• The RAM crisis has reportedly resulted in a motherboard manufacturer crisis, according to Digitimes
• Digitimes' report suggests motherboard shipments have plummeted for four major Taiwanese manufacturers
• Consumers no longer have the incentive to buy motherboards for new PC builds due to unaffordable RAM kits

The AI boom and ongoing economic struggles continue to leave the PC hardware market in disarray, and a recent development suggests matters are only getting worse.

As reported by PC Gamer, a new Digitimes report indicates a 'collapse' for motherboard manufacturers and their shipment targets for 2026, due to the memory crisis.

Unsurprisingly, RAM shortages and price hikes have effectively discouraged consumers from building new PCs, which has a knock-on effect of leaving motherboards on the shelves.

Notably, the report states that Asus is among the four major Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers that lowered shipment targets at the end of 2025, and has still experienced a collapse in shipments. It also claims that Asus has only managed to ship 5 million motherboards in the first half of 2026, despite aiming for 10 million overall.

Frankly, those numbers are regarded as one of the worst for Asus, as it's said to mark the 'lowest point in Asus's motherboard shipments since the company split in 2008', and also worse than the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A similar case applies to MSI, which was reportedly estimating 11 million motherboard shipments but has fallen to 8.4 million for 2026.

Yes, these cases don't directly impact consumers, especially given the lack of consumer incentive to buy motherboards (which is part of the issue, but not to blame), but in theory, low motherboard sales could lead to a drop in production for the major manufacturers.

If the RAM crisis does dissolve, there will likely be a sudden demand for motherboards where production has been severed, ultimately leading to skyrocketing prices and shortages. It's quite evident that the AI boom has done immense damage to the PC hardware market, but we can only hope that it isn't irreparable.

A motherboard is one of the most important components to purchase when building a new PC as it's the foundation for all of your machine's parts to interact, but it's far from a one-size-fits-all solution in 2026. There are four motherboard sizes available, each with different strengths and weaknesses, with smaller and larger fiberglass rectangles used for different purposes.

As such, there's no easy answer for what the best motherboard can be, so it's vitally important to know the four commercially available sizes, rough pricings, and the sockets available for some of the best processors on the market. After all, compatibility is vital in 2026, particularly if you're eyeing up some of the best DDR5 RAM, best graphics cards, and other PCIe 5.0 components for the build.

From Mini-ITX models up to their EATX counterparts, TechRadar goes into detail about motherboard sizes in 2026, which companies are supporting them, the current-generation sockets, and everything else you need to know so that you can build your new machine with confidence.

Asus’s new range of Intel Arrow Lake gaming motherboards has just been (unofficially, so take a pinch of salt here) revealed, and they suggest that the days of motherboards being among your new gaming rig’s cheaper components are gone.

The flagship Asus ROG Maximus Z890 Extreme is expected to cost $1,112 (£887, around AU$1,723), with the cheapest of the new lineup being $268 (£214, around AU$415).

If you’re planning on buying one of the new Intel Core Ultra 9 285 Arrow Lake desktop CPUs, you’ll definitely have to factor in the added cost of one of ASUS’ next-gen Z-series motherboards. This is because Intel’s new Arrow Lake processors will require their LGA1851 sockets.

The prices were revealed by X user @momomo_us, with a series of screenshots showing prices of the full range. US retailer HSSL has also listed the next-Arrow Lake motherboard prices for its US market.

At $1,112, the most expensive board on the list, the Asus ROG Maximus Z890 Extreme, will set you back around $100 more than its predecessor the Z790 Extreme. Perfect for high-performance builds, the Z890 Extreme will set you up for any future upgrades. Expect a plethora of connectivity options, support of DDR5 memory, insane overclocking capabilities, PCIe Gen 5, and Wi-Fi 7.

Lots of features, lots of dollars

The Asus ROG Z890 Apex, designed for extreme overclocking (particularly memory), features only two stability-enhancing DIMM slots. While it’s still up there in pricing ($812 approximately), it's second only to the Maximus. It’s the most ideal for the overclocking connoisseurs aiming to break overclocking records. Of all Asus's next-gen Z-series boards, which see roughly a $100 increase from their respective predecessors, the Z890 Apex sees a $200 increase from the ROG Z790 Apex. This is indicative of it supporting Intel’s next-generation Arrow Lake processors, as well as Wi-Fi 7 and expanded PCIe Gen 5 support.

It’s not all doom and gloom and more room in your pockets, though, as the lineup contains at least some more affordable options. Asus debuts its new Z890 Max Gaming WiFi 7 line, priced at $268 (£213.93, around AU$415). This is presumably Asus's way of ensuring customers can get one of the latest Intel CPUs without paying for the less necessary features of its premium ROG series. With its Wi-Fi 7 capabilities, consumers can enjoy faster and more reliable wireless connectivity.

Whichever motherboard you opt for, even the “budget-friendly” Max Gaming Wi-Fi 7 still costs a fair bit, so be prepared for a very expensive upgrade when you decide it's time to finally get a new CPU for your rig.

Motherboard makers are seemingly upping the pace with the transition to new designs for PCIe graphics card slots, whereby the traditional latch is being phased out in favor of either a button, or an entirely seamless mechanism in the case of Asus.

VideoCardz reports on the proliferation of new motherboards for both AMD’s and Intel’s new 800 series products that do away with the GPU latch, including boards from Asus and MSI just shown off at Gamescom, and likely more to come from ASRock, Biostar, and Gigabyte (who demonstrated similar concepts at Computex, not so long ago).

At this point, we need to rewind a little for some background context. To start with, for those wondering what the ‘latch’ refers to, it’s the clip at the back of the PCIe slot that ensures your graphics card is held tightly in the interface. You have to pull that latch back to extract the card when it comes to, say, an upgrade (or you have to take out the board for cleaning purposes, maybe).

The trouble is that while this can be a relatively straightforward process, sometimes the latch can be a little fiddly, especially so if you have a PC where the inside of the case is crammed with hardware and there’s precious little space to maneuver.

If you’ve got a giant high-end graphics card, and maybe a hefty CPU cooler too, you might not even be able to get to the latch with your fingers when it comes to taking out the GPU. That’s when PC owners often resort to something like a chopstick to navigate through a small gap to press the latch, a fiddly effort indeed.

Some less wise folks may even use a screwdriver, and end up breaking the latch, or accidentally jabbing their motherboard in a clumsy effort to press it down, perhaps damaging components in the process.

Therefore in recent times, we’ve seen a button release mechanism come into play, such as the one MSI has been showing off with its Intel Z890 MPG Edge motherboard. All you do is press and hold the button – located to the side of the motherboard, in an easily accessible place – to move the latch into the open position. These sorts of designs have been around for some time now, but are becoming more common, as mentioned.

Asus has gone a step further with a new AMD X870 motherboard, as demonstrated by expert overclocker Der8auer at Gamescom, which has a system called PCIe Q-Release Slim (see the YouTube clip below).

This is an entirely seamless quick-release mechanism whereby during installation, you simply push the graphics card in, and to remove the card, you just pull from the front of the board, and out it comes – like magic. (As Der8auer illustrates, if you pull anywhere else but the very front of the card, it stays firmly seated).

Analysis: Look ma, no latch!

In fact, Asus did already use the PCIe Q-Release Slim invention in a previous motherboard (the ROG Maximus Z790 Hero BTF), or at least something very similar, but that flew entirely under our radar – and it looks like the firm now has wider plans to push the quick-release mechanism with 800 series motherboards.

Other motherboard makers are increasingly using the aforementioned buttons for release, as well, so is the latch now officially dead? Well, it seems that it’s certainly on the way out, but there are some concerns being aired, at least regarding the seamless solution Asus has brought in.

Okay, so the latch isn’t great, but if it does break, it doesn’t render your PCIe slot useless (just more precarious). What some folks are worried about is Asus’s seamless Q-Release mechanism develops a fault, well, you’re going to end up with a graphics card that’s stuck fast in the PCIe slot, with no apparent method of extracting it. (At least not one that doesn’t have a very good chance of ending up with your motherboard in several pieces). And it is, of course, a more complex mechanism than just a latch, so perhaps more likely to fail.

Even so, the stuck GPU scenario really shouldn’t happen, and if Asus has designed the PCIe Q-Release Slim mechanism well – given that this is its second-gen effort, as noted – then it does look to be a pretty convenient way of dealing with the installation and removal of a graphics card.

Whatever the case, it seems we’ll definitely be seeing more button removal mechanisms in AMD and Intel 800 series motherboards, and maybe fancier concepts besides the one from Asus.

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A new leak has surfaced for Intel's incoming Arrow Lake desktop processors that puts forward the notion that overclocking will only be officially supported on the highest-end (Z890) motherboards. 

As spotted by Videocardz, some purported specs for the Intel 800 series of motherboards have surfaced on X courtesy of @jaykihn.

According to the specs table provided - add your own skepticism, as ever around any leak - only the Z890 platform will feature voltage and base clock adjustments for overclocking. The other chipsets - Intel's H810, B860, Q870 and W880 - won't have this capability, and on top of that, it's claimed that there will be no H870 motherboards at all.

So, Arrow Lake desktop processors will be supported across a total of five platforms. Traditionally, the Zx90 series of motherboards are the top-end options with the B models being the budget-focused offerings, so having overclocking locked to purely the premium platform isn't entirely surprising - if this leak holds water. It will be a first for Intel, though.

The leaker believes that you will be able to overclock the memory on the more affordable B860 motherboards, but you won't be able to push the CPU's voltage as will be possible with a Z890 board. This means those looking to push their system to the limits will have to shell out for the priciest Intel motherboards available.

Another interesting detail is the total amount of high-speed PCIe lanes. The base configuration for the H810 is 33, whereas the B860 supports 45, and the Q870 pushes to 56. However, both the server-focused W880 and the Z890 are slated to support 60 high-speed PCIe lanes as standard.

The Intel Core Ultra 200 CPU family is expected to debut by the end of 2024, so it's likely to be something like three to four months before Arrow Lake hits the scene. It will be the first time that Team Blue's 'disaggregated architecture' arrives on desktop, following on from Meteor Lake (and there's also the upcoming Lunar Lake for laptops, too).

Intel's desktop computing landscape is changing

Arrow Lake represents the most significant change for Intel since the launch of Alder Lake in 2021 (which brought in hybrid tech, meaning efficiency cores). Not only is there an entirely new socket, LGA 1851 (changing from LGA 1700), but the Intel Core Ultra 200K is the first desktop processor line to include more powerful and sophisticated versions of the NPU seen in Meteor Lake. 

The entire computing world is embracing AI, and soon not just laptop chips (like Meteor Lake), but desktop CPUs will also have onboard acceleration for AI workloads (in the form of that NPU).

The Intel 800 series platform is more advanced than prior versions as you'd expect, even if it lacks Thunderbolt 5 support. It remains to be seen exactly what level of overclocking capabilities will be available on the new Arrow Lake CPUs, as we can't take this rumor at face value, as noted. What we do expect is that Arrow Lake processors could have slower clock speeds than their Raptor Lake Refresh equivalents, although they'll still be faster (of course - they'll have to be) due to architectural improvements and other tuning.

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Gigabyte recently announced something pretty incredible: the TRX50 AI TOP (trillions of operations per second), a new motherboard that is specifically designed to train and fine tune AI locally.

The company says it designed the TRX50 to help utilise the maximum capacity of your CPU, GPU, memory, and SSD. With the right hardware, the company says it can support up to 236B-parameter large language models (LLMs) of AI training and fine-tuning, all on-device, which can be helpful for privacy and security. 

The TRX50 is designed to work with AMD's Threadripper and Threadripper Pro CPUs, so some of the most high-end parts on the market, unsurprisingly. The E-ATX board has four PCIe x16 slots, four NVMe M.2 slots, eight DIMM slots, two 10 Gbps Ethernet interfaces, WiFi 7 via a Qualcomm QCNCM865 module, and more. There's also surge protection to make sure things don't get too crazy.

Get on OpenAI's level 

Training up LLMs is notoriously tricky and resource-intensive, which is one of the reasons that OpenAI and its startup rivals are raising hundreds of millions of dollars right now. To this end, Gigabyte provides a helpful UI alongside new workflows and  real-time progress monitoring.

The TRX50 supports many of the top open-source models out there, with a special focus on models aimed at beginners. The AI TOP Tutor can also offer advice on how to set up, tweak, and generally play with a model out of the box.

On top of these, Gigabyte also offers other DIY-friendly features, like EZ-Debug Zone to help debug LEDs and control buttons, the WIFI EZ-Plug design to consolidate Wi-Fi antenna plugs, and more.

Democratizing AI training 

Like Bitcoin mining of the past few years, it's hard not to see the AI frenzy as following a similar pattern of huge buzz and excitement. Of course, crypto is predominantly about the value of coins rising, so there are key differences, but the hardware needs are pretty similar. 

Many of the Nvidia GPUs and various CPUs from different manufactures that found their way into bitcoin mining operations are now being repurposed towards AI, which has coincided with a general reduction in interest and investment in crypto as a sector. 

While Gigabyte is a big name, the TRX50 is clearly a very niche product. On a boarder scale, Apple has been building its M-series laptops to handle a lot of AI-related workloads, including training, and the M4 chip comes with a variety of AI features. 

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AMD has announced two new motherboard chipsets at Computex 2024 for its upcoming AMD Ryzen 9000 processors, X870 and X870E, which boast some improvements over older models. Previous generation Ryzen 8000 and Ryzen 7000 are confirmed compatible. 

The X870 and X870E chipsets will feature USB 4.0 as standard as well as PCIe 5.0 for all of these motherboards for greater bandwidth for supported graphics cards and NVMe SSDs. Additionally, there's support for higher EXPO memory overclocking so you can take advantage of what the best DDR5 RAM can do in your system. 

These two chipsets have been made with the recently unveiled Ryzen 9000 series in mind, however, they will be backwards compatible with the older AM5 chipsets. Likewise, you won't necessarily have to spring for these latest and greatest offerings if you're considering a CPU upgrade, as the Ryzen 9000 line will work with existing x670 boards. 

It may not sound like too big a jump, but it could make all the difference when gaming as RAM and storage drives become faster. We've already seen the likes of DDR5-8000 kits such as the G.Skill Trident Z5 enter the picture, and Gen 5.0 NVMe SSDs are lightning fast now, with some models like the Corsair MP700 PRO SE exceeding 14,000 MB/s sequential reads. 

Furthermore, USB 4.0 (which supports 40 Gbps) was previously only available on compatible x670E Extreme motherboards, which were some of the priciest on the market. AMD is now democratizing this tech across more motherboards with the two new offerings available. You may no longer need to splash out extra just to squeeze a few more frames out in the most demanding games available. 

AMD announced the full stack of the AMD Ryzen 9000 series CPUs which appears to be a case of iteration over innovation. There's the leading Ryzen 9 9950X, followed by the high-end Ryzen 9 9900X, then the mid-range Ryzen 7 9700X, and the entry-level Ryzen 9600X. At first glance, they appear similar to their 7000 series counterparts but could offer anywhere from a 10 to 35% performance boost. 

New motherboards for higher quality of life

Much like the Ryzen 9000 series chips themselves, the X870 and X870E motherboards seem to be more subtle improvements with new quality-of-life tweaks. It's no secret that Gen 5.0 NVMe SSDs are getting faster, with launch models from two years ago once leading the charge at 10,000 MB/s, now eclipsed by a 40% improvement in just over a year and a half. 

