Motherboards

By Thomas Soderstrom @ Tom’s Hardware

After noticing a few empty solder pads on ASRock’s value-awarded X299 Taichi, we said that we couldn’t wait to see the more advanced motherboard that will be based upon the same circuit board. We didn’t need to wait long. The high-end version was already in queue by the time the first review published. The Fatal1ty X299 Professional Gaming i9 adds an AQtion AQC107 10GbE controller from Aquantia, a front-panel USB 3.1 10 Gb/s header, a second ASM3142 USB 3.1 controller to support the added front-panel header, onboard power and reset buttons, and Creative’s Sound Blaster Cinema 3 audio software. It also loses the cheaper board’s DTS Connect license, since compatible receivers are generally thought of as being home-theater equipment. This is, after all, a “Professional Gaming” motherboard.

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By Hilbert Hagedoorn @ Guru3D

In this review we take a look at the ASRock X399 Taichi. This stylish AMD Ryzen Threadripper motherboard is available for 349 USD / 369 Euros and might be an attractive offer for the sheer amount of sweetness you receive in return. In this motherboard you will spot three locations for M2 SSDs combined with audio based upon a Realtek ALC 1220 and TI NE5532 Premium Headset Amplifier. ASRock is embedding a 2 x GigaLAN Intel I211AT into the board and sure, a bit of RGB LEDs as well (albeit very subtle). The CPU can be powered by 8+4 pin power connectors. The board has four PCI-Express x16 slots and an array of OC buttons as well as a diagnostic POST LED. Since X399 will bring support of up-to 64 PCIe Gen3 lanes bringing anything and everything multi-GPU support multi-GPU into play, including full-on quad GPU support, the spacing on the mobo does support it. Unfortunately ASRock did not implement any Aquantia AQC-107 LAN chip can be spotted, a bit of a miss for such a high-end product, you do get 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac + BT4.2 Wireless Ethernet, however a rather poor implementation of it, we’ll show you that in the review. You’ll spot a nice design familiar to that Tachi design. The X399 board is among the cheaper ones available listed at € 369,- / 349 USD.

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By Hilbert Hagedoorn @ Guru3D

Recently AMD launched their mega-core Ryzen Threadripper processors and a new chipset to support these heavy duty processors. In this review we take the brilliant Gigabyte X399 Aorus Gaming 7 for a spin.

Threadripper processors do not only offer many CPU cores and threads, they also offer quad channel memory compatibility as well as 64 PCI-Express Generation 3.0 lanes on the processor alone. That last fact opens up a tremendous amount of possibilities for any motherboard manufacturer, as restrictions are lifted since there is plenty of bandwidth to work with. Well, leave it up-to Gigabyte to design something intricate and tasteful, they designed a motherboard that is going completely off the chart when we talk features. Triple M2 SSDs (full x4 PCie gen 3), a U2 connector, how about eight DIMM channels. You will spot many PCIE connectors, USB 3.1 ports as well as an abundance of storage options.

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By Hilbert Hagedoorn @ Guru3D

We review the a premium X299 motherboard, the MSI X299 Gaming M7 ACK. A nice motherboard in dark accents that is loaded with features and design. It comes with very proper AC wifi, is all shielded and expands design and features. This X299 motherboard can house Kaby-Lake-X and Skylake-X processors.

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By Hilbert Hagedoorn @ Guru3D

It is time for our second X299 review, this turn goes to the X299 Prime Deluxe from ASUS. A totally fab looking motherboard in black and white accents with a small embedded LCD display. It’s not just about the looks though as the X299 motherboard can house Kaby-Lake-X and Skylake-X processors, but also is injected with a lot of extra features.

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By Steven Kean @ Legit Reviews

The AMD Ryzen processor has been out for four months now, and there have been many updates to make things run a little smoother. While many were very upset at the launch issues, we should all acknowledge that these type of issues happen whenever there is a major architecture change; we just tend to forget about them over time. The issues at launch included gaming performance, power usage and memory incompatibility. After the first big update that was to fix gaming performance, we took a look at the AMD Ryzen 1700X and checked how it performed against the Intel i7-7700k in a 14 Game Showdown. We found that Ryzen had indeed stepped up and looked to perform much better than at release in a gaming environment. Gigabyte has been working hard with AMD to resolve the memory incompatibility issues, when we originally tested the Ryzen 1700X our test kit, HyperX Predator 3200MHz, was only able to run at 2933MHz with manual settings. Gigabyte Aorus says they have resolved the memory issues, so we are going to give it another shot and take a closer look at the Gigabyte Aorus AX370-Gaming 5 motherboard which can be purchased online for $189.99 with free shipping.

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By David Mitchelson @ Vortez

In our first Intel X299 motherboard review we take a look at what GIGABYTE has to offer in the X299 AORUS Gaming 3 – which offers Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X processors a catalogue of enthusiast-grade features.

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By Hilbert Hagedoorn @ Guru3D

We review the X299 Gaming Pro Carbon AC motherboard from MSI. A motherboard with looks and many features on which to embark with that new Core X processor series. This motherboard is intended for Intel’s Skylake-X processors that will be released this summer based on Socket LGA2066, however, the motherboard also supports Kaby Lake-X procs in the form of the quad-core Core i7 7740K and Core i5 7640K.

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By Daniel Dobrowolski @ HARDOCP

It’s been years since we’ve reviewed an ASUS ROG offering that was designed for AMD CPUs. That’s not to say that those haven’t existed, those just weren’t worth a look as the AMD side of things has not been compelling for the better part of the last decade. Thanks to AMD Ryzen, we have a reason to take the ASUS Crosshair VI Hero for a test drive and tell you how it fared in the tumultuous sea of AM4 motherboards.

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By Thomas Soderstrom @ Tom’s Hardware

With a specifications sheet that reads like a geek’s wish list, Biostar’s Z270GT9 should be selling like hotcakes by now. Perhaps the reason we’re not hearing more from readers about this board is that many haven’t realized yet that the $330 version has a factory-installed 256GB Intel 600p M.2 SSD? Perhaps it’s because the $240 version (without SSD) never came to market? And if we simply subtract the price of the SSD from the price of the board, we’re left with a motherboard that costs less than its onboard 10Gb/s Ethernet solution. What a deal, right?

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