Oppo will launch two smartphones in India next week – the A54 on April 19 and the A74 5G on April 20.
The Oppo A54 is powered by the Helio P35 SoC, runs Android 10-based ColorOS 7.2 out of the box, and has two memory options – 4GB/64GB and 4GB/128GB.
The smartphone’s built around a 6.51″ HD+ LCD with a punch hole in the upper-left corner for the 16MP selfie camera. And around the back, we get a triple camera setup comprising a 13MP primary, 2MP depth, and 2MP macro units.
The A54 also features a side-mounted fingerprint reader and ships with a 5,000 mAh battery charged through a USB-C port at up to 18W.
The Oppo A74 5G, on the other hand, has a Snapdragon 480 chip at the helm with Android 11-based ColorOS 11.1 and 6GB RAM and 128GB storage.
The A74 5G sports a 6.5″ FullHD+ 90Hz LCD and packs a 5,000 mAh battery that draws power via USB-C port at up to 18W.
The camera department includes five shooters – a 16MP selfie unit inside the punch hole with the camera island on the back housing 48MP primary, 8MP ultrawide, 2MP macro, and 2MP depth modules.
The Oppo A74 5G also features a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and supports dual-mode 5G (SA/NSA) and it will be priced under INR20,000 ($270/€225) in India.
João Silva 1 day ago Featured Announcement, Graphics
ASRock has released its flagship Radeon RX 6900 XT graphics card – the Radeon RX 6900 XT OC Formula, complete with a 21-phase power design for enhanced overclocking potential.
Based on the RDNA2 architecture, the ASRock Radeon RX 6900 XT OC Formula features a Navi 21 GPU with 80 CUs and 16GB of GDDR6 memory across a 256-bit memory bus. The 21-phase power design pushes the GPU even further, delivering more power to the GPU and paving the way for higher overclocks.
The ASRock Radeon RX 6900 XT OC Formula uses a triple-fan configuration with Striped Axial fans to cool the 3-slot extended heatsink. On light loads, the fans do not spin to reduce noise. The backplate protects the PCB and enhances the card’s cooling capabilities with small hexagonal holes that allow air to be pushed through it.
The base clock is set at 2125MHz, but depending on the active BIOS, boost and game clocks vary. There are two BIOS versions to choose from: P BIOS, with a game clock of 2295MHz and a boost clock of 2475MHz, and Q BIOS, which has a game clock of 2165MHz and a boost clock of 2365MHz.
The all-metal shroud features a green band around it and ASRock Polychrome RGB that users can synchronise with other compatible products. Available video interfaces include an HDMI 2.1 port and 3x DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC. The card is powered by 3x 8-pin power connectors.
KitGuru says: Are you still looking for a Radeon RX 6900 XT card for your system? What do you think of the ASRock Radeon RX 6900 XT OC Formula graphics card?
Become a Patron!
Check Also
Vote in the KitGuru Reader Survey and win a Zotac ZBox Magnus One w/ RTX 3070
Once a year, we ask you, our readers, to tell us what’s hot and what’s not in our unique KitGuru Reader Survey. This year, Zotac has offered up a stunning prize for one lucky participant to win: a very special ‘barebones’ PC that comes complete with an Intel Core i7-10700 processor and an Nvidia RTX 3070 graphics card!
João Silva 2 days ago Featured Tech News, SSD Drives
Samsung is back with another PCIe 4 SSD – the PM9A1. The latest SSD is aimed at OEMs, but Samsung’s specifications suggest that it should offer very similar performance to the pre-existing 980 Pro SSD.
Similar to the 980 Pro, the Samsung PM9A1 uses the Elpis controller, DRAM cache, and V6 NAND memory (3D TLC). Available with up to 2TB of storage, it performs at about the same level as the 980 Pro, reaching speeds of 7,000MB/s in sequential reads and up to 5,200 MB/s in sequential writes. The rated 1,000,000 random 4K read IOPS are the same as the 980 Pro, but rated random 4K write IOPS are slightly inferior, set at 850,000 IOPS.
The PM9A1 SSD does not seem to come with a heat spreader, which is reasonable considering it has been designed to be used by OEMs. However, it features thermal control technology to prevent overheating and increase the drive’s lifespan.
Samsung’s new client SSD has been qualified by HP for its Z series of workstations, desktops, and laptops, and is already being shipped in these devices. Other OEMs should follow in early Q2. It’s unclear if these SSD drives will ever release to the DIY market, but given the fact that the similar 980 Pro SSD is widely available, this seems unlikely.
Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.
KitGuru says: If the Samsung PM9A1 were to hit the DIY market, it would probably be cheaper than the 980 Pro. Would you consider Samsung’s PM9A1 SSD if it was available at the usual retailers?
Become a Patron!
Check Also
Acer planning a 49-inch Mini LED monitor to rival Samsung Odyssey G9
It looks like the Samsung Odyssey G9 already has some competition. A new curved gaming …
Home/Software & Gaming/Days Gone PC features and improvements announced, releasing on May 18th
Matthew Wilson 2 days ago Software & Gaming
We’ve known for a while now that Days Gone is the next major PS4 console exclusive to be coming to PC. Now, we have a date and our first look at the PC version in action ahead of launch next month.
Days Gone is coming to PC on the 18th of May on Steam and the Epic Games Store. Similarly to last year’s Horizon Zero Dawn release, Days Gone will support 21:9 ultrawide displays, third-party controllers like the Xbox gamepad, as well as keyboard/mouse with remapping functions.
In the trailer above, we can see the PC version in action, running at 4K and 60 frames per second. The PC version will also include improved graphics over the PS4 version and unlocked frame rates, so you can run it well above 60 frames per second as long as you have the hardware for it. Speaking of hardware, below you will find the minimum and recommended PC specifications for the game:
Minimum:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core [email protected] or AMD FX [email protected]
The PC version includes increased level of detail, field of view and foliage draw distance, as well as the usual graphical customisation options we expect to balance fidelity and performance. The Photo Mode is also included for those who enjoy taking impressive screenshots.
Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.
KitGuru Says: I skipped Days Gone on the PS4 but I’m really looking forward to picking up this PC version. Are any of you planning on grabbing this next month?
Become a Patron!
Check Also
Xbox controller ‘stick drift’ lawsuit will not go to trial
Last year, we learned that Nintendo isn’t the only company facing lawsuits over gaming controller …
The Intel Core i5-11600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 5600X rivalry is a heated battle for supremacy right in the heart of the mid-range CPU market. AMD’s Ryzen 5000 processors took the lead in the desktop PC from Intel’s competing Comet Lake processors last year, upsetting our Best CPU for gaming recommendations and our CPU Benchmarks hierarchy. Intel’s response comes in the form of its Rocket Lake processors, which dial up the power to extreme levels and bring the new Cypress Cove architecture to the company’s 14nm process as Intel looks to upset AMD’s powerful Zen 3-powered Ryzen 5000 chips.
Intel has pushed its 14nm silicon to the limits as it attempts to unseat the AMD competition, and that has paid off in the mid-range where Intel’s six-core Core i5-11600K weighs in with surprisingly good performance given its $232 to $262 price point.
Intel’s aggressive pricing, and the fact that the potent Ryzen 5 5600X remains perpetually out of stock and price-gouged, has shifted the conversation entirely. For Intel, all it has to do is serve up solid pricing, have competitive performance, and make sure it has enough chips at retail to snatch away the win.
We put the Core i5-11600K up against the Ryzen 5 5600X in a six-round faceoff to see which chip takes the crown in our gaming and application benchmarks, along with other key criteria like power consumption and pricing. Let’s see how the chips stack up.
