Commell has unveiled one of the industry’s first Pico-ITX motherboards featuring Intel’s Tiger Lake-UP3 processor with built-in Iris Xe graphics core. Not designed to compete with the best motherboards for PCs, The tiny LP-179 board is aimed primarily at embedded systems, yet it can enable everyone to build an ultra-compact form-factor (UCFF) desktop featuring a decent quad-core CPU with an advanced GPU.
Commell’s LP-179 motherboard will initially be available with Intel’s Core i7-1185G7E (4C/8T, 1.80/4.40GHz, 12MB cache, 96 EU, 15W) or Celeron 6305E (2C/2T, 1.80GHz, 4MB cache, 48 EU, 15W) processor addressing premium and entry-level markets. The SoC may be accompanied by up to 32GB of DDR4-3200 memory using one SO-DIMM module, an M.2-2280 SSD featuring a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface, and one SATA drive.
The tiny LP-179 — which measures 100×72 mm — has a rather decent connectivity department that includes an M.2-2230 slot for a Bluetooth + Wi-Fi adapter, two GbE ports (2.5 GbE Intel I225-LM, GbE I219-LM), two display outputs (one DisplayPort, one HDMI) and two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports. Being aimed at embedded systems, Commell’s internal headers for USB 2.0, RS232, audio (controlled by the Realtek ALC262 chip), SMBus, a battery, and an LVDS or VGA.
(Image credit: Commell)
Motherboards from companies like Commell are rarely available in retail, but it is still possible to get them from stores like Alibaba, usually together with Pico-ITX cases. In addition, LP-179 boards will likely find themselves inside various UCFF PCs from second and third tier makers.
Pricing of Commell’s LP179 motherboards has not been announced.
Parties that need a midrange 11th Generation Core SoC, can opt for Core i5-1145GRE/1145G7E and Core i3-1115GRE/1115G4E, yet these boards will be built-to-order.
It’s well documented that Intel’s 11th Generation Rocket Lake processors are not compatible with H410 and B460 motherboards. A new report from a Chinese forum (via momomo_us) claims that the upcoming 14nm chips might not even work on all Z490 motherboards.
The author has shared some compelling evidence why this is the case. In summary, the reasons boil down to the lack of support on a chipset and BIOS level, but more importantly, the design of the motherboard’s power delivery subsystem.
Chipset Segmentation
Intel Chipset (Image credit: Chiphell)
The first reason for the incompatibility resides in the chipset. Intel’s desktop 400-series family consists of six chipsets: Z490, W480, Q470, H470, B460 and H410. In a pre-Comet Lake leak, we learned that Intel had segmented the 400-series chipsets into two classifications. The Z490, W480, Q470 and H470 formed the Comet Lake PCH-H group, while the B460 and H410 chipsets belonged to the Comet Lake PCH-V group. While we never really found out the meaning for the suffix, we had presumed that the “H” represented High-Performance and the “V” meant Value. Now that we look back at the categories, it starts to make sense why the B460 and H410 chipsets don’t support Rocket Lake.
As the author explained, each processor possesses a CPU_ID that the chipset utilizes to identify the chip. Logically, the processor will not work if the chipset doesn’t recognize the CPU_ID. Apparently, the workaround is simple and consists of disabling the CPU_ID in the Intel Management Engine (ME) section of the BIOS. Motherboard vendors, such as Gigabyte, found a more elegant solution that consists of silently slipping a different chipset into its H410 motherboards.
Zero BIOS Support
ASRock Z590 Taichi BIOS (Image credit: Chiphell)
The BIOS also plays an important role in processor support. If the processor’s microcode isn’t in the database, the chip will obviously not work on the motherboard. Here’s where a bit of speculation comes in.
It’s possible that Intel had already decided that Comet Lake PCH-V chipsets will not support Rocket Lake so the processors weren’t taken into consideration during the development of the BIOS. Again, the answer is as easy as extracting the microcode from the Z590 BIOS and implanting it into the target motherboard. This isn’t a new practice either as motherboard vendors have been doing it for ages. For example, Soyo created an H310 motherboard that supported the previous generation of Intel processors behind the chipmaker’s back.
Inadequate Power Supply
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B460 vs Z590 (Image credit: Chiphell)
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ASRock Z590 Pro4 (Image credit: Chiphell)
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ASRock Z590 Pro4 (Image credit: Chiphell)
The last and probably the most important reason why Rocket Lake processors are locked out from 400-series motherboards has to do with the power delivery subsystem. The power delivery subsystem’s job is to convert the 12V and 5V voltages down to lower voltages that the processor can use. In this case, we have voltages, such as the Vcore (core), Vgt (core display), VCCSA (system agent), VCCIO (input and output), VCCM (memory), VCCST (maintenance voltage), VCCST_PLL (clock maintenance voltage), just to mention a few.
According to the author’s investigation, Comet Lake-S and Rocket Lake-S processors didn’t experience any changes in the Vcore and Vgt. The VCCSA and VCCIO voltages, however, has reportedly undergone a shift.
In an example, the forum user dissected the ASRock Z590 Pro4 motherboard to find a Reneas RAA229001 controller that controls the VCCSA voltage. The previous VCCSA controller, which operated in fixed mode, featured a single-phase PWM with a single-phase MOS and sometimes shared with the VCCIO.
With Rocket Lake-S, Intel seemingly changed the power delivery mode of the VCCSA to SVID. The author explained that the power supply voltage is the same as Vcore, therefore, the processor directly controls it. As a result, it’s not possible to share the power delivery or use another PWM. By force, you need a PWM IC that complies with Intel’s IMVP8 specifications. Motherboards the lack a SVID PWM controller cannot accommodate Rocket Lake-S chips.
On the topic of VCCIO, the review provided two circuit diagrams that contrast the B460 and Z590 motherboards. Based on his observations, the VCCIO for Rocket Lake-S is split into three parts: VCCIO_0, VCCIO_1_2. As you can see from the B460 motherboard, there is no connection lines to the VCCIO_1_2. It seems that Intel sets aside the RSVD pins in the LGA1200 socket to connect to the VCCIO_1_2. For reasons, which probably have to do with cost reduction, the RSVD pins for B460 and H410 motherboards are epty so there’s no power going to VCCIO_1_2, which feeds the PCIe and other interfaces.
The reviewer provided a list of Z490 motherboard that he thinks won’t support Rocket Lake chips. MSI’s Z490 S01 and Z490M S01 motherboards as well as ASRock’s Z490 Phantom Gaming 4, Z490 Pro4, Z490M Pro4, Z490M-ITX/ac and B460M Steel Legend are part of his list.
In recent years, several representatives from PC case companies have told us that mini-ITX cases are a niche, without enough interest to be worth heavily investing in. Yet oddly, over that same period, more and more companies seem to be churning out these compact small form-factor (SFF) chassis.
The latest entry into the mini-ITX case space is the Meshlcious, from Ssupd (Sunny side up design), a new spinoff brand from Lian Li. As you might guess by the name, the Meshlicious is all about mesh–or nearly, as the case ships with one tempered-glass side panel, which can be attached to either the GPU or CPU side of the case. It will also be available in either black or white. Our review unit arrived dressed in black.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
At 14.17 x 9.65 x 6.55 inches, the Meshlicious is similar in size to the Jonsbo A4 case we used for the
RGBaby build
last year (the A4 is 13.39 x 10.75 x 6.65 inches), and much smaller than the last ITX case I built in,
Asus’ ROG Z11
(20.9 x 7.6 x 15.2 inches) pictured above. At $119 (MSRP) the Meshlicious is also much cheaper than either of those cases, while offering up lots of versatility (within the confines of its 14.67 liter volume), as well as a riser cable for showing off your graphics card. To help keep your components cool, it has mesh covering four of its six sides (or five if you spend $30 on a second mesh side panel to replace the glass side that ships in the box). As I found during testing, though, you’ll probably want to add at least one front intake fan.
Despite its small size, the Meshlicious supports graphics cards up to 12.6 inches and four-slots thick, thanks to a motherboard tray that can be slid forward or back to make room for thick cards. Just note that, as with all cases this small, there are a whole lot of limitations due to space constraints. Installing a long graphics card limits space for SATA storage, for instance. And while you can use a full-size ATX power supply, you may want to opt for a modular SFX PSU just so that there’s less excess cabling to hide. There’s really nowhere to hide excess bulky power cables.
