All things considered, AMD has already announced that Zen 4 CPUs, either Ryzen or EPYC, will only feature support for DDR5 memory so this means that there’s no DDR4 IMC on the Zen 4 core. If the red team was to bring Zen 4 on the existing AM4 motherboards, then it would have to make special variants of the chip that house the necessary DDR4 IMC as AM4 is an all-DDR4 platform.
Read more @ Wccftech
The MSI MAG B660 Tomahawk WIFI stands out as an affordable option to build an Alder Lake-based system around. The sub-$200 motherboard is at the top of the food chain within MSI’s B660 lineup, followed by the Mortar, Bazooka, and Pro SKUs. The Tomahawk gives off a premium vibe, with its all-black appearance, matching heatsinks and has plenty of other pleasing features. This includes three M.2 sockets and six SATA ports, plenty of USB connectivity on the rear IO (including 20 Gbps Type-C), a quality audio codec, and even the handy EZ M.2 clips so you don’t have to fumble with tiny screws.
Read more @ Tom’s Hardware
After the Asrock Z690 Extreme, it is the turn of the Asrock Z690 PG Velocita to find itself on our test benches. On the other hand, this time, it will not be with DDR4 memory, but with DDR5. Perfect, even if our two cards are not on the same price bracket, it will still allow us to make an opinion on the differences in performance between the two.
Read more @ CowcotLand (French)
Under full load (Cinebench 23 and Furmark in combination), the power consumption was a good 555 watts, after which the power limits reached a good 480 watts. The heat sinks around the CPU socket didn’t get unnaturally hot either, to be exact 40°C to the left of and 45°C above the CPU. The board didn’t get particularly warm after 35 minutes in the Aida64 system stability test either, we measured around 40°C and 44°C.
Read more @ OCInside (German)
Today’s review unit of the ASUS ProArt Z690-Creator WiFi arrived from ASUS’ offices in Newark, California. Traveling with FedEx and their 2Day International service, this box arrived in excellent condition with no real areas of concern. Inside, we have quite a bit of packing paper to ensure the contents are protected while inside. In addition to the motherboard, ASUS sent us their ZenWiFi AX Hybrid mesh router, which my colleague Jonathan Kwan will be taking a look at later on.
Read more @ APH Networks
We will be covering the Gigabyte Z690 AORUS ELITE AX DDR4 motherboard in this review. If you are familiar with Gigabyte’s naming scheme, then you might know that they offer several different branding styles. UltraDurable, AORUS, Gigabyte and AERO to name them. Some are geared towards a different user type. Like the AORUS, the one we have in front of us today. It will have more RGB and be more of a style a gamer would want. The Z690 is the chipset that offers the most when it comes to features.
Read more @ FunkyKit
As it stands, ASUS has a pretty big stack of Z690 motherboards catering to multiple markets. This includes its Prime series for its entry-level users looking to build an affordable yet still adept system. In contrast, the ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) series primarily targets gamers and enthusiasts. The ASUS ROG motherboard series is split into two main areas, the ROG Strix series for gamers, and the high-end ROG Maximus series for enthusiasts looking for the best performance, the best feature sets, and, as we’ve seen throughout the years, some pretty modernized and RGB inspired aesthetics.
Read more @ AnandTech
Among these motherboards that make it possible to break records, both on the side of processors and on the side of RAM. A map with masochistic tendencies that will appreciate that you torture it. You can raise the temperature, if not freeze it from cold. And precisely, supporting nitrogen is his specialty. Today we introduce you to the new snow queen: the ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z690 APEX.
Read more @ CowcotLand (French)
“AlderLake” ADL was meant to be designed for efficiency – this was the very point of the hybrid “big.LITTLE” architecture – that despite the huge changes required for software support – at least in the Windows x86 world – it would be worth it. While the performance was good (despite the loss of AVX512 vs. RKL/TGL/ICL) the (turbo) power required reached new levels which brought power efficiency down.
“RaptorLake” RPL brings slightly updated big Cores and 2x more Little Atom cores in order to improve power efficiency – that also improves raw performance due to higher/longer turbo headroom due to lower power and lower thermals. For laptop/tablet platforms this will help tremendously – but for desktops and (low-end) workstations/servers – more compute power would have been preferred.
Windows 11 (22H2) is now more mature and a lot of software (like Sandra) had time to update and optimise – thus in effect RPL will perform better due to updated software ecosystem. Firmware, BIOS, etc. are also updated and likely helping overall performance.
Read more @ SiSoftware
Taking place this week is the IEEE’s annual VLSI Symposium, one of the industry’s major events for disclosing and discussing new chip manufacturing techniques. One of the most anticipated presentations scheduled this year is from Intel, who is at the show to outline the physical and performance characteristics of their upcoming Intel 4 process, which will be used for products set to be released in 2023. The development of the Intel 4 process represents a critical milestone for Intel, as it’s the first Intel process to incorporate EUV, and it’s the first process to move past their troubled 10nm node – making it Intel’s first chance to get back on track to re-attaining fab supremacy.
Read more @ AnandTech
More @ Tom’s Hardware