Similarly, the higher EXPO memory clock support means you'll be able to push faster DDR5 RAM kit capacities further than ever before. We're seeing more brands push the envelope with what was previously thought possible, even up to 8,000 MT/s and beyond, so more bandwidth can only be a good thing for those on the bleeding edge. 

Lastly, PCIe 5.0 for graphics cards means you'll have double the available data transfer rates when compared to PCIe 4.0 for the x16 port. Those 16 data lanes will therefore have double the available memory as the tech becomes more standardized. For high-end video cards like the RTX 4090 and RX 7900 XTX, that means allowance of their higher bandwidths. However, they will be more important for the future of the best graphics cards, such as the potential RDNA 4 line and Nvidia's successor. 

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Gigabyte has a bunch of motherboards in the pipeline for Intel’s next-gen Arrow Lake processors, and they come with an unsurprising twist – the inclusion of AI (well, everything has to have AI these days, right?).

The leak of eight Gigabyte Z890 motherboards for Arrow Lake is also telling in that this is another piece of spillage that hints at a launch coming sooner rather than later.

Mind you, we need to be cautious about the source here, as it’s not one we’re familiar with. As Wccftech flagged up, it’s a Persian tech site called Faceit.ir, so add plenty of seasoning, though the details apparently come from a local Gigabyte distributor.

Some of the model names include the Gigabyte Z890 Aorus Xtreme AI TOP and the Z890 Master AI TOP, so we can safely assume that this indicates some AI-related feature. (Especially as there are vanilla versions of these boards without the AI TOP naming scheme).

Maybe the AI TOP motherboards will offer BIOS options to tune the AI acceleration available with desktop Arrow Lake processors? That’s a bit of a leap, but a logical enough one – but there is another possibility.

Prevailing rumors

The alternative possibility is that the motherboards could bring in AI to help fine-tune and tweak your Arrow Lake CPU for all-round performance. Well, what could go wrong with that idea (ahem)?

Anyway, all we can do is speculate right now, and for all we know, this leak could be a fabrication, or the AI name could be some piece of gimmickry from Gigabyte.

Whatever the case, with all the leaks springing up around Arrow Lake of late, the prevailing rumor winds now seem to be blowing in the direction of an earlier launch than expected for Intel’s next-gen desktop silicon.

We might even see an initial revelation at Computex 2024, perhaps, which happens next month (though that won’t be a launch as such, of course – as the Core Ultra 200 family of processors definitely won’t be arriving until later in 2024).

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MSI motherboards are normally known as some of the best motherboards on the market, due to their high-quality builds. However, a new controversy involving models equipped with the high-end Intel Z790 chipset has recently emerged online.

According to Tom's Hardware, some of those Z790 models are at risk of failure due to cracks in the platform controller hub (PCH). The PCH controls data paths for components in certain instances and helps maintain the system clock, among other essential functions. 

The Z790 chipset in question supports a range of Intel processors including Intel 12th, 13th, and 14th Gen Core processor series, meaning this could be a widespread problem. It’s also more problematic since Z790 chipset motherboards are priced higher than others, so users would have invested some serious money for them. 

YouTuber and repair technician Joshi Repair discovered this issue, as he demonstrated the cracks on a PCH on the Z790 Tomahawk Wi-Fi motherboard. A thermal camera shows the severity of the cracks in even more detail.

According to Joshi, “We assume something happened to these silicon chips somewhere along the factory process.” It does look like this is the case.

MSI says that it is aware of the problem and has remedied the cause in MSI's production pipeline, however, so the extent of the problem will likely be very limited. 

"Regarding the MAG Z790 Tomahawk WIFI incident, we've discovered that a minority of units may encounter non-functional PCH potentially resulting in Dead on Arrival (DOA) of the motherboard product," an MSI spokesperson said in an emailed statement to TechRadar. "We have isolated the cause to a previously used chipset heatsink screw design and have taken proactive measures to address this issue.

"A revised chipset heatsink screw design has been implemented into our production, and the known cases have been resolved," they continued. "We uphold high standards of responsibility and accountability and want to assure affected customers can promptly receive product replacements. They may contact our local customer service center for assistance."

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If you’ve ever looked inside a computer, you might have looked at the big square of plastic and circuits and asked ‘what is a motherboard and what does it do?’ 

Despite how it might look, it’s much more than a fancy piece of plastic that holds all of the various components of a computer together like the best processors, best graphics cards, and best SSDs.

Often hidden beneath a tangle of cables and components, the motherboard is the central hub that brings together all of the computer’s components and allows them to communicate with each other seamlessly so that all of a computer’s parts can function as one unit.

But before you can go shopping for the best motherboard to upgrade your PC, it helps to know more about it and what the right — and wrong — motherboard means for you and your PC.

In addition to providing lines of communication between different add-in components like the best RAM, the motherboard also houses essential circuits, chips, sockets, slots, and ports that determine the performance, expandability, and compatibility of your computer system, as well as regulating the power from your power supply unit to everything else in the PC to make sure everything operates safely.

There also isn’t just one kind of motherboard either, and each motherboard brings its own set of features and specifications, catering to various user needs from casual home users to hardcore gamers and content creators.

The motherboard truly serves as the backbone of your computer, dictating its performance, upgradability, and overall user experience, but it’s also one of the most opaque components in your computer, so you can be forgiven if the alphabet soup of model numbers, chipsets, and manufacturers leaves you rather bewildered. Fortunately, I’ve been covering computer hardware for years now (in addition to nearly a decade of academic work in computer science), and I’m here to help you navigate all these questions and more.

What is a motherboard?

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What are the functions of the motherboard?

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Today's best motherboard deals

Well, it looks like Intel’s Arrow Lake processors are really on the way, with an expected 2024 release date and some seriously impressive performance leaks. These are the ones to watch, folks; forget about Meteor Lake and the underwhelming Raptor Lake refresh expected later this year.

There’s a big problem with these incoming chips, though, and it’s probably not one that Intel can fix. German tech site Igor’s Lab recently leaked a wealth of information about both the Arrow Lake chips themselves and – more pertinently – the motherboard socket that will support them. Surprising nobody, it’s not the current LGA 1700 socket; instead, it’ll be the new LGA 1851 socket.

For anyone well versed in PC hardware, this presents an immediate problem: if you want to upgrade to one of these new chips (which will presumably be Intel’s 15000 series), you’re going to need a new motherboard – and probably a new CPU cooler, too. No backward compatibility here, I’m afraid. To make matters worse, if early LGA 1700 boards are anything to go by, the first round of Arrow Lake-compatible mobos will be expensive.

Opinion: Intel is already nursing a bullet wound to the foot, and it might be reloading the gun

This problem is, unfortunately, one of Intel’s own making. Team Blue has historically shifted through motherboard socket variations a bit faster than its main competitor AMD, but this is ridiculous; the LGA 1700 socket was only introduced a year and a half ago, in November 2021, whereas AMD used its own AM4 socket for six years before the introduction of AM5 in 2022.

What’s wrong with LGA 1700, then? Well, that chipset was the result of Intel trying to walk the line between backward compatibility and innovation; it was introduced with Intel’s 12th-gen Alder Lake chips (led by the flagship i9-12900K), which offered support for both DDR4 and DDR5 RAM, leading to an odd divide in the current lineup of Intel motherboards.

LGA 1851 will presumably be DDR5-only, and deliver another key advancement that should bring Intel up to speed with AMD’s AM5 socket: proper support for Gen5 SSDs. The AM5 socket already allows for dedicated PCIe lanes for the latest SSDs, while the LGA 1700 format requires such drives to ‘borrow’ PCIe x16 graphics lanes in order to support Gen5 storage.

In other words, Intel is now having to play catch-up because of its previous blunder, and anyone who already bought an LGA 1700 motherboard (and probably a new CPU cooler too) might feel a bit hard done by. On top of this, knowing that we’ll be getting a new socket next year makes it very hard to recommend buying a new Intel CPU right now, unless you’re lucky enough to have a bank account balance in the six digits.

Personally, I find it immensely frustrating that Intel has to shake up its sockets this often; I don’t want to buy a new mobo and cooler every other year, to be perfectly honest. Before I recently upgraded to an AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, I’d been using the same X470 motherboard from 2018, despite shifting through multiple Ryzen CPUs in that period.

It’s all the more annoying considering that Intel’s Arrow Lake chips look like they could be some of the best processors we’ve seen in years, offering some hearty overall performance improvements over the 13th-gen Raptor Lake along with a massive step up in integrated graphics performance.

Look, Intel. The Core i9-13900K was a great CPU. I loved it. While the Raptor Lake refresh chips sound a bit underwhelming, Arrow Lake looks to be a genuine leap forward – but can we maybe stick with LGA 1851 for four or five years, at least?

In April 2023, we reported on a major issue with AMD’s Ryzen 7000-series processors, which were randomly burning out and sometimes even taking the attached motherboard with them. The issue, caused by excessive SoC voltages running to the CPU, was affecting both the Ryzen 7000X3D and regular Ryzen 7000 CPUs, though more the former than the latter.

Asus is offering support to users who installed beta versions of its motherboard BIOS software, by extending its warranty period for its AM5 motherboard. According to PC Gamer, the manufacturer confirmed its warranty includes both the XMP and EXPO memory overclocking profiles.

AMD did fix the problem rather quickly through a timely AGESA firmware update for the 600-series AM5 motherboards that support next-gen CPUs, with said update limiting the voltage to the chip to 1.3V. The manufacturer also released an official statement, stating that “anyone whose CPU may have been impacted by this issue should contact AMD customer support.”

The problem is that at that time it was unclear whether AMD would honor warranties for this particular issue. As we pointed out in a previous article, that statement concerning reporting to customer service could be for data-gathering purposes as damage caused by hardware overclocking is explicitly not covered in Ryzen product warranties.

TechRadar has reached out to AMD for clarification regarding this situation and will update this story with any statements given to us.

Asus is stepping up to the plate while AMD is striking out 

When looking over the evidence it’s clear that the AMD EXPO memory profiles are the main culprit. The memory overclocking setting in the motherboard BIOS is what's leading to the overvoltage of the chips, and it's not expressly stated that the users overclocked the chips themselves, just the RAM, which has manufacturer-provided presets. 

However, Asus isn’t entirely faultless either. As Gamers Nexus noted when investigating this issue, Asus motherboards were still running EXPO memory profiles beyond 1.3V, which is supposed to be the SoC voltage cap set by AMD. And while this is a huge oversight on Asus’s part, it did own up to this defect and is compensating buyers, while AMD hasn't said one way or the other.

The fact that Asus is covering for a problem that’s the fault of both AMD’s own Ryzen 7000-series chips and Asus’s motherboard is absolutely bonkers. Regardless of whether or not it normally covers overclocking-related incidents, this is clearly the fault of both companies. AMD EXPO is AMD's own creation, after all, so it can hardly blame Asus entirely.

Overclocking is a very common practice for gamers and tech enthusiasts alike, to the point that manufacturers will almost always list overclocked specs for their components and even provide tools to overclock their hardware. The idea that AMD did not make a clear statement of intent to rectify that issue when it really should be covered under warranty is a terrible business practice.

Hopefully, AMD will fix this by honoring warranties for replacement CPUs, since its own AMD EXPO technology appears to be the root cause of all these problems and buyers having to replace such an expensive chip on their own budget is unfair.

Despite their stellar gaming performance, AMD’s next-gen Ryzen 7000 processors have remained largely out of reach for PC gamers – especially those on a budget. But things could be about to change for the better.

The reason for this inaccessibility is twofold: for starters, the CPUs themselves aren’t exactly cheap. The new flagship of the AMD Ryzen line, the awesomely powerful Ryzen 9 7950X3D, costs a hefty $699 / £750 / AU$1,139. Meanwhile, the most affordable chip in the new lineup (the Ryzen 5 7600X) is a more realistic $299 / £320 / AU$489 – though you can usually pick one up for less than that.

That latter price isn’t insurmountable for PC gamers, but it’s the second reason that has caused real problems: the Ryzen 7000 chips are some of the best processors around, but they require the new AM5 motherboard socket, which means upgrading your board to a newer model. It gets worse, too: those new mobos only accept DDR5 RAM, so you’ll be shelling out for a system memory upgrade, too.

Up until now, the only motherboards you could buy that featured the new AM5 socket were those with X670 and B650 chipsets. While the latter are a bit more affordable than the higher-end X670 boards, they’re still not exactly cheap: the lowest price we could find on Newegg.com was $129.99, for a decidedly stripped-down Gigabyte B650M K motherboard.

Most B650 mobos sit within the $150-$200 range; factor in the cost of new DDR5 memory too, and you’re looking at a high minimum spend to upgrade or build an entirely new Ryzen 7000 gaming PC.

A challenger approaches

Have no fear, though: there’s a new kid on the block. AMD quietly announced a new motherboard chipset last week, the entry-level A620 variant. While few of these boards are available to buy right now, AMD is confident that the new chipset will bring down the price of access to Ryzen 7000, with prices starting at $85.

That’s pretty darn cheap! I’m glad to see it; AMD’s new CPUs are brilliant for gaming, and the barrier to entry has been a definite source of frustration. My own gaming PC at home runs on a Ryzen 5000 processor, and the cost of upgrading has certainly given me pause whenever I’ve considered stepping up to 7000.

Now, the A620 chipset naturally has some limitations to keep the pricing low (and that $85 price mark AMD stated was no joke: you can get an ASRock A620M board for just one dollar more on Newegg right now). These new boards have reduced USB connection speeds and lack PCIe 5.0 support, which isn’t that big of a deal since most GPUs and SSDs are still using PCIe 4.0 – and if you’re on a budget, you won’t be buying a fancy new PCIe 5.0 graphics card anyway.

A potentially bigger drawback here is that A620 isn’t capable of overclocking Ryzen processors. Now, many PC gamers won’t bother with overclocking – and if that’s you, then wonderful – but it has historically been a good way to eke better performance out of cheaper hardware, which won’t be an option here.

Opinion: This is great news for budget PC gamers, but AMD can go further

I’m pleased to hear all of this, and will be happy to see more A620 boards cropping up over the next few months, but it does lead me to sit and question why AMD isn’t going harder on its APUs (that’s Accelerated Processing Units, Team Red’s name for CPUs with on-chip integrated graphics).

If you sidle on over to our best cheap processors page, you’ll find that any Ryzen 7000 chips are noticeably absent. Occupying the top spot, instead, is the AMD Ryzen 5 5300G – an APU we didn’t actually review, because it’s only available for pre-built PCs from AMD’s manufacturing partners.

It’s an excellent chip: capable of good gaming performance at 720p and even 1080p in some games. But we already know that AMD is capable of more: Team Red’s APUs power the PS5, the Xbox Series X, and the Steam Deck – all devices capable of significantly better performance than the Ryzen 5 5300G. 

I’ve already sung the praises of AMD’s upcoming Phoenix APUs, but even those don’t even look like they'll come remotely close to the crisp 4K gaming offered by the next-gen consoles. 

Sure, I know that the PS5 processor was carefully custom-tuned and requires a ton of cooling, but if you ask me, AMD should be ditching its discrete GPU line and focusing solely on gaming processors. Perhaps it really is time to let the gaming graphics card die for good? 

AMD motherboards are about to get a major BIOS update that will introduce 24GB and 48GB DDR5 RAM module support, upended decades of memory capacity allocation, and break the brains of math nerds everywhere.