Specifications
Type
Mid-ITX Tower
Motherboard Support
Mini-ITX
Dimensions (HxWxD, vertical orientation)
14.17 x 9.65 x 6.55 inches (360 x 245 x 166.4mm)
Max GPU Length
12.6 inches (320 mm)
CPU Cooler Height
2.87 inches (73mm) with 3-slot GPU, 2.09 inches (53 mm) with 4-slot GPU
External Bays
✗
Internal Bays
Up to 2x 3.5-inch and 3x 2.5-inch with SFF GPU, or 3x 2.5-inch with full-length GPU
Expansion Slots
1x
Front I/O
1x USB 3 Type-A, 1x USB-C
Other
Tempered Glass Side Panel
Front Fans
None (2x 120/140mm supported)
Rear Fans
None
Top Fans
None
Bottom Fans
None
Weight
8.16 pounds (3.7 kg)
Warranty
?
Panels Galore
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Working in the Meshlicious is fairly easy for an SFF chassis, thanks to its easily removable panels. Every side save for the bottom has one, and by default, all are mesh except for one side which is tempered glass with a moderate tint. As noted earlier, you can pop that glass side on either the motherboard side or the graphics card side, depending on which you want to show off.
Metal push pins hold all the sides on, and they stay on snugly and pop off with ease. This is a mechanism I wish more case makers would use, though I’m sure it works much better with small panels than it would with large full-ATX towers. The case and side panels are all steel (save for the glass panel) and reasonably thick and rigid. Nothing feels cheap or flimsy, which is nice given the case’s relatively low price for an ITX chassis.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
With the side panels off, the Meshlicious becomes a minimal shell, housing a PCIe 3.0/4.0 riser cable for vertically mounting your graphics card, and a few cables for the top-panel connections. (The $119 version we tested has a PCIe 3.0 cable, but a $159 version with a PCIe 4.0 cable will also be available.)
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Speaking of the top ports, things are fairly minimal (like the rest of the case’s design), with one USB 3 Type-A port and one Type-C. There’s no real need for an audio jack in a case this small, given that the audio ports around back are inches away from the front, and will generally deliver better audio than external ports would anyway.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The included accessories are also minimal, and include a bracket for mounting SATA drives, which you’ll need to leave in the box if using a long graphics card — as I did for this build. Also included is an angled HDMI cable, which you’ll need if using a full-size graphics card, as the Graphics card ports are at the bottom in this layout. The cable I got was quite short at just over three feet (not quite enough to make it to my arm-mounted test monitor), but a company rep told me Ssupd would make a change to include a longer cable (and larger zip ties) on future shipments, although initial versions will likely include what you see above. The zip ties included aren’t nearly big enough to wrangle the excess mess of power cables I encountered with my ATX power supply.
The silver aluminum bar above is a shorter mount for the motherboard tray. You’ll use this if installing a four-slot graphics card, to shift the tray more toward the motherboard side. Keep in mind that doing this also minimizes the cooler clearance, which is also quite limited to begin with. You get 2.87 inches of CPU cooler clearance as standard, which shrinks to 2.09 inches if you make room for a thicker card. That means if you’re using a 4-slot card, there will even be some AIO coolers you’ll need to avoid. As I used a slim Noctua air cooler (more on this below), the limited space here wasn’t an issue.
The 2.5-slot Zotac RTX 2080 Amp Extreme I used fit without adjusting the motherboard tray, but left little room between the side panel and the case fans. So I’d recommend either opting for the mesh panel on the GPU side or moving the motherboard back. 240 or 280 mm radiators (or just 120/140mm fans) are supported in the front for cooling your CPU. But note if adding a fan and radiator, things will likely get very tight, since this is also where your excess power cable slack also needs to go. Even if you just install intake fans here, you may have issues with cables pushing up against your fan blades. So you’ll need to take extra care to keep this from happening.
The case supports either SFX or larger ATX power supplies, although the bracket of an SFX power supply comes pre-installed. And I’d recommend using one of these smaller supplies if at all possible, since it will give you extra space and you’ll likely have less cable slack. I used a modular ATX Seasonic Focus PSU and wound up with a big ugly bundle of cables zip-tied together and no place to hide them.
The Meshlcious supports basically two distinct component layouts, each with a mini-ITX motherboard. You can either use a small-form-factor graphics card mounted horizontally, up to 8.3 inches (or less with a front radiator), or a longer full-sized GPU up to 12.6 inches mounted vertically (which is what I installed). With the former, you can also install a drive rail system for 3.5 or 2.5-inch drives. With averically mounted longer GPU you’re limited to mounting two 2.5-inch drives on the bottom of the case. Rather than go over the full details of possible layouts, here are a couple of diagrams, direct from Ssupd.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The build scenario I went with was a combination of these two, using an air cooler like in the image above, left with a long GPU (below, right).
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Building in the Ssupd Meshlicious
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
With the four sides popped off in a matter of seconds, building in the Ssupd Meshlicious was fairly straightforward, at least at first.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
For the sake of simplicity, I carried over the core components from the Asus ROG Z11 case story, including an ROG Strix B550-I Gaming motherboard, an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X CPU, a low-profile Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 chromax.Black CPU cooler, and the aforementioned Zotac RTX 2080 graphics card. We would have loved to upgrade to a Rzyen 5 CPU and a 30-series graphics card. But in case you haven’t noticed, both have been extremely scarce since launch, and for our purposes here, the existing parts work just fine.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
I dropped the motherboard in first, complete with the cooler and RAM. Next I tried to jam the ATX power supply in before realizing the SFX bracket comes pre-installed. I removed that via four screws, then slotted in the Seasonic ATX PSU in the area to the right in the image above. That went without issue, until I realized the GPU riser cable wasn’t fully extended on the other side, and was stuck behind my power supply. So I had to remove the PSU momentarily and secure the PCIe slot near the bottom of the case for the vertical RTX 2080. For smaller cards mounted horizontally, the cable gets mounted near the top.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
That done, I was ready to install the graphics card and the sole SATA SSD for this build, an attractive Team Group T-Force Delta Max RGB model that added some extra RGB to this case that ships without lighting or fans. In this configuration, another 2.5 inch drive can be mounted on the bottom, in a tight spot below the power supply. But for that you’ll need remove the PSU, or install it and connect the cables before installing the power supply. Again, for those who want to install more than two 2.5-inch drives here, you’ll need to use the drive bracket, which necessitates you also use a much shorter graphics card, mounted horizontally. But given many ITX motherboards include two M.2 slots (one often hidden on the back like with our Asus board), plus the ability to install two 2.5 inch drives on the floor of the Meshlicous, that should suffice for most setups. If you’re looking to install lots of storage drives, you probably aren’t also looking for a super compact case.
With everything installed in the Meshlicious,it was instantly clear that I had a bunch of excess cabling, mostly from the power supply, but some from the SATA drive (which also requires a USB cable for its light show). And given that the case is so small, there was no place to effectively hide the mess. Had I installed a radiator and fans in the front and used an SFX PSU with shorter cables, perhaps I could have hidden the cables along the back edge of the radiator. But of course the radiator, pump and fans would have introduced more cabling and taken up a fair amount of space itself.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
For the sake of hitting the launch day on this case, I bunched the cables together hastily with a few zip ties and velcro straps and called it a day. I clearly could have been a bit neater, but with the cables near the CPU/motherboard side of the case, they aren’t all that visible with either the tinted tempered-glass side over the GPU area, and even less so if you opt for using the mesh panel here.
Gaming and Conclusion
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Given that most of the sides on the Meshlicious are mesh, you could get away without adding intake fans for plenty of builds, as I did here. But adding at least one in the front would be a good idea. Either that, or if you’re using a large and powerful GPU, you might want to consider buying a second mesh side panel to replace the glass one — even if just during long gaming sessions. The panel can be popped off and replaced in just a few seconds.
After about a half hour of playing Borderlands 3 at high settings with the glass panel on, the panel got surprisingly hot, which isn’t exactly surprising given how close the fans are to the un-vented side panel. And while you could swap the side panels and put mesh in front of the graphics card, that would mean your glass panel is going to sit right up against the intake of your power supply. I don’t have to tell you that restricted airflow like that — at the very least — isn’t great for the longevity of your PSU.
Moving the motherboard tray back nearly an inch, as noted earlier, could alleviate this issue somewhat, but not if you’re using a graphics card that’s 3 slots or more thick. It would have been nice if Ssupd had included at least one fan to mount in the front, but I can also see why the company didn’t. Most people will likely either want to install a front radiator (which will come with a pair of fans on its own) or use specific fans, be they RGB or, say, quiet and efficient Noctua spinners.