Features and Specifications of AMD Ryzen 5 5600X vs Intel Core i5-11600K
Rocket Lake Core i5-11600K vs AMD Zen 3 Ryzen 5 5600X Specifications and Pricing
Suggested Price
Cores / Threads
Base (GHz)
Peak Boost (Dual/All Core)
TDP
iGPU
L3
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
$299 (and much higher)
6 / 12
3.7
4.6
65W
None
32MB (1×32)
Intel Core i5-11600K (KF)
$262 (K) – $237 (KF)
6 / 12
3.9
4.6 / 4.9 (TB2)
125W
UHD Graphics 750 Xe 32EU
12MB
The 7nm Ryzen 5 5600X set a new bar for the mid-range with six Zen 3 cores and twelve threads that operate at a 3.7-GHz base and 4.6-GHz boost frequency. Despite AMD’s decision to hike gen-on-gen pricing, the 5600X delivered class-leading performance at its launch, not to mention a solid price-to-performance ratio. Things have changed since then, though, due to overwhelming demand coupled with pandemic-spurred supply chain disruptions, both of which have combined to make finding the Ryzen 5 5600X a rarity at retail, let alone at the suggested $299 pricing.
Intel’s Core i5-11600K also comes with six cores and twelve threads, but Team Blue’s chips come with the new Cypress Cove architecture paired with the aging 14nm process. Intel has tuned this chip for performance; it weighs in with a 3.9-GHz base, 4.9-GHz Turbo Boost 2.0, and 4.6-GHz all-core clock rates. All of these things come at the expense of power consumption and heat generation.
Intel specs the 14nm 11600K at a 125W TDP rating, but that jumps to 182W under heavy loads, while AMD’s denser and more efficient 7nm process grants the 5600X a much-friendlier 65W TDP rating that coincides with a peak of 88W. We’ll dive deeper into power consumption a bit later, but this is important because the Core i5-11600K comes without a cooler. You’ll need a capable cooler, preferably a 280mm liquid AIO or equivalent air cooler, to unlock the best of the 11600K.
Meanwhile, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X comes with a bundled cooler that is sufficient for most users, though you would definitely need to upgrade to a better cooler if you plan on overclocking. Additionally, a more robust cooler will unlock slightly higher performance in heavy work, like rendering or encoding. Still, you’d need to do that type of work quite regularly to see a worthwhile benefit, so most users will be fine with the bundled cooler.
Both the Core i5-11600K and Ryzen 5 5600X support PCIe 4.0, though it is noteworthy that Intel’s chipset doesn’t support the speedier interface. Instead, devices connected to Intel’s chipset operate at PCIe 3.0 speeds. That means you’ll only have support for one PCIe 4.0 m.2 SSD port on your motherboard, whereas AMD’s chipset is fully enabled for PCIe 4.0, giving you more options for a plethora of faster devices.
Both chips also support two channels of DDR4-3200 memory, but Intel’s new Gear memory feature takes a bit of the shine off Intel’s memory support. At stock settings, the 11600K supports DDR4-2933 in Gear 1 mode, which provides the best latency and performance for most tasks, like gaming. You’ll have to operate the chip in Gear 2 mode for warrantied DDR4-3200 support, but that results in performance penalties in some latency-sensitive apps, like gaming, which you can read about here.
For some users, the 11600K does have a big insurmountable advantage over the Ryzen 5 5600X: The chip comes with the new UHD Graphics 750 comes armed with 32 EUs based on the Xe graphics engine, while all Ryzen 5000 processors come without integrated graphics. That means Intel wins by default if you don’t plan on using a discrete GPU.
Notably, you could also buy Intel’s i5-11600KF, which comes with a disabled graphics engine, for $25 less. At $237, the 11600KF looks incredibly tempting, which we’ll get to a bit later.
Winner: AMD
The Ryzen 5 5600X and the Core i5-11600K are close with six cores and twelve threads (and each of those cores has comparable performance), but the 5600X gets the nod here due to its bundled cooler and native support for DDR4-3200 memory. Meanwhile, the Core i5-11600K comes without a cooler, and you’ll have to operate the memory in sub-optimal Gear 2 mode to access DDR4-3200 speeds, at least if you want to stay within the warranty.
The Core i5-11600K comes with integrated graphics, so it wins by default if you don’t plan on using a discrete GPU. Conversely, you can sacrifice the graphics for a lower price point. AMD has no high-end chips that come with integrated graphics, though that will change by the end of the year when the Ryzen 5000 Cezanne APUs arrive.
Gaming Performance on AMD Ryzen 5 5600X vs Core i9-11600K
The Ryzen 5 and Core i5 families tend to be the most popular gaming chips, and given the big architectural advances we’ve seen with both the Zen 3 and Cypress Cove architectures, these mid-range processors can push fast GPUs along quite nicely.
That said, as per usual, we’re testing with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 to reduce GPU-imposed bottlenecks as much as possible, and differences between test subjects will shrink with lesser cards, which you’ll see most often with this class of chip, or higher resolutions. Below you can see the geometric mean of our gaming tests at 1080p and 1440p, with each resolution split into its own chart. PBO indicates an overclocked Ryzen configuration. You can find our test system details here.
Image 1 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 3 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 4 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 5 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 6 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 7 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 8 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 9 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 10 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 11 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 12 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 13 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 14 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 15 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 16 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 17 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 18 of 18
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
At stock settings at 1080p, the Core i5-11600K notches an impressive boost over its predecessor, the 10600K, but the Ryzen 5 5600X is 7.8% faster over the full span of our test suite. Overclocking the 11600K brings it up to snuff with the stock Ryzen 5 5600X, but the overclocked 5600X configuration is still 3.6% faster.
As you would expect, those deltas will shrink tremendously with lesser graphics cards or with higher resolutions. At 1440p, the stock 5600X is 3.3% faster than the 11600K, and the two tie after overclocking.
Flipping through the individual games shows that the leader can change quite dramatically, with different titles responding better to either Intel or AMD. Our geometric mean of the entire test suite helps smooth that out to one digestible number, but bear in mind – the faster chip will vary based on the game you play.
Notably, the 11600K is 14% less expensive than the 5600X, and that’s if (a huge if) you can find the 5600X at recommended pricing. You could also opt for the graphics-less 11600KF model and pay 26% less than the 5600X, again, if you can find the 5600X at recommended pricing.
Winner: AMDOverall, the Ryzen 5 5600X is the faster gaming chip throughout our test suite, but be aware that performance will vary based on the title you play. This class of chips is often paired with lesser graphics cards, and most serious gamers play at higher resolutions. In both of those situations, you could be hard-pressed to notice the difference between the processors. However, it’s rational to expect that the Ryzen 5 5600X will leave a bit more gas in the tank for future GPU upgrades.
Pricing is the wild card, though, and the Core i5-11600K wins that category easily — even if you could find the Ryzen 5 5600X at suggested pricing. We’ll dive into that in the pricing section.
Application Performance of Intel Core i5-11600K vs Ryzen 5 5600X
Image 1 of 11
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 11
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 3 of 11
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 4 of 11
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 5 of 11
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 6 of 11
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 7 of 11
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 8 of 11
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 9 of 11
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 10 of 11
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 11 of 11
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
We can boil down productivity application performance into two broad categories: single- and multi-threaded. The first slide in the above album has a geometric mean of performance in several of our single-threaded tests, but as with all cumulative measurements, use this as a general guide and be aware that performance will vary based on workload.
The Core i5-11600K takes the lead, at both stock and overclocked settings, by 3.8% and 1%, respectively. These are rather slim deltas, but it’s clear that the Rocket Lake chip holds the edge in lightly threaded work, particularly in our browser tests, which are a good indicator of general snappiness in a standard desktop PC operating system. We also see a bruising performance advantage in the single-threaded AVX-512-enabled y-cruncher.
The Core i5-11600K is impressive in single-threaded work, but the Ryzen 5 5600X isn’t far behind. It’s too bad that the 11600K’s lead in these types of tests doesn’t equate to leading performance in gaming, which has historically been the case with processors that excel at single-threaded tasks.
Image 1 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 3 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 4 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 5 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 6 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 7 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 8 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 9 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 10 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 11 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 12 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 13 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 14 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 15 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 16 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 17 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 18 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 19 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 20 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 21 of 21
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Here we take a closer look at performance in heavily-threaded applications, which has long been the stomping grounds of AMD’s core-heavy Ryzen processors. Surprisingly, in our cumulative measurement, the Core i5-11600K is actually 2.5% faster than the 5600X at stock settings and is 1.8% faster after we overclocked both chips.
