GIGABYTE Z490 VISION D – TweakTown

We kick off motherboard specifications starting with the Intel LGA1200 socket and behind it the Z490 chipset. This platform is compatible with an entire range of processors from 10th Gen Core i3 to Core i9 and even Pentium Gold and Celeron. Memory support includes speeds up to DDR4400 with overclocking and 2933MHz in JEDEC timing mode. Four slots support 32GB DIMMS offering a peak capacity of 128GB.

Audio is next in line with the ALC1220VB Codec supporting 8 channels and DTS:X Ultra. Networking is two part, one being 2.5Gbe powered by the Intel i225 with a second Intel Gbe controller for backup. Wi-Fi 6 is included on this platform with the AX201 from Intel offering Wi-Fi 6 and BT5.1 connectivity.

Read more @ TweakTown

GIGABYTE Z490 AORUS MASTER: PCB Review – Steve’s Hardware

The motherboard has a very neutral aesthetic appeal, with a nice black and gunmetal color theme. Most of the motherboard’s shields are actually made of actual metal instead of the typical plastic we see most of the time. There are eight fan headers located on the motherboard, including two pump headers that probably operate at full speed by default, and a CPU_OPT header. There are also two external temperature sensors circled in green, and there are included temperature probes that you can stick in a GPU or near an exhaust or intake vent in the case.

Read more @ Steve’s Hardware

GIGABYTE Z490 AORUS MASTER – TweakTown

We kick off motherboard specifications starting with the Intel LGA1200 socket. This platform is compatible with an entire range of processors from 10th Gen Core i3 to Core i9. This board’s power design is thoroughly overkill, even for the enthusiast overclocker, offering a doubled seven-phase design for the Vcore with Intersil ISL99390 stages at 90A each. SOC is powered by a single Vishay SIC651 50A stage and Intersil ISL69269 PWM controller behind it all.

Read more @ TweakTown

Gigabyte W480 Vision D – TechPowerUp

The Gigabyte W480 Vision D is a striking motherboard. Gigabyte has done a good job of creating a white theme that stands out visually, but still fits a wide array of components. While the RGB LED implementation lags behind some other boards in terms of complexity and customization, diffusion is excellent, and the placement blends in seamlessly with the board’s theme.

Out of the box, performance was excellent for the Gigabyte W480 Vision D. Memory overclocking was good as well, as I reached 4000 MHz CL16 stable with my Trident Z Neo kit. CPU overclocking is locked down on the W480 chipset, but VRM thermals were great when running Prime95 at stock settings, never exceeding 45 °C.

Read more @ TechPowerUp

Review Roundup: Radeon RX 6900 XT’s & More

Graphics: MSI Radeon RX 6900 XT GAMING X TRIO @ Guru3D, SAPPHIRE TOXIC Radeon RX 6900 XT Limited Edition @ TweakTown, MSI Radeon RX 6900 XT GAMING X TRIO @ TweakTown, MSI RX 6900 XT Gaming X Trio @ TechPowerUp, Gigabyte Radeon RX 6900 XT Gaming OC @ TechPowerUp, SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 6800 @ TweakTown, SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 6800 Nitro Plus @ NikKTech, SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 6800 XT @ TweakTown, EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti XC GAMING @ The FPS Review

Storage: Samsung SSD 980 Pro 2TB @ HotHardware, Silicon Power US70 1TB @ Tech Legend, Samsung 980 Pro 1TB @ TechPowerUp

Audio: Sonos Beam @ DVHardware, Aiwa ARC-1 ANC Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphones @ NikKTech, Patriot Viper V330 @ FunkyKit, EPOS Sennheiser GSP 602 + GSX 300 @ KitGuru

Peripherals: HyperX Pulsefire Surge @ DVHardware, NK Blueberry Switch @ OC Club, ROCCAT Burst Core @ TechPowerUp

Pre-Built PC: Shuttle XPC slim DA320 @ [M]adShrimps, ASRock DeskMini H470W @ KitGuru

PSUs: Corsair CV450 450W @ The FPS Review, Fractal Design ION+ 560P 560W @ The FPS Review,

GIGABYTE B550 AORUS MASTER

The GIGABYTE B550 Aorus Master is based on AMD’s B550 chipset which is compatible with AMD’s socket AM4 CPU’s. The B550 Aorus Master is built using a 2oz. copper, 6-layer PCB and has a VRM sporting 16 power phases with 70A power stages. Very quickly you figure out that despite the semi-budget chipset, this isn’t a budget motherboard offering at all. GIGABYTE made some interesting design choices which seem to be designed to make the B550 Aorus Master something of a poor man’s X570 motherboard.