And again, for many more modest builds with graphics card TDPs south of 200 watts, you could likely get by without any added fans. After all, the Meshlicious gets its name from the fact that three of its sides are all mesh by default. Opt for a fourth mesh side panel for an extra $30 and your CPU and GPU coolers shouldn’t have an issue dissipating heat themselves.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Just don’t expect the Meshlicious to be any quieter than your components of choice, especially if you opt to put the mesh panel in front of your graphics card. Just as small cases like this involve tradeoffs in terms of component support, a mesh-covered case is going to trade some noise for better thermal dissipation. You should always choose your components wisely. But if building in this Ssupd case is your aim, you’ll want to spend extra time making sure your parts will … mesh well with the Meshlicious.
darkFlash has released a new mini-ITX case with RGB lighting for compact DIY PC builds. Despite its small size, this case supports 240mm radiators and 320mm long graphics cards without sacrificing airflow thanks to the meshed panels of the case.
Available in pink, black, white, and neomint, the darkFlash DLH21 is made of 0.8mm SECC metal. The case consists of 5x meshed panels with pre-installed magnetic dust filters to prevent dust from getting into the system. Moreover, this case was designed to offer a trouble-free disassembly of the case through easily detachable side panels and a magnetically connected top panel.
The RGB LED strip on the bottom of the case has 13x different lighting effects to cycle between using the LED button on the top I/O panel, but users can also synchronise it with other components through motherboard RGB software.
The DLH21 case features 2x expansion slots and supports mini-ITX motherboards, up to 2x 2.5-inch drives or a single 3.5-inch drive, and SFX/SFX-L power supplies (125mm long). CPU tower coolers can’t be more than 134mm tall and GPUs can’t exceed 320mm in length and 147mm in width. Radiator and fan support is a bit limited, allowing users to mount a 120m/240mm radiator on the side, a 92mm fan on the back, and 2x 120mm fans on the side. The top I/O panel has 2x USB-A ports, a USB-C port, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
The darkFlash DLH21 ITX chassis is available now starting at $189.99.
KitGuru says: Have you ever built a mini-ITX system? What’s your opinion on the darkFlash DLH21 case?
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Phanteks’ P360A is an excellent, affordable residence for a moderate build, and it comes with a whole lot of good-looking RGB too!
For
So much RGB
Includes well-featured standalone D-RGB controller
Chart-leading thermal performance
Excellent case for simple ATX systems
Just $65
Against
Materials are kinda cheap
No real intake filtration
Features and Specifications
Whenever a new case comes out with a price point that’s below $100, I get a little excited. When its $25 below that, it gets me pretty excited. So just imagine my joy when Phanteks sent me the P360A, which carries an MSRP of just $70 but is available for a few dollars less if you shop around.
Add to that an absolutely brilliant, vibrant, and lavish RGB implementation with two fans, an LED strip and a genuinely effective controller. My day has been made, and if you’re in the market for a case for a budget-oriented system but still want it to look good, this case is for you.
Of course, clear shortcuts have been taken to bring this kind of feature set to the table at this price. The sheet metal is quite thin, the paint job on the interior doesn’t ooze quality like more expensive cases, and the case doesn’t even include basic essentials such as a power LED, HDD LED, or a reset switch. There’s no USB Type-C to be found here, either.
However, none of those things really matter at this price – when finished, a system in the P360A genuinely looks good, cools well, and it’s easy to assemble. In case you haven’t guessed yet, the Phanteks P360A is easily deserving of a spot on our Best PC Cases list as Best Budget ATX case. Let’s find out why, shall we?
Specifications
Type
Mid-Tower ATX
Motherboard Support
Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, ATX
Dimensions (HxWxD)
18.5 x 7.8 x 17.7 inches (465 x 200 x 455 mm)
Max GPU Length
15.7 inches (400 mm)
CPU Cooler Height
6.3 inches (160 mm)
Max PSU Length
9.8 inches (250 mm)
External Bays
✗
Internal Bays
2x 3.5-inch
2x 2.5-inch
Expansion Slots
7x
Front I/O
2x USB 3.0, 3.5 mm Audio/Mic Combo
Other
Tempered Glass Panel, D-RGB Controller
Front Fans
2x 130 mm (Up to 2x 140mm, 2x 120mm)
Rear Fans
None (Up to 1x 120mm)
Top Fans
None (Up to 2x 140mm)
Bottom Fans
✗
Side Fans
✗
RGB
Yes, Two Fans, LED Strip, D-RGB Controller Included
Damping
No
Warranty
1 Year
Features
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Touring around the exterior of the Phanteks P360A, it is immediately clear that this is a budget case. The sheet metal and glass panel are thin and the latter doesn’t quite line up with at the back of the case. And the PSU shroud is external, allowing for a smaller glass panel. Regardless, these shortcuts don’t take much away from the final look of the product, as the paint job on the outside is nice. The mesh intake is also well-manufactured, and as you’ll see later, there is a very nice RGB strip along the bottom of the side panel.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Phanteks doesn’t bother with a power LED, HDD LED or reset switches – all of that costs money and is rarely important anyway, so why bother when the funds can go to RGB instead? Front IO is covered by two USB 3.0 ports and separate headphone and mic jacks. The power button is at the center, and the two buttons you see below the USB ports are the RGB mode and RGB color selectors.
Internal Layout
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Inside the P360A there is space for up to an ATX motherboard and long graphics cards up to 400mm (15.75 inches), so you’ll be able to fit very powerful gaming systems in here. Storage options aren’t lavish, but then again that isn’t the focus of this chassis. There’s room for two 3.5-inch drives that slide in from the front, and two 2.5-inch drives behind the motherboard tray. You can buy an optional third tray to add a third 2.5-inch drive.
You’ll notice that on the interior, the paint job isn’t quite as nice as the outside, but it’s nothing to be concerned about.
The connectivity for the RGB is also found inside. The fans and LED strip all connect through Phanteks’ own 3-pin headers, but a ‘standard’ header is present to connect additional RGB devices not from Phanteks, and you can opt to connect the RGB to your motherboard and override the built-in controller. But in all fairness, what’s here is quite a good controller – there’s no need to shop for a board that has an A-RGB header, which can help you save some money.
Cooling
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Another spot where Phanteks cut costs is in the filtration – or rather, lack thereof. Of course, the marketing lingo is all about how the front panel filters without the need of a filter, but we both know that’s to cut the cost of a real air filter. The front has a 1mm perforation, which should take care of the worst offenders, but stuff will still get through more than a dedicated filter. Of course, the lack of removable filtration will be good for cooling.
That being said, you have to evaluate these things on a per-use-case basis. If you’re like me, and you run your PC for 12+ hours a day, you obviously want to pass on the P360A because you’ll be cleaning out the interior far too often. But if you only play games on it for a couple hours a day or so, the amount of dust that accumulates in the system will be far lower, so won’t be as much of an issue. Fortunately, there is a filter at the top above the radiator exhaust to protect from falling dust and debris, which will protect the system from passive pollution. The power supply also has its own filter to spare cleanup jobs there.
However, cooling is another area where the P360A differs from the P300A. It comes with two RGB fans instead of one non-RGB spinner, and the top radiator mount supports up to 240mm radiators instead of only a 120mm unit – something many buyers may appreciate. Theoretically, the case should also be able to fit a 280mm cooler at the top, but you’ll undoubtedly run into the VRM coolers or tall memory with the vast majority of motherboards, so I’d recommend you stick with a 240mm AIO at the largest.
If you’re dead-set on a 280mm radiator though, you can mount it at the front, but I don’t see why you would want to get rid of the pretty fans that are included.
When NZXT’s H1 Mini-ITX chassis came out early last year, it was praised for its great simplistic looks, excellent cooling capabilities and altogether complete package. But, little did we know that the PCIe riser cable could cause a fire, which promptly led to NZXT recalling the chassis.
To fix the issue, NZXT replaced a metal screw with a nylon screw, which should have solved the problem.
Except, it didn’t. The clever investigative work of Steve from Gamers Nexus proved that the issue wasn’t the screw, but rather the PCB design of the riser cable, leaving a 12V trace very close to the screw location. Upon a few insertion cycles, the PCB would leave a lot of dust and degrade, exposing the 12V trace and causing a short, and thereby, potentially igniting the case.
And although the Nylon screw wouldn’t cause the short, Steve wasn’t satisfied with the solution as many individuals may not understand why the nylon screw was necessary, know it, or forget about it, leading to dangers later in the product’s life when users would replace it for a metal screw.
In response, NZXT’s CEO issued the following apology:
“To our community,
We’re sorry.