Traditional RAM modules have long followed the power of 2s capacity scheme, so 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and so on. This is tied to the way computers store data using binary numbers — the classical 0s and 1s of the digital age — but this has long been more of a convention for memory capacity than it is some kind of hard requirement. Some of the best SSDs have capacities of 500GB, which is 12GB less than the clean 512GB you'd get from a pure binary representation.

Of course, it's always been possible to combine some RAM modules to get 12GB, 24GB, and such of total system memory, but it has rarely been offered on a single RAM module outside of high-end workstation PCs. Now, as our buddies at Tom's Hardware note, the possibilities for some truly epic PC builds are possible like a small-form-factor PC build with a mini-ATX board with two 48GB DDR5 modules for 96GB of memory.

More memory is always the best upgrade you can make for your PC

While the best processor and the best graphics card money can buy are going to have your PC humming along nicely, for most people the single best upgrade you can make to your PC is to add more memory.

The best RAM nowadays offers fantastic speed that can free up bottlenecks in your everyday workflows better than pretty much any other upgrade. Every program needs memory to run, and the more memory you have, the more room they have to operate without getting bogged down by limits placed on them by your OS.

Additionally, most motherboards only have four DIMM slots to put the memory into, and some smaller boards only have two slots available. That means that being able to cram more memory into a single slot is a huge deal since it raises the upper limit of what's possible on any given system. 

With four 48GB DDR5 RAM modules, you can get a staggering 192GB RAM, which is professional workstation levels of memory on a consumer motherboard.

While most people will never need that much, two 24GB modules will pretty much eliminate any system latency caused by insufficient memory that users will experience for the rest of the decade (two 24GB modules will be better than a single 48GB module due to the nature of dual-channel memory).

All in all, this is a great move by AMD and the fact that nobody has to upgrade from their existing AM5 motherboards is huge.  

Intel’s Meteor Lake processors are due to arrive late in Q4 of next year, with laptop chips turning up earlier, according to a fresh rumor which also insists that the 14th-generation desktop CPUs will require a new socket (though that isn’t much of a surprise – we’ll discuss that in more detail later on).

In other words, this means that desktop owners who’ve bought into Alder Lake which introduced its own new socket – or the incoming next-gen Raptor Lake which will continue to use that socket – will need a new motherboard if they want to upgrade to Meteor Lake (which represents a big step forward for Intel in terms of finally getting to 7nm).

This rumor peddling comes from Moore’s Law is Dead (MLID) on YouTube, a regular source of hardware leaks that insists that the purported new LGA 2551 socket won’t be much different to the current LGA 1700 in size (just slightly bigger), but it’ll be a lot more dense with pins (having 50% more of them, in fact, the leaker believes – airing a photo of what’s supposedly a Meteor Lake chip showing the pin configuration).

We already knew Meteor Lake is due for 2023, but it’ll apparently be the fourth quarter before desktop chips are released, with laptop CPUs debuting earlier, most likely in Q3 (though the mobile processors could just sneak in at the very end of Q2, MLID doesn’t seem very convinced about that).

Arrow Lake, which would be Intel’s 15th-gen CPUs, are still set to turn up in 2024 (in the second half of the year), the leaker asserts, and as you might expect will stick with the same socket as Meteor Lake.

With Arrow Lake, the theory is that Intel will really load up with efficiency cores, piling on 32 of them with the flagship (alongside 8 performance cores, which is apparently what Team Blue is going to stick with for the next few generations, electing to drive forward with efficiency cores instead).

Analysis: Some slippage, but no real surprise on the socket front

As noted, Intel has already told us that Meteor Lake is due for 2023, but previous rumors indicated that the 14th-gen chips might come earlier in the year than MLID now believes. What seems to have happened is that Intel’s planned schedule has seen some slippage, so desktop Meteor Lake won’t arrive until the final quarter of next year now – and indeed the leaker reckons next-gen Raptor Lake has been held up too.

Apparently, we won’t see those 13th-gen desktop chips until potentially December 2022 (though a paper launch might happen around September or October – in other words, an initial reveal to at least whet our appetite).

At any rate, going back to Meteor Lake, with an apparent delay this silicon could end up squaring off against Zen 5, MLID theorizes, rather than Zen 4 as Intel wanted. Of course, take major handfuls of salt with all of this, and we could equally throw question marks over the possibility of AMD coming out with Zen 5 in a timely fashion next year, frankly.

The other news here is that Meteor Lake will shift socket and require a motherboard upgrade, meaning that the new LGA 1700 socket is only going to be good for two generations of processors, Alder Lake and Raptor Lake.

However, this is no big surprise really, as Meteor Lake is a big change – dropping to 7nm – and it’s fairly standard practice, for Intel at least, only to support a couple of generations of processors with a socket (LGA 1200, which preceded LGA 1700, was only good for Comet Lake and Rocket Lake, if you recall).

• AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs could muscle in and steal Intel’s Raptor Lake thunder

Via VideoCardz

Intel’s new 12th gen processors are finally here promising the next level of gaming performance for even the most hardcore gamers. But as any serious gamer knows, the CPU is only part of the story. 

The true heart of any gaming rig is the motherboard so it’s vital to have one that can unleash the full power of the new CPUs. Gigabyte’s new Z690 AORUS Elite DDR4 motherboard is specifically designed to get the absolute most power from Intel’s new 12th gen processors.

One of the unique things about Intel’s newest chipsets is their new hybrid core architecture. Intel built both high performance P cores and power efficient E cores into the same SoC to help optimize processing speeds to pull more performance out of the chip when you need it and draw less energy when you don’t. 

Gigabyte designed the Z690 to take full advantage of this new capability. It creates two distinct BIOS profiles tailored to how the PC is being used. When gaming, all the E-cores are deactivated so you get every ounce of speed out of the processor. When creating content or performing other demanding tasks, the motherboard shifts to maximize both the P and E cores to ensure ultimate performance. 

But it’s not just the CPU that gamers rely on for performance. Having fast memory is important to ensure nothing slows you down. The Z690 supports DDR4 XMP memory up to 5333MHz so you never miss a beat. And with 4 32GB compatible memory slots, even the most memory-intensive tasks won’t slow you down.

Gamers like to live on the bleeding edge of performance so Gigabyte included support for new PCIe 5.0 so gamers can take full advantage of the latest graphics and storage cards to compliment the new 12th gen CPUs.

Powering the motherboard is a 16+1+2 VRM design with premium chokes and capacitors and a 70A power stage to ensure optimal power delivery to the CPU. 

With all this power comes the great equalizer: heat. No matter how good of a gamer you are, if your rig starts to stutter due to too much heat, it’s game over. Thankfully the Z690 has an industry-leading thermal design to help keep everything cool even under the most demanding loads. 

The MOSFET is entirely covered on top and bottom which gives it an up to 2x larger surface area over traditional heatsinks allowing for greater heat dissipation.  Gigabyte also built a unique 2x copper PCB design that lowers the component’s temperature by up to 3% by turning the PCB into an incredibly thin copper heatsink to keep thermals lower under demand. 

There are three different series in the Z690, each designed to help users optimize performance for what they do most. The AORUS lineup provides the optimal combination of power and efficiency to unleash the full potential of the new 12th gen chipsets. 

The GIGABYTE lineup is all about the gamers. It’s built to keep gamers performing at their best for as long as possible. For content creators and creative professionals, the AERO series combines power and durability to handle the most demanding tasks. 

The entire Z690 series is available for sale now and you can check them all out on Gigabyte’s website. You can also enter below for your chance to WIN a Z690 AORUS Elite AX DDR4! The giveaway is open to our readers in the US only, and all entries must be in before it closes forever May 5, 2022. Good luck! 

MSI Z690 motherboards are built to cater to the needs of enthusiasts. No matter if you’re an overclocker, a gamer or a creator, there’s an option to suit. 

MSI Z690 motherboards feature the latest PCIe 5.0 support, and there’s a range of DDR5 or DDR4 options to suit your budget. Overclockers will appreciate powerful VRM solutions designed to squeeze everything out of Intel’s K series 12th Gen processors, while gamers will understand the need for fast and stable wireless and wired connectivity. Creators will enjoy the ability to run up to five fast M.2 drives for moving large project files around in the shortest possible time. With their well-rounded feature sets, there’s an MSI Z690 motherboard option to power your rig for years to come.

Highlights from MSI’s Z690 motherboard range

The MSI Z690 UNIFY (AU$879, NZ$949) stands out, or perhaps more accurately, blends in thanks to its all black design that focuses on performance and efficiency ahead of bling. A very strong 19+2 phase VRM with cooling to match it will easily power an overclocked i9 processor, plus there’s the ability to install up to five M.2 drives. The Z690 Unify is as powerful as it is subtle, with excellent levels of connectivity and expandability.

The MSI Z690 CARBON WIFI (AU$629, NZ$749) comes with a smart selection of high-end enthusiast oriented features. You get fast Wi-Fi 6E and 2.5G LAN for low ping gaming performance, plus an 18+1+1 VRM with overclocking support and it runs the latest DDR5 memory. Its carbon fibre design looks great too, and with 16.8M colour Mystic Light RGB support, you can tailor it to suit your personal theme.

If you don’t need everything high end Z690 motherboards offer, consider the MSI Z690 EDGE WIFI DDR4 (AU$579, NZ$599). It omits a few of the bells and whistles of the premium boards while still delivering the core features that you’d expect from a high quality 2022 motherboard. Features including up to Wi-Fi 6E, 2.5G LAN, 4x onboard M.2 connectors and 20G USB 3.2 gen connectivity along with an attractive price tag make the MSI Z690 EDGE WIFI Z690 Edge WiFi one to look out for.

MSI B660 motherboards deliver features and value suitable for any mid-entry level PC build

The new B660 chipset is not like a B series chipset from a few years ago. They’ve really taken a step up in quality thanks to the ability to deliver the full performance potential of the fastest DDR5 or DDR4 memory, complete with XMP support. MSI offers B660 options with fast DDR5 support, or you can choose a DDR4 option. DDR5 is new and relatively expensive, so MSI B660 DDR4 options can save you a good amount of money.

MSI’s B660 motherboards are perfectly capable of meeting the needs of gamers, content creators or professionals. They’re easily capable of running high end 12th Gen processors at their maximum boost clocks, delivering top performance when you need it.

Choosing an MSI B660 motherboard doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice connectivity. There are options that include Wi-Fi 6E and 2.5G networking, triple M.2 connectors for storage, and supercharged USB 20G USB Type-C I/O. And importantly, all of MSI’s B660 motherboards (and Z690 boards too) feature the refined and intuitive Click BIOS 5, with monitoring and fan control options designed to keep your rig cool and running reliably.

MSI B660 models for consideration

MSI’s B660 TOMAHAWK WIFI ($349, NZ$399) is a well-rounded option that blends performance, reliability, features and price. A discerning enthusiast will enjoy the latest Wi-Fi 6E and 2.5G LAN connectivity, while triple M.2 slots allow you to store your ever-growing Steam library or 4K video collections. The Tomahawk comes with a potent 12 phase VRM with premium 60A DrMOS components all cooled by MSI’s Shield Frozr cooling. This means running even a Core i9-12900K is well within the capabilities of the Tomahawk. And it comes with your choice of either DDR5 or DDR4 support.

mATX fans rejoice! The MSI B660M MORTAR WIFI (AU$299, NZ$359) packs a highly capable 12-phase VRM and dual M.2 slots with heatsinks into a more compact size that won’t have any trouble running an i7 or i9 processor to its maximum. There’s nothing stopping you from running a top end GPU and you’d lose nothing in gaming performance. There are options to suit your budget, with DDR4 or DDR5 options and models with or without Wi-Fi.

The MSI PRO B660M-A WIFI (AU$269, NZ$299) is built to meet the needs of users who want a motherboard to do a job, out of sight and out of mind, with a focus on performance and reliability. It includes a capable 12 phase VRM with cooling to match. You still get a choice of DDR4 or DDR5 options and with the latest HDMI and DisplayPort connectivity, you can build a system for business and run multiple high-resolution monitors without the need to buy an expensive GPU. 

PC retail giant Newegg has suddenly reversed a long-standing return policy after an incident with a popular YouTube channel, and will now accept all returns on "open box" products on a "no questions asked" basis.

Gamers Nexus posted a video earlier this month called “Newegg Scammed Us,” detailing a purchase with Newegg gone terribly wrong.

According to the video, Gamers Nexus site owner Steve Burke purchased a $500 open box Z490 motherboard from Newegg that he decided to return upon its delivery. He initiated an RMA with the site, which was eventually rejected due to an “apparent end-user caused physical damage to the CPU socket contact pins.”

Burke pointed out that the box was never opened, making this claim impossible, which sparked another statement from the support team claiming that thermal paste was found on the board. Gamers Nexus went public with the incident and Newegg decided to refund him as well as send him back the motherboard he originally bought.

However, Burke discovered a hand-written RMA ticket from Gigabyte from a technician taped to the motherboard. It revealed that the motherboard had been previously sent by Newegg to Gigabyte to be RMA’d, then was sent back to Newegg unfixed. This meant that it now had the open box label and, aware of this, Newegg still shipped it to Burke.

Gamers Nexus took to Twitter with this new development and asked its followers for any similar tales concerning the online retail giant. Once the stories started pouring in, Newegg finally relented and announced its policy change with Windows Central and on Twitter.

Via ExtremeTech

Considering one of the best motherboards is an ideal way to ensure your gaming PC's longevity without any future problems. An often overlooked component of the building process, the right board can provide your system with stable performance, ease of upgrading chipsets, and all the ports you need for not just your CPU, but your GPU, RAM, NVMe SSDs, and more. 

With that said, there's no one-size-fits-all answer for the best motherboards, as there are two chipset manufacturers (AMD and Intel) with varying socket types available depending on the processor. Then there's the size of the mobo itself. Most people will be happy enough with a standard ATX for a mid-tower build, but should you want the extra headroom, you may want to consider an E-ATX instead. 

Consequently, you can go the other way and build a smaller gaming PC which wouldn't be out of place under a TV in your living room or tucked away neatly on your desk. This will mean considering either a micro-ATX or a mini-ITX. These options will offer less silicon to build on at the cost of space; all major components will be covered, though. That's why you'll find all shapes and sizes below from trusted manufacturers to help you get started. 

This is just the start of your building journey. Next, you'll want to consider one of the best processors, the best graphics cards, and some of the best RAM to make your system sing. We also recommend checking out the best PC cases if you're still undecided as to what chassis works for you; and if you're really stuck with where to start, then our PC building guide has you covered. 

Coming to terms

If you’re unfamiliar with the best motherboards out there, use this list as a primer for your next build. Motherboards are available in a broad range of different form factors, the most common of which are ATX and Micro ATX. However, there are plenty of less common form factors including mini ITX and E-ATX. Don’t worry though, most of the best PC cases will support more than one form factor. 

Moreover, in our rundown of the best motherboards, we detailed the socket type that each mobo adheres to. The socket, for those not in the know, is the part on the motherboard that the CPU locks into. Typically, newer Intel processors use either LGA 1151 or 2066 while the latest AMD Ryzen architecture is designed for the AM4 chipset.

It might not be cheap, but the Rog Maximus XIII Hero is worth its price tag. Its list of features, which includes Wi-Fi 6, PCIe 4.0, tons of ports (including two thunderbolt), and four M.2 SSD sockets, will satisfy just about anyone looking for a premium Z590 board to build a PC around. It’s not only a great performing board, but it’s easy to overclock as well. And, like any good ASUS motherboard, it comes with plenty of RGB lighting.

