Hot on the heels of the Intel 500-series chipset announcement, Gigabyte has unveiled its latest Aorus motherboards based on the Z590 chipset. Six boards have been announced, including the Aorus Master, Aorus Extreme and diminutive Aorus Ultra.
Starting with the Z590 Aorus Extreme, this motherboard boasts a whopping 20+1 phase ‘true power’ design, using 100A DrMos stages. There’s also an 8-layer PCB a dual 8-pin EPS power connectors. Gigabyte also highlights the use of LAIRD 7.5W/mK thermal pads, which it claims can offer ‘4x the heat dissipation compared to traditional thermal pads’. The board also uses a NanoCarbon baseplate and its three M.2 slots use an enlarged ‘M.2 Thermal Guard II’. Connectivity includes 2x Thunderbolt 4 ports, 10GbE LAN and WiFi 6E.
Then there’s the Z590 Aorus Master, this time using a true 18+1 phase design, with 80A stages and a 6-layer PCB. The VRM is therefore slightly less powerful than the Aorus Extreme, yet the Master still boasts LAIRD 7.5W/mK thermal pads and three M.2 slots with M.2 Thermal Guard II. There’s no Thunderbolt port here, but there is a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C port, as well as 10GbE LAN and WiFi 6E.
Z590 Aorus Extreme
Z590 Aorus Master
Z590 Aorus Pro AX
Z590I Aorus ULTRA
Z590 Aorus Elite AX
Z590 Aorus Elite
As for the Z590 Aorus Pro AX, here the VRM is reduced to a 12+1 phase design, with 90A stages. We can also note regular WiFi 6 AX200 support, while LAN tops out at 2.5GbE. The Pro AX still offers support for 3x M.2 slots, once more with Thermal Guard II heatsinks, while there’s also a new ALC4080 audio codec.
Arguably the most interesting of the bunch is the Z590I Aorus Ultra, as this is the Mini-ITX version. Despite its obvious size limitations, it still sports a 10+1 phase VRM, with 90A stages. Memory is of course limited to just two DIMM slots, while there’s also two M.2 slots – one fed by the CPU, the other (on the back) by the chipset. The Audio codec remains with the last-gen ALC1220, while we can also note 2.5GbE LAN and 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C port on the rear I/O.
Lastly, we come to the Z590 Aorus Elite and Aorus Elite AX. As the name implies, the key difference between these two is the inclusion of WiFi on the AX model, and they are otherwise identical, with a 12+1 phase VRM using 60A DrMOS stages. There’s also three M.2 slots, but no mention of Thermal Guard II, suggesting the cooling may not be the same as the other boards. LAN once more tops out at 2.5GbE but there is still a single USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C port on the rear I/O. The Elite does lose a couple of USB 3.2 ports compared to the Aorus Pro, however.
Gigabyte hasn’t specified an on-sale date, but we would expect these boards to hit the market in the coming weeks.
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KitGuru says: The Aorus Extreme is clearly the top-end option, but which would you be most interested in buying for an 11th Gen Rocket Lake system?
Dominic Moass 33 mins ago CES, Featured Tech News, Motherboard, Tech News
The latest 500-series chipsets from Intel are here, and that means a ton of new motherboards. MSI has entered the fray by announcing no less than thirty motherboards across the Z590, B560 and H510 chipsets.
For its 500-series motherboard, MSI is doubling down on the four product ranges we have come to know over the years – MEG, MPG, MAG and Pro. In total, the company has announced fifteen Z590 boards, twelve B560 boards and three H510 boards. Full details will become available during MSI’s keynote on Thursday, but for now the company has shared some initial information.
In general terms, all MSI 500-series motherboards support PCIe 4.0, with up to 64GB/s bandwidth. MSI’s Z590 boards will also come equipped with WiFi 6E and its 6GHz band. The company’s Z590 Gaming series are also seeing upgraded Audio Boost 5 codecs, which MSI says can ‘create a synergy effect which can amplify sound and have better gaming experience.’ The company’s Dragon Center software has also been updated with a new UI and integrated functionality like overclocking and RGB control.
As for its MEG series, MSI says these boards are best described as ‘exquisite and gorgeous’, and outlines a number of new features, including aluminium backplates on both the MEG Z590 Godlike and MEG Z590 ACE, designed to provide greater surface area for heat dissipation. The Godlike also offers a new ‘Frozr heatsink’ design as well as a stacked fin array.