The nylon screws were not the complete solution for the H1 fire hazard; they didn’t address the root cause of the issue. We didn’t account for scenarios where someone could replace the nylon screws with metal ones unknowingly. Our execution did not live up to the quality that our community has come to expect from us.
We will be removing the H1 from the NZXT Store and NZXT BLD. We’re going to send out redesigned PCIe Gen3 Riser Assemblies for current H1s and we’re going to help with installation for those who need it.
Going forward, we’re instituting more robust and thorough design processes. From the initial designs, QA, to additional testing, we’re committed to quality in both our products and our response to your concerns.
We want to thank Steve from Gamers Nexus. He and his team brought the issue of someone replacing the nylon screws with metal screws to our attention and raised the urgency surrounding it.
Johnny Hou”
What to Do Now?
NZXT is redesigning the PCIe riser cable and will ship them out soon. If you’re already on the replacement list and have received the nylon screw, NZXT will automatically send you a new riser cable assembly as soon as it’s ready.
If you’re not on that list and you own an H1, get yourself onto it immediately via this form.
If you’re purchasing a new H1, be very wary of which riser cable it comes with. The H1 is temporarily discontinued, but if you somehow manage to secure an order, it should at least have the nylon screw, and you should ensure you still request a new riser cable.
German publication Igor’s Lab has nailed a world-exclusive look at Intel’s DG1 discrete graphics card. The chipmaker showcased the DG1 last year at CES 2020, running Warframe, but Intel’s entry-level Iris Xe development graphics cards are exclusively available to system integrators and OEMs. In fact, Intel has put up some barriers in place to make sure that the DG1 only works on a handful of selected systems. Therefore, you really can’t just rip out the DG1 from an OEM system and test the graphics card on another PC. After analyzing the images, the teardown helps explain why.
Wallossek managed to get his hands on a complete OEM system with the original DG1 SDV (Software Development Vehicle). In order to protect his sources, Igor only shared the basic specifications of the system, which includes a Core i7 non-K processor and a Z390 mini-ITX motherboard.
First up, let’s look at why the card won’t work on most motherboards.
Intel DG1
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(Image credit: Igor’s Lab)
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(Image credit: Igor’s Lab)
Intel has limited support for the card to a handful of OEM systems and motherboard chipsets, sparking speculation about why the company isn’t selling the cards on the broader retail market. It turns out there’s a plausible technical explanation.
Hardware-hacker Cybercat 2077 (@0xCats) recently tweeted out (below) that the DG1 cards lack the EEPROM chip that holds the firmware, largely because they were originally designed for laptops and thus don’t have the SPI lines required for connection. These EEPROM chips are present on the quad-GPU XG310 cards for data centers that use the same graphics engines, but as we can see in the naked PCB shot from Igor’s Lab above, those same chips aren’t present on the DG1 board.
According to Cybercat 2077, that means the card’s firmware has to be stored on the motherboard, hence the limited compatibility. Intel hasn’t confirmed this hypothesis, but it makes perfect sense.
While it’s technically possible to shoehorn SPI eeproms on via some tricks, Intel has chosen not to do so on the DG1 OEM/Consumer cards. Image here of a 4chip Xe XG310 for hyperscalers where you can see an eeprom (red dot on them denotes pin 1) located next to each GPU chip. pic.twitter.com/Dq8HG4GLsrJanuary 28, 2021
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Intel DG1 (Image credit: Igor’s Lab)
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Intel DG1 (Image credit: Igor’s Lab)
The DG1 SDV reportedly features a DirectX 12 chip produced with Intel’s 10nm SuperFin process node and checks in with 96 Execution Units (EUs), which amounts to 768 shaders. That’s 20% more shaders than the cut-down version that Asus and other partners will offer. The DG1 features 8GB of LPDDR4 memory with a 2,133 MHz clock speed. The memory is reportedly connected to a 128-bit memory interface and supports PCIe 4.0, although it’s limited to x8 speeds.
At idle, the graphics card runs at 600 MHz with a power consumption of 4W. The fans spin up to 850 RPM and keep the graphics card relatively cool at 30 degrees Celsius. With a full load, the clock speed jumps up to 1,550 MHz, and the power consumption scales to 20W. In terms of thermals, the graphics card’s operating temperature got to 50 degrees Celsius with the fan spinning at 1,800 RPM. Wallossek thinks that the DG1’s total power draw should be between 27W to 30W.
The DG1 is equipped with a light alloy cover with a single 80mm PWM cooling fan and an aluminum heatsink underneath. Design-wise, the DG1 leverages a two-phase power delivery subsystem that consists of a buck controller and one PowerStage for each phase. The Xe GPU is surrounded by four 2GB Micron LPDDR4 memory chips.
Given the low power consumption, the DG1 draws what it needs from the PCIe slot alone and doesn’t depend on any PCIe power connectors. Display outputs include one HDMI 2.1 port and three DisplayPort outputs.
However, Wallossek noted that while you can get an image from the HDMI port, it causes system instability. He thinks that the firmware and driver prevent you from establishing a direct connection with the DG1, which explains why Intel recommends using the motherboard display outputs instead. The DG1 in Wallossek’s hands is a test sample. Despite the many driver updates, the graphics card is still finicky, and its display outputs are unusable.
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Intel DG1 Benchmarks (Image credit: Igor’s Lab)
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Intel DG1 Benchmarks (Image credit: Igor’s Lab)
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Intel DG1 Benchmarks (Image credit: Igor’s Lab)
The DG1’s performance should be right in the alley of Nvidia’s GeForce GT 1030, but there are no benchmarks or tests to support this claim. Wallossek couldn’t provide any, either. Apparently, benchmarks simply crash the system, or they end up in an infinite loop. Wallossek could only get AIDA64’s GPGPU benchmark to budge, but that doesn’t really tell us anything meaningful about graphics performance.
Choosing the best motherboard is in many ways the most integral part of your PC build, although choosing the best graphics card and best CPU often get more attention. Every part of your PC plugs into the motherboard you choose. Its form factor dictates the size of your computer and how much you can plug into it, and the chipset / CPU socket define what kind of processor you can install.
Motherboards (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Motherboards—particularly high-end models—are often made up of a confusing collection of features, and can range in price from sub-$60 (£50) budget boards to as much as $1,000 or more. We’re here to help untangle the complexities and make sure you pick the right model for your needs, without blowing too much of your build budget for other parts.
Speaking build budgets, if you’re looking to save some money while shopping , you should check out our feature about the eight features you probably don’t need on a motherboard.
And if you’re after a brand-new board from Intel’s new Z590 or AMD’s X570 linuep, note that motherboard prices for both platforms have increased over previous generations, at least in part due to support for PCIe 4.0. Just note that while AMD’s B550 boards support PCIe 4.0 now with a Zen 2/3-based processor, the Intel Z490 boards that list PCIe 4.0 support (and all new Z590 boards) will only activate that support when paired with a next-generation Rocket Lake-S CPU. Those processors aren’t quite here yet, but should arrive in the next few months.
TLDR
Get the right socket for your CPU: You can find great CPUs from either Intel or AMD, but whatever CPU you buy, make sure that your board has the correct socket to support it. The latest mainstream AMD chips use AM4 sockets while current Intel 10th and upcoming 11th Gen Core CPUs work in LGA 1200 sockets.
Smaller boards = fewer slots and features. Motherboards come in three main sizes, from largest to smallest: ATX, Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX (Yes, Mini is smaller than Micro). You can use a smaller chassis with the micro or mini boards, but you’ll have to settle for fewer PCIe slots, RAM slots and other connectors.
You can spend under $150: You can often find a decent motherboard for less than $150. But if you want to overclock an Intel chip, you want PCIe 4.0 or you need a lot of ports, you will have to spend more, often more than $200. High-end desktop chips like AMD Threadripper require expensive $200-plus motherboards.
Pay for built-in Wi-Fi, high-end ports only if you need them. Don’t spend extra for wireless if you are using a wired connection. You can futureproof your PC by getting USB 3.1 Gen 2 and / or Thunderbolt 3 support, as well as PCIe 4.0.
The Basics: Chipsets, Board Size, Connectors & Ports
If you’re after a refresher on motherboard basics, including the differences between chipsets, motherboard sizes, connector and port features, and RAM slots, you can find them in our Motherboard Basics feature. There we dive deep into the complexities of board design and features, so you’ll know exactly what to look for (or ignore) when shopping for a motherboard.
Motherboards
How much can you spend on a motherboard?