These are, again, slim deltas, and the difference between the chips will vary based on workload. However, the Core i5-11600K is very competitive in threaded work against the 5600X, which is an accomplishment in its own right. The substantially lower pricing is even more impressive.
Winner: Intel
Based on our cumulative measurement, Intel’s Core i5-11600K comes out on top in both single- and multi-threaded workloads, but by slim margins in both categories of workloads, and that can vary based on the application. However, given that the Core i5-11600K has significantly lower pricing and pulls out a few hard-earned wins on the application front, this category of the Core i5-11600K vs Ryzen 5 5600X competition goes to Intel.
Overclocking of Ryzen 5 5600X vs Core i5-11600K
We have reached the land of diminishing returns for overclocking the highest-end chips from both AMD and Intel, largely because both companies are engaged in a heated dogfight for performance superiority. As a result, much of the overclocking frequency headroom is rolled into standard stock performance, leaving little room for tuners, making memory and fabric overclocking all the more important. There’s still plenty of advantages with overclocking the midrange models though in today’s Ryzen 5 5600X vs Core i5-11600K battle, but be aware that your mileage may vary.
Intel benefits from higher attainable clock rates, especially if you focus on overclocking a few cores instead of the standard all-core overclock, and exposes a wealth of tunable parameters with its Rocket Lake chips. That includes separate AVX offsets for all three flavors of AVX, and the ability to set voltage guardbands. Intel also added an option to completely disable AVX, though that feature is primarily geared for professional overclockers. Rocket also supports per-core frequency and hyper-threading control (enable/disable) to help eke out more overclocking headroom.
The Core i5-11600K supports real-time memory frequency adjustments, though motherboard support will vary. For example, this feature allows you to shift from DDR4-2933 to DDR4-3200 from within Windows 10 without rebooting (or any other attainable memory frequency). Intel also supports live memory timing adjustments from within the operating system.
Intel has long locked overclocking to its pricey K-series models, while AMD freely allows overclocking with all SKUs on almost any platform. However, we see signs of some improvement here from Intel, as it has now enabled memory overclocking on its B560 and H570 chipsets across the board. That said, Intel’s new paradigm of Gear 1 and Gear 2 modes does reduce the value of memory overclocking, which you can read more about in our review.
AMD’s Ryzen 5000 chips come with innovative boost technology that largely consumes most of the available frequency headroom, so there is precious little room for bleeding-edge all-core overclocks. In fact, all-core overclocking with AMD’s chips is lackluster; you’re often better off using its auto-overclocking Precision Boost Overdrive 2 (PBO2) feature that boosts multi-threaded performance. AMD also has plenty of Curve Optimization features that leverage undervolting to increase boost activity.
Much of the benefit of the Ryzen 500 series0 comes from its improved fabric overclocking, which then allows you to tune in higher memory overclocks. We hit a 1900-MHz fabric on our chip, allowing us to run the memory in a 1:1 mode at a higher DDR4-3800 memory speed than we could pull off with the 11600K with the same 1:1 ratio. It also isn’t uncommon to see enthusiasts hit DDR4-4000 in 1:1 mode with Ryzen 5000 processors. There’s no doubt that Intel’s new Gear 1 and 2 memory setup isn’t that refined — you can adjust the 5600X’s fabric ratio to expand the 1:1 window to higher frequencies, while Intel does not have a comparable adjustable parameter.
Winner: Tie
Both the Ryzen 5 5600X and the Core i5-11600K have a bit more overclocking headroom than their higher-end counterparts, meaning that there is still some room for gains in the mid-range. Both platforms have their respective overclocking advantages and a suite of both auto-overclocking and software utilities, meaning this contest will often boil down to personal preference.
Power Consumption, Efficiency, and Cooling of Intel Core i5-11600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
Image 1 of 12
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 12
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 3 of 12
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 4 of 12
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 5 of 12
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 6 of 12
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 7 of 12
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 8 of 12
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 9 of 12
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 10 of 12
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 11 of 12
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 12 of 12
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Core i5-11600K comes with the same 125W TDP rating as its predecessor, but that rating is a rough approximation of power consumption during long-duration workloads. To improve performance in shorter-term workloads, Intel increased the PL2 rating (boost) to 251W, a whopping 69W increase over the previous-gen 10600K that also came with six cores.
Power consumption and heat go hand in hand, so you’ll have to accommodate that power consumption with a robust cooler. We didn’t have any issues with the Core i5-11600K and a 280mm liquid cooler (you could get away with less), but we did log up to 176W of power consumption at stock settings during our Handbrake benchmark.
In contrast, the Ryzen 5 5600X sips power, reaching a maximum of 76W at stock settings during a Blender benchmark. In fact, a quick look at the renders-per-day charts reveals that AMD’s Ryzen 5 5600X is in another league in terms of power efficiency — you get far more performance per watt consumed, which results in lower power consumption and heat generation.
The 5600X’s refined power consumption comes via TSMC’s 7nm process, while Intel’s 14nm process has obviously reached the end of the road in terms of absolute performance and efficiency.
Winner: AMD
AMD wins this round easily with lower power consumption, higher efficiency, and less thermal output. Intel has turned the power up to the extreme to stay competitive with AMD’s 7nm Ryzen 5000 chips, and as a result, the Core i5-11600K pulls more power and generates more heat than the Ryzen 5 5600X. Additionally, the Core i5-11600K doesn’t come with a bundled cooler, so you’ll need to budget in a capable model to unlock the best the chip has to offer, while the Ryzen 5 5600X comes with a bundled cooler that is good enough for the majority of users.
Pricing and Value of AMD Ryzen 5 5600X vs Intel Core i5-11600K
AMD was already riding the pricing line with the Ryzen 5 5600X’s suggested $299 price tag, but supply of this chip is volatile as of the time of writing, to put it lightly, leading to price gouging. This high pricing comes as a byproduct of a combination of unprecedented demand and pandemic-spurred supply chain issues, but it certainly destroys the value proposition of the Ryzen 5 5600X, at least for now.
The Ryzen 5 5600X currently retails for $370 at Microcenter, which is usually the most price-friendly vendor, a $69 markup over suggested pricing. The 5600X is also $450 from Amazon (not a third-party seller). Be aware that the pricing and availability of these chips can change drastically in very short periods of time, and they go in and out of stock frequently, reducing the accuracy of many price tracking tools.
In contrast, the Core i5-11600K can be found for $264 at Amazon, and $260 at Microcenter, which is surprisingly close to the $262 suggested tray pricing. Additionally, you could opt for the graphics-less Core i5-11600KF if you don’t need a discrete GPU. That chip is a bit harder to find than the widely-available 11600K, but we did find it for $240 at Adorama (near suggested pricing).
Here’s the breakdown (naturally, this will vary):
Suggested Price
Current (volatile for 5600X)
Price Per Core
Core i5-11600K
$262
$262 to $264
~$32.75
Ryzen 5 5600X
$299
$370 to $450
~$46.25 to $56.25
Core i5-11600KF
$237
$240 (spotty availability)
~$29.65
The Core i5-11600K doesn’t come with a cooler, so you’ll have to budget that into your purchasing decision.
Winner: Intel
Even at recommended pricing for both chips, Intel’s aggressive pricing makes the Core i5-11600K a tempting proposition, but the company wins this stage of the battle convincingly based on one almost insurmountable advantage: You can actually find the chip readily available at retail for very close to its suggested tray pricing. With much cheaper pricing both on a per-core and absolute basis, the Core i5-11600K is the better buy, and if you’re looking for an even lower cost of entry, the Core i5-11600KF is plenty attractive if you don’t need integrated graphics.
AMD’s premium pricing for the Ryzen 5 5600X was a bit of a disappointment for AMD fans at launch, but the chip did offer enough advantages to justify the price tag. However, the arrival of the Core i5-11600K with its disruptive pricing and good-enough performance would probably merit a slight pricing adjustment from AMD, or the release of a non-X model, if these were normal times. These aren’t normal times, though, and instead of improving its value proposition, AMD is facing crippling supply challenges.