High-end motherboards may cost a fortune, but if you’ve got something like the MSI MEG Z490 Godlike under the hood, you’re pretty much guaranteed top-notch performance, especially if you’ve got Intel components. As long as you’re willing to pay the price. In fact, we’d go as far as to say that this is the best z490 board out there right now, with an excellent thermal solution, staggering overclocking performance, easy installation and diagnostic solutions for do-it-yourself-ers, and a solid build.

The GIGABYTE Z490 Gaming X may not have any flashy new features to bring to the table, but if you’re an Intel fan who needs a new motherboard in the budget sphere, it’s certainly a great choice. This entry-level motherboard for gamers has a decent feature set for its price tag, including three PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, six SATA ports and four memory slots with support for DDR4-4600 and up to 128GB, to start. Most importantly, it performs like the best of them without burning a hole in your pocket.

If you’re looking for a premium option for your 10th and 11th generation flagship Intel chips, the MEG Z590 Ace from MSI not only delivers a lot of power, but also comes with four M.2 sockets, two Thunderbolt USB-C ports and Wi-Fi 6E support, as well as excellent audio solution with latest premium ALC4082 audio process. There’s a lot to appreciate here, if you can afford that steep $499.

This mid to high-end Mini-ITX motherboard offering from Asus is feature-rich, with two M.2 slots, four SATA 6Gb/s ports and plenty of connectivity. In terms of design, that small form factor boasts an all-black design, diagonal mesh lines and RGB-enabled ROG logo for a fantastic aesthetic. Its performance is on point as well, delivering great network performance, excellent audio and well-balanced thermal.

If you’re considering an AMD setup for that PC you’re building, then you cannot go wrong with the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming X. This is the best motherboard for AMD fans right now, with a top-notch feature set, great design and a highly-effective cooling solution. It’s certainly a favorite among overclockers out there, and with Wi-Fi 6 support to boot. If you have a penchant for tweak and upgrade your internals, there might be some limitations as to what you can do physically. But, other than that, it’s hard to find fault in this board.

The Gigabyte Aorus X570 Master is not only an aesthetically pleasing motherboard, with splashes of silver on a black board meant to complement its RGB lighting. It is also capable of being the centerpiece of a very powerful computer. It can handle up to 128GB of DDR4400 RAM, the latest 3rd gen AMD processors and multiple GPUs for anyone wanting to future proof their gaming needs. The X570 Master is also very astutely designed, with shielding on its I/O ports, WiFi 6 and a number of other placement choices that make this a quality board. Best of all, its price is significantly less than the high end Intel motherboards.

If you’re looking to build from scratch, the Asus ROG B550-E Gaming Motherboard is a cost-effective and feature-rich motherboard to pair with that AMD 3rd gen Ryzen chip you just bought. Its I/O ports are shielded, it comes with a PCIe 4.0 slot (and a second PCIe 3.0 one), and it has just about all the ports and port headers you could desire. With this motherboard, you’re getting excellent power delivery, a great feature set and an incredibly effective cooling solution, as well as a cool aesthetic to boot.

An upgrade from its predecessor, the B450, the Asus TUF Gaming B550M-PLUS boasts not only a much better power solution and a great cooling solution, but also game-ready features and military-grade components. Among those features are the AI Noise-Canceling Microphone software, which supports 3.5 mm, USB or Bluetooth headsets, and full RGB lighting control. All, of course, while still touting that TUF Gaming Alliance promise for easy compatibility and building, as well as aesthetics that complement its trusted partners.

To save money on Asus products, check out our Asus voucher codes. 

Looking into an AMD B550 motherboard might be necessary if you’re upgrading your AMD Ryzen processor, and the NZXT N7 B550 is an excellent mid-range option. This gaming motherboard is not only designed around the B550 chipset, but it comes with built-in Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, something that you’ll be hard-pressed to find in rivalling boards. It also comes with more USB ports at the rear, making it more versatile. And, of course, you’ll also appreciate the digital RGB and fan controls through CAM.

The X-series processors are here, and they are spectacular. But if you want to take advantage of all they have to offer, you need an X-series motherboard. This ASRock X299 is an incredible choice with support for overclocked memory speeds up to 4400MHz(!!!) and 8 different slots for memory modules. It also supports up to 128GB of RAM. Add in an X-series processor and a good graphics card or 3, and this thing will absolutely tear apart anything you could possibly throw at it. If you’re seeking one of the best motherboards money can buy, this is it.

When you’ve got an AMD Threadripper under the hood of your PC, you absolutely need a beast of a motherboard like the MSI Creator TRX40. This is designed and built specifically for creators with the most demanding computing needs, this motherboard also boasts quite a feature set. Among those features are the latest PCIe gen4 slots and M.2 connectors, USB3.2 Gen2x2, Wi-Fi 6 and 10G LAN, as well as MSI’s Frozr Heatsink design and Mystic Light RGB lighting. It’s a little pricey, especially next to the competition, but then again, nothing in the creative sphere isn’t these days. If you want the best motherboard for your professional creative endeavors, it doesn’t get better than this.

Best motherboards: Frequently Asked Questions

Intel’s Alder Lake non-K processors can be overclocked as we’ve seen in recent times – when it should only be unlocked ‘K’ models that can do this, traditionally – and it has now emerged that this trick works with mid-range motherboards too.

Der8auer is the expert overclocker who has been working away at juicing up Alder Lake CPUs like the Core i5-12400, and even a lowly Celeron model, but previously it was thought that these chips could only be overclocked in a high-end Z690 motherboard with support for BCLK unlock.

You may recall that Der8auer theorized that B660 motherboards should allow for non-K processors to be overclocked like this, and indeed the German overclocker has now proved this, achieving the feat with two different Asus ROG Strix B660 motherboards as VideoCardz spotted.

So, buying one of these cheaper mid-range B660 models – rather than forking out megabucks for a Z690 – and pairing it with an affordable Core i5 (or Core i3) non-K Alder Lake CPU with a big overclock is indeed possible - all for a relatively modest outlay.

Well, sort of, because as we noted in the headline above, there’s a catch, and a fairly substantial one: Der8auer says he hasn’t found a DDR4 supporting B660 board that offers this overclocking ability, only DDR5-ready models.

Analysis: DDR5 costs are prohibitive – but don’t lose all hope

As this is apparently DDR5-only, that presents a big problem in that this system RAM is not easy to find, and very expensive, as it’s still early days for the new memory sticks. As ever, when a new RAM standard emerges, you can expect to pay well over the odds to get hold of the memory modules.

So, regarding the idea of a Core i5 Alder Lake system for a modest outlay, going the B660 route, that’s rather scuppered by the price you’ll have to pay for the DDR5 memory that will be the only choice to fit the motherboard.

All hope of pulling off a more wallet-friendly overclockable non-K rig isn’t lost, though, because it may yet turn out that there is a DDR4 supporting board which also has the capability for a BCLK unlock in the BIOS. And even if there isn’t – let’s face it, Der8auer does not seem optimistic about that – then we must bear in mind that DDR5 availability and pricing will get better as time goes on (and also when component shortages become less of a concern, which could hopefully happen later in 2022).

If all that pans out, then we could still be looking at some interesting possibilities for big overclocks in modest systems, maybe with Raptor Lake CPUs. Intel’s next-gen chips are expected to arrive later in 2022, of course, being pretty much a refresh of Alder Lake (but speedier, naturally), and therefore it could be expected that they will keep this unlocking functionality. That said, there’s no guarantee Intel will keep these overclocking possibilities in for Raptor Lake.

We’ll just have to see, but meantime, it’s still fascinating to witness the kind of overclocking which can be achieved with non-K Alder Lake silicon, which has already led to a world record overclock with the Core i3-12300 (absolutely destroying the previous quad-core record holder, the AMD Ryzen 5300G).

• Check out the best PC components for your rig

AMD Ryzen 5000 desktop processors, which initially didn’t support older X370 motherboards, has finally received its first legacy X370 support from motherboard vendor ASRock.

ASRock announced an official BIOS for its X370 PRO 4 motherboard, which has been listed to support Ryzen 5000 processors. Users who want to make the upgrade to the new chips on their old motherboard can do so by going to the official website, downloading and then flashing a new BIOS built for the newer chips. 

This was confirmed by a screenshot from Twitter user @KOMACHI_ENSAKA. However, because this new BIOS supports the new processors by pulling support of Bristol Ridge CPUs, you’ll want to make sure you don’t have one of those low-end chips in your system. 

This isn’t the first time Ryzen 5000 chips have run on a 300-series board, though. Just a few days ago, YouTuber TechEpiphany showed off a Ryzen 9 5950X running on an A320 motherboard - something AMD definitely doesn’t officially support, but now we know it could.

The motherboard manufacturer adding in an optional BIOS update that pulls support of an older chip to make room for a new one — as ASRock has done here — would definitely be a way to add support to these older boards.

Right now we don’t know if more X370 motherboards will start supporting the latest AMD Ryzen processors, as AMD hasn’t officially come out to support the update. Either way, at least it’s one more motherboard that will let you slot in a brand new processor. 

Via Wccftech

After spending weeks coming up with a list of PC components, waiting anxiously for them to go on sale, and getting them delivered to your door, it’s time. You’ve got a phillips head screwdriver in hand, and you’re ready to go.

For the purposes of our PC building guide, we’ve used the following parts as an example of how to build a complete computer. These components are also exactly what you need to construct an modest – if a little last generation – gaming PC. 

Quick steps for how to build a PC

• Assess what you need your PC for (gaming, content creation, streaming etc) and ensure that required components are compatible with each other.
• Check you have all required tools and a clean work surface
• Start the build, following each step from mounting your motherboard to connecting case accessories and fans.
• Switch on the PC to make sure it works and launches into BIOS
• Install the operating system of your choice

Tools and Requirements

• A philips head screwdriver (though a set of screwdrivers is preferable)
• A clean work surface
• A monitor, mouse and keyboard to complete the setup
• A USB flash drive with at least 8GB of storage
• Zip ties and an anti-static wrist wrap (optional)

Step by step guide

Apparently there are fresh pricing difficulties with PC components – and it’s apparently to do with the supply of copper foil which is used in printed circuit boards (PCBs).

As Tom’s Hardware spotted, there is a DigiTimes report which points out that prices are heading upwards – indeed, ‘surging’ – for copper and copper-clad laminates (CCLs) which are used in the production of the aforementioned PCBs.

• We'll show you how to build a PC
• These are the best processors for your PC
• Check out all the best PC games

This is due to the rising price of copper, and more specifically, the spiking price of copper foil which has gone up by some 35% or so since the end of 2020. CCLs are produced using this foil (on both sides), and so those price hikes – plus increased costs associated with higher transportation costs, and more overall demand for PCBs across the tech industry (a lot of the stuff is used in lithium batteries) – are leading to copper foil getting more expensive quite quickly.

When it comes to PC components, graphics cards and motherboards in particular are in the firing line here because they use larger PCBs (motherboards especially are big hulking things, of course) and more layers (CCLs), and therefore more copper foil. High-end motherboards can use eight layers or more, as Tom’s points out, so it’s easy to see how small cost increases in copper foil can mount up.

Analysis: What kind of impact might these supply issues have?

In the bigger picture, premium motherboards may not be likely to see any price hikes for the consumer simply because they are expensive pieces of equipment already, with large profit margins built-in (which is typical of any high-end kit, of course).

So those big margins can easily enough absorb what are relatively small cost increases in procuring copper foil, with no need for manufacturers to tap the consumer for any extra cash. In theory, anyway – but there’s no guarantee that product makers won’t pass any increases on in this tougher economic climate, especially if the aforementioned demand and transport problems start to really make themselves felt in components where a lot of CCLs are used.

When it comes to lower-end and more budget-oriented products, where margins are much slimmer, these thorny issues around copper foil could impact production costs more severely – with there likely being little choice but to pass this pain on to the consumer.

We don’t need any more gloomy news on the supply front in the PC world, of course, but who knows – any price impact may be minimal. Only time will tell, but as we mentioned at the outset, the last thing we need is yet more upward movement on component prices.

• These are the best graphics cards

Businesses in the web hosting industry could be waiting up to a year for component deliveries as the server sector continues to face ongoing shortages.

According to Mitac Holding president Billy Ho, the server industry is currently having to wait up to 52 weeks for its component deliveries, which is set to only get worse in the second half of 2021, and little chance of improvement until 2022.

This is largely due to the fact that component demands from other industries will also be increasing this year.

• Here is a list of the best dedicated server hosting providers available
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Shortages all around 

Some of the key components facing shortages include motherboards ICs, SSDs and processors. With the current tight supply, the shortages have also had a direct effect on the prices of these components as costs hit record high levels. COVID resulted in substrate and wafer shortages and reduced assembly capacity.

Widespread shortages across the computing industry were first raised in April 2021, when Cisco Chairman and CEO Chuck Robbins, said the shortage of computer chips is set to last for most of this year. 

In the case of web hosting providers, in order for them to continue renting out their services and technologies to host websites on the internet, the components used to connect their computers to the servers that host websites must be readily available. 

Mitac Computing president Michael Lin said although the company's orders for the third and fourth quarters are almost equivalent to those in the second, the company's shipments in the second quarter may be the peak of 2021 because of component shortages, according to reports.

Mitac Computing's server motherboard production is mainly handled in Taiwan and China, and the company's server assembly lines are in the US, Taiwan and China.

• Check out our list of the best free, public DNS servers on the market

Via DigitalTimes Asia

When you're using your PC, you're interacting with the operating system -- be that Windows or Linux. But there is so much more software involved than just the OS, starting off with the BIOS (or UEFI), which controls your system form the moment your power up. Often considered the domain of system builder, the BIOS is important for security and stability, and updates are often made available. But you may well have no idea how to update your BIOS.

Although both Windows and Linux make it incredibly simple to download and install operating system updates, the same cannot be said of the BIOS. And there is a reason BIOS updating has been made a little awkward -- it can break your computer if you don't do it correctly. So just how do you update your BIOS.

The process varies from system to system, form motherboard to motherboard, but that doesn't mean there is not a degree of standardisation. The first thing you need to do is determine what BIOS version you are currently working with, and from here you can set about updating to the very latest edition, complete with the most recent settings and features.

How to check your current BIOS version 

If your BIOS is already the latest version then you won't have to worry about updating it. The simplest way to check on your current version can be done within Windows or Linux.

On a PC running Windows 10 or Windows 11, press Win + R and type msinfo32. Click OK and the System information window will open. In the first window presented you will see an entry labelled BIOS version/date. Take a note of the information here. 

If you're on Linux you can also easily access your BIOS version information. Open a terminal and enter the following command: 

sudo dmidecode --type bios

You will now see a printout of your BIOS information, including the vendor, version number and release date. From here, you'll need to open up your web browser for the next step. 

How to update your BIOS 

This is where things will differ from manufacturer to manufacturer. In some cases you will be able to download an installer that runs within Windows 10 or Windows 11 that will do the hard work for you. But in many others you'll need to go into the BIOS yourself and manually flash the update. 

The BIOS will come from the support pages of the manufacturer of your motherboard. It's therefore important to know exactly which model you have. If you built your PC yourself then you probably already know this, but if you need to find out you can do so with ease. 