Prices range from below $50 (£40) on the low-end to above $1000 (£772) for premium boards that support HEDT (High-End Desktop) chips like Core X and Threadripper. Here’s roughly what you get at each price range:
Up to $100/£80: You can get overclockable boards for AMD chips (even with the premium, last-generation X370 chipset) in this range. But with Intel, you’re stuck with stock speeds (though that may change with Intel’s upcoming B560 and H570 boards). Depending on sale prices, you can get a host of features, including onboard Wi-Fi, although Wi-Fi-equipped boards usually start above $80/£60.
Sub $150/£140: Boards with Intel’s Z490 and chipset, which you’ll need for overclocking, start at the low end of this range. You also start to see more AMD boards with higher-end chipsets (X570) and premium features such as RGB lights lights and Wi-Fi. Note that, when we wrote this, pricing for the full range of Intel’s latest Z590 motherboards was still very much up in the air.
Sub $200/£180: As you start to climb into the premium tier, you’ll see more RGB lights, beefier heatsinks and better power phases and VRMs (voltage regulation modules)–which are important for competitive overclocking. You’ll also find a better selection of ports at this level, including a greater number of USB 3.0/3.1 Gen 2 connectors. The bulk of Intel’s Z490 boards also start in this range, right around or above $150.
$200/£180+: For mainstream platforms, before Z490 and X570, this was the truly premium price range, where you’d see the best board components, giant (often very stylized) heatsinks, and I/O covers designed to deliver a slick, premium look. Extreme overclocking features, which mainstream builders don’t need, are also often a key feature set.
For more recent chipsets like Z490 and Z590, the truly premium boards start above about $250.
Also in this price tier, you’ll find HEDT motherboards for CPUs with very high core counts (Intel Core X and AMD Threadripper). Threadripper boards in particular start at around $300 (£250).
What CPU are you using with your motherboard?
The CPU you’re planning on pairing with your board will narrow down your options, since the CPU socket on a given motherboard will only work with the chip line it was designed for.
For instance, if you’re buying an Intel 10th or 11th Generation Core processor, you’ll need a board with an LGA 1200 socket. Older 9th Generation processors need boards with an LGA 1151 socket. AMD makes this process a bit less confusing because (for now at least) the company uses the same AM4 socket for all of its mainstream current-gen chips, from Athlons all the way up to 16-core Ryzen 9 parts, although you may run into complications installing newer CPUs on previous-generation motherboards. Intel, on the other hand, has a tendency in recent years to switch sockets (or at least socket compatibility) from one generation to the next, although that’s not the case this generation, with Socket 1200 sticking around for two generations.
For the true high-end, both Intel (LGA 2066) and AMD (TR4) have different sockets to accommodate the larger size and power draw of their Core X and Threadripper processors. For more on processor considerations, see our CPU Buying Guide.
Sockets
Enthusiast/Mainstream
HEDT
Intel
LGA 1200
LGA 2066
AMD
AM4
TR4
What size motherboard do you want?
We’ve covered this in detail in our Motherboard Diagram feature. But most modern motherboards come in three sizes.
ATX is the de facto standard and offers the most space for plugs and slots.
Micro-ATX is 2.4-inches shorter, which means less room for expansion slots.
Mini-ITX can make for a tiny PC, but you’ll usually only have room for one add-in card (like a graphics card), and fewer connectors for storage and RAM.
What ports do you need?
It’s always important to check the I/O area on a motherboard to make sure it has the external connection options you’re after, but also check for USB headers on the motherboard. These will let you add more ports via front-panel connection on your PC case, or via inexpensive expansion slot brackets at the back.
Here’s a list of common ports, and our take on each:
USB 3 / USB 3.1 Gen1: You can never have too many of these, because they work with most peripherals.
USB 2: Slower than USB 3 / 3.1, but more than adequate for keyboards, mice and many other devices.
USB 3.1/3.2 Gen2: Not many peripherals take advantage of this standard yet, but it delivers 10 Gbps of bandwidth, which is double what you get with USB 3.1 Gen 1 / USB 3.0. USB 3.2 Gen2 2×2 doubles that bandwidth again, with two 10 Gbps lanes. You’ll often only find one of these ports on mid- and high-end boards.
USB Type-C: These ports could be either USB 3.1 Gen1 or USB 3.1 Gen2 compatible and are designed for newer devices such as phones. A few are also just USB 2.0, and often get labeled as Audio USB-C ports, aimed at connecting USB-C headsets.
HDMI / DisplayPort Video out: You only need these if you plan to use integrated graphics. Discrete cards have their own ports.
Audio ports: Important if you plan to connect analog speakers or headphones.
PS/2 ports: Give you compatibility with really old keyboards and mice.
Thunderbolt: Very rare to find this built into motherboards, but some boards support it through dedicated add-on cards. Provides the fastest possible connections, up to 40 Gbps.
While you may not need many USB 3.1 Gen 2 or Type-C ports today, they are good ways to future-proof your PC.
How many RAM slots do you need?
Most mainstream boards these days have four RAM slots, although compact Mini-ITX models often have just two, and high-end HEDT boards (like the one pictured below) frequently offer eight. The amount of slots of course limits the amount of RAM you can install.
But for mainstream tasks and games, 16GB is sufficient and 32GB is ample. And even with just two slots, you can install as much as 64GB of RAM. Note, though, that you will often pay a premium for denser 64 and 32GB kit that uses two sticks, rather than a kit that’s spread across four sticks.
What expansion slots do you need?
You’re most likely to come across just two types these days: the short PCIe x1 shot (often used for things like USB and SATA expansion), and the longer PCIe x16 slot (used for graphics cards, RAID cards, and extremely fast PCIe storage like Intel’s Optane 905 SSD). If you’re just planning on installing a single graphics card, a couple of SATA/M.2 drives, and perhaps a video capture or sound card, you should be fine with most ATX or Micro-ATX boards, which offer at least one x16 slot and one or two x1 slots.
But note that recent X570 and B550 as well as upcoming Intel Rocket Lake-S boards (and, confusingly, some previous-generation Z490 boards) also support PCIe 4.0 rather than the 3.0 that’s been standard for the past several years. PCIe 4.0 technically doubles the available bandwidth of every PCIe lane. But outside of PCIe 4.0 SSDs, most devices haven’t taken major advantage of PCIe 4.0 yet. So think of it as some future-proofing on your board.
However, figuring out how many drives and cards you can install is tricky, because no matter how many physical slots you have, there’s a limited number of HSIO (high-speed input/output) lanes and PCIe lanes that all of your components must share. We could spend 3,000 words trying to explain how these lanes work, but the bottom line is that many mainstream motherboards compensate for bandwidth limitations by switching some connections off when you install hardware in specific slots.
For example, adding a PCIe M.2 drive may disable some SATA ports, or installing a card in a third PCIe slot may disable a second (or third) M.2 slot, etc. These issues vary greatly by motherboard model, so you’ll need to consult online manuals before buying–especially if you’re planning on loading up your board with lots of components.
That said, if you are planning on plugging lots of drives and cards into your PC, it’s worth considering one of the high-end HEDT platforms, as they have more PCIe lanes to work with. All of AMD’s Threadripper processors have 64 lanes (60 from the CPU, 4 from the chipset), while Intel’s competing Core X platform provides up to 44 lanes, depending on the CPU, and up to 24 more from the chipset. So if you’re planning on plugging, for instance, multiple graphics cards and a RAID array of PCIe/NVMe storage, or other bandwidth-hungry hardware into your system, these higher-end platforms are definitely the way to go.
Which chipset should you get?
Your CPU choice will dictate your compatible chipset options, and if you opt for the highest-end consumer Intel or AMD chips (Core X or Threadripper), you’ll only have one choice (X299 for Intel or X399 for AMD). But for mainstream users who just want to install a single graphics card and a few drives, you can often get the features you’re after by opting for a chipset below Intel’s Z590 or X570 for AMD.
Previously, if you chose, say, an H470, B460, or H410 board on the Intel side, you’d lose the option to overclock, though only a handful of mainstream Intel chips are unlocked for overclocking anyway (those with product names that end in the letter “K”). But that looks to be changing with upcoming Intel 500-series boards. Stay tuned to our motherboard reviews for more info there as we get to test a new round of mainstream Intel boards.
On the AMD side, the B550/X570 (as well as older B450, B350 and B300) chipsets still support overclocking. Although you will lose some fast USB and SATA ports and PCIe lanes over the X570 chipset, enough of those connectivity options remain to support most mainstream computing tasks. If you need more ports and drives, stepping up to an X570 board is worth the money, especially considering that many higher-priced B550 boars are just as (if not more) expensive than many X570 offerings.
Do you plan to overclock?