The we come to the MPG boards, here MSI highlights the use of its M.2 Shield Frozr (M.2 heatsinks) and K7 thermal pads, designed to offer optimal SSD performance. MSI’s MAG range, including the popular Tomahawk boards, have been refreshed with ‘new colour matching’, while the Tomahawk boards offer graphite heatsinks. Lastly, the PRO series are designed ‘for common use’ and offer a new Frozr AI Cooling technology ‘which will detect CPU and GPU temperatures and automatically adjust system fan duty to a proper value’.
Here is the full breakdown of MSI’s latest 500-series boards:
Z590 Chipset
B560 Chipset
H510 Chipset
MEG Z590 GODLIKE
MPG B560I GAMING EDGE WIFI
H510M PRO
MEG Z590 ACE
MAG B560 TOMAHAWK WIFI
H510M-A PRO
MEG Z590 ACE GOLD EDITION
MAG B560 TORPEDO
H510I PRO WIFI
MEG Z590 UNIFY
MAG B560M MORTAR WIFI
MEG Z590I UNIFY
MAG B560M MORTAR
MPG Z590 GAMING CARBON WIFI
MAG B560M BAZOOKA
MPG Z590 GAMING FORCE
B560M PRO-VDH WIFI
MPG Z590 GAMING EDGE WIFI
B560M PRO-VDH
MPG Z590 GAMING PLUS
B560M PRO WIFI
MPG Z590M GAMIMG EDGE WIFI
B560M PRO
MAG Z590 TOMAHAWK WIFI
B560M-A PRO
MAG Z590 TORPEDO
B560M PRO-E
Z590 PRO WIFI
Z590-A PRO
Z590 PRO 12VO
MSI says its 500-series boards will be available on January 27.
KitGuru says: That’s a lot of motherboards… which takes your fancy?
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Thermaltake is expanding its case portfolio with the new Divider TG case series. Consisting of four chassis of differing sizes, the new Divider cases are characterised by their tempered glass front panel, triangular tempered glass side panel with a vent, and patented PCIe expansion slot system.
Ranging from ITX to ATX cases, the Divider TG series includes the Divider 500TG, 300TG, 200TG, and 100TG models. Both 500TG and 300TG will be available in both black and white (Snow), while the 200TG and 100TG will only be available in black. The 300TG will have a standard and an ARGB variant, but the 500TG will only be available with ARGB. The smaller 200TG and 100TG will only come in non-ARGB variants.
The first Divider series case to release will be the 300TG, a mid-tower chassis supporting ATX motherboards that allows you to showcase your system thanks to the use of 3mm tempered glass panels. Capable of fitting a graphics card up to 360mm long when a radiator is installed at the front (390mm without it), this case comes with a riser GPU support bracket to avoid any sagging. The “patented rotational PCI-E slots” allows users to mount the graphics cards to their liking, be it horizontally or vertically. Moreover, the 300TG cases come with 2x 2.5/3.5-inch drive bays and 5x 2.5-inch drive bays for your storage devices.
ARGB variants come with 3x ARGB 120mm fans at the front, and another 120mm fan at the rear. The non-ARGB variants only come with a single 120mm fan at the rear. Users can mount up to 3x 120mm fans or 2x 140mm fans on the front, a 120mm fan at the rear, up to 2x 120mm fan on the side, and a 120/140mm fan on the top. Radiator support is fairly similar to the fan support, allowing users to install a 360/280mm front radiator, 240mm radiator on the side, and a 120mm radiator at the rear.
This case features dust filters on the top, bottom, front, and right side panels, preventing dust from getting into your system. The built-in PSU shroud improves the PSU cooling while also hiding the cable clutter. The front I/O panel includes a USB-C 3.2 port, 2x USB-A 3.0 ports, an audio-in 3.5mm jack, and an audio-out 3.5mm jack. The RGB fans can be synchronised through the included ARGB controller and connected to a motherboard compatible with RGB software such as ASRock Polychrome, Asus Aura Sync, MSI Mystic Light, and others.
The Thermaltake Divider 300TG cases will launch in February. The remaining Divider TG cases will release later this year. The Divider 300TG will be priced at $79.99, the Divider 300TG Snow at $84.99, the Divider 300TG ARGB for $109.99, and the Divider 300TG ARGB Snow for $114.99.
KitGuru says: Which Divider 300TG chassis would you like to build in? Are you interested in any of the other Divider TG cases?