Read more @ The FPS Review

GIGABYTE Z590 AORUS MASTER

The Aorus Z590 Master sits nearer the top of the stack and is priced at £410. Though it looks very similar to the Z490 version now on sale for around £330, there are key differences to be aware of, and it’s those we’ll focus on. The primary M.2 slot, closest to the CPU, only works if you have an 11th Gen Core chip in the socket – and no-one does right now – so if using 10th Gen chips it is redundant and you are left with the two slots to the left, underneath the heatsinks.

Read more @ Hexus

Intel Z590 Motherboards Hit Newegg: ASUS, ASRock, GIGABYTE

The end of January has come, and the first Intel Z590 based motherboard are now available at retail. Newegg has 8 models currently listed based on my search. Few models are in stock, with some are set for release later next week. Prices range from $194.99 at the bottom head to a hefty $499.99 at the high end. Head on over if you’re looking to pick up one of these models:

ASRock Z590 Steel Legend ($194.99)
ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E ($211.99)
ASUS ROG STRIX Z590-E GAMING (379.99)
ASUS ROG MAXIMUS XIII HERO ($499.99)
ASUS PRIME Z590-A ($279.99)
ASUS ROG STRIX Z590-A GAMING ($329.99)
ASUS TUF GAMING Z590-PLUS WIFI ($259.99)
GIGABYTE Z590I AORUS ULTRA ($289.99)

MBR Review: GIGABYTE A520 AORUS ELITE

“The A520 AORUS ELITE occupies the high-end of A520 based motherboards, yet is still affordable. I picked this one up for a mere $89.99, a relative steal in comparison to most B550 motherboards, and still cost effective over B450 boards carrying a $30-40+ premium. Yes, it gives up overclocking support of the processor. If you’re looking to overclock your CPU, A520 is not the place to be. However, that doesn’t mean you’re entirely limited to stock performance.”

Read the full review here.

GIGABYTE Launch Z590 VISION Motherboards

Taipei, Taiwan, January 14th, 2021 – GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, today announced the new Z590 VISION series motherboards for creators which power the 11th Gen Intel® Core™ processors. The exclusive design of VisionLINK and VisionLINK TB enables the simple connection to pen displays with only one USB Type-C® cable, releasing creators from the mess of transmission cables and switches to a neat space. Featuring an optimized power design, thermal design, superior connectivity and high quality components, GIGABYTE Z590 VISION series motherboards provide the remarkable platform for creators.

The VisionLINK technology allows for data and video transmission based on USB Type-C® Interface and it provides power delivery up to 60W. VisionLINK technology lets creators not only without cable clutter, but also the benefit of data, video, and power charging at the same time. One USB Type-C® cable connected, turn the workspace into neat and tidy. VisionLINK TB is an advanced version of VisionLINK technology. It is based on Thunderbolt™ 4 delivers 40Gb/s high-bandwidth speeds, data transferring, video signal, 60W power charging, and daisy chain function to support up to 10 devices connection.

The Z590 VISION series motherboards keep the VISION white styling with exclusive hardware design to provide creators with an improved working efficiency. The Z590 VISION series motherboards inherit GIGABYTE’s leadership in motherboard power design and VRM thermal design, using up to 12-phase direct power design paired with highly durable DrMOS to provide the best power delivery. Solid power pin connectors on the Z590 VISION series motherboards ensure that the power delivery is stable while reducing excess heat during high workload to prevent throttling, and make the processor more stable to avoid downtime due to an unstable power supply. With the new design of the fins-array, direct-touch heat-pipe, large heat sinks and Smart Fan 6, it not only strengthens the thermal effect, but also takes into account the appearance design, allowing the GIGABYTE Z590 VISION motherboards to be both stylish and thermally efficient.