As we noted in the chipset section above, if you plan to overlock on the Intel side, for older boards, you’ll need to opt for a Z490 chipset and a CPU with a “K” in its model name (like the Core i7-8700K), or step up to the high-end X299 platform and a Skylake X chip. It looks like lesser Intel 500 series boards will also make overclocking possible, though you’ll still need an unlocked “K” processor. On the AMD side, things are a lot simpler, with nearly all current-generation Ryzen chips supporting overclocking, and all but the lowest-end chipsets (A320 and A300) supporting overclocking as well.
But that doesn’t mean that mainstream users should overclock their processors. As we said in our CPU Buying Guide, in order to make your CPU achieve higher clock speeds than it’s rated for out of the box, you’ll likely spend extra on an enhanced cooling system and a high-end motherboard. By the time you factor in all these extra costs, you may be better off budgeting another $50-$100 (£40-80) for a CPU that comes with higher clock speeds out of the box.
Now, if you already have a top-of-the-line chip and want to push it even further, or you just enjoy the challenge, by all means, spend the extra money and time to squeeze out that extra speed.
What about audio?
Unless you’re a serious audiophile, you happen to get faulty hardware, or you opt for the lowest-end motherboard possible while still expecting exquisite sound, you should get by with on-board audio these days just fine.
Motherboard audio quality is primarily defined by the audio codec (aka the audio processing chip) a given board uses. So, if you’re a stickler for sound quality, you can look up the codec a given board uses before buying and see if it’s a mid-range or high-end model. Alternatively, you can, of course, still opt for a dedicated sound card, or USB speakers that move the DAC (digital-to-analog converter) hardware outside of the PC altogether, like the Audioengine A2+.
Given the sheer number of features that board makers sometimes slap on motherboards–particularly high-end models–it’s impossible to discuss them all. But here are a few to keep an eye on:
On-board on/off switches: These can be handy in the initial build process, or if your system is being housed in an open case for benchmarking/component testing. But for the average user, on-board buttons (which sometimes also include buttons to clear the CMOS or do basic overclocking) aren’t necessary.
LED diagnostic readouts: The tiny speaker that plugs into motherboard headers to provide diagnostic beeps when something goes wrong is going the way of the dodo. In its place, many mid-to-high-end boards now include a two-or-three-digit display for the same purpose, giving you an alpha-numeric code when something goes wrong. This can be a real help when building a PC or upgrading and you either forget to plug something in, something isn’t seated properly, or one of your components turns out to be faulty.
Wi-Fi Card: If you don’t have Ethernet near your computer, you want this. And if you plan on keeping your PC around for years to come, look into a board with Wi-Fi 6.
Dual Ethernet ports: A single Gigabit Ethernet port has plenty of bandwidth for Internet traffic, so this is helpful mainly if you plan to use the computer as a server and the board can aggregate the two connections into one. For those with heavy-duty wired network needs, look for a board with 2.5Gb or 10Gb Ethernet.
For more on what features you don’t need, see our 8 Motherboard Features You Probably Don’t Need.
How important are aesthetics to you?
If the only time you’re going to see your system’s innards is when it’s powered down with the side panel off, there’s no reason to opt for RGB lights or flashy I/O covers and heatsinks. However, if your case has a window, you should get a board that you like looking at–with lights if you like them.
Just keep in mind that, particularly if you’re a novice builder, a dark motherboard can make building or updating your system more difficult, as on-board labels will be harder to see. Also, if you are building a system that you want to look as clean as possible (that is, with few visible wires snaking around the motherboard), look for a board with its fan and USB headers placed around the edges, and SATA and USB 3 header ports that point to the side, rather than sticking up vertically. This will make accomplishing a clean build much easier.
MORE: Best Motherboards
MORE: All Motherboard Content
MORE: How to Sell Your Used PC Components
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Since Nvidia’s Ampere architecture turns out to be rather power hungry, it takes graphics card vendors a lot of time and effort to build smaller GeForce RTX 30-series boards for Mini-ITX systems. MSI this week became the world’s first manufacturer to build a GeForce RTX 3060 Ti-based card for small form-factor systems.
MSI’s GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Aero graphics board is powered by Nvidia’s GA104-200 graphics processing unit with 4864 CUDA cores that is paired with 8GB of GDDR6 memory connected to the GPU using a 256-bit interface. The card has one eight-pin auxiliary PCIe power connector and uses a dual-slot single-fan cooling system with four heat pipes that directly touch the GPU for extra efficiency.
(Image credit: MSI)
Since the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Aero is small, has a relatively constrained 200W power budget, and limited cooling capabilities, MSI decided not to overclock the GA104 processor, so it cannot boost beyond 1665MHz. Meanwhile, the GPU’s FP32 compute throughput at such frequency is around 16 TFLOPS, which makes the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Aero the world’s highest-performing Mini-ITX graphics card.
(Image credit: MSI)
Just like full-size GeForce RTX 3060 Ti graphics cards, the RTX 3060 Ti Aero board has four display outputs: an HDMI 2.1 as well as three DisplayPort 1.4a connectors.
In addition to the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Aero, MSI also introduced its GA106-powered GeForce RTX 3060 Aero ITX 12G OC and GeForce RTX 3060 Aero ITX 12G with 3584 CUDA cores.
(Image credit: MSI)
MSI did not reveal MSRPs, partly because Mini-ITX cards based on Nvidia’s Ampere architecture are rare, but to a large degree because retail prices of graphics boards today has nothing to do with MSRPs.
The Asus TUF Gaming X570-Pro Wi-Fi is an inexpensive yet capable motherboard. With power delivery capable of handling an overclocked Ryzen 9 5950X, integrated 2.5 GbE and Wi-Fi 6 capabilities, plusand eight SATA ports, the $220 board is a good option to get into the X570 platform.
For
Capable 12-Phase 50A Power Delivery
Intel 2.5 GbE / Wi-Fi 6
Eight SATA ports
Reasonable price for X570
Against
Only seven rear USB ports
Appearance may not be for everyone
Features and Specifications
The Asus’ TUF Gaming X570-Pro WiFi we have for review is one of the cheaper X570 options available. At $219.99, the boardPro WiFi includes a capable VRM that handled our power-hungry AMD Ryzen 9 5950XAMD Ryzen 9 5950X at stock speeds and while overclocked. In our testing suite, the board performed OK, on average running slightly slower than the other boards, though there were few significant outliers on either side of average.
At the time of publishing, the matured Asus X570 lineup includes options from the TUF, Prime, Strix, WS (Workstation), and ROG lines, a total of 14 boards. Since we last checked, Asus added a Mini-ITX option, which was the only form-factor missing upon release. Today, the product stack consists of a wide variety of motherboards in varying sizes, feature sets, and price points. There is likely something for everyone in the company’s X570 lineup.
Digging down into the performance results, we saw slightly below average scores/times in long-running CPU heavy multi-threaded tests such as Cinebench, Handbrake, POV-Ray and Corona. The PCMark 10 suite was on the opposite side of things, generally running as fast or faster than most other boards we’ve tested. The TUF Gaming X570 Pro WiFi showed promising results in synthetic tests and actual games. Overall, performance isn’t a concern, though if you plan on getting a Ryzen 9 5950X and beating on all cores and threads, there are better performing (but higher-priced) options out of the box.
Outside of performance, the board sports dual PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 sockets, eight SATA ports, 2.5 GbE and integrated WiFi 6, premium Realtek audio, TUF components, and more. The board’s styling is pretty simple, with all- black PCB and parts, outside of some TUF highlighting. Some may enjoy the look, others not so much. You’ll find RGB LED lighting onboard, but only a small portion to the right of the chipset heatsink. Read on for more details about the X570-Pro WiFi, including more features and elements on performance testing.
Inside the retail packaging, you’ll find several accessories including SATA cables, a support DVD, and more. The included accessory stack isn’t big, but has most of what you need to get started. Below is a complete list of all the extras inside the box.
● I/O shield
● (2) SATA cables
● M.2 screw package
● Support DVD
● Asus dual-band WiFI Antennas
● TUF Gaming sticker
● TUF certification card(s)
● M.2 rubber package(s)
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(Image credit: Asus)
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(Image credit: Asus)
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(Image credit: Asus)
After removing the TUF Gaming X570-Pro WiFi fromout of the box, you’ll see a black/dark grey motherboard with a few yellow highlights noting the TUF branding. A stenciled pattern starts around the chipset heatsink and ending around the VRM area. All sockets and slots are also black and grey. Overall, the styling is simple and will fit in with most builds. However, it doesn’t jump out at you like a classic good- looking board, so some may not like its rugged appearance.