1. How to find your motherboard information on Windows 10

There are two methods you can easily use on Windows 10 or 11 to locate your motherboard information. The first involves Command Prompt, so go ahead and open it up, either from the Start Menu or by pressing Win + R and typing cmd into the box. When the terminal window opens up, enter this command: 

wmic baseboard get product,Manufacturer,version,serialnumber

You'll now get a print out of the important information you need to identify your motherboard to download a BIOS update. If you're looking for something with a user interface, you can download an app called Speccy. Grab it either directly, or if you're using Windows Package Manager you can install it with winget install speccy. 

Speccy will show you much more than just your motherboard information, offering an easy to digest summary of all the hardware on your PC. 

2. How to find your motherboard information on Linux

Would you be surprised to find out that gathering your motherboard information on Linux is as simple as typing a command into the terminal? Of course not. 

Open up a new terminal window and enter this command:

sudo dmidecode -t 2

You'll now receive a print out of all the most important details including the model and serial number.

3. Download and install the BIOS update

The first thing to do is head to your manufacturer's website. If it's a pre-built PC or laptop, then go to the PC-makers site and locate the support section. If you built your own, do the same but for the maker of your motherboard. 

This is where an element of self-discovery will come in. Updating the BIOS will vary. In some cases, you may have an executable installer you can run, in others a .zip file containing the BIOS and instructions on how to do it. In some cases, you'll have to use a USB flash drive and apply the update directly from within your BIOS or UEFI. 

The good news is, you'll never be left high and dry. It's a fairly technical process and getting it right is absolutely crucial, so all the manufacturers will have instructions on their own particular implementation. 

Using ASRock as an example, not only will the support site direct you towards the correct BIOS update for your motherboard, it offers an in-depth, step-by-step guide on using its instant flash feature to apply the update. Just make sure you read the instructions carefully first, or better still open them up on another device to have handy while you apply the update. 

Summary

BIOS updates aren't something you need to worry about regularly, and in many cases if it isn't broke, don't fix it. BIOS updates aren't issued nearly as regularly as say, a Windows 10 update, but they do still come out sometimes. 

If your PC is working well then you're fine leaving it alone. It's worth checking in from time to time though with your manufacturer to ensure that there are no critical fixes that a new BIOS update has been issued to fix. 

It can be a little scary to apply if you haven't done it before, but take your time, make sure you know exactly what BIOS you need and how your particular machine applies its updates and it'll go without a hitch.

• The best motherboards you can get right now

It seems that Asus has finally made the decision to support Resizable BAR with its older Intel Z390 and Z370 motherboards, following an outpouring of complaints online.

If you’re not familiar with the tech, Resizable BAR is a feature that boosts frame rates by a decent chunk in some games, providing you have compatible hardware – Nvidia just introduced support for its RTX 3000 GPUs, and AMD originally came up with its own take for Big Navi graphics cards.

• Check out all the best graphics cards
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Broadly speaking, work has been underway with GPUs and CPUs to further extend support since AMD got the ball rolling, as well as with motherboard vendors who have been busy providing support by updating older hardware like the aforementioned Intel Z390 and Z370 chipsets.

However, the problem with Asus motherboards has been that while other board makers have already introduced support (albeit in beta form), Asus Z390 and Z370 owners have remained out in the cold – and more and more complaints were spilling out online because of this, as Neowin highlighted.

Indeed, there have been some pretty frustrated folks out there, many of whom have found it difficult to understand why Asus has kept silent on the matter, saying nothing about support – beta or otherwise.

Not-so-silent Scone

The good news is that Asus has apparently been listening – and indeed likely feeling the effects of some of the sharper complaints out there – because an Asus ROG rep has now confirmed that the company plans to roll out support for these motherboards.

Silent Scone@ROG posted: “Local holiday here and in TW, so took a bit of time to get back. I’ve heard the timeline for Z370 and Z390 is late April to early May.”

After confusion from other commenters who have heard different things elsewhere regarding Resizable BAR support, the Asus rep clarified that this info comes direct from headquarters, and is correct – but it would still be nice to see a full and official announcement from Asus, not just a forum post.

Other Asus community representatives are now posting the same thing, though, for example in this thread on a Swedish forum, which states that the BIOS will be rolling out at the end of April. So it seems that late April is definitely the target date, but that could slip to early next month.

• Find the best Nvidia GPU for you

AMD has announced that it has found a solution for the nasty USB connectivity problems which have been affecting the owners of some Ryzen CPUs.

These gremlins were causing some serious trouble for both Ryzen 3000 and 5000 processors housed in 500- or 400-series motherboards, going by reports, and they were intermittently breaking connectivity with various USB devices.

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Giving us news of the fix on Reddit, AMD said that with the help of the community and bug reports, “we believe we have isolated the root cause and developed a solution that addresses a range of reported symptoms, including (but not limited to): USB port dropout, USB 2.0 audio crackling (e.g. DAC/AMP combos), and USB/PCIe Gen 4 exclusion.”

AMD has concocted new firmware (AGESA 1.2.0.2) for motherboards which will go out to manufacturers in approximately a week. Those motherboard makers will then need to incorporate that into a fresh BIOS version, and test it, subsequently making that BIOS available to download for affected users.

That obviously means that the solution isn’t imminent for Ryzen owners, but we have a current timeframe of beta testing for the fix-toting BIOS versions to kick off in early April.

Fingers crossed

The caveats, then, are that the finalized versions probably won’t pitch up until later in April, or even May – exactly when it will arrive depends on what model of board you have, and how fast your motherboard vendor is to work through the deployment process. And of course, we have to hope that the fix works across the board, so to speak.

AMD does note that: “If you continue to experience intermittent USB connectivity issues after updating your system to AGESA 1.2.0.2, we encourage you to download the standalone AMD Bug Report Tool and open a ticket with AMD Customer Support.”

While AMD mentions pinning down the root cause of the bug, what’s notably missing here is any (even vague) indication of what that might be; so we’re left guessing on that front.

As we’ve reported before, folks have been witnessing dropouts of connections with peripherals like keyboards, and indeed problems with VR headsets, or external drives plugged in via USB.

Obviously it’s good that a fix has been discovered and is now inbound, but affected Ryzen owners have been waiting some time for this. AMD acknowledged the problem with its CPUs in February, but users have been reporting issues with USB connectivity since December 2020.

• Intel vs AMD: which is best?

Via Tom’s Hardware

ASUS might be about to shake up the motherboard market after revealing more about a new offering that offers a vital recent Intel hardware update, promising to combine its motherboard with the Thunderbolt 4 connectivity.

Posting on Reddit, ASUS's Technical Product Marketing Manager disclosed information  about the new  ASUS ProART B550-Creator, an AMD-based cheap motherboard that will be the first to take advantage of Intel's Thunderbolt 4 controller for professionals and content creators.

Following the simplistic design of the ASUS Z490 motherboards, the new hardware looks to balance out power efficiency and thermal performance thanks to a 12+2 VRM design and ProCool II power connectors, which should keep the motherboard cool even when on heavy workloads. 

• Check out our list of the best business computers around
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What's inside?

Despite its minimalist aesthetics on the design part, the motherboard manages to still pack in s with a front USB 3.0 connectivity as well as USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type internal connectivity, and also looks to offer two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots and possibly two PCIe M.2 slots also.

At the rear of the hardware, in the rich set of interfacing ports, is the major draw for the B550-Creator - the pair of Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports. Alongside the USB 3.2 G2 Type-A connector, it also comes with a display port input and five 3.5 mm audio jacks. 

Looking more at the hardware design, the ProART B550-Creator incorporates the company’s latest M.2 Q-Latch design that creates a great user experience for M.2 drive installation. Apart from the onboard storage space, ASUS looks to have provided four SATA ports with dual M.2 slots alongside the heatsinks allowing you to connect mass storage devices.

Taking advantage of the isolated audio codec and the ALC 1220A, the ASUS motherboard produces a high-quality audio experience for all content creators that use audio as their backbone. Furthermore, it adds to the ASUS AiNoise cancellation, which promises to improve audio quality by filtering out noise and distractions from incoming audio.

The ASUS ProART B550-Creator is expected to launch in April for around $299.

• We also have a list of the best micro ATX and micro ATX-motherboards available 

Via Anandtech 

With Intel Rocket Lake set to land on March 30, there are plenty of PC enthusiasts looking to upgrade their rigs from Comet Lake-S and earlier generation Intel chips. Fortunately, if you have an MSI Z490 motherboard, you won't have to replace it to take advantage of PCIe 4.0 support offered by the latest processors from Team Blue.

MSI announced earlier this week that: "All of the MSI Z490 motherboards will be supporting PCIe 4.0 with the coming Intel 11th Gen Intel Processors. Through an update to the latest BIOS, MSI Z490 motherboards offer great bandwidth and performance for PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSDs and graphics cards."

Several components on a motherboard are required to make PCIe 4.0 work – which is why it would typically require more than just a software update to get a motherboard to support the new PCIe 4.0 standard. 

However, fortunately for MSI Z490 owners, the company futureproofed their latest motherboards in anticipation of the new standard, so they only require a software update to enable these features once the new Intel Rocket Lake processors are released.

PCIe 4.0 doubles the throughput over the previous PCIe 3.0 standard, meaning significantly faster data transfer speeds, particularly for SSDs and graphics cards. 

How fast will depend on the SSDs and graphics cards themselves - this Kingston Ghost Tree SSD shown off at CES 2021, for example, promises read and write speeds upwards of 7GB/s - but the capacity is built into the motherboard itself, so there will be plenty of options for PC builders in the weeks and months ahead once Rocket Lake chips go on sale.

• AMD vs Intel: which chipmaker does processors better?
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Z490 support for PCIe 4.0 is a boon for Intel

The lack of PCIe 4.0 support was one of the biggest missed opportunities for Intel last year when Comet Lake-S was released, so it's good that they're making up for it with their latest processors.

With MSI's announcement - as well as Gigabyte Z490 Auros Xtreme and ASRock Z490 Aqua also having PCIe 4.0 compatibility, according to PCGamesN - it should make it easier for people to upgrade from older CPUs if they don't have to buy a new motherboard as well in order to take advantage of the new PCIe 4.0 support.

That can only work to Intel's advantage as it continues its battle with archrival AMD for desktop CPU dominance.

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AMD has responded to reports of USB connectivity issues with motherboards featuring its 500-series chipset, and is asking the user community to help it troubleshoot and fix the issue.

Complaints from users about issues with some 500-series motherboards have been appearing across community sites such as Reddit in recent months.

The cause of the problem is unknown, but users of 500-series motherboards have reported their USB devices such as mice, keyboards and microphones will sporadically lose connection, with VR headsets seemingly being the most affected. It was initially suspected that only select Gigabyte Aorus boards were at fault, but similar issues have since also been reported regarding Asus ROG hardware. 

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AMD is on the case

AMD has now made an official statement regarding the matter via the r/AMD subreddit, acknowledging the issues and asking for community feedback and support while they investigate. AMD says a company representative will selectively reach out to individuals affected by the issues for assistance, and a link was also provided to the AMD Online Service Request for anyone who would like to submit further information regarding suspected hardware issues.

The full statement reads as follows:
 

AMD is aware of reports that a small number of users are experiencing intermittent USB connectivity issues reported on 500 Series chipsets. We have been analyzing the root cause and at this time, we would like to request the community’s assistance with a small selection of additional hardware configurations. Over the next few days, some r/Amd users may be contacted directly by an AMD representative (u/AMDOfficial) via Reddit’s PM system with a request for more information.

This request may include detailed hardware configurations, steps to reproduce the issue, specific logs, and other system information pertinent to verifying our development efforts. We will provide an update when we have more details to share. Customers facing issues are always encouraged to raise an Online Service Request with AMD customer support; this enables us to find correlations and compare notes across support claims.

If you’re currently affected by the issue, users on various forums have offered workarounds, which involve reducing the PCI Gen4 to Gen3 or disabling the ‘C-States’ in BIOS, though these are more likely to reduce the frequency of issues rather than fixing the problem altogether.

Systems that combine a PCIe Gen4-based GPU (such as a GeForce RTX 3080) with a VR headset are most likely to run into problems if used with one of the problematic motherboards, so if you're looking to do some build upgrades for your VR rig we’d suggest holding off until the cause of the issues has been identified and resolved.

• Here are the best laptops of 2021

Via Videocardz

Intel has officially confirmed that its upcoming 11th-generation Rocket Lake-S processors won’t be compatible with the entry-level H410 or B460 chipsets.

In an updated support page spied by VideoCardz, Intel reveals that while its 400-series chipsets will receive BIOS updates to support the new Rocket Lake processors, motherboards based on Intel B460 or H410 chipsets will not be compatible with upcoming 11th-gen Intel Core processors.

• We’ve picked out all the best processors
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This means that while boards based on the H470, Q470, or Z490 chipsets simply need a BIOS update for Rocket Lake compatibility, it’s game over for the B460 and H410.

However, it’s worth noting that these budget motherboards will offer support for  Intel’s 11th-generation Comet Lake Refresh processors, which will include Celeron, Pentium and Core i3 CPUs. 

This news will come as a surprise as many, as Intel's incoming Rocket Lake processors continue to use the LGA1200 socket. However, as explained by Tom’s Hardware,  the H410 and B460 chipsets are based on an older 22nm process node and a BIOS update isn't enough to add support for the incoming desktop processors.

For those disappointed by the news that Rocket Lake-S desktop processors won’t the supported on the H410 or B460, some motherboard vendors have already began circumventing Intel's new rules. 

Gigabyte, for example, will add support to its 'H410 and B460 motherboards' by leveraging the H470 chipset. The company's new H410M DS2V V2 and H410M S2H V2 are actually H470 chipset based and will provide cheaper entry points to the new Intel Rocket Lake-S series.

Intel 11th Gen Core processors are expected to launch next month, following the release of Intel's Z590 motherboards.

• Intel Core i9-11900K leak suggests a record-breaking CPU that could be trouble for AMD

You have to invest in one of the best Z490 motherboards to truly take advantage of the Intel 10th generation Comet Lake processors. These motherboards not only utilize the new LGA 1200 socket, but they’re also able to handle higher power draws.

With all the new hardware constantly coming into the market, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with what to buy, even something as specific as the best Z490 motherboards. Since you’re investing in a new processor, it might be tough stretching the budget to include a new board as well.

Luckily, you’re not alone. While we haven’t been able to put all these boards through their paces, we can help navigate you to the best Z490 motherboards for whatever your needs are, whether that’s enterprise, gaming, or something else.

Best Z490 motherboards at a glance

1. MSI MEG Z490 Godlike
2. Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Master
3. Asus Maximus XII Hero
4. MSI MEG Z490 Ace
5. Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Elite

The MSI MEG Z490 Godlike is without a doubt one of the best Z490 motherboards out there. In addition to more slots and ports than you might know what to do with, the MEG Z490 Godlike squarely targets the gamer set with its customizable RGB lighting and OLED panel to make your gaming rig a veritable canvas. 

For all its all of the bells and whistles though, expect to pay as much for this motherboard as you would for a midrange computer and all that hardware and lighting draws a lot of power, so invest in some serious cooling. If you're buying the MSI MEG Z490 Godlike, you can almost certainly afford it.

The Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Master is about as close to a workhorse motherboard as you are going to find. While not as specced out as the best Z490 motherboards out there, the Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Master does everything you need it to do and it does it competently, down to the customizable RGB lighting.