Intel says its upcoming Core i9 – 11900 K beats AMD’s Ryzen 9 5900 X 1080 with a p-resolution of 2 to 8%
Intel has unveiled new processors as expected at CES today. Of the Alder, Ice, Rocket, and Tiger Lake processors available, perhaps the most interesting are the Rocket Lake processors for desktop use.
Intel Rocket Lake processors will be known in the market as expected . as the next generation Core S series. Inside the chip, after numerous Skylake updates, you can finally find the Cypress Cove Sunny Cove cores adapted for the nanometer process and a graphics controller based on the Xe architecture. Intel says new architecture improves processor IPC at its best 01%. The new architecture also comes with support for AVX 1080 extensions and Intel DLBoost technology.
According to Intel’s preview of selected media, the Core i9 – 11900 K will be 8-core, as expected, and will be able to run concurrently with Hyper-Threading-SMT technology thread. The maximum Boost clock frequencies for the processor are 5.3 GHz on one core and 4.8 GHz on all cores using Themal Velocity Boost technology. The TDP and PL1 values of the processor are 54 watts and the PL2 value of the Turbo clock frequencies. value 250 watts. The turbo can operate continuously for a maximum of 56 seconds.
The processor memory controller has been steeled and now Intel also officially supports DDR4 – 5900 speed. UE Graphics graphics driver based on Xe architecture is promised to provide % previous better performance, always-on Intel Quikc Sync Video support, and AV1 decoding capabilities.
Immediately after the new core architecture, perhaps the most anticipated new feature in Rocket Lake is support for PCI Express 4.0 buses. In addition, the number of PCIe bands was increased by four band, so now Intel also has enough bandwidth in addition to the video card for one M.2 SSD drive connected directly to the processor. Utilizing additional buses requires a motherboard based on the 512 chipset to support the processor.
Earlier it was reported that Rocket Lake processors will also run on 410 series motherboards. This is still true, but only partially: Rocket Lacquers work H 470 -, Q 470 and Z 490 chipsets, but not H 410 – is B 460 – chipsets. PCI Express 4.0 support works with those 400 motherboards for which PCIe4 support has been promised by their manufacturers. However, in order to use the PCIe 4.0 band, Rocket Lake requires series motherboard. In addition to one M.2 connector connected directly to the processor 500, the motherboards in the series support USB 3.2 Gen 2 × 2 (16 G) interfaces and an 8-band DMI bus between the processor and the chipset.
In terms of game performance, which is of interest to many, there is only one relevant slide in the public slide pack. According to the slide, Core i9 – 11900 K achieves with Metro Exodus 500 p resolution with miscellaneous settings 125, 54 FPS average performance when Ryzen 9 5900 X ice 54, 20 FPS. However, there is more information in the slide pack distributed to selected media. With the same pair of comparators, Intel is, in its own words, 2 to 8% faster than AMD with a mixed range of games and settings 1080 at p-resolution. You can find the names of the games and their settings in the slide above.
iBuyPower announced a new 18.34-liter small form factor PC case at CES 2021 called the Revolt 3 MK3. I’m not sure what I find so enthralling about it, but it’s the kind of case I’d find myself staring at for an embarrassing amount of time if I were in the market to upgrade my build. (Maybe I am, after all.) If you’re a fan of minimalist cases like me, with next to no added LEDs, you might find yourself under the spell of this case, too.
Okay, I also really like its top-mounted handle. It’s not like I move my PC around a lot, though it would make it far easier and safer to carry this around when I need to give it a deep cleaning or swap some of the tech inside. Beyond the handle’s utility, it reminds me of the Nintendo GameCube — if the handle were attached to a chassis that’s far more refined than that console’s actual devkit.
Image: iBuyPower
This case design isn’t entirely original. The Lian Li TU150 is a beloved small form factor (mini ITX) option for people who want a small PC with a handle on top, and it’s not like there aren’t other solid choices that arrive sans handle (Velocity Micro, Silverstone, and Sliger, to name a few). The Revolt 3 MK3’s huge amount of ventilation gives it a unique look. Beyond how it looks, each side of the machine can be removed for cleaning, and to make cable management easier to manage. The Revolt 3 MK3’s retractable headphone hook is a thoughtful feature, too.
You’ll be able to purchase this case sometime in the second quarter of the year filled with some pre-selected components from iBuyPower, including a 700W 80 Plus Gold SFX-L power supply that’s just below the suggested 750W for the Nvidia RTX 3080. The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT and cards below in both AMD and Nvidia’s field should be covered with this power supply for the pre-built crowd. At launch, the company hasn’t actually shared what other specs you’ll be able to have crammed in.