Bottom Line
Intel Core i5-11600K
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
Features and Specifications
X
Gaming
X
Application Performance
X
Overclocking
X
X
Power Consumption, Efficiency, and Cooling
X
Pricing and Value Proposition
X
Total
3
4
Here’s the tale of the tape: AMD wins this Ryzen 5 5600X vs Intel Core i5-11600K battle with a tie in one category and a win in three others, marking a four to three victory in favor of Team Red. Overall, the Ryzen 5 5600X offers up a superior blend of gaming performance, power consumption and efficiency, and a bundled cooler to help offset the higher suggested retail pricing, remaining our go-to chip recommendation for the mid-range. That is if you can find it at or near suggested pricing.
Unfortunately, in these times of almost unimaginably bad chip shortages, the chip that you can actually buy, or even find anywhere even near recommended pricing, is going to win the war at the checkout lane. For now, Intel appears to be winning the supply battle, though that could change in the coming months. As a result, the six-core twelve-thread Core i5-11600K lands with a friendly $262 price point, making it much more competitive with AMD’s $300 Ryzen 5 5600X that currently sells far over suggested pricing due to shortages.
The Core i5-11600K has a very competitive price-to-performance ratio compared to the Ryzen 5 5600X in a broad swath of games and applications. The 11600K serves up quite a bit of performance for a ~$262 chip, and the graphics-less 11600KF is an absolute steal if you can find it near the $237 tray pricing. If you don’t need an integrated GPU, the KF model is your chip.
Even if we compare the chips at AMD’s and Intel’s standard pricing, the Core i5-11600K is a potent challenger with a solid value proposition due to its incredibly aggressive pricing. While the Core i5-11600K might not claim absolute supremacy, its mixture of price and performance makes it a solid buy if you’re willing to overlook the higher power consumption.
Most gamers would be hard-pressed to notice the difference when you pair these chips with lesser GPUs or play at higher resolutions, though the Ryzen 5 5600X will potentially leave you with more gas in the tank for future GPU upgrades. The Ryzen 5 5600X is the absolute winner, though, provided you can find it anywhere close to the suggested retail price.
The current Patriot Viper Elite (Image credit: Patriot)
Patriot will release a new DDR4 kit next month to compete with the best RAM in the budget category. During The Tom’s Hardware Show yesterday, Roger Shinmoto, Patriot VP of product, revealed the DDR4-4000 Viper Elite 2.
The brand already has DDR4-4000 kits available in its other Viper-branded products, such as the Patriot Viper Steel, but the Viper Elite lineup currently maxes out at DDR4-2400. The Viper Elite 2 will kick things up to DDR4-4000, while keeping with the more wallet-friendly pricing of the Elite series.
4,000 MHz is a sweet spot for AMD platforms, but Shinmoto told us that the kits target both AMD and Intel builders.
But it’s not just about keeping your bank account happy. After 6 years of the Viper Elite being in the market, the new Viper Elite 2 is supposed to bring some new style too.
“Engineering team decided it was time to give it a facelift, so they went out and designed a brand new heat spreader from the ground up,” Shintomo said on The Tom’s Hardware Show. “It’s a really nice red and black design. Very aggressive styling.”
The exec pointed to the DDR4-4000 RAM as being a good fit for overclocking, as well as enthusiasts building a PC for the first time or builders simply seeking an upgrade that doesn’t cost a fortune.
We still don’t know the Viper Elite 2’s pricing, partially due to the memory market’s volatility.
“Just like NAND, DRAM pricing is so volatile,” Shinmoto explained. “We can quote a price today and it might change by May. So they’ll be competitive, but these aren’t the highest-end solutions we have. They’re geared more for the entry-level and price-minded sector.”
But although memory prices have been “going up for a couple months now” and “allocations have been tight,” according to Les Henry, Patriot’s VP of North America and South America sales, Shinmoto assured the Viper Elite 2’s pricing will be “very affordable.”
We currently see Patriot’s high-end Viper Steel DDR4-4000 (2x 8GB) going for about $145, so we hope the Viper Elite 2 is cheaper upon release.
The Tom’s Hardware Show livestream is every Thursday at 3 p.m. ET on YouTube, Facebook and Twitch, and is also available as a podcast.
Asus’ ROG Maximus XIII Hero is a full-featured Z590 motherboard that includes robust power delivery, premium audio with a DAC, four M.2 sockets, dual 2.5 GbE ports and integrated Wi-Fi 6E. Overall, the $499 Hero is a well-rounded premium board for Intel’s Z590 platform.
For
+ High-quality 14-phase 90A VRM
+ 10 USB ports, incl. 2x Thunderbolt 4
+ Dual 2.5 GbE plus Wi-Fi 6E
+ Four M.2 sockets
+ Premium audio
Features and Specifications
Asus’ ROG Maximus XIII Hero hits the motherboard scene offering users an extended features list, premium styling, and a price tag of $499.99. While that’s certainly expensive, it’s no longer flagship motherboard territory in terms of pricing. The latest Hero includes loads of USB ports (including ultra-fast Thunderbolt Type-C), high-quality VRMs and four M.2 sockets. All that, plus a high-end appearance and overall good performance help make this board worth the cost of admission.
Asus’ current Z590 product stack consists of 13 models. Starting from the top, the ROG Maximus XIII Extreme and its water-cooled counterpart, the Extreme Glacial, carve out the flagship SKUs, followed by the ROG Hero and the overclocking focused ROG Apex. There are four other ROG Gaming boards, Z590-E/-F/-A/-I(ITX), along with two TUF Gaming boards and three Prime boards on the budget end. Asus presents a well-rounded product stack with boards and price points for just about everyone from top to bottom.
Overall, performance on our Hero was the best out of the boards we’ve tested so far. Granted, the difference isn’t much between most of the higher-performing boards ( which bypass the Intel specification), but the Hero and its out-of-the-box settings lead the group. Overclocking went without a hitch, easily handling our 5.1 GHz clock speed along with the memory set to DDR4 4000. Of the several boards we’ve looked at, this and the MSI MEG Ace were some of the easier boards to overclock and get the memory to speed with little or no tweaking.
Generation after generation, the Asus ROG Maximus line has delivered (what this reviewer considers to be) devilishly good looks and a long list of features for the high-end segment. The Maximus XIII Hero continues this trend, tweaking the appearance a bit from the last generation and making other changes including adding PCIe 4.0 support for M.2 sockets and PCIe slots, Wi-Fi 6E, dual Thunderbolt USB Type-C ports and more. We’ll take a look at those and other features in detail. Below is the full specifications list from Asus.
Specifications – Asus ROG Maximus XIII Hero
Socket
LGA 1200
Chipset
Z590
Form Factor
ATX
Voltage Regulator
16 Phase (14+2, 90A MOSFETs)
Video Ports
(1) HDMI
USB Ports
(2) Thunderbolt 4, Type-C (40 Gbps)
(6) USB 3.2 Gen 2, Type-A (10 Gbps)
(2) USB 2.0 (480 Mbps)
Network Jacks
(2) 2.5 GbE
Audio Jacks
(5) Analog + SPDIF
Legacy Ports/Jacks
✗
Other Ports/Jack
✗
PCIe x16
(2) v4.0 x16, (x16/x0, x8/x8, x8/x4)
(1) v3.0 x4
PCIe x8
✗
PCIe x4
✗
PCIe x1
(1) v3.0 x4
CrossFire/SLI
Nvidia 2-Way SLI
DIMM slots
(4) DDR4 5333(OC), 128GB Capacity
M.2 slots
(1) PCIe 4.0 x4 / PCIe (up to 110mm)
(1) PCIe 4.0 x4 / PCIe (up to 80mm)
(1) PCIe 3.0 x4 / PCIe (up to 80mm)
(1) PCIe 3.0 x4 / PCIe + SATA (up to 110mm)
U.2 Ports
✗
SATA Ports
(6) SATA3 6 Gbps (RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10)
USB Headers
(1) USB v3.2 Gen 2×2 (Front Panel Type-C)
(2) USB v3.2 Gen 1
(2) USB v2.0
Fan/Pump Headers
(8) 4-Pin
RGB Headers
(3) aRGB Gen 2 (3-pin)
(1) Aura RGB (4-pin)
Legacy Interfaces
✗
Other Interfaces
FP-Audio, TPM
Diagnostics Panel
Yes, 2-character debug LED, and 4-LED ‘Status LED’ display
Along with the motherboard, the box includes several accessories ranging from cables to graphic card holders and a support DVD. For the price, this isn’t the most inclusive accessory stack we’ve come across, but it will get you started (hopefully) without a trip to the store. Below is a complete list of all included accessories.