So, if you're looking to build a gaming rig and you've go some money to spend, but you're not swimming in coins like Scrooge McDuck, the Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Master just might be the motherboard to do the trick. 

• Comet Lake could make overclocking possible with cheaper motherboards
• Comet Lake motherboard prices could be hiked
• Intel’s 11th-gen Rocket Lake CPUs will work with Z490 motherboards

If you're looking for the absolute best Z490 motherboard, you probably won't go for the Asus Maximus XII Hero - but if you want a Z490 motherboard that will handle all but the most 1337 demands out there, the Maximus XII Hero will get you there. It has enough RGB lighting to satisfy the gamers out there who want to look the part as well as enough bus connections to put up some quality hardware to boot.

All that hardware means you'll need some serious cooling though. The board features plenty of built-in options for that, but with the cash you save on this midrange board expect to pay it back in trying to keep it from running too hot. The Hero only comes in a WiFi model at the moment, but since it's marketed as such, expect a non-WiFi model to be released at some point (and make sure you are buying the right one when it does eventually launch).

The MSI MEG Z490 Ace isn't as powerful or feature-rich as the MSI MEG Z490 Godlike, but for a mainstream system, the Ace is probably the best Z490 motherboard for general use. It has some overclocking potential and decent specs, but don't let the RGB lighting fool you, this probably isn't the gaming rig motherboard you're looking for. If that's not what you're after, then the MSI MEG Z490 Ace might just be as good as it gets.

Upgrading to a Comet Lake processor means you need to get a whole new motherboard, so for those without a lot of money to spend, the Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Elite might be the best Z490 motherboard out there. Being cheap doesn't mean it scrimps on features though, just don't expect all the ports, PCIe, or M.2 slots you'll find on more expensive boards and you'll do just fine with this budget offering from Gigabyte.

• Intel Z490 motherboards are on sale and some will cost more than your entire PC

At CES 2021, Intel gave a bit of a tease about 11th-generation Rocket Lake-S processors, spearheaded by the Intel Core i9-11900K. But a processor can only go so far without one of the best motherboards, and hot on the heels of that new processor announcement, we've started to see some of the upcoming 500-series 'board designs. 

Asus, MSI, Colorful and more have all launched 500-series motherboards at CES 2021, and some of the Z590 motherboards are looking sharp indeed. These motherboards will be backwards compatible with current Intel 10th-generation Comet Lake-S processors, of course, but they're fully enabled with all the features of the upcoming 11th-generation chips. 

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Namely, these motherboards will have native support for PCIe 4.0, something that was missing from Comet Lake-S – even though AMD-equipped motherboards have been compatible with this technology since mid-2019. Intel Rocket Lake-S will also natively support faster memory – up to DDR4-3200 from DDR4-2933. 

We don't know when these motherboards will actually make it to market, as that entirely depends on when Intel launches its 11th-generation platform. However, Intel is claiming that Rocket Lake-S is launching in Q1 2021, so we'll likely see these motherboards launch sooner rather than later. 

To give you a glimpse of the new designs, we've included a slideshow down below, so you can see what upcoming gaming PCs will be showing off through their tempered glass side panels.  

• Check out all of TechRadar's CES 2021 coverage. We're remotely covering the online-only show to bring you all the breaking tech news and launches, plus a smattering of hands-on reviews. 

As part of CES 2021, Adata has announced that it is ramping up to the launch of its DDR5 system memory modules, and working in conjunction with a couple of big-name motherboard manufacturers to ensure that performance for this next-gen RAM meets expectations on Intel chipsets.

Specifically, Adata has partnered with MSI and Gigabyte to ensure that both of these motherboard makers’ incoming Intel products – likely boards for Alder Lake CPUs, as that’s the Intel platform which is expected to bring in DDR5 support – work optimally when overclocking its DDR5 RAM.

• We’ve picked out all the best processors
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Motherboards with DDR5 support from MSI and Gigabyte will be launched at the same time that Adata makes its DDR5 memory available.

Adata’s DDR5 RAM will be manufactured in modules of up to 64GB capacity, and as to the speed you might expect from the memory, it’ll reach up to 8400MT/s, the company claims. The RAM will also have ECC (error-correcting code that should improve overall stability) on-board, and promises impressive power-efficiency levels.

Promising beginnings

Inevitably, the initial iteration of a new RAM standard doesn’t see the fastest speeds achieved – that happens as manufacturers work to hone products in time – but the promise of 8400MT/s out of the gate is an enticing starting point (even if it’s a performance level that you will doubtless have to pay a premium for, again as ever with the debut of fresh memory modules).

At this point we don’t know when Adata’s DDR5 RAM will be available, as no timeframe was mentioned in the CES announcement. However, Intel’s Alder Lake platform is expected to be launched later in 2021 (although that schedule could change, particularly given that Alder Lake is a big shift to a whole new way of thinking by all accounts, and its predecessor Rocket Lake isn’t even out yet – the latter is rumored to debut in March).

Samsung has previously said that its DDR5 memory will go into mass production at some point in 2021, as well as SK Hynix, and Teamgroup plans to unleash a DDR5 product possibly as early as Q3 of 2021.

• Check out all of TechRadar's CES 2021 coverage. We're remotely covering the online-only show to bring you all the breaking tech news and launches, plus a smattering of hands-on reviews.

500-series motherboards for Intel’s next-gen Rocket Lake processors could be revealed early in January 2021 – and there’s a possibility that the 11th-gen desktop CPUs themselves might emerge not too long after that in February.

The latest speculation holds that Intel Z590, B560 and H510 motherboards could be revealed on January 11 – and might even go on sale then. As spotted by @9550pro on Twitter, this is according to a report from a Chinese tech site, Weixin, not a source we are familiar with – so take this with a bigger than usual helping of condiments.

That date is only just over a few weeks away, so theoretically we could see these motherboards very soon. As to whether they’ll go on sale before Rocket Lake CPUs, that seems unlikely – and this will surely be an unveiling, if indeed this rumor comes to fruition. Although you never know…

• We’ve picked out all the best processors
• And check out the best motherboards
• We’ll tell you how to overclock your CPU

The really interesting bit here is the possibility highlighted that Rocket Lake processors might actually be out in late February, which is slightly earlier than the rumor mill has previously insisted – with a March launch being the most common chatter on the grapevine of late (although even this report also states it could be early March).

Intel’s counterpunch

Still, it’s a glimmer of hope that we could be seeing 11th-gen models from Intel the month after next, and certainly the sooner these are out to defend against AMD’s excellent new Ryzen 5000 desktop chips, the better for Intel. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again – Intel can’t afford to hang around with these CPUs (or suffer the apparent delay that Comet Lake did earlier this year).

What’s certainly feasible is that both 500-series motherboards and Rocket Lake processors are unveiled in January, so we could know a lot more about the latter chips at that point – and then they may go on sale in late February or March.

The latest buzz about the flagship Core i9-11900K points to this 8-core processor being able to boost up to 5.3GHz, which isn’t quite as high as previous rumors suggested (earlier speculation hinted at reaching 5.4GHz or even 5.5GHz).

• Here are the best gaming PCs

Via Wccftech

MSI has announced that it’s releasing fresh firmware for its AMD 400-series motherboards which will bring in full support for the newest Ryzen 5000 processors, as well as support for AMD’s nifty Smart Access Memory (SAM) performance boosting tech.

MSI is introducing all this with the AGESA 1.1.0.0 Patch D update for 400-series motherboards, which will first be delivered to ‘Max’ boards from the middle of December, so that should be imminently (if it hasn’t already started).

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Those with non-Max motherboards (meaning there’s no ‘Max’ in the name) will get the update later in December – it should arrive before the month is out.

Supporting Ryzen 5000 chips is obviously important for those who want to upgrade their PC to the newest processor range that AMD has only recently released, offering some seriously impressive chips (including the Ryzen 5800X, which hit full marks in our review as a ‘best in class’ CPU).

SAM boost

SAM is a further boon for those who upgrade to Ryzen 5000, providing they also have one of AMD’s new Big Navi graphics cards. Folks running both of those components in an MSI 400-series motherboard will be able to switch on SAM which can give an impressive frame rate boost to games of around 5% to 10% (or possibly more).

Previously, this only worked with 500-series motherboards, but board makers are planning to introduce it for their 400-series kit, and it’s good to see MSI leading the pack in actually starting the rollout of that support now (or imminently).

Eventually, SAM should benefit a range of hardware and not just AMD’s own components, as it’s actually just AMD’s take on PCIe’s resizable BAR feature, and that’ll play just fine with Intel CPUs and Nvidia graphics cards. Indeed, Asus has already enabled the resizable BAR feature on its Intel Z490 motherboards, with some impressive early test results.

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AMD’s Smart Access Memory (SAM) tech, which boosts performance and helps games run faster – some titles more than others – is now available to folks who don’t have one of AMD’s newest 500 series motherboards, at least in unofficial beta form.

SAM has only just come into play and requires you to have one of AMD’s new Big Navi graphics cards and a new Ryzen 5000 processor, and the other stipulation was having a new 500 series motherboard.

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There was some concern that AMD might keep SAM exclusive to these new components as an incentive to upgrade, but the good news is this isn’t the case, and those with last-gen X470 and B450 motherboards will – and in some cases, can now – benefit from the tech. (Incidentally, SAM will also be coming to owners of Intel CPUs and Nvidia GPUs eventually, as we recently found out).

SAM allows the CPU to get full access to GPU memory, lifting memory restrictions in order to give a decent performance boost (some games can benefit to the tune of 10%, others more like 5% – so it’s certainly a worthwhile bit of tweaking). The downside is it’s not trivial to get SAM working, and it involves playing around in the BIOS, which not everyone will be comfortable doing (as we discuss in our Radeon RX 6800 review).

Only certain X470 and B450 motherboards are supported right now, in beta form, and if yours is one of them, you will need to ensure that you grab the BIOS update that brings in AGESA v2 1.1.0.0.

If you want to run a Ryzen 5000 processor – which as mentioned is a required component for SAM – you’ll need to upgrade to AGESA v2 1.1.0.0 anyway, as this is necessary for a Zen 3 chip.

Unofficial release

Supported motherboards with the requisite beta BIOS updates include ASRock with its B450 boards, and Gigabyte with support for X470 and B450 boards. Remember that these are unofficial updates, though, so as ever with beta firmware, apply at your own risk.

MSI has also rolled out support for X470 and B450 motherboards to testers at this point, but is waiting for the official AGESA firmware release which is expected to arrive in January 2021 before rolling out to customers. Asus has an AGESA 1.1.8.0 firmware with SAM support, but again this is beta, and indeed not supposed to be released to the public – AMD has confirmed as much, and the official line is to wait for the aforementioned official release in January.

That’s only a couple of months away, of course, and that might give you time to actually find a Big Navi graphics card and/or Ryzen 5000 CPU to buy, because right now, they are thin on the ground to say the least.

• Find the best Nvidia GPU for you

Via Wccftech, PC Gamer

One of the best things about AMD is that, unlike its competitor Intel, when it releases a new generation of CPUs, they are often supported by older motherboards, and that’s happened again with AMD’s new Zen 3-based Ryzen 5000 processors.

As promised, many older AMD 500 series motherboards will be able to use the new Ryzen 5000 chips – though they will require a BIOS update first. The ComputerBase website has collected all the  compatible motherboard and links to the updates, and we’ve replicated that below.

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Some even older AMD 400 series motherboards will also get updates to support Zen 3 processors, but according to AMD, this won’t be until early 2021.

People with AMD 500 series motherboards should upgrade their BIOS to AGESA v2 1.0.8.0 or 1.1.0.0 or later for the new CPU launch on November 5. 

Remember, however, that updating the BIOS of a motherboard should only be done carefully by people who know what they are doing, and once all the important data is backed up.

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Easier upgrade

The fact that people with existing AMD motherboards will be able to simply swap out their current processor with a new Ryzen 5000 chip is great, as it means the upgrade process is significantly easier. 

Simply swapping the processor is a much less complex and time-consuming process. It also makes upgrading much more affordable, as you don’t have to pay for a new motherboard.

In our view, this gives AMD the edge over Intel, because when Intel reveals a new generation of processors, you’ll usually need a new motherboard as well. It’s great to see AMD is carrying on with its own tradition.

Read on to find out which motherboards support the new chips, and where to download the BIOS firmware from.

Asus motherboards

• TUF Gaming A520M-Plus
• Prime A520M-A
• Prime A520M-E
• Prime A520M-K
• Pro A520; -C / CSM
• Prime B550-Plus
• Prime B550M-A (Wi-Fi)
• Prime B550M-A
• Prime B550M-K
• TUF Gaming B550-Plus
• TUF Gaming B550M-Plus
• TUF Gaming B550M-Plus (Wi-Fi)
• ROG Strix B550-A Gaming
• ROG Strix B550-I Gaming
• ROG Strix B550-F Gaming
• ROG Strix B550-F Gaming (Wi-Fi)
• ROG Strix B550-E Gaming
• Prime X570-P
• Prime X570-Pro
• Pro WS X570-ACE
• TUF Gaming X570-Plus
• TUF Gaming X570-Plus (Wi-Fi)
• TUF Gaming X570-Pro (Wi-Fi)
• ROG Strix X570-E Gaming
• ROG Strix X570-F Gaming
• ROG Strix X570-I Gaming
• ROG Crosshair VIII Hero
• ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (Wi-Fi)
• ROG Crosshair VIII Impact
• ROG Crosshair VIII Formula

ASRock motherboards

• A520M Pro4
• A520M-HDV
• A520M-HVS
• A520M-ITX / ac
• B550M-HDV
• B550M Pro4
• B550M ITX / ac
• B550M Steel Legend
• B550 Pro4
• B550 Phantom Gaming 4
• B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX / ax
• B550 Extreme4
• B550 Steel Legend
• B550 Taichi
• X570 Pro4
• X570M Pro4
• X570 Creator
• X570 Taichi
• X570 Aqua
• X570 Extreme4
• X570 Extreme4 WiFi ax
• X570 Steel Legend
• X570 Steel Legend WiFi ax
• X570 Phantom Gaming X
• X570 Phantom Gaming 4
• X570 Phantom Gaming 4S
• X570 Phantom Gaming 4 WiFi ax
• X570 Phantom Gaming 4-ITX / TB3

Biostar motherboards

• A520MH
• B550MH
• B550GTA
• B550GTQ
• X570GT
• X570GTA
• X570GT8

Gigabyte motherboards

• A520M H
• A520M S2H
• A520M DS3H
• A520 Aorus Elite
• A520I AC
• B550M H
• B550M S2H
• B550M DS3H
• B550M DS3H AC
• B550M Gaming
• B550M Aorus Pro
• B550M Aorus Pro-P
• B550M Aorus Elite
• B550 Gaming X
• B550 Gaming X V2
• B550 Aorus Pro
• B550 Aorus Pro AC
• B550 Aorus Pro AX 
• B550 Aorus Pro V2
• B550I Aorus Pro AX
• B550 Aorus Elite
• B550 Aorus Elite V2
• B550 Aorus Elite AX
• B550 Aorus Elite AX V2
• B550 Aorus Master
• B550 Vision D
• X570 UD
• X570 Aorus Pro
• X570 Aorus Pro Wifi
• X570 Aorus Elite
• X570 Aorus Elite Wifi
• X570 Aorus Ultra
• X570 Aorus Master
• X570 Aorus Extreme
• X570 I Aorus Pro Wifi
• X570 Gaming X

MSI motherboards

• A520M Pro
• A520M-A Pro
• MAG A520M Vector Wifi
• B550M Pro 
• B550M-A Pro
• B550M Pro-VDH
• B550M Pro-VDH Wifi
• B550M Pro-DASH
• B550-A Pro
• MAG B550M Mortar
• MAG B550M Mortar Wifi
• MAG B550M Vector Wifi
• MAG B550M Tomahawk 
• MAG B550M bazooka
• MAG B550 torpedo
• MAG B550 Gaming Plus
• MAG B550 Gaming Edge Wifi
• MAG B550I Gaming Edge Wifi 
• MAG B550 Gaming Carbon Wifi 
• MAG B550 Gaming Edge Max Wifi
• X570-A PRO
• Prestige X570 Creation
• MAG X570 Tomahawk Wifi
• MEG X570 Ace
• MEG X570 Unify 
• MEG X570 Godlike
• MPG X570 Gaming Plus 
• MPG X570 Gaming Edge Wifi 
• MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon Wifi

If you have any of the above motherboards and want to upgrade to an AMD Ryzen 5000 processor, then make sure you have the firmware installed, but as we said remember to be careful when updating your BIOS.