On the RGB side of things, Asus has a small strip to the chipset heatsink’s right that matches the grey stenciled pattern. The RGB colors are saturated, but the small strip isn’t terribly bright. If the integrated lighting isn’t enough, there are three headers for expansion. The Asus Aura application handles lighting control.
(Image credit: Asus)
Looking at the top half of the motherboard, one of the first things that jumps out to me is the large heatsinks that cover the VRM. The black heatsinks reach out to cover part of the rear IO area and other undesirable bits on the motherboard. An 8-pin EPS connector (required) and a 4-pin EPS connector (optional) deliver power to the CPU. The area around the socket is relatively busy with many capacitors close to the mounts, but this is nothing to worry about. Just to the right of the socket are four DRAM slots that support up to 128GB of DDR4 RAM with speeds listed up to a smoking- fast 5100+ MHz +(OC).
Above the DRAM slots are the first two (of six) fan/pump headers. All six of these headers support a maximum of 1A/12W. All headers except for the AIO_PUMP are Q-Fan controlled and adjustable. The CPU_FAN and CPU_OPT headers in this area automatically detect if the connected fan is DC or PWM controlled. The rest of the headers will need to be manually selected. No matter what price point, I would like to see all fan headers automatically adjust to the right control method. Additionally, there are two more fan headers on the top half of the board. These chassis fan connectors are located just below the left VRM heatsink above the top PCIe slot.
Immediately to the right of the fan headers up top is the first RGB header. In this case, it’s a 4pin RGB with the 3-pin ARGB header located to the right of the socket area. Located just above the 3-pin RGB header is the Asus Q-LED area. Q-LED consists of four LEDs on board that light up during the POST process. If the board hangs on the DRAM, CPU, VGA, or boot devices, the corresponding LED remains lit, telling you at a high -level why the board won’t POST. Without a two2-character debug LED, the Q-LED is a valuable tool for troubleshooting POST issues.
Just below the Q-LEDs and 3-pin RGB header is the 24-pin ATX connector for sending power to the motherboard and the front panel USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C front panel header.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Asus webpage for the TUF Gaming X570 Pro lists a 12+2 configuration for the Vcore and SOC, which at a high level, bodes well for handling our Ryzen 9 5950X. Managing power sent to the MOSFETs is the Asus Digi+ chip (ASP1106GGQW at X+Y = 6). The six-channel controller works in a 4+1 ‘teamed’ setup. This VRM configuration from Asus does away with phase doublers, sending the power to three 50A Vishay SIC639 Dr. MOS MOSFETs each. The 600A available for Vcore is plenty for our CPU at stock and ambient overclocking.
(Image credit: Asus)
Sliding down to the bottom half of the board, we’ll start with the audio section on the left side. At first look, you should see a Faraday cage with the TUF symbol on it, covering the Realtek ALC S1200A codec. Just below the codec are five premium black and yellow Nichicon audio caps. We won’t find the flagship codec or op-amps on lower- priced X570 boards, but the high-end audio codec should be sufficient for most users.
In the middle of the board you’ll find two full-length PCIe slots and two x1 size slots. The primary GPU slot (top slot) is reinforced with the Asus Safeslot said to provide additional retention and shearing resistance while the bottom is not. The top slot is fed from the CPU and offers PCIe 4.0 x16 bandwidth, with the second full-length slot fed from the chipset with four PCIe 4.0 lanes. The two short x1 size slots get their lanes from the chipset, each running at PCIe 4.0 x1 speeds.
Just above the primary video card slot is the first M.2 socket. The second socket is located towards the bottom of the board and has a heatsink. Both M.2 sockets support PCIe 4.0 x4- and SATA- based modules , offering more flexibility than some boards that only run PCIe based modules only in the second/third slot. Worth noting: is only the bottom slot includes a simple heatsink. If you’re running a PCIe 4.0 NVMe- based drive, you’ll likely want to use that socket unless your module comes with a heatsink.
Finally, to the right of the PCIe/M.2 area is the chipset heatsink and fan. The chipset fan was virtually inaudible at default settings, so there is nothing to worry about there. On the right edge, we spy four of the eight SATA ports. The SATA ports support RAID0, 1 and 10 modes.
Across the board’s bottom are several headers and even a few SATA ports. You won’t find any buttons here. Below is the full list, from left to right:
● Front panel audio
● COM port
● COM debug
● CLR CMOS
● 4-pin chassis fan header
● (2) USB 2.0 ports
● USB 3.2 Gen1 port
● 4-pin chassis fan header
● (4) SATA ports
● RGB header
● Front panel header
(Image credit: Asus)
Swinging around back to the rear IO, the TUF Gaming X570 Plus WiFi doesn’t include an integrated IO plate, so you’ll have to install it. There are seven USB ports out back, including one USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C, four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, and two USB 3.2 Gen1 ports. I’d like to see a couple more USB ports out back here, as some users could struggle with seven. Outside of that is a clear CMOS button, a legacy PS/2 port, and DisplayPort/HDMI outputs for the integrated video. Last are the WiFi antenna connections and a 5-plug audio stack with SPDIF.
Biostar has introduced two motherboards based on Intel’s Z590 platform that belong to its all-new Valkyrie range. The new premium family includes two new boards, the ATX Z590 Valkyrie and a Mini-ITX Z590i Valkyrie, models which are expected to address the needs of demanding gamers and enthusiasts offering them advanced features that they come to expect from high-end mainboards.
For many years Biostar focused on entry-level, midrange, and specialized motherboards leaving lucrative higher-end platforms for gamers and enthusiasts to larger players. Several years ago, the company unveiled its Racing-series platforms designed for gamers, and while they were clearly not entry-level or niche products, they still did not compete directly with enthusiast-grade hardware. With its Valkyrie, Biostar wants to finally offer motherboards designed for enthusiasts who demand advanced overclocking capabilities along with a rich set of features.
(Image credit: Biostar)
The initial Biostar Valkyrie family includes two models that support Intel’s processors in the LGA1200 packaging (Comet Lake-S, Rocket Lake-S): the Z590 Valkyrie and the Z590I Valkyrie. To maximize overclocking potential, both motherboards use 10-layer printed circuit boards (PCBs), Dr. MOS-based digital voltage regulating modules (VRMs) featuring solid-state inductors and capacitors as well as active cooling, and advanced memory circuitry. Due to different form-factors, the Mini-ITX Z590I Valkyrie uses a 10-phase VRM, whereas the ATX Z590 Valkyrie comes with a 22-phase VRM.
(Image credit: Biostar)
Additional features include a sophisticated chipset cooling, iron-enforced PCIe x16 slots, more robust power connectors, and protected I/O ports.
(Image credit: Biostar)
The smaller Biostar Z590I Valkyrie features two DDR4 memory slots that support up to 64GB of DDR4-5000 memory, one PCIe 4.0 x16 slot for graphics cards, four SATA connectors as well as one M.2-2280 slot for a PCIe 4.0 x4 or SATA SSD.
(Image credit: Biostar)
The bigger Biostar Z590 Valkyrie carries four DDR4 memory slots to install up to 128GB of DDR4-5000 memory, three PCIe x16 slots for graphics cards (two PCIe 4.0 x16/x8, one PCIe 3.0 x16 working in x4 mode), six SATA connectors, and three M.2-2280 for SATA or PCIe drives.
(Image credit: Biostar)
Being high-end offerings, Biostar’s Z590I Valkyrie and Z590 Valkyrie motherboards offer rather advanced set of input/output technologies that includes a 2.5GbE port, an M.2-2230 slot for an optional Wi-Fi 6 adapter, multiple USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A connectors, one USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C port, two display outputs (DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0), and a 7.1-channel audio subsystem with 3.5-mm and optical connectors.
(Image credit: Biostar)
Traditionally for enthusiast-grade motherboards, Biostar’s Z590I Valkyrie and Z590 Valkyrie feature connectors for RGB LED strips as well as comes with software to control these LEDs.
Biostar has been expanding its product lineups for some time now, so the introduction of higher-end motherboards is not exactly surprising. Nonetheless, Biostar’s decision to compete directly with advanced platforms from the Big Four makers may be an important milestone for the industry because ASUS, ASRock, Gigabyte, and MSI have been commanding the retail motherboard market for about a decade now after second-tier mainboard makers refocused to other products. Of course, only time will tell whether Biostar will be able to compete with its bigger rivals successfully, but at least the company decided to try.