Support DVD
User’s Manual
Q-connector
ROG stickers / keychain / thank you card
Graphics card holder
Wi-Fi Moving Antenna
(4) SATA cables
(1) Screw package for M.2 sockets
(1) ARGB extension cable
(1) RGB extension cable
Image 1 of 4
(Image credit: Asus)
Image 2 of 4
(Image credit: Asus)
Image 3 of 4
(Image credit: Asus)
Image 4 of 4
(Image credit: Asus)
Handarbeit
(Image credit: Asus)
Focusing on the top half of the board, we get a better look at the massive heatsinks/shrouds that cover a significant portion of the board. Wedged between the heatpipe-connected VRM heatsink are two reinforced 8-pin EPS connectors (one required) to send power to the CPU. To the right of the socket area and its gunmetal-colored capacitors are four DRAM slots capable of supporting up to 128GB of RAM. Asus lists supported speeds up to DDR4 5333(OC). But as always, your mileage may vary.
Just above the DRAM slots are the first three 4-pin fan/pump headers (of eight total). Six headers (CPU, Chassis, and AIO_Pump, support up to 1A/12W while the W_Pump and H_Amp headers support up to 3A/36W. The AIO and W_Pump headers run at full speed while the rest are Q-Fan controlled.
Continuing right is the 2-character Q-Code debug LED, and just below it are the four Q-LEDs (CPU, DRAM, VGA and Boot) that light up during the boot process. If there is an issue during POST, that specific LED remains lit and tells you, generally, where the problem is. You can use the Q-Code display for more details.
Moving down the right edge, we see the first two (of four) RGB headers. In this area are two 3-pin (ARGB) headers. You’ll find the other two headers, a 4-pin RGB and a third 3-pin ARGB, across the bottom edge. Just below this is a large Start button to power the PC on and a smaller multi-function FlexKey button. By default, this reboots the system, but you can configure this as a quick access feature to activate Safe Boot or turn Aura lighting on/off. Further down the right edge is the 24-pin ATX power connector and below that, a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C front-panel header.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Asus went with a 14-phase ‘teamed’ VRM configuration for the XIII Hero. Power is sent to a Renesas ISL69269 controller (7+2+1), where each channel feeds two phases (no doubler inline). After that, it’s on to the 14 Texas Instrument NexFET 90A Smart Power stages. This allows the CPU to use up to 1260A, one of the higher values we’ve seen. While the Hero isn’t the most robust solution at this price point, it will have no issues with ambient and even extreme overclocking. You’ll be limited by CPU thermals long before this VRM gets in the way.
(Image credit: Asus)
Taking a closer look at the bottom half of the board, we’ll start with the audio section on the left side. Underneath the plastic shroud, Asus chose the premium Realtek ALC4082 codec along with Chemicon brand Japanese audio capacitors. The Hero also includes an ESS Sabre9018Q2C DAC/Amp for driving your headphones properly. The onboard audio solution provides more than sufficient quality for an overwhelming majority of users.
In the middle of the board we find the PCIe slots and M.2 sockets. On the PCIe front, the Hero has three full-length PCIe slots and one x1 size slot. The top two PCIe slots are wired to the CPU and support PCIe 4.0 when using an 11th generation Intel processor. These top two slots run at x16/x0, x8/x8 or x8/x4 (lane bifurcation) and support Nvidia 2-Way SLI (AMD Crossfire is not mentioned in the specifications). The bottom full-length slot is fed from the chipset and runs at PCIe 3.0 x4. Out of the box, the bottom slot runs at PCIe 3.0 x2 mode and disables SATA ports 3/4. If you need to run the bottom slot at the full x4 mode, SATA ports 1/2/3/4 get disabled.
The Maximus XIII Hero has four M.2 sockets mixed in with the PCIe slots. The top two sockets are both wired PCIe 4.0 x4. Asus accomplishes this by sharing bandwidth with the CPU-fed PCIe slots. When M.2_2 is enabled, the top PCIe slot runs at x8 and the second slot drops to x4. These sockets support PCIe modules only, with the top slot able to handle 110mm modules and the second slot up to 80mm. The third M.2 socket, connected to the chipset, runs at PCIe 3.0 x4 mode, supporting up to 80mm modules. The bottom socket supports up to 110mm PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA-based M.2 devices. If M.2_4 (bottom right) is populated, SATA ports 5/6 are disabled. There’s a fair amount of lane sharing between the SATA ports, M.2 sockets and PCIe slots. So be sure to check out the manual for details on your specific configuration.
To the right of the PCIe area is the chipset heatsink, with the ROG symbol illuminated with RGB LEDs from underneath. On the right edge is another fan header, six SATA ports and two USB 3.2 Gen1 front panel headers that bookend the SATA ports.
Across the board’s bottom are several headers and buttons, including more USB ports, fan headers and more. If you’re into monitoring your custom water loop, there are headers for temperature and water flow as well. You can keep an eye on your entire cooling system, be it air or water. Below is the full list, from left to right:
Front-panel audio
RGB and ARGB headers
Retry button
Chassis fan and High Amp fan headers
(2) USB 2.0 headers
(2) Chassis fan headers
Temperature sensor, water flow headers
Speaker
Front panel header
(Image credit: Asus)
The Asus ROG Maximus XIII Hero comes with a pre-installed rear IO panel sporting a black background with white writing for all of the ports and buttons. There are a total of 10 USB ports: two USB 2.0 ports, six USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A and two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports for ultra-fast USB storage. Located above the Type-C ports are the two 2.5 GbE ports, while next to those are the two Wi-Fi 6E antenna sockets. A single HDMI port handles video output when using integrated graphics. The audio stack is the full 5-plug analog, plus SPDIF output. Finally, also here are the BIOS flashback button to flash without a CPU and a Clear CMOS button.
Nowadays there are loads of small form-factor (SFF) systems featuring fairly high performance, there are also fanless PCss that can offer performance of regular desktops. Unfortunately, SFF and fanless worlds rarely intersect and passively cooled compact desktops are extremely rare. Yet, they exist. Recently Atlast! Solutions introduced its Sigao Model B, which packs Intel’s 10-core Comet Lake CPU into a fairly small fanless chassis.
Image 1 of 5
(Image credit: Atlast! Solutions)
Image 2 of 5
(Image credit: Atlast! Solutions)
Image 3 of 5
(Image credit: Atlast! Solutions)
Image 4 of 5
(Image credit: Atlast! Solutions)
Image 5 of 5
(Image credit: Atlast! Solutions)
The Atlast! Sigao Model B is based around Intel’s 10-core Core i9-10900T processor as well as an Asus H470-I Mini-ITX motherboard. The CPU features a 35W TDP and has a base clock of 1.9 GHz as well as a maximum turbo frequency of up to 4.6 GHz, though we would not expect the processor to hit very high clocks in a fanless system powered by a 200W PSU. The motherboard comes with all the essentials, including Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth module, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, three display outputs (DisplayPort, HDMI, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C), one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A connector, four USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, and 5.1-channel audio.
The Sigao measures 12.6 x 12.6 x 3.4 inches (320 × 322 × 87.5 mm) without feet, so while it is definitely not as compact as Intel’s NUC or Apple’s Mac Mini, it can still be considered a small form-factor PC.