An exploded view of the Revolt 3 MK3 shows that it’s likely very good at catching dust.Image: iBuyPower
Alternatively, you’ll have the option to purchase just the case alone in black or white (it supports swappable parts so you can mix white and black how you please), and you can fit an ITX motherboard inside with all of the components you desire. It can actually fit GPUs as big as Nvidia’s RTX 3090, so you can make yourself a powerful machine in this case if you have the right power supply. The company hasn’t shared a price for the case by itself. You can find even more specs for the case on iBuyPower’s site.
Intel fired back at AMD’s Ryzen 5000 today at CES 2021 with its Rocket Lake-S flagship, claiming the new chip takes back the gaming performance crown. Intel says that its 14nm Rocket Lake processors will come to market this quarter with a 19% IPC increase born of the new Cypress Cove architecture, matching AMD’s IPC increase with its Ryzen 5000 series processors. Intel pairs this new backported architecture with its 14nm process, touting boost speeds up to a dual-core 5.3 GHz, all of which the company says will wrest the gaming lead back from the fastest gaming chip on the market, AMD’s potent 5900X, and perhaps shake up our Best CPU for Gaming and CPU Benchmark Hierarchy in the process.
Intel also claims the new chips, courtesy of the new Xe Graphics architecture, will deliver a 50% gen-on-gen increase in integrated GPU gaming performance.
(Image credit: Intel)
Intel has slowly teased bits of info about Rocket Lake, but here’s probably the most important new bit of details: Intel says the 8C/16T Core i9-11900K reclaims the gaming performance crown from AMD’s Ryzen 9 5900X at 1080p. The margins are slim, though. Intel ran these tests with an EVGA RTX 3080 XC3 graphics card, and the company’s claimed lead ranges from 2% to 8% (roughly a 4% advantage overall). That paints a picture of a closely-contested battle in gaming performance between Rocket Lake and Zen 3, particularly at higher resolutions.
Intel’s traditionally higher overclocking ceilings could prove to be an advantage against the Ryzen 5000 processors — it’s important to remember that Intel tested the Rocket Lake chip at stock settings. If these slim deltas play out in our testing and the Intel chips overclock well, pricing might be the determining factor if you’re on the hunt for a gaming processor in 2021. Unfortunately, Intel hasn’t shared pricing or availability information yet (the chips are rumored to land in mid-March). Still, the company has detailed a few other new features for the Rocket Lake series.
(Image credit: Intel)
AMD Ryzen 5000 Series Processor Competition
Zen 3 Ryzen 5000 Series Processors
Cores/Threads
Base/Boost Freq.
TDP
Ryzen 9 5900X
12 / 24
3.7 / 4.8
105W
Intel Core i9-11900K
8 / 16
? / 5.3
150W?
Core i9-10900K / F
10 / 20
3.7 / 5.3
125W
Ryzen 7 5800X
8 / 16
3.8 / 4.7
105W
Core i9-10850K
10 / 20
3.6 / 5.2
95W
Core i7-10700K / F
8 / 16
3.8 / 5.1
125W
Much of Intel’s Rocket Lake disclosure covers information we already knew, but there are a few new tidbits. Intel’s Core i9-11900K is the company’s Rocket Lake flagship and comes with 5.3 GHz dual-core and 4.8 GHz all-core boost frequencies, matching the previous-gen 10900K. It’s noteworthy that these are Thermal Velocity Boost frequencies that only activate if the processor is under a certain temperature limit, but most motherboard makers ignore those limits anyway. That means the chips will likely operate at these speeds regardless of temperature limits, at least on higher-end motherboards.
The 11900K comes with only eight cores and sixteen threads, a step back from the 10-core Comet Lake i9 models. Intel says the eight cores ‘maximizes real-world performance,’ but that decision also stems from the backported architecture.
“Backporting” is a method that allows Intel to take a new design built on a smaller process node, in this case 10nm, and etch it on an older, larger node (in this case, 14nm). Intel backported the 10nm Sunny Cove cores found in Ice Lake processors to the less-dense 14nm process to create the Cypress Cove architecture in Rocket Lake, leaving the chip designers with fewer transistors to make the new chips. As a result, Intel had to remove two cores; there simply wasn’t enough room in the chip package for a larger die.