• These are the best gaming PCs of 2020

AMD has announced the launch of its new motherboards featuring the A520 chipset, providing a wallet-friendly solution for those building a PC where saving money is a priority.

A520 motherboards stay with the AM4 socket, and models will be available from the usual manufacturers across the globe.

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These boards support current Ryzen 3000 desktop chips, including the recently released additions to the CPU range which came in the form of ‘XT’ models.

They will also be compatible with the Ryzen 4th-gen (Zen 3) processors which are due to be released later in 2020. So even though this might be a budget choice, if you buy now and pair one of these A520 boards with an existing Ryzen chip, you aren’t going to be high and dry should you want to upgrade in the future.

A520 limitations

These A520 entry-level motherboards lack PCIe 4.0 support as provided by the new B550 boards (and indeed X570 products), sticking with PCIe 3.0. There’s also no support for overclocking with AMD’s A520 chipset.

A520 motherboards should be available shortly from manufacturers, with the likes of MSI, ASRock and Asus models being leaked via the rumor mill in recent times, with prices possibly being pitched as low as $100 (around £75, AU$140). Fingers crossed we’ll see some on sale very soon, giving cash-strapped PC builders some sterling fresh options for putting a rig together on a tight budget.

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AMD Ryzen processors are reportedly being pushed harder than their owners realize in some cases, with potentially detrimental effects – although exactly how detrimental is arguable (more on that later) – thanks to some motherboard makers actually misreporting key CPU metrics for voltage and power usage.

We should note upfront that the blame for this doesn’t lie at AMD’s door, but the motherboard manufacturers themselves who are crossing lines that they shouldn’t.

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But first off, the actual issue, as reported in detail by ‘The Stilt’ on the HWinfo forums, revolves around the fact that voltage, current and power telemetry is delivered to the CPU by the motherboard VRM controller.

The Ryzen processor is reliant on those supplied details, but the core problem is that some X570 motherboard makers are purposefully misreporting those telemetry details, so the declared values are less than the actual values – meaning the CPU thinks it’s using less power than it actually is.

What’s the point of that, exactly? Well, the chip ends up being pushed faster than it otherwise would do with the correct telemetry, and the motherboard will look better when it comes to performance evaluations.

This is clearly out of line, and The Stilt observes: “The issue with using this exploit is, that it messes up the power management of the CPU and potentially also decreases its lifespan because it is running the CPU outside the spec, in some cases by a vast margin.

“Also, it can cause issues when this exploit goes undetected by a hardware reviewer, since both the performance and the software-based power consumption figures will be affected by it.”

Clear exploit

So you see the major issues here, although there are some caveats to note, the first of which is to make it clear this isn’t AMD’s fault. The Stilt makes a point of stating that it’s the board manufacturers which are exploiting an element of AMD’s spec, and doing so is something that AMD has warned motherboard makers explicitly against.

If it’s occurred to you that Intel allows motherboard vendors to adjust certain parameters with its CPUs to affect the boost speeds achievable with the chip (so-called PL2 and Tau settings, which we discussed very recently), that’s very true – but the difference is that this is carried out with Intel’s full permission. That’s a very big difference from the situation with AMD.

At any rate, according to The Stilt, at least two big motherboard manufacturers are pulling the wool over the eyes of Ryzen processor owners in this manner.

To better inform users who might be worried about their CPU power consumption after hearing about this, HWinfo (which is a system monitoring utility you can grab here) has introduced a new ‘power reporting deviation’ capability to detect any of the aforementioned misreporting.

You can test your Ryzen CPU and motherboard using this new feature simply by loading up the processor to near full-load, using a benchmarking tool like Cinebench R20, and then watching the power deviation figure – it should be 100% ideally, which means the motherboard is reporting the exact correct value.

There is room for some error in the measurement, so if you’re seeing a bit less than 100%, there may be nothing amiss – but if the reading is coming back closer to 90%, then you’re possibly looking at a misreporting scenario for that motherboard. (A lesser percentage means more power is being used than is reported to the processor).

If this is the case, The Stilt suggests you contact the board manufacturer and ask them to remove any telemetry biasing from its BIOS, and hopefully if enough complaints start coming through, action may be taken. Indeed, that may already be happening as reports of this issue circulate more widely online.

What’s the damage?

How much grief might this power misreporting exploit cause your Ryzen processor? As we said at the outset, that’s also an issue which has been debated – although this obviously isn’t a good thing in terms of CPU longevity, and The Stilt mentions potentially decreased processor lifespan.

Anandtech’s Ian Cutress, however, has been on Twitter to argue that while the CPU running at a higher power level than is believed does degrade the processor faster – something overclocking enthusiasts are well aware of – in this case, that added degradation is of such little impact over the likely lifespan of a consumer chip, that it’s really nothing to worry about. In other words, if running your Ryzen processor flat-out, Cutress argues, you might witness a 1% degradation in CPU performance over 10 years rather than 15 years.

That said, even if the impact isn’t realistically likely to be felt in the useful lifespan of a Ryzen chip, that still doesn’t make it right, and indeed motherboard manufacturers pulling underhand tricks like this to make their products look better at a cost to the consumer – any cost at all – obviously isn’t on. Although it’s not so much the cost, necessarily, as the lack of transparency and trust which is the real damage here for those board vendors engaging in this practice.

We have contacted AMD to get its thoughts on this affair, and will update this story if we hear back.

• These are the best graphics cards of 2020

Via Tom’s Hardware

A tiny company has combined an AMD Ryzen Embedded V1605B with a Microchip ATmega32U4 MCU for real-time I/Os and Arduino compatibility.

The UDOO Bolt V8 costs $418 (roughly £330/AU$600) before tax/shipping and VAT and was one of the hardware success stories of 2018 for crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, despite shipping much later than expected.

It's essentially a motherboard with a quad-core Ryzen CPU with 32GB eMMC 5.0 storage, Vega 8 graphics and two DDR4 SODIMM sockets, plus a stylish brushed metal case and a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth M2 card.

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You can drive up to four 4K displays via HDMI and DP alternate mode on USB Type-C. In addition, there are two M2 slots and one SATA, with a Gigabit Ethernet port, two USB 3.0 ports, audio connectors and a 65W power supply unit.

The ATmega32U4 comes with its own set of digital I/O pins, which sets it apart from the competition, especially as the board is surprisingly small (120 x 120mm) -  although still bigger than the Raspberry Pi (85 x 56mm).

The Bolt V8's unique selling point is the fact the Arduino controller can act as a virtual valet to the Ryzen chip, waking it up when necessary (e.g. to perform a resource-hungry task such as mining or encryption).

Who is this board aimed at? Makers, developers but also anyone interested in a powerful computer in a small form factor with plenty of connectivity options. Yes, it is expensive, but then it is also one-of-a-kind.

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Bear in mind

• If the UDOO Bolt V8 does not ship to your region, you may have to use a specialist parcel forwarding service if you want to take advantage of the deal.
• If you've managed to get hold of a cheaper product with equivalent specifications, in stock and brand new, let us know any we'll tip our hat to you.

In the past, if you wanted an Intel processor that you could overclock, you’d need to buy an ‘unlocked’ model – designated by a ‘K’ at the end of its model number – but motherboard makers are finding novel ways of getting around this limitation with their new products.

As Benchlife.info found when reviewing the Asus TUF Gaming B460 Plus motherboard, there’s a feature known as Asus Performance Enhancement (APE). This allows a 65W CPU to run at 125W (or higher), and essentially ‘tricks’ the processor into running at a higher clock speed.

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ASRock has a similar feature in some of its new motherboards, known as Base Frequency Boost. And, as PC Gamer points out, it looks like Gigabyte is also offering something comparable, with an owner of the Aorus B460 series motherboard posting images on the CoolPC forums that show them using a locked Intel Core i7 10700 Comet Lake-S processor. At its normal settings, the CPU runs at 3.8GHz and scores 3,637 points in the Cinebench R20 benchmarks.

However, by tweaking the power limit in the BIOS, the Intel Core i7 10700 manages a peak of 4.5GHz, then settles down at 4.33GHz and scores 4,679 points in Cinebench.

This is a big boost for a supposedly locked processor.

Will Intel be happy? 

While consumers will be pleased that they could get a performance boost for free, and without having to splash out on a ‘K’ series processor, will Intel be happy?

We’ve reached out to the company for comment, but we can’t imagine it would be. First of all, pushing a CPU above its power limit always brings an element of risk, and it will likely void your warranty.

Non-K CPUs have locked multipliers, which means you can’t increase the clock multiplayer of a CPU, which traditionally increases the frequency the CPU runs. If you want to overclock the Intel Core i9 10900, then, you’d be out of luck. You’d need to buy the Intel Core i9 10900K instead.

However, features found in new motherboards allow people to tweak the processor’s Power Level 1 (PL1) settings, which seems like it’s an effective way to get around Intel’s lock.

If you have a compatible processor and motherboard and want to try this out, then keep in mind that it could void the warranty of your CPU. You’ll also want to make sure you have a beefy cooling solution installed as well.

•  These are the best processors of 2020 

It’s hard to believe, but even motherboard vendors have factory outlet stores (FOS). Straight from AliExpress comes the Shenzhen FOS, which specialises in new motherboards for obsolete server processors.

Shenzhen FOS has managed to carve out a niche based on the fact that, every now and then, tens of thousands server CPUs flood the market as hyperscalers and cloud computing providers (web hosting, cloud storage, website builders, VPN companies etc.) change platforms.

Suddenly, eBay and AliExpress are awash will old (but still useful) servers dumped by the likes of Microsoft, Google and Amazon - and they're extremely cheap. The problem, however, is that they don't have a consumer-focused, user-friendly motherboard to slot into.

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Enter the Shenzhen FOS and a handful of other craftspeople, who fulfil that specific need at a very competitive price.

For example, take this dual X79 motherboard, which can accommodate a pair of Intel Xeon CPUs, supporting E5-1600/E5-2600 Series V1/V2 processors.

You can get a pair of them for sometimes as little as $10 (about £8, AU$12), delivering up to eight cores. Add in the motherboard, which costs $76.50 excluding delivery (about £63, AU$120), and you have a decent barebones system.

However, we haven’t tested this motherboard and the usual caveats apply, especially when the website's opening statement reads: “Due to different batches of productions, there might be some difference between the pictures you've seen and the motherboard you get. Retail boxes, colors of DIMM slots, SATA ports, PCI or PCI-E Slots and other ports, are subject to change without prior notice”.

TL,DR: you may end up with a motherboard that's rather different from the one you thought you were ordering.

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AMD has evidently been listening closely to the feedback received from some pretty unhappy Ryzen users following its decision to not support incoming next-gen Zen 3 processors with X470 and B450 motherboards – and the company has now changed its mind.

Previously, AMD announced that only newer X570 and incoming B550 motherboards would be good to drop in a Ryzen 4000 desktop processor when they arrive later this year (with the rumor mill pointing to a September launch at the moment).

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This was because the previous X470 and B450 boards were limited in terms of the space on their flash memory, and essentially couldn’t fit in the required microcode updates to provide support for Ryzen 4000 CPUs, AMD explained. But owners weren’t happy that motherboards which were only introduced fairly recently – two years ago – were out in the cold for the next generation of Ryzen silicon, and many made that clear in pretty strong terms.

As you might imagine, in order to bring that support in for X470 and B450 chipsets, something has to give in terms of that storage space, so what AMD has done is remove support for some older processors, to make room for said microcode updates for Ryzen 4000.

So that’s one caveat here: on the one hand, motherboard makers will be able to release a BIOS update granting support for Ryzen 4000 to these chipsets, but it will take with the other hand in terms of removing support for “many existing AMD Ryzen Desktop Processor models” in the company’s words.

That’s why it will be an optional update, as obviously if you aren’t intending to upgrade to a Ryzen 4000 processor on an X470 or B450 motherboard, you won’t need it.

One-way trip

Another important point is that these BIOS releases (which will arrive in beta) will be a ‘one-way upgrade path’, so in other words, there will be no turning back, and you won’t be able to revert to your older BIOS after applying the update.

Furthermore, AMD explains that its “intent is to offer [this] BIOS download only to verified customers of 400 Series motherboards who have purchased a new desktop processor with ‘Zen 3’ inside.”

Meaning you will need to prove that you have bought a Ryzen 4000 chip in some way, although exactly how that will work isn’t yet clear. AMD notes that this is to ensure that any upgrading customer has a “bootable processor on-hand after the BIOS flash, minimizing the risk a user could get caught in a no-boot situation”.

AMD is clearly keen to make sure folks don’t grab this update if it’s not needed, which is understandable, as it could land the unwary user who isn’t upgrading to Ryzen 4000 in hot water (potentially stripping away support for the processor they actually own). As well as the aforementioned flash memory constraints, extra complications like guarding against these sort of disasters is quite possibly part of the reason AMD was reluctant to take this route.

The final caveat to be aware of is that exactly when this update might arrive for your particular motherboard will depend on the manufacturer, and how the implementation works on that specific board – some hardware will doubtless be a trickier prospect than others. Also, there’s no guarantee support will be available when Ryzen 4000 processors go on sale.

You may be waiting a while, then, and for that matter AMD is still recommending that customers should purchase an X570 or B550 motherboard for what it describes as the “best performance and features with our new [Ryzen 4000] CPUs”.

AMD also clarified that Ryzen 4000 will certainly be the end of the road for 400 series motherboards, but of course that’s no surprise, and no one expected otherwise.

• How to overclock your CPU

Via Tom’s Hardware

Intel’s Alder Lake 12th-gen desktop processors – expected to arrive late 2021, or early 2022 – will be the point that the chip giant brings in support for DDR5, at least according to the latest buzz from the grapevine.

This comes from the PTT forums (in China) courtesy of SharkBay (as spotted by Videocardz), and while that source is far from an unknown leaker, we would definitely still treat this rumor with a lot more caution than the norm.

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So, grab some fistfuls of salt, but the claim is that Alder Lake will come with DDR5 support, which the report notes has been hinted at for a while; although the last we heard, rumor-peddlers were talking about this being a possibility and rather uncertain.