Atlast! builds its fanless systems to order, so it can equip its Sigao Model B with up to 64GB of DDR4-2666 memory, one Samsung 970 Evo Plus M.2 SSD with a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface and up to 2TB capacity, and two 2.5-inch HDDs or SSDs.
The motherboard has a PCIe 3.0 x16 slot and the system can accommodate a single slot wide add-in card using a riser, though finding a decent mini-ITX 75W single slot graphics card with passive (or even active) cooling is close to impossible, so it is unlikely that the system can be equipped with a standalone AIB. Unfortunately, the motherboard also lacks a Thunderbolt 4 port for an external graphics solution, so it looks like the Sigao Model B has to rely on Intel’s built-in UHD Graphics 630 based on the previous-generation architecture. Meanwhile, if the Asus H470-I motherboard gains Rocket Lake-S support, it should be possible to install a more up-to-date CPU with Xe Graphics featuring leading-edge media playback capabilities.
The Atlast! Sigao Model B is not cheap at all. Even the basic model featuring a Core i9-10900T, 16GB of RAM, and a 250GB SSD costs €1,922 ($2304) with taxes and €1,602 without ($1,920), which is quite expensive even by SFF standards. But a desktop PC that brings together compact dimensions and passive cooling is hard to come by, so its price seems to be justified for those who want both features.
HBM stands for high bandwidth memory and is a type of memory interface used in 3D-stacked DRAM(dynamic random access memory) in some AMD GPUs(aka graphics cards), as well as the server, high-performance computing (HPC) and networking and client space. Samsung and SK Hynix make HBM chips.
Ultimately, HBM is meant to offer much higher bandwidth, lower power consumption compared to the GDDR memory used in most of today’s best graphics cards for gaming.
HBM Specs
HBM2 / HBM2E (Current)
HBM
HBM3 (Upcoming)
Max Pin Transfer Rate
3.2 Gbps
1 Gbps
?
Max Capacity
24GB
4GB
64GB
Max Bandwidth
410 GBps
128 GBps
512 GBps
HBM technology works by vertically stacking memory chips on top of one another in order to shorten how far data has to travel, while allowing for smaller form factors. Additionally, with two 128-bit channels per die, HBM’s memory bus is much wider than that of other types of DRAM memory.
Cut through image of a graphics card with HBM (Image credit: AMD)
Stacked memory chips are connected through through-silicon vias (TSVs) and microbumps and connect to GPU via the interposer, rather than on-chip.
HBM2 and HBM2E
Samsung’s Flashbolt HBM2 DRAM targets high-performance computing. (Image credit: Samsung)
HBM2 debuted in 2016, and in December 2018, the JEDEC updated the HBM2 standard. The updated standard was commonly referred to as both HBM2 and HBM2E (to denote the deviation from the original HBM2 standard). However, the spec was updated again in early 2020, and the name “HBM2E” wasn’t formally included. However, you may still see people and/or companies refer to HBM2 as HBM2E or even HBMnext, thanks to Micron.
The current HBM2 standard allows for a bandwidth of 3.2 GBps per pin with a max capacity of 24GB per stack (2GB per die across 12 dies per stack) and max bandwidth of 410 GBps, delivered across a 1,024-bit memory interface separated by 8 unique channels on each stack.
Originally, HBM2 was specced for a max transfer rate of 2 GBps per pin, a max capacity of 8GB per stack (1GB max die capacity across 8 dies per stack) and max bandwidth of 256 GBps. It was then bumped to 2.4 Gbps per pin and a max capacity of 24GB (2GB per die across 12 dies per stack) and a 307 Gbps max bandwidth before reaching the standard we see today.
HBM3
While not yet available, the HBM3 standard is currently in discussion and being standardized by JEDEC.
According to an Ars Technica report, HBM3 is expected to support up to 64GB capacities and a bandwidth of up to 512 GBps. In 2019, Jeongdong Choe, an analyst at TechInsights, pointed to HBM3 supporting 4 Gbps transfer rates in an interview with Semiconductor Engineering. HBM3 will also reportedly deliver more dies per stack and more than two times the density per die with a similar power budget. In a 2020 blog post, Cadence reported that the spec will use a 512-bit bus with higher clocks, allowing HBM3 to “achieve the same higher bandwidth with much lower cost by not requiring a silicon interposer.”
We don’t know the release date of HBM3 yet; however, this April we saw SiFive tape out a system-on-chip (SoC) with HBM3.
This article is part of the Tom’s Hardware Glossary.
Team Group is a well-known Taiwanese hardware manufacturer with a long history of catering to the needs of enthusiasts and gamers from all over the globe. Their lineup includes DRAM memory and solid-state drives, and they also offer various memory cards and USB thumb drives.
Today, we are reviewing the Team Group T-Create Expert SSD, which is rated for an astonishing 12,000 TBW in the reviewed 2 TB version. Yeah, you read that right, twelve-thousand terabytes, or 12 Petabytes. On top of that, Team Group offers a 12 year warranty for the drive—an industry first, too. Please note that “T-Create” is a group of products, not the name of this product. There’s also a T-Create “Classic”, this review covers the T-Create “Expert”.
Under the hood, the T-Create Expert uses a Silicon Motion SM2262ENG controller paired with 64-layer 3D TLC flash from Micron. Yup, that’s right—standard flash that has been on the market for a long time, no secret sauce here. I can imagine that Team Group is using some firmware tweaks to improve endurance, but so far, I haven’t seen anything that would support the super high TBW claim. As expected, DRAM is present, too, two chips are installed to provide 2 GB of storage for the mapping tables of the SSD.
The Team Group T-Create Expert comes in capacities of 1 TB ($400) and 2 TB ($800). Endurance for these models is set to 6000 TBW and 12000 TBW respectively. As mentioned before, Team Group includes a twelve-year warranty with the T-Create Expert.
Specifications: Team Group T-Create Expert SSD
Brand:
Team Group
Model:
TM8FPF002T0C711
Capacity:
2048 GB (1907 GB usable) No additional overprovisioning
G.SKILL as a brand is synonymous with memory, so much so that our review database is filled with G.SKILL DDR4 kits when sorting by the company. You need to scroll down a decent amount before you hit a mouse review of their only mouse to date, and then there are a couple of keyboard reviews in there too. Late last year, the company introduced replacement keycaps they were pretty excited about and wanted me to cover. I wanted to wait until I could photograph them properly and then noticed there was another keyboard I can combine them with for a full review. So here we are then, taking a look at a G.SKILL keyboard and the Crystal Crown keycaps, and thanks again to the company for sending review samples to TechPowerUp!
G.SKILL keyboards have been all over the place when it comes to design, but it is also hard to generalize given there have been so few to date. Their Ripjaws model especially has adopted an aggressive design, which this KM360 contrasts strongly with a minimalist design and a TKL (tenkeyless) form factor. So much so that there is no logo or identifier in the stock image above, and it could be any other company’s keyboard. It is with the Crystal Crown keycaps that things look different, and we will take a look at all of this in the review that begins with a look at the keyboard’s specifications in the table below.
Specifications
G.SKILL KM360 Keyboard
Layout:
87-key form factor in a US ANSI layout
Material:
ABS plastic case and keycaps, and aluminium top plate
With an expected price between $400-$450, the Biostar Z590 Valkyrie is up against stiff competition on Intel’s new Rocket Lake platform. But outside of a lack of integrated Wi-Fi and some teething issues, the Valkyrue ticks all the boxes.
For
+ Robust 90A VRMs
+ Two USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 ports
+ Three M.2 sockets
Against
– VRM fans loud under heavy load by default
– Poor memory performance
– Style may be polarizing
Features and Specifications
With Intel’s new Rocket Lake CPUs and new chipset hitting the scene, Biostar took the opportunity to step up its game developing new motherboards for Z590, including the Valkyrie that we have on the test bench for review. Expected to be an upper-midrange option, it comes with high-end power delivery, three M.2 sockets, along with several fast USB ports and a price tag somewhere between $400 and $450. A company rep told us US pricing still isn’t final yet.
