Month: March 2021

ASRock B550 Taichi Razer Edition – FunkyKit

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Appearance-wise, the ASRock B550 Taichi Razer Edition looks identical to its bigger brother the X570 Taichi Razer Edition, which we also reviewed earlier this year, all except of course the chipset on the motherboard. With that said, the B550 is a very capable chipset with only the difference being the amount of PCIe 4.0 lanes available (X570 has 24 lanes vs B550 with 20 lanes). Both chipset offer PCIe 4.0 support for both GPU and NVMe storage, but for general purpose lanes, the B550 chipset can only support up to PCIe 3.0.  

Read more @ FunkyKit

ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 – KitGuru

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With Intel’s 10th Gen processors becoming increasingly competitive thanks to price and availability improvements, there’s still plenty of life left in the LGA 1200 mainstream platform. That point is especially true with BIOS updates likely to permit for support of Intel’s upcoming 11th Gen CPUs. As such, the ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 remains an interesting choice for SFF gamers, especially as it sits atop ASRock’s hierarchy of LGA 1200 Mini-ITX offerings.

Read more @ KitGuru

Possible Fixes for AMD Ryzen USB Issues?

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Per a user post on Reddit, AMD has been giving out some advice on how to tackle the current USB issues with Ryzen 3/5000 series chips on the 4/500 motherboards. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the advice mimics much of what individual uses have reported doing to address the issue via C-States in the BIOS, as well as manual configuration of PCIE 3. Here’s AMD’s advice:

Based on user feedback we have received; the suggestions below could improve or resolve general USB device stuttering issues.

  1. Verify that your motherboard is updated to the latest BIOS version and configured using optimized/factory default settings. Check your motherboard manufacturer’s website for BIOS update and download instructions.
  2. Check if your Windows 10 is on the latest build and fully up to date. For information on updating Windows 10, please refer to Microsoft article: Update Windows 10
  3. Ensure that the Ryzen chipset driver from AMD is installed and up to date. Latest Ryzen chipset driver version is 2.13.27.501 and can be download here.

If you continue to experience USB connectivity problems after following the suggestions above, you may consider using either of the following workaround:

  1. Set PCIe mode from Gen4/Auto to Gen 3 in the BIOS
  2. Disable Global C-State in the BIOS.

These settings are found in the BIOS. Please refer to the motherboard user manual if more information is needed.

Intel Core i7-11700K Reviewed – AnandTech

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Now that some etailers have decided to start shipping Rocket lake-S chips early, AnandTech has taken a bit of an unconventional approach to get around the Intel NDA and purchased a retail unit for review. This chip goes head-to-head with the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, and comes up…somewhat lacking it would appear. AnandTech details the performance of the chip against the Core i7-10700K as well as the Ryzen 7 5800X. The new Rocket lake-S chips are hot, power hungry beasts. From the looks of it, if you have a choice go with the Zen 3 option. But, in today’s market of “take what you can get”, the Core i7-10700K may be the more attractive option overall. We’ll see more later this month when the NDA lifts for launch on the 30th. Until then, take a look at AnandTech’s coverage.

GIGABYTE Z590 AORUS MASTER – TechPowerUp

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The Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Master features a monster 19-phase VRM utilizing 90 A power stages and Gigabyte’s signature finned cooling solution. Both Q-Flash and a dual BIOS have been included, providing a redundant safety net for ambitious overclocking. The Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Master also offers a full-coverage aluminium backplate for added rigidity and additional VRM cooling. Additionally, Gigabyte has included a 10 Gb/s LAN controller from Aquantia. All of the features are in order, so let’s see how the Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Master stacks up against the competition.

Read more @ TechPowerUp

MSI MEG Z590 ACE – Tom’s Hardware

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MSI’s current Z590 product stack consists of 11 models, with most falling into the MEG (high-end) MPG (mid-range) and MAG (budget) lineups. We’re greeted by several familiar SKUs and a couple of new ones.  Starting at the top is the flagship MEG Z590 Godlike, the Ace we’re looking at now, and a Mini ITX MEG Z590I Unify. The mid-range MPG line consists of four boards (Carbon EK X, Gaming Edge WiFi, Gaming Carbon WiFi and Gaming Force), while the less expensive MAG lineup consists of two boards (Z590 Tomahawk WiFi, and Torpedo). Wrapping up the current product stack are two ‘Pro’ boards in the Z590 Pro WiFi and Z590-A Pro.

Read more @ Tom’s Hardware

MSI MEG B550 UNIFY – GreenTech Reviews

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We are talking about the quality of the power subsystem, about its cooling systems, slot layout and much more. It is noteworthy that many manufacturers have presented quite expensive solutions based on AMD B550. But MSI was able to really surprise with the MEG B550 UNIFY and MEG B550 UNIFY-X motherboards. The second is distinguished by the presence of only two slots for memory modules, which, in theory, allows to achieve higher performance of the memory.But in this article we will study the classic version with four memory slots, four PCIe slots, four M.2 slots, four connectors for RGB tapes and … And something else interesting

Read more @ GreenTech Reviews (Russian)

ASRock B460 Steel Legend – PC Magazine

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The B460 Steel Legend comes decorated with a camouflage aesthetic that’s a mixture of white, gray, and black. Far from helping the board to blend into the background, this actually helps the board to stand out in a windowed PC chassis. Though it’s not the only board we’ve seen with this kind of digital-camouflage PCB pattern, the Asrock manages to present its own look and feel.

Read more @ PC Magazine

ASRock Z490 Taichi – PC Magazine

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This specific Taichi board is special, though. It looks and feels well made, and while small subsets of buyers might gripe about a few minor aspects, it nonetheless offers excellent value—it may not quite topple our Editors’ Choice pick for best overall Z490 motherboard on sheer audacity, the Asus Z490 ROG Maximus XII Extreme, but the Z490 Taichi costs only about half as much. If you’re looking for a motherboard for extreme gaming and overclocking, and don’t want to pay flagship-class prices, this Asrock platform is a perfect choice for upper-end 10th Generation Core CPUs.

Read more @ PC Magazine

ASUS Announces ProART B550-CREATOR w/Thunderbolt 4

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Designed for professionals and creatives who need ultra-fast USB and Thunderbolt connectivity alongside stable and reliable operation. The B550-Creator is a great choice for those building a Ryzen based system with Ryzen 3000 series or Ryzen 5000 series CPUs. The board Features out-of-the-box UEFI support for both series of processors. The B550 Creator is the first AM4 motherboard with Thunderbolt 4 onboard! In addition, you have dual 2.5Gbps LAN, dual M.2 slots alongside dual heatsinks. It also incorporates the latest ASUS M.2 Q-Latch design for simple and tool-free M.2 drive installation. For the latest generation of chassis, you also have front USB 3.0 connectivity as well as USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type Internal connectivity.

Read more @ Reddit