The memory circuits of GIGABYTE Z590 VISION motherboards are embedded within the PCB ground layers while the metal outer layer of the PCB reduces electromagnetic interference so those using dual channel configuration can enjoy high-speed, stable overclocked RAM performance boost above XMP 4800MHz. GIGABYTE Z590 VISION motherboards use PCIe 4.0 grade of PCBs, PCIe slots, M.2 slots, and controllers for the highest bandwidth quality. The select Z590 VISION motherboards equip with three PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots which the trace layout comes directly from CPU for the NVMe M.2 SSD, and offers and extreme sequential read speed of more than 20000 MB/s in Windows RAID 0 mode.

Besides taking the lead to implement Thunderbolt™ 4 onboard, GIGABYTE Z590 VISION motherboards also adopt robust expansion for content creators , which includes SuperSpeed USB3.2 Gen2x2, Intel® 2.5G Ethernet, and High Fidelity audio output expansion interface. The Intel® 2.5Gbps Ethernet controller brings ultra-fast connectivity that is 2.5X faster than Gigabit Ethernet. Also, the lineup implements an Intel® WiFi 6 802.11ax network adapter to provide Gigabit level wireless network, and paired with high-gain Wi-Fi smart antenna to deliver up to 2.4Gbps transmission speed which offers smoother streaming videos, fewer dropped connections, and more stability. To feature with dual Ethernet LAN and WiFi for creators to have a flexible configuration with high bandwidth and low latency access connectivity. The newest GIGABYTE VISION DRIVE perfectly matches the 20 Gbps high speed transfer of USB 3.2 Gen2x2 to meet the needs of ultra-fast storage from creators.

GIGABYTE Z590 VISION series motherboards are equipped with the high SNR audio engine ALC4080 and the WIMA FKP2 studio-grade audio capacitors to deliver studio-grade audio. GIGABYTE’s exclusive design with DTS:X® Ultra technology delivers high fidelity audio for the most immersive sound experience whether it’s for work or entertainment. From video editing to listening to music, the audio quality is indispensable.

Z590 VISION G features three PCIe x16 slots with one Gen4 x16 and two Gen3 x4 supported. There are four M.2 slots with PCIe 4.0/3.0 interface, and six SATA 6Gb/s ports. With the VisionLINK for connection of pen displays and the DP_In interface, the 3D performance of VGA cards can be shared to pen displays, which is suitable for enabling 2D design and entry-level 3D modeling.

Z590 VISION D holds two PCIe 4.0 slots of x16 and x8 interface, two PCIe 3.0 expansion slots of x4 and x1, three M.2 slots with PCIe 4.0/3.0 interface, and six SATA 6Gb/s ports. With the VisionLINK TB for connection of pen display and the DP_In interface, the performance of VGA cards can be shared to pen displays, which is more suitable for VFX, 3D compilation, 3D CAD, AI development, and edge deployment.

Z590I VISION D is the first ITX size motherboard of VISION series which is the top choice for mini PC to handle 2D and light-duty 3D computer-aided workloads in fields such as architecture and engineering. In addition to one PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, two PCIe 4.0/3.0 M.2 slots, and four SATA 6Gb/s ports onboard, Z590I VISION D also equips two Thunderbolt™ 4 ports which can deliver 40Gb/s high-bandwidth speeds, data transferring, video signal, 60W power charging, USB4™ specification compliance, and daisy chain function to support up to 10 devices connection. Heat dissipation is very critical to the mini PC. Z590I VISION D thermal’s solution provides a perfect balance between style and performance.

Z590 VISION series also implement the highly recognized durability and stability of GIGABYTE motherboards. The exclusive Q-Flash Plus feature allows users to flash a BIOS file without installing a CPU, RAM, GPU, and other peripherals. Creators now can concentrate on their creation under a stable system.