Biostar’s current Z590 product stack isn’t as robust as most other board partners. Currently, it consists of three boards: the flagship Valkyrie we’re looking at here, the Z590I Valkyrie (ITX), and the more familiar and budget-oriented Z590GTA. In addition to these three, the company also has a B560 board, the B560GTQ, and two H5120 based boards in the H510MH/E 2.0 and H510MX/E 2.0. While Biostar doesn’t have as many SKUs as the competition, the company still provides mid-range, budget, and ITX-size options.
On the performance front, the Valkyrie was generally on the slower side of testing, albeit not by much in many tests. Our DDR4 3600 memory kit defaulted to Gear 2, which increases latency and reduces bandwidth. The latest BIOS at the time of this writing (5.19 according to CPUz) added the ability to switch gears. However, I could not quickly get our board to work at Gear 1 running DDR4 3600, as I could with ,ost other Z590 boards. Hopefully, another BIOS update will address the bandwidth/latency shortcomings and allow the board to get close to the expected memory bandwidth.
Early performance aside, Biostar brought a solid board to the table. From its flagship-class VRMs, three M.2 sockets and premium audio (albeit from the last generation), the Valkyrie is a step up from its Z490 offerings. Curiously, a Wi-Fi antenna is included, but the board does not come with Wi-Fi. You’ll need to add a card (up to 6E capability) or stick to Ethernet. There are plenty of USB ports on the rear IO, with six USB 3.2 Gen 2 or greater. We’ll cover all the features the Valkyrie has to offer below. But first, here are the full specifications from Biostar.
LED on/off, LN2 mode, BIOS switch, Start/Reset, Clear CMOS
SATA Controllers
✗
Ethernet Controller(s)
(1) Realtek RTL8125B (2.5 GbE)
Wi-Fi / Bluetooth
✗
USB Controllers
✗
HD Audio Codec
Realtek ALC1220
DDL/DTS Connect
✗ / ✗
Warranty
3 Years
Starting with accessories, Biostar includes what you need to get started and not much else. All that comes in the box along with the motherboard are four SATA cables, a DVD with drivers, a User Manual and Smart Connector.
User’s Manual
Driver DVD
(4) SATA cables
Smart Connector
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Biostar)
Image 2 of 2
(Image credit: Biostar)
In looking at the Z590 Valkyrie for the first time, the jet black PCB and overall styling give off a mid-range vibe with all the shrouds and neatly organized headers across the bottom. The left side of the socket behind the rear IO is covered by a large shroud reaching over the left VRM heatsink. A small heatsink covers the top set of VRMs, along with two tiny fans that actively cool the power bits underneath. Another pair of fans are hidden under the rear IO shroud as well.
The PCIe area is covered in heatsinks/shrouds, with only the three full-length PCIe slots poking through. There is red highlighting in this area that gives way to gold highlights on the chipset heatsink. A second RGB lighting zone illuminates the chipset heatsink and Valkyrie symbol/branding. Overall the motherboard looks good and has a unique color scheme. For the most part, users should have few issues working this board in with their builds, as the red and gold highlights don’t stick out too much. That said, at the expected price, there are more refined boards available.
(Image credit: Biostar)
Focusing on the top half of the board, we get a close-up look at the louvered shroud covering the rear IO and left VRM bank. The right side uses a piece of acrylic that the RGB lighting shines through brightly. Just above are two 8-pin EPS connectors (one required) for the CPU. To the right is the top VRM heatsink. To the right of the heatsink are the first two (of five) four-pin fan headers. CPU_Fan, CPU_OPT and SysFan1/2/3 support both three and four-pin fans. The manual doesn’t mention output, so it’s best to assume each supports 1A/12W.
Continuing right are four unreinforced DRAM slots supporting up to 128 GB of RAM. Biostar lists RAM speed up to DDR4 5000(OC), but as always, your mileage may vary. In our case, this board didn’t like to run our DDR4 3600 memory kit at 1:1 to the memory bus and was using Gear 2. I’m no memory overclocking expert, but if other boards are working 1:1 with DDR4 3600, there are few reasons this one shouldn’t be. We also had trouble running our DDR4 4000 sticks as well. But we’re still early days on this platform, and this board isn’t even available for sale in the US as of this writing, so we’re hopeful an update will improve these compatibility issues.
On the right edge are several items, including all three RGB lighting headers. The Valkyrie comes with two 3-pin ARGB headers and one 4-pin RGB header. Most boards come with four RGB headers (two of each), but I’d imagine few would run into problems with three. Below are three onboard buttons; Power, Reset and Clear CMOS, each backlit with red, orange and blue LEDs, respectively. Next is the 24-pin ATX connector that feeds power to the motherboard. Finally, just below that is the front panel USB 3.2 Gen2x2 header.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
One of the places Biostar upped its game is with power delivery. The Valkyrie sports a 20+1+1 phase (CPU, System Agent, Graphics) VRM designed to run Intel’s flagship CPUs. The two 8-pin connectors feed power to a Renesas ISL69269 multi-phase controller (X+Y=12) through 10 Renesas ISL6617A phase doublers on its way to 20 90A ISL99390B MOSFETs. Some quick math yields 1800A of total power for the CPU. You won’t have any concerns with power delivery when overclocking.
(Image credit: Biostar)
Moving on to the bottom half of the board, we’ll start by looking at the audio section on the left side. Hidden under a plastic shroud is the Realtek ALC1220 codec. While this is a premium audio codec that most find plenty acceptable, it isn’t the latest and greatest (4000 series) that many other Z590 based boards use. Poking through the shroud are four Chemicon brand audio capacitors. We don’t find any fancy opamps or other audio features, but most users should be happy with the sound output by this board.
In the middle of the board, we spot three reinforced full-length PCIe slots mixed in with three M.2 sockets. The top and second slot are both wired to the CPU, yielding a PCIe 4.0 setup on both. The top slot is x16, while the 2nd slot runs at a maximum of x8. When both slots are populated, they run at x8/x8 speeds. Biostar mentions AMD Crossfire support, but not SLI (even though they have the required amount of PCIe lanes). The bottom full-length slot is connected to the chipset with PCIe 3.0 x4 capabilities.
The Biostar Z590 Valkyrie has three M.2 sockets, all of which have heatsinks to help keep the modules underneath running cool. The top socket is CPU-connected, supporting up to PCIe 4.0 x4 drives up to 80mm. The bottom two M.2 sockets support PCIe (3.0 x4) and SATA-based modules up to 110mm. When using a SATA-based M.2 module on the middle socket, SATA_5 is disabled. When using the bottom M.2 socket with a SATA-based M.2 module, SATA_6 is disabled. In short, if you have two SATA-based M.2 modules, that still leaves four SATA ports available and the primary M.2 socket for PCIe-based modules if needed. RAID support for M.2 devices wasn’t listed.
To the right is the chipset heatsink, you’ll see the Valkyrie symbol and additional RGB lighting. On the right edge of the board is a USB 3.2 Gen 1 header, while just below that are the six SATA ports (supports RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10). Finally, just below that is a BIOS switch that swaps between the dual BIOS – an excellent value add for a board equipped for overclocking.
The bottom edge of the motherboard is usually a mess of headers and ports, and while the Valkyrie has those, all headers (that aren’t fans) have plastic around them, which cleans up the look quite a bit. Below is the complete list of headers and switches, in order from left to right.
Front Panel Audio
(3) System Fan headers
Thunderbolt
COM
(2) USB 2.0 headers
Front Panel
2-character debug LED
LN2 switch
TPM SPI header
(Image credit: Biostar)
On the USB front, there are a total of eight ports — enough for most users. One USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C, five USB 3.2 Gen 2, and two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports. Just above the two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports is the Realtek 2.5 GbE port. If you plan on using the integrated graphics, you have a choice between HDMI (2.0) and DisplayPort (1.4) connections. There is a combo keyboard/mouse PS/2 port if you’re still hanging on to PS/2 based peripherals as well. Finally, we see a gold-plated 5-plug plus SPDIF audio stack.
Last but certainly not least, the rear IO area. Biostar uses an integrated IO plate that gives the board a more premium look and feel. It’s black, along with the Valkyrie branding written in gold above the Wi-Fi antenna connections. There are also vents cut out designed to bring cool air through the IO plate and through the fans to cool the left VRM bank. Remember that this board does not include Wi-Fi out of the box, so if you just look at the pictures and not dig down in the specifications, you could easily be misled. In order to get Wi-Fi out of this board, you will need to purchase a Key-E Wi-Fi card.
Today Nvidia dropped a new GeForce Experience driver update, version 3.22, and a new Game Ready Driver, version 466.11. Both driver updates are so feature-focused that there are more features added than bugs fixed. Making this patch cycle the most exciting update we’ve seen from Nvidia drivers in a while.
Nvidia’s AI Noise Removal Comes to OBS Studio
With the 466.11 driver, Nvidia’s popular AI Noise removal feature — which can be found in RTX Broadcast, is now coming to OBS Studio. Now you will be able to cancel out background noise using Nvidia’s software directly through OBS when you are streaming or recording. All you need is Nvidia Broadcast Audio Effects SDK, the 466.11 GeForce driver (or newer), and the latest test build of OBS Studio, version 27.
Once you have all three installed, you can use Nvidia’s noise removal software by right-clicking an audio source in the audio mixer and selecting the filters menu.
Nvidia Reflex Gets Faster When CPU Limited
Another update to the 466.11 driveris added performance with Nvidia’s Reflex technology under CPU-bound scenarios. More specifically, Nvidia says this update helps reduce system latency in CPU-bound situations where the render submission thread is the limiting factor.
So if you are in a situation where you have one of the best graphics cards, like an RTX 3080, but a slow processor that is bottlenecking your system, you’ll see a performance improvement with the new Reflex optimizations.
But beware, this optimization only activates when you run Nvidia Reflex in “Boost” mode. Some games like Call of Duty Cold War don’t enable boost mode by default, so be sure its checked in your Reflex supported title.
Nvidia future notes that all Nvidia Reflex supported titles have been updated to support the new optimization, including Valorant.
GeForce Experience Gets Major Updates
In the latest GeForce Experience 3.22 update, official support for one-click automatic GPU overclocking and performance OSD are now available.
Several months back, Nvidia introduced these features to GeForce Experience users in a beta format. The tools allow you to monitor things such as your GPU temperature, clock speed and memory consumption, more directly from the app.
With the GeForce Experience app, you also get one-click automatic GPU overclocking, where the application will automatically overclock and automatically stress test your GPU, giving you an easy way to get extra performance from your graphics card.
In 3.22 Nvidia has expanded it’s game optimizations area to support productivity apps as well, including Davinci Resolve. This means that GeForce Experience can automatically optimize settings inside productivity applications to best suit your GPU, similar to how the app can automatically adjust graphics detail in video games.
Other Updates
In the new graphics driver update, you also get DLSS and RTX support for Mortar shell, support for six new G-Sync Compatible displays from LG and MSI, and four bug fixes including the following:
1. Supreme Commander (1 & 2) should no longer experience low FPS.
2. RAW files should no longer show up black in Adobe Lightroom.
3. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 VR should no longer stutter when hardware accelerated GPU scheduling is disabled.
4. Some displays should no longer show incorrect color levels after booting into Windows.
Silicon Power has launched a new series of DDR4 memory kits under the company’s Xpower gaming brand. Consumers will be happy to know that the Zenith memory kits are available in both RGB and non-RGB flavors.
Designed to compete with the best RAM on the market, the Zenith and Zenith RGB come bearing a 10-layer PCB that’s passively cooled with an iron-grey aluminium heat spreader. Regardless of the format, the memory module stands 38.5 mm tall so compatibility with air coolers shouldn’t be an issue. In the case of the Zenith RGB, it features an user controllable RGB light bar that plays nice with with the four major motherboard brands, including Asus Aura Sync, Gigabyte RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Light Sync, and ASRock Polychrome Sync.
Silicon Power commercializes the Zenith and Zenith RGB in a single module and dual-channel packages. The first is available from 8GB to 32GB, while the latter spans from 16GB (2x8GB) to 64GB (2x32GB).
Image 1 of 4
(Image credit: Silicon Power)
Image 2 of 4
(Image credit: Silicon Power)
Image 3 of 4
(Image credit: Silicon Power)
Image 4 of 4
(Image credit: Silicon Power)
Memory frequency options on the Zenith and Zenith RGB are very limited. Consumers can only pick from three data rates: DDR4-3200, DDR4-3600 or DDR4-4133. Silicon Power didn’t reveal the entire specification sheet for the memory kits so only their CAS Latency (CL) value is known.
The DDR4-3200 and DDR4-3600 memory kits arrive with CL16 and CL18, while the DDR4-4133 memory kit features CL19. The voltage requirement for the DDR4-3200 and DDR4-3600 memory kits is 1.35V and 1.4V on the DDR4-4133 memory kit. They support XMP 2.0 so setup is a breeze.
Silicon Power backs its Zenith and Zenith RGB memory kits with a limited lifetime warranty. The company didn’t reveal the pricing or availability for the new memory though.
G.Skill’s Trident Z Royal family just welcomed a new member. The Trident Z Royal Elite retains the same luxurious aesthetics as its predecessor and will contend for a spot on our list of the best RAM.
The Trident Z Royal Elite, which is available in both gold and silver colors, features the same polished alumimum heat spreader as the vanilla Trident Z Royal. However, G.Skill has revamped the design a bit. The heat spreader on the Trident Z Royal Elite flaunts a gorgeous crystalline pattern that does justice to the crystalline RGB light bar. According to G.Skill, the new heat spreader is product of 76 chiseled facets.
While the outside looks different, the Trident Z Royal Elite is manufactured with the same recipe as G.Skill’s other high-end offerings. The memory comes equipped with a 10-layer PCB for stability and hand-picked memory ICs (integrated circuits) for the best performance.
G.Skill Trident Z Royal Elite Specifications
Data Rate
Primary Timings
Voltage
Capacity
DDR4-5333
22-32-32-52
1.60V
2 x 8GB
DDR4-5066
20-30-30-50
1.60V
2 x 8GB
DDR4-4800
19-28-28-48
1.50V
2 x 8GB
DDR4-4266
16-19-19-39
1.50V
2 x 16GB, 2 x 32GB
DDR4-4266
19-26-26-46
1.50V
2 x 16GB
DDR4-4000
16-19-19-39
1.40V
2 x 16GB
DDR4-4000
18-22-22-42
1.40V
2 x 32GB
DDR4-3600
16-19-19-39
1.35V
2 x 8GB, 2 x 16GB, 4 x 16GB
G.Skill isn’t tailoring the Trident Z Royal Elite portfolio to slower memory frequencies. The memory starts at DDR4-3600 and peaks at DDR4-5333 to rip through even the most taxing RAM benchmarks. Capacity will depend on the memory frequency of your choosing, but generally-speaking, the Trident Z Royal Elite comes in densities between 16GB (2x8GB) and 64GB (2x32GB or (4x16GB).
Despite its high data rate, the DDR4-5333 memory kit comes with acceptable memory timings that are configured to 22-32-32-52. The memory kit is restricted to a 16GB (2x8GB) capacity though and pulls 1.6V, which might scary many users.
The DDR4-3600 memory kit is the only one that arrives with a 128GB (4x16GB) capacity. The memory kit sports 16-19-19-39 timings, but only requires 1.35V so there’s definitely overclocking headroom.
Image 1 of 2
Trident Z Royal Elite (Image credit: G.Skill)
Image 2 of 2
Trident Z Royal Elite (Image credit: G.Skill)
The Trident Z Royal Elite supports XMP 2.0 so users can just flip a switch to get the memory to run at its advertised speed. As is the norm with G.Skill products, the Trident Z Royal Elite is backed with a limited liftetime warranty.
G.Skill didn’t reveal the pricing for the Trident Z Royal Elite memory kits. However, we’ll know very soon as the memory is scheduled to hit the retail market next month.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
