ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VIII DARK HERO

With the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero we are looking at the successor to the Crosshair VIII Hero in the test this year. Compared to its predecessor, ASUS has given the current motherboard with the X570 chipset a passive cooler and increased the voltage supply. Of course, the ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero can be used for all AMD Ryzen processors of the 5000 series. In the following test you will find out which features and functions are on board and how the new model performs in practice.

Read more @ Hardware Inside (German)

MSI Demonstrates AMD Curve Optimizer on B450 Motherboards – AGESA 1.1.0.0 Patch D

Right now, all motherboard manufacturers are on board with AGESA 1.1.0.0 Firmware but AMD has since announced its AGESA 1.1.0.0 Patch D which will be coming to X470 & B450 boards soon. Aside from the Ryzen 5000 CPU support and other system stability improvements, one of the features to look forward to will be support for Curve Optimizer OC within the motherboard’s BIOS. The feature lets you adjust Voltage-Frequency Curve when using PBO2 and will be coming on both B550 & X570 boards too. 

Read more @ WCCFTech

GIGABYTE WRX80 SU8 Motherboard Pictured

The WRX80 chipset based motherboard rumors date all the way back to 2019 when we first heard about it. Back then, we heard that AMD was going to segment their workstation and consumer line of Threadripper chips on their own respective platforms. The TRX40 platform with 4-channel DDR4 memory was going to be used for the consumer Ryzen Threadripper 3000 lineup while the WRX80 platform with 8-channel DDR4 memory was going to support the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3000 line of processors.

Read more @ WCCFTech

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X

The Ryzen 5 5600X does land at higher pricing than we’re accustomed to – the $300 price tag is now the entry point for Zen 3 chips. That will change as AMD introduces its Ryzen 3 and APU models, but it is disappointing for value seekers. Unfortunately, AMD’s recommended retail pricing rarely has any relation to reality at the checkout lane, so it’s hard to project where pricing will land in a few months when availability improves. For now, crushing shortages make it difficult to score a Ryzen 5 5600X, even at recommended pricing. 

Read more @ Tom’s Hardware

ASROCK B550 TAICHI RAZER EDITION

The ASRock B550 Taichi Razer Edition is arguably right at the top of the B550 tree. Whether a B550 board costing as much as the Taichi Razer Edition is right for you may come down to how important RGB is to you and how many M.2 drives you plan to run. Many X570 boards are available at this price with three M.2 slots and feature more PCIe 4.0 general purpose lanes. There is an ASRock X570 Taichi Razer Edition, and that is some $100 more. Is it worth the extra? We’d say probably not unless your needs are specific. 

Read more @ PC Gamer

GIGABYTE B550M AORUS PRO

While AMD has done a great job of maintaining motherboard compatibility with new generation processors, none of the previous-generation AM4 motherboards featured official PCIe 4.0 support, not even from the storage and PCIe controlled by PCIe 4.0 compatible CPUs. Enter B550, the more value-oriented little brother of X570. While the B550 chipset is PCIe 3.0 only, B550 motherboards support PCIe 4.0 from the CPU to the primary PCIe slot as well as the primary M.2 slot (dependent on a PCIe 4.0 ready CPU).

Read more @ TechPowerUp

XFX Radeon RX 6800 XT Speedster MERC 319

The new XFX Radeon RX 6800 XT Speedster 319 is a great graphics card that its unique name aside, has some killer performance. It’s everything AMD’s own Radeon RX 6800 XT reference graphics card, and more — it’s bigger, it’s much cooler, much quieter, and packs a very nice additional punch — and as a bonus, some great OC abilities, too.

XFX is using a custom PCB here, with a huge 2.7-slot card that rocks a triple-fan cooler and (surprisingly) only 2 x 8-pin PCIe power connectors. XFX is throwing on another $50 premium for the Radeon RX 6800 XT Speedster MERC 319 at $749 (versus $699 for the reference RX 6800 XT).

Read more @ TweakTown

MSI Will Offer BIOS Update for all AMD 400-Series Motherboards for Ryzen 5000

[Taipei, Taiwan] As a world-leading motherboards brand, MSI commits to deliver gamers and creators genuine pleasure, and will keep moving. BIOS update is always an exhilarating news for most users, so MSI keeps announcing relative news for our users. From this week, MSI will release AMD AGESA COMBO PI V2 1.1.0.0 Patch D BIOS for all AMD 400-series motherboards and it is expected to be completely uploaded before the end of 2020.

All AMD 400-Series Motherboards Comprehensively Support Ryzen 5000 CPU with AMD AGESA COMBO PI V2 1.1.0.0 Patch D

The purpose to keep releasing BIOS update is not only for increasing motherboards performance but also for better compatibilities. After AMD launches Ryzen 5000 CPU, most are inquisitive about whether Ryzen 5000 CPU is compatible with AMD previous platforms. MSI realizes that users are eager to enhance their motherboards with the latest CPU; therefore, we are determined to offer AGESA 1.1.0.0 Patch D for all AMD 400-series motherboards. With AGESA 1.1.0.0 Patch D, your 400-series motherboards can support Ryzen 5000 CPU and achieve its true performance. Since there are some technical issues on AGESA 1.1.8.0, it will not be released. Thus, AGESA 1.1.0.0. Patch D is the finest choice to update your motherboards.

AMD AGESA COMBO PI V2 1.1.0.0 Patch D Supports Re-Size BAR

One of the remarkable features of BIOS update this time is Re-Size BAR support. Undoubtedly, Re-Size BAR is a popular issue at present, and this function is performed to maximize efficiency for the system. It takes advantages of the memory of both the CPU and GPU as well as reduces latency and buffering effectively, which improves gaming experience. With BIOS update, AGESA 1.1.0.0 Patch D, AMD 400-series motherboards support Re-Size BAR as well. It is recommended that users update BIOS immediately to have better advancement.

Read more @ MSI

ASRock B550 Steel Legend

The B550 Steel Legend is a great entry-level board for consumers wanting to start a budget ATX build. As for features, it offers PCIe 4.0 for graphics and a single NVMe solution, but that’s all most gamers will need to get started.

Adding to this, even with this solution being designed for the entry-level, ASRock includes a rather good VRM design and 2.5Gbe support complete with DragonLAN software support from Realtek and motherboard tuning A-Tuning software.

Read more @ TweakTown

MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK

MSI opted to color the MAG B550 Tomahawk in a mixture of black and gray. Black is the more prominent color, but there’s a good amount of gray that adds contrast and keeps the board from looking too dull. MSI also put some RGB LEDs around the chipset heatsink that add some much-needed color to the board when it’s powered up.

Read more @ PC Magazine