Intel claims that Rocket Lake’s IPC and frequency improvements offset the removal of the two cores, implying the chip will offer the same performance in threaded work as the ten-core 10900K. The company has previously shared that the chips feature a 150W PL1 power rating (at the base frequency), a 25W increase over the 10900K, and an identical 250W PL2 (boost) rating. Intel also says the chips come with new overclocking features that it will explain in the future. We’re pretty sure that includes support for the new sub-ambient coolers from EKWB QuantumX Delta TEC and Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360 Sub-Zero that Intel helped design to bring exotic cooling to the masses.
The Rocket Lake-S chips are backward compatible with 400-series chipsets, and the PCIe 4.0 connection will work on existing motherboards that support the interface. Most Comet Lake chips are forward-compatible with the new 500-series motherboards that will debut today, the lone exception being Celeron models with 2MB of CPU cache.
Rocket Lake also brings the debut of Intel’s Xe LP graphics for its desktop chips. Intel says it added a ‘third more’ EUs to the chips to boost performance up to 50% over the previous-gen UHD 630 graphics. It isn’t clear if the increased EU count is over the existing UHD 630 graphics, which would mean we’re looking at chips with a maximum of a lackluster 32 EUs, or if it represents an increase over the Tiger Lake chips, which would beef up the Rocket Lake processors with 128 EUs.
We hope it’s the latter, as 32 EUs would hamper gaming performance significantly. On the other hand, doing 128 Xe EUs on 14nm would use up a considerable amount of die space, and most desktop users (at least in the DIY space) will simply use a dedicated GPU anyway. Notably, Intel’s test notes say the margin of error for its performance claim is +/- 15%, so we’ll have to wait for real-world testing. Intel’s Xe graphics also bring in-built AV1 decode acceleration, which is helpful because the codec reduces bandwidth up to 20% for video streaming (such as 4K and 8K content).
Intel also bumped up memory support from DDR4-2933 to DDR4-3200, matching AMD’s Ryzen, and added support for 20 lanes of PCIe 4.0, a needed addition that comes two long years after AMD led the industry with the first PC chips to support the interface. Intel also reworked the internal PCIe subsystem to accommodate the x4 direct connection (the chips now support 20 lanes) for M.2 SSDs to the CPU. Intel also widened the DMI 3.0 connection (the pathway that connects the CPU and chipset) from four lanes to eight, doubling throughput up to a theoretical ~7.86 GB/s.
Rocket Lake’s wider x8 DMI connection is only active on ‘select’ 500-series chipsets, so the chip defaults to a x4 connection on B560 and H510 motherboards. Comet Lake chips also only use a x4 connection on all 500-series motherboards, and the same x4 connection applies for Rocket Lake processors in 400-series motherboards.
Given the socket pinout, it’s doubtful that the widened DMI connection would work when you drop a Rocket Lake chip into a 400-series board, or when you use a Comet Lake processor in a 500-series motherboard, but we’ve followed up with Intel for further information.
The wider DMI connection should help with bottlenecks for devices attached to the chipset, like SSDs in RAID. However, the most recent unofficial information points to PCIe 3.0 support for devices connected to the chipset, and not PCIe 4.0. We do know that the chipset now features an integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 controller, doubling support over the existing interface to 20Gbps.
Intel also demoed the new Hitman 3, an Intel-sponsored title that supports a new feature that tests your CPU and adjusts settings ‘on Intel hardware,’ dialing up features like destruction physics, NPC density and 3D spatial audio through the engine’s ‘brick’ system. As a result, this system turns on automatically for PCs that have a CPU that passes a certain performance threshold.
Intel claims the 11th-Gen Rocket Lake i9-11900K offers up to 7% more performance in Hitman 3 than the 10th-Gen Comet Lake 10900K, but didn’t specify if the performance jump was due to the new features, or if that stems from the natural benefits of Rocket Lake’s higher performance. Hitman 3 comes to market this month.
Oddly, Intel also touted its ‘new’ Always-On QuickSync Video. This feature allows Xe Graphics to run concurrently with a discrete GPU so you can offload some workloads, like video streaming with QuickSync, to alleviate the burden on your discrete GPU. This feature has already been around for several years, but it required BIOS support, and you had to manually enable the integrated graphics unit after you installed a video card. Intel says the technique is now a supported and validated configuration that’s enabled by default in the BIOS.
Rocket Lake also supports Intel’s Deep Learning Boost (DLBoost) and VNNI features, which require support for AVX-512 instructions, to speed up AI workloads. Intel has helped enable the software ecosystem to better take advantage of the explosive performance benefits. Adobe’s recent suite of updates is a prime example of the improvements we can expect as AI becomes more broadly adopted for PC workