Motherboard News & Reviews

Welcome to the Motherboard News & Reviews Database. This is a collection, primarily of reviews, dedicated to motherboards from across the globe. Looking for something specific? Use the search utility, tags, or just explore through using the drop-down menu. From there, you can select your preferred motherboard manufacturer to find a listing of motherboards by chipset that have reviews available. If it’s been reviewed recently, you’ll find it. All reviews that are not natively in English will have translated links provided where possible.

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Zen 3 B450 Support Arrives for BIOSTAR, ASRock and ASUS

November 24, 2020 by Stephen

AMD has officially stated that Ryzen 5000 support for the 400 series chipset will be coming in 2021, but that doesn’t appear to be the case anymore. Three companies have shared (so far) that they will support AMD’s new Ryzen 5000 series CPUs before 2021, BIOSTAR, ASRock, and ASUS. With Asrock already having beta BIOS’s ready for the shiny new CPUs.

To ensure compatibility, you’ll need a BIOS for your specific B450 motherboard that supports AGESA 1.0.8.1 at the very minimum. This AGESA code enables Ryzen 5000 Renoir compatibility. In order to get the full performance out of your Ryzen 5000 CPU you’ll need to make sure your B450 motherboard has a BIOS supporting AGESA 1.1.0.0 or greater.

NZXT N7 Z490

November 25, 2020November 19, 2020 by Stephen

If we are used to the quartet of usual manufacturers in France, a few players have appeared in recent years in our provinces, in particular with NZXT, which has decided to release its own motherboards, and this for 2 generations of chipset at Intel. This will therefore be the third iteration for the manufacturer, which presents its N7 Z490 card , which the Comptoir has tested for you, in order to see what the outsider is worth.

EVGA Z490 Dark

November 25, 2020November 16, 2020 by Stephen

In this review I’ll be looking at what might be considered the only game in town for Extreme Overclocking, the EVGA Z490 Dark. Much like what DFI did with their LanParty boards the EVGA Dark is what I would call a revision and enhancement to the EVGA Z490 FTW that improves and tunes the motherboard to handle all sorts of overclocking and extreme system builds while still offering out of box performance for fans of high-end hardware.

ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-I GAMING

November 13, 2020 by Stephen

A rare review of something compact does not begin with words about the difficulties of pushing top straps and equipment into a compact format and the use of non-standard engineering solutions for this. This is doubly relevant when we are talking not about a slightly truncated mini-ATX motherboard, where, in general, even without liters of sweats from engineers, everything climbs so well, but about choosing a real hardcore player!

ASUS ROG STRIX B550-I GAMING

November 13, 2020 by Stephen

Starting at the top, the B550i Gaming currently supports Ryzen 3000 series, but ASUS does have plans to support Zen 3 with an upcoming BIOS update. As noted above, this motherboard is on the B550 chipset platform and, as such, supports DDR4 memory – 2133 JEDEC as a minimum with 5100+ speeds capable with overclocking.

NZXT N7 Z490

November 25, 2020November 13, 2020 by Stephen

Motherboards are rarely aesthetically pleasing. Sure, we’ve long since moved on from green PCBs and cream-colored slots, but the majority of MOBOs still look ugly. Most opt for a “gamer” look, which is fine for some folks, but what about those who value a minimalist and clean PC build? Enter the N7 Z490 motherboard from NZXT, with its frankly beautiful design.

ASRock B550 Taichi

November 12, 2020 by Stephen

Following its usual Taichi design scheme, Asrock festoons the B550 Taichi with gears along with a black, steel-gray, and gold color scheme. Aesthetics are a matter of opinion, but personally I feel this board looks spectacular. Black is the dominant color, but there’s enough gray that the board doesn’t feel overly dark, nor does the amount of steel feel overwhelming.

ASUS TUF GAMING B550M-PLUS (WI-FI)

November 10, 2020 by Stephen

The ASUS TUF Gaming B550M-Plus is pretty special in that regard. Not only is it MicroATX, but it’s also rocking AMD’s B550 chipset, a slightly more affordable option compared to the range-topping X570. That makes this motherboard rather affordable, but not quite as affordable as some of the competition.

ASUS ROG MAXIMUS XII EXTREME

November 10, 2020 by Stephen

The ASUS ROG MAXIMUS XII EXTREME is the latest iteration of the Maximus line which began about 10 years ago as one of the earliest entries into the ROG family. This one utilizes Intel’s Z490 Express chipset and supports it’s LGA 1200 socket processors and Intel’s 10th Gen Comet Lake CPUs. This is not what you would call a value solution. The Maximus XII Extreme costs of $742.99 on Amazon at the time of this writing.

ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VIII DARK HERO

November 10, 2020 by Stephen

The ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero is an update to last year’s award winning ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Hero. The ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero has been equipped with the same accouterments as last year’s Hero, with a few upgrades. The M.2 heatsinks on both slots, a premium lighting solution, integrated rear I/O shield, and great ASUS BIOS have not changed. But the VRM Power Stages have been upgraded to 90 A from 60 A, and most importantly, ASUS has done away with the chipset fan.