Biostar yet has to disclose pricing of its Valkyrie-series motherboards, but it is safe to say that these platforms will be more expensive when compared to the company’s Racing family of products.
Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 30-series consumer graphics cards and its Ampere architecture are generally not the company’s most economical solutions in terms of power consumption, at least compared to its launches over the last several years. Yet, with a proper power management and cooling system, you can get an Ampere into a Mini-ITX system. Palit Microsystems is the first graphics card maker to bring Ampere to the small form factor.
Palit Microsystems, which happens to be one of the world’s largest graphics card makers with its Palit, Gainward, Galax, and KFA2 brands, is among the first to announce Mini-ITX add-in-boards running Nvidia’s GA106-300 graphics processing units with 3584 CUDA cores as well as 12GB of GDDR6 memory.
So far, the company has introduced four Mini-ITX GeForce RTX 3060 boards: the Palit GeForce RTX 3060 StormX, the Palit GeForce RTX 3060 StormX OC, the Gainward GeForce RTX 3060 Pegasus, and the Gainward GeForce RTX 3060 Pegasus OC. For some reason, Palit has yet to add Mini-ITX GeForce RTX 3060 cards into its Galax lineup and actually unveil any KFA2-branded GeForce RTX 30-series products.
(Image credit: Palit Microsystems)
All four Mini-ITX GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards use a dual-slot cooling system with one fan and have four display outputs – four DisplayPort 1.4a connectors as well as one HDMI 2.1 port. The cooling systems have multiple heat pipes and can stop the fan under light loads, yet they have different shrouds, and it is unclear whether the coolers used by the Gainward and Palit brands are actually different. Furthermore, it is unclear whether the boards use the same PCB design.
The cards are said to consume up to 170W of power and feature one eight-pin PCIe auxiliary power connector. Measuring 170mm x 125 mm, the boards can physically be installed into a Mini-ITX chassis, yet not all SFX power supply units have an eight-pin power connector.
From a performance point of view, the Palit and Gainward-branded Mini-ITX GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards feature a default GPU clock of 1320MHz and a boost clock of 1777MHz. Meanwhile, Palit has yet to disclose boost frequencies of OC versions of these cards, which probably means that the boards will be available later.
(Image credit: Palit Microsystems)
Palit does not list MSRPs of its products on its websites, so we do not know whether Mini-ITX versions of its GeForce RTX 3060 will cost more than regular models with large cooling systems.
Mini-ITX server board for Ryzen CPUs: Asrock X 570 D4I-2T in the test Power consumption Remote maintenance Equipment and cooling Conclusion and test table Read article in c’t 3 / 2021 Asrock Rack, the server division of Asrock, delivers in the form of the X 570 D4I-2T one of the rare server mainboards for the AM4 version, which is all the more interesting for it. If you consider (and need) the extensive equipment, the price is about 420 Euro quite cheap. It officially takes Ryzen processors from the 3200 G to 3950 X with up to 16 cores on, a beta BIOS even enables Ryzen 5000 CPUs.
The mini-ITX board is only 17 × 17 centimeters small. On this ultra-compact footprint, Asrock-Rack engineers bring a passively cooled X 570 -Chipset, two 10 – GBit Ethernet ports and a remote maintenance chip under. The rest of the interfaces, such as USB or SATA ports, are provided by the Ryzen SoC (system-on-chip). In addition, there are four instead of the two SO-DIMM sockets for ECC-protected RAM as well as one slot each for M.2 memory cards (PCIe x4) and one for Expansion cards (PCIe x 16) – both work in the downwardly compatible PCI Express 4.0 standard.
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Antec is one of the producers associated with most of our readers. Americans were selling their first products when many well-known brands were not on the market, and many Poles did not even dream of having their own computer. After all, the American company seems to be quite efficient in following the fashion in the world of new technologies. This time a new housing in the form of the Antec DF 700 FLUX model was presented. In addition to the traditional, two-chamber interior and the side panel in the form of a glass window, the user gets here an original, wavy mesh front; five factory fans 120 – millimeter and ARGB LED backlight.
Along with the Antec DF casing 700 FLUX we get five factory fans 120 – Millimeter and ARGB LED backlight controller.
Corsair case test 5000 D – A combination of two different worlds. Subdued style and modern interior
Antec DF 700 FLUX is a two-chamber Mid Tower casing with dimensions 467 x 220 x 486 (depth x width x height) millimeters and weighs 7.4 kilograms, made of steel, plastic and 4 millimeter thick tempered glass. motherboards in ATX, Micro ATX and Mini ITX format; CPU coolers up to 175 millimeters; graphics cards with length up to 405 millimeters and power supplies not longer greater than 205 millimeters. It will include up to seven expansion cards, two 3.5-inch media and three 2.5-inch media. The I / O panel is located on the top of the case and features two USB 3.1 Gen Type A, two audio connectors, and Power, Reset and backlight control buttons.
Antec P8 case test – Tombak in the world of computers
When it comes to ventilation, the Antec DF 700 FLUX can accommodate up to nine fans – three 140- or 120 – millimeter on the front, two 140 – or three 120 – millimeter on top, two 120 – millimeters on the basement cover (air is sucked in from additional holes in the steel side of the structure) and one on the back of the housing. We get five units 120 – millimeters, three “with” and two “without” RGB LED backlight . The whole thing is complemented by the included backlight controller and HUB for fans and a decent set of dust filters. The suggested price of the housing has not been disclosed, but looking at the specification and knowing this manufacturer, you can safely assume that it will be a mid-range design. For comparison, last year’s Antec DF model 600 FLUX costs around 429 zlotys.
The MSI GeForce RTX 3060 AERO ITX is one of the first ultra-compact ITX graphics cards based on RTX GPUs 3060 from NVIDIA powered by Ampere, released last week at CES 2021.
With a length slightly greater than that of the PCI Express x port itself 16 that incorporates, and with a double design slot, this model is cooled by a system of aluminum fins fixed to different copper heatpipes. This system uses a single high-performance fan to dissipate heat without taking up too much space, as this type of card is aimed at very compact PC systems with boards and ITX or even SFX components.
The MSI RTX 3060 ITX 12 GB will also have an overclocked variant
The MSI GeForce RTX 3060 AERO ITX 12 GB will also come in an overclocked version that will increase the working frequency of the GPU or its Boost, although the company has not yet wanted to reveal the technical specifications of cards beyond their 12 GB GDDR6 memory to 15 Gbps with a memory interface of 192 – bits, the same as the reference model. Assuming that the normal model offers the same frequencies as the reference model, we would be talking about 1, 32 Base GHz and 1, 78 GHz of Boost
Incomprehensibly, the company has also not revealed its final size or data already known as its CUDA Cores (3584 ). We do know, instead, that it will have three DisplayPort 1.4 outputs and one HDMI 2.1, all with PCI Express 4.0 connectivity. We will have to wait to know more details such as its price.
GeForce RTX ™ 3060 AERO ITX 12 G OC
GeForce RTX ™ 3060 AERO ITX 12 G
GPU
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX ™ 3584
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX ™ 3060
PCIe
PCI Express® Gen 4
PCI Express® Gen 4
CUDA Cores
4320
3584
GPU MHz
Not disclosed
Not disclosed (1,32 GHz @ 1, 78 GHz?)
Memory speed
16 Gbps
12 Gbps
Memory capacity
12 GB GDDR6
12 GB GDDR6
Memory bus
192-bit
192-bit
Outputs
DisplayPort x 3 (v1.4) / HDMI x 1 (Supports 4K @ 120 Hz as specified in HDMI 2.1)
DisplayPort x 3 (v1.4) / HDMI x 1 (Supports 4K @ 120 Hz as specified in HDMI 2.1)
HDCP
Yes
Yes
Consumption
Not disclosed
Not disclosed
Connectors
Not revealed (1 x 8 pins?)
Not disclosed (1 x 8 pin?)
Recommended font
Not disclosed
Not disclosed
Dimensions
Not disclosed
Not disclosed
Weight
Not revealed
Not disclosed
DirectX
15 API
API
OpenGL
4.6
4.6
NVLINK
N / A
N / A
Maximum Screens
4
4
VR Ready
Yes
Yes
G-SYNC® TECHNOLOGY
Yes Yes
ADAPTIVE VERTICAL SYNC
Yes
Yes
Maximum resolution
7680 x 4320
4320 x 4320
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Antonio Delgado
Computer Engineer by training, editor and hardware analyst at Geeknetic since 2011. I love gutting everything that comes my way, especially the latest hardware that we get here for reviews. In my spare time I fiddle with 3d printers, drones and other gadgets. For anything here you have me.
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