Still, SharkBay believes Alder Lake-S chips will indeed support the faster memory standard, and speeds are actually mentioned here, with Intel’s 12th-gen chips apparently set to support DDR5 at 4800MHz to begin with. Videocardz qualifies that this will be with one DIMM (memory stick) per channel, and when using two DIMMs per channel speeds will top out at a slower 4000MHz.

Remember of course that when DDR5 first launches – with Samsung expected to hit mass production with memory modules for the PC in 2021 – it’ll take a good while to actually bed in, and performance will likely not be much better than existing top-end DDR4 RAM. This was exactly the case with DDR4 when it was first introduced, of course, and speeds ramped up over time; the same will happen with DDR5.

DDR5 to be a dead heat?

AMD is expected to bring in DDR5 support in 2022 alongside Zen 4 processors, so if Alder Lake arrives as expected – most likely in 2022 as well – evidently that’s the year to mark in your calendar for the jump to next-gen memory in the PC arena.

Although exactly when DDR5 speeds will start to ramp up nicely, and costs will come down – initial memory modules will come with a price premium, doubtless, as with any cutting-edge tech to begin with – for the RAM to make sense in respect of price/performance, that’s another question.

From the speculation we’ve heard about Alder Lake thus far, it’ll be a major change for Intel in terms of introducing a new LGA 1700 socket, meaning the Z490 motherboards just coming into play for 10th-gen Comet Lake CPUs won’t be compatible, at least according to previous speculation.

Those boards will apparently be good for Comet Lake and 11th-gen Rocket Lake, but then everything changes again with an entirely new platform for Alder Lake.

SharkBay also divulged some purported details on the power consumption of Rocket Lake desktop CPUs, which will allegedly have chips with 95W, 80W, and 65W TDPs. That’s a good deal lower than Comet Lake, which hits 125W, so points to a sizeable move forward in terms of power efficiency – although remember that rumor also has it that Rocket Lake will step backwards to an 8-core flagship chip rather than 10-core.

Rocket Lake remains a 14nm product but it will move to an entirely new architecture which should bring a solid performance boost in itself (PCIe 4.0 support is also expected with Intel’s 11th-gen chips).

In short, we’re now getting a fuller picture of how the next couple of generations of Intel silicon will pan out – assuming that the rumor mill isn’t way off course here, naturally.

• Intel’s new CPUs go all-in on performance – but are they an open goal for AMD?

Intel’s Comet Lake desktop processors will be on sale later in May, but Z490 motherboards which have the new LGA 1200 socket that supports the CPUs are already up for pre-order.

As you might imagine, all the major motherboard manufacturers have various Z490 products now listed at online retailers, and over 50 boards are now available at Newegg in the US, with the release date pegged at May 20 (presumably indicating that this is when Comet Lake processors will be available too – although Intel hasn’t confirmed any date).

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• And also the best motherboards of 2020

Some of these offerings are wallet-damaging in the extreme, too, with the most expensive motherboard coming from Gigabyte.

That would be the Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Xtreme Waterforce (pictured above), which tips the scales at an eye-opening $1,300 at Newegg in the US (£1,200 in the UK at Overclockers) – more than most people will spend on their entire PC, let alone just the motherboard.

It’s a heavyweight board as you might expect, and water-cooled with lots of high-end features plus the obligatory LED fanciness (and ‘hi-fi level audio’ built-in).

A similar offering comes from ASRock in the form of the Z490 Aqua, which is priced at $1,100 over at Newegg (£999 at OCUK). Again, this features water-cooling, plus RGB lighting and an OLED display which highlights temperatures, fan speeds and the like (if anything, it looks even fancier than the Aorus, and is part of a limited production run of 999).

ASRock has produced an Aqua motherboard before, in actual fact: an X570 incarnation for Ryzen 3000 which again was a limited run of 999, but didn’t look quite as blingy, and cost a hundred bucks less.

Cheaper boards

For Comet Lake buyers with their feet very much in the realm of more conventional Z490 motherboards, there are various options from Asus, ASRock, Gigabyte and MSI, with plenty of boards pitched around the $200-$300 mark.

The most budget-friendly offerings are the Asus Prime Z490M Plus and the ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4 (or Z490M Pro 4) which will set you back $150. Gigabyte and MSI’s Z490 models start at $160, so are a touch more.

It’s worth noting that in the case of the latter, MSI is offering a promotion for those upgrading from an older MSI motherboard in the US, whereby you can trade that in for up to $50 to spend on Steam (the exact amount you get depends on the Z490 motherboard you’re buying).

• Intel’s new CPUs go all-in on performance – but are they an open goal for AMD?

Via Wccftech

Intel has only just revealed its Comet Lake 10th-gen desktop processors, which require a new Z490 motherboard, switching to the LGA 1200 socket. However, those boards could be swiftly cast aside when 12th-gen Alder Lake CPUs possibly arrive in 2021 with a new LGA 1700 socket according to the rumor mill.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Alder Lake switching socket, and major hardware leakers (Momomo and Komachi on Twitter) were spilling hints about this back at the start of the year.

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And now, as Wccftech spotted, Lit-tech – a Taiwanese company providing Intel voltage regulation test tools to the Asian market – has compiled a list of future Intel CPUs, with one codename indicating an Alder Lake-S part with the description noting that it’s an LGA 1700 processor, lining up with those previous rumors.

Naturally, it's necessary for some heavy use of condiments here, but another mention of LGA 1700 is obviously further fuel for the rumor fire – and given what we’ve already heard about the big changes in store with Alder Lake, this all makes sense.

Comet to Rocket to Alder

Intel’s Comet Lake switched to a new LGA 1200 socket, as seen on the freshly revealed Z490 motherboards, and as we recently reported, that socket – and those motherboards – are going to be compatible with 11th-gen Rocket Lake processors.

However, if this latest speculation is correct, that will be the end of the line for LGA 1200 (in other words, if you buy a Z490 motherboard), you can only expect it to be good for supporting Comet Lake and Rocket Lake CPUs, with Alder Lake switching to LGA 1700.

While LGA 1200 was only a relatively small change compared to its predecessor LGA 1151, maintaining the same socket size and just changing the pin configuration somewhat, LGA 1700 is expected to be a major overhaul – allegedly even changing the shape of the chip to a rectangle, rather than the traditional square CPU.

This would mean that not only would existing motherboards be incompatible with Alder Lake chips, but existing cooling solutions would need to be changed as well, at further expense to any potential upgraders.

Big changes are expected with Alder Lake all round, as it will see Intel finally move away from 14nm with its desktop CPUs, purportedly to a 10nm++ process. It will also allegedly offer a version of ARM's big.LITTLE architecture, with a configuration of 8+8+1 cores – meaning eight high-powered cores, eight low-power (little) ones, and integrated graphics. It could also support PCIe 4.0, or even 5.0 down the line (in later revisions), but there’s no word yet on DDR5 RAM.

All of this is just speculation, but whatever Alder Lake turns out to be, it’s expected to be launched in late 2021 or early 2022. While next year might seem an optimistic timeframe for CPUs which are two generations away from the still-not-on-sale Comet Lake processors, it’s possible that Intel could sneak a reveal in for 2021. Certainly if it continues to feel the pressure on the desktop from Ryzen processors, which are pretty much decimating Intel’s CPUs in this arena.

• Intel’s new CPUs go all-in on performance – but are they an open goal for AMD?

Intel’s new Z490 motherboards for its freshly announced 10th-gen Comet Lake-S desktop processors will support the next generation of CPUs, known as Rocket Lake-S.

As Tom’s Hardware spotted, on Gigabyte’s Aorus livestream, the motherboard manufacturer revealed that Z490 will support Intel’s 11th-gen Rocket Lake processors.

• Intel Core i9-10900K vs 9900K: does the enthusiast CPU king keep its crown?
• We’ve picked out all the best processors
• And check out the best motherboards of 2020

Of course, it’s not a huge surprise that 11th-gen chips would continue to be supported by Z490 products, given that if Intel were to switch again so quickly – over the span of just a single generation – it wouldn’t be a crowd-pleasing move. That said, 500-series motherboards may still be coming with Rocket Lake when it arrives probably early in 2021 (we’ll discuss that further in a moment).

At any rate, this info from Gigabyte throws light on the situation whereby Comet Lake processors don’t support PCIe 4.0, yet Z490 motherboards do support it (kind of). That’s an important consideration because Rocket Lake should come with PCIe 4.0, so down the line, these motherboards will (likely) need to be able to take advantage of that.

In other words, hardware manufacturers have included PCIe 4.0 drivers, clock generator and so forth with their Z490 products, in order that they can be enabled in the future via BIOS updates when Rocket Lake processors become available.

Although doubtless it is a slightly confusing situation to see that your new Z490 motherboard is PCIe 4.0-ready, yet Comet Lake sticks with PCIe 3.0. And to add to the potential confusion, while future PCIe 4.0 support will apparently arrive, the exact implementation may differ from Z490 board to board (as Tom’s points out, only some motherboards may extend PCIe 4.0 support to an M.2 slot, and others may only support it on the direct PCIe lanes – or indeed maybe not at all).

Fork in the path?

Another possibility is that we will have a situation where we get this somewhat flaky, mixed picture of support with Z490 motherboards, and Intel could then launch 500-series models as well with Rocket Lake, delivering full support for PCIe 4.0 with these.

All this is speculation right now, of course, and Intel hasn’t officially said anything about how PCIe 4.0 will pan out down the line with its new Z490 chipset or indeed future offerings.

Rocket Lake delivers a whole new architecture, although it will still be a 14nm product (again) like Comet Lake, and we’ve already seen a leaked online benchmark for an 11th-gen 8-core processor, which might just indicate that these CPUs are coming sooner rather than later.

The likelihood is that Rocket Lake processors will launch in Q1 or Q2 of 2021, although there is a possibility that Intel may have to push hard if Ryzen 4000 processors – which are expected later this year – really pile the pressure on (and that’s a fair bet).

• Intel’s new CPUs go all-in on performance – but are they an open goal for AMD?

With the release of Intel's Comet Lake-S 10th-generation Core processors, manufacturers are wasting no time in unveiling their new lineups of motherboards sporting the Intel Z490 chipset, which will support Intel's latest CPUs. 

Both Asus and MSI revealed new details of their upcoming boards, including some specs, pricing, and anticipated release dates to whet the appetites of Comet Lake enthusiasts out there.

Asus announced six new Intel Z490 motherboards that will be released at the end of May, with several more coming later without a firm release date.

Meanwhile, MSI announced several new boards that are also expected to go on sale in the next few weeks, though no firm dates or pricing is available yet.

Asus

Asus unveiled several new models for its familiar lines of motherboards, like the Asus ROG Maximus XII, the Asus ROG Strix Z490 E-Gaming, and the TUF Gaming Z490 Plus.

The Asus ROG Maximus XII Hero will be the first of the Maximus XII series to be released, set to go on sale at launch on May 27 for $399 (about £320, AU$600). 

The Maximus XII Hero will have four DDR4 4700+ memory slots, three PCIe 3.0x16 and three PCIe 3.0x1 expansion slots, as well as two M.2 22110 and a M.2 2280 slot for M.2 SSDs, and an HDMI 1.4b port for onboard graphics. It will also support ThunderBolt 3. 

The Asus Maximus XII Hero also features hybrid-cooling compatibility and promises to use AI features to make overclocking, thermal dissipation, and faster networking more accessible, aided by its Wi-fi 6 capability. 

Not all of Asus' Z490 boards will come with onboard Wi-Fi 6 capability, mind you, so make sure to check the specs of any specific board you're looking at before buying.

• Intel Comet Lake CPUs could make overclocking possible with cheaper motherboards

The Asus ROG Strix Z490 series launches on the May 27 as well with the ROG Strix Z490 E-Gaming motherboard for $299 (about £240, A$460) and will have four DDR4 4600 memory slots, three PCIe 3.0x16 and three PCIe 3.0x1 expansion slots, two M.2 22110 slots, and HDMI 1.4b and DisplayPort 1.2 ports for onboard graphics. 

Also Wi-Fi 6 capable, the ROG Strix Z490 E-Gaming will feature similar AI overclocking, cooling, and networking as the Maximus XII.

Meanwhile, the TUF Gaming Z490 Plus will launch alongside the Maximus XII and Strix Z490 for $199 (about £160/AU$300). It will have four DDR4 4600+ memory slots, two PCIe 3.0x16 and three PCIe 3.0x1 expansion slots, M.2 22110 and M.2 2280 slots, and HDMI 1.4b and DisplayPort 1.4 ports for onboard graphics. It isn't clear at this time whether it will have the same AI features as the other two motherboards.

MSI

We know a lot less about Z490 motherboards that MSI will be launching soon. What we do know is that they will basically fall into four tiers from high-performance to entry-level gaming and an enterprise model series.

The four models are the MSI MEG Z490, the MSI MPG Z490, the MSI MAG Z490 and the MSI Z490-A Pro. They will all feature things like active cooling, M.2 slots, front-panel USB-C ports and Gbps networking speeds, thanks to Gigabit Ethernet ports and Wi-Fi 6 capabilities. 

We don't know anything about pricing or a release date for any of MSI's Z490 motherboards, but be sure to check back soon as we'll keep you posted as soon as we hear more from MSI about its upcoming Z490 launch.

• Check out our look at the best motherboards of 2020 so far

Intel might just be offering the ability to overclock its incoming next-gen Comet Lake desktop processors on mid-range B460 motherboards, which is normally an ability reserved for the firm’s top-of-the-range Z series boards.

First off, we should bear in mind that this is just speculation, based on some images highlighted by Videocardz showing a Maxsun B460 iCraft Gaming Endless motherboard.

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This B460 model sports a trio of buttons marked with an ‘L’ and ‘C’ as well as a lightning bolt symbol, and the marketing blurb for the iCraft Gaming Endless indicates that it has the ability to speed up the CPU with just a click, as Tom’s Hardware points out.

So in theory, these buttons could facilitate some kind of basic overclocking functionality outside of the more expensive Z490 chipset. Again, bear in mind that this is just a theory, and there are certainly arguments against it.

Firstly, it would be pretty surprising to see Intel make this move, and no previous rumors – and there’s been plenty of leakage around Comet Lake thus far – have indicated any overclocking possibility with mid-range boards. 

But then again, from the perspective of Intel needing to be more competitive with AMD given the success of Ryzen 3000, there’s a counterargument that Intel might feel the need to match its rival (which offers overclocking chops with mid-range chipsets as well as premium boards).

Build quality

The other important consideration is that if you’re going to engage in overclocking, the motherboard needs to have a good enough build quality – plus capable and reliable enough power delivery, and cooling – to achieve this without any dangers to your system stability (or even worse prospects than that).

But that said, the Maxsun model does look like it’s pretty solidly built at first glance, and those buttons surely do something.

However, even if this speculation does turn out to be correct, and there is some form of overclocking functionality coming with some B460 motherboards, it’s likely to be limited in comparison to the Z490 boards. After all, Intel will still need to give punters a reason to plump for the top dog models (and indeed top dollar products – there’s also a rumor of some major price hikes in store for Z490 boards).

As ever, time will tell, but this is certainly an interesting hint that Intel may just be planning to enable overclocking outside of premium boards as part of the greater struggle to help keep 10th-gen processors competitive with AMD Ryzen 3000.

We may not have long to wait to find out anyway, because Intel is expected to launch next-gen Comet Lake desktop CPUs in just a couple of days at the end of April, or that’s the word from the processor grapevine.

• See all the best gaming PCs of 2020