coverage aluminium backplate for added rigidity and additional VRM cooling. This little board should pack a punch, so let’s see how the Gigabyte Z490I AORUS Ultra stacks up against the competition.

Read more @ TechPowerUp

ASUS Motherboard Price Jumps Incoming

If you haven’t heard yet, brace yourselves for increased prices on ASUS motherboards and GPUs. According a report from VideoCardz, ASUS has raised prices on several products due to increased business side costs.

We have an announcement in regards to MSRP price changes that are effective in early 2021 for our award-winning series of graphic cards and motherboards. Our new MSRP reflects increases in cost for components. operating costs, and logistical activities plus a continuation of import tariffs. We worked closely with our supply and logistic partners to minimize price increases. ASUS greatly appreciates your continued business and support as we navigate through this time of unprecedented market change.

— Juan Jose Guerrero III, ASUS’s Technical Product Marketing Manager

Updated pricing is available over at the ASUS Store.

GIGABYTE Z590 AORUS XTREME – First Pictures

Over at VideoCardz, they have a couple photos of the upcoming GIGABYTE Z590 AORUS XTREME. These new 500-series motherboards are expected to launch next week, so this is only the first of many looks we’ll soon be getting with these new motherboards. The board features three PCIe x16 slots, two of which are PCIe Gen 4.0 compatible. Given the 20 lanes expected on Rocket Lake-S, this means we’re looking at a likely 1 x16 / 2 x8 PCIe 4.0 bifurcation setup. The board is also sporting three M.2 slots. One would run at PCIe 4.0, the remainder PCIe 3.0. For more, head on over to take a look.

Gigabyte is set to launch its 500-series motherboards next week. The company will refresh its Aorus Xtreme motherboard by adding more power stages and faster Wi-Fi.

The Z590 Aorus Xtreme motherboard features 20+1 digital power stages, which is more than the Z490 series which features 16+1. The motherboard is equipped with advanced networking such as 1x 10Gbe and 1×2.5 Gbe Ethernet ports, Thunderbolt 4, and Wifi 6E (a new standard that operates in a 6 GHz band).

– VideoCardz

MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE

Focusing on performance, the Godlike did well in our benchmarking suite, running most tests on the faster side of average. Even in the PCMark 10 MS Office/Application testing, where we often see anomalies, we saw consistent results across the full gamut of testing. The board allowed the 5950X to reach its full 5 GHz boost, so we’re getting all we paid for at default settings. As expected, overclocking on this motherboard went without a hiccup, easily handling our 16-core/32-thread CPU. VRM temperatures at load were some of the lowest we’ve seen as well. 

Read more @ Tom’s Hardware

GIGABYTE Z490 AORUS MASTER

The GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Master is a very capable board for overclocking with its solid 14-phase power delivery for the CPU. It uses premium 90 A power stages, with adequate VRM cooling, which we saw in our thermal testing. The GIGABYTE performs better in this regard than most Z490 models we’ve tested, and when it came to testing the overclocks, we saw very tight VDroop control. There are plenty of potentials to unlock with the Z490 Aorus Master, not just for the CPU but also in memory, with official support for DDR4-5000 memory. 

Read more @ AnandTech

New Review: ASUS TUF GAMING X570-PRO (WI-FI)

With the recent launch of the AMD’s Ryzen 5000 “Zen 3” chips, we’ve seen a series of revised or upgraded X570 motherboards hitting the market. Today, we’re taking a look at the successor to the popular TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI), the TUF GAMING X570-PRO (WI-FI). This motherboard rolls in with a current retail price tag of $219.99. The X570-PLUS (WI-FI) though can be had for $189.99. Are the upgrades between motherboards worth that $30?

Read the complete review to find out.

Intel Discontinues 300-Series Chipsets

Intel isn’t slow to pull the curtain down on its products when replacements are waiting in the wings. Last month, the company discontinued its entire 9th-gen Coffee Lake Refresh line, including the still-excellent Core i9-9900K. Its predecessor, the 8th-gen Coffee Lake CPUs, were discontinued in June 2020.

The announcement comes just before the start of CES 2021 next week, where Intel will likely reveal its 500-series motherboards. These feature an LGA1200 socket, so both the 10th-gen Comet Lake-S and upcoming 11th-gen Rocket Lake-S chips are supported.

Read more @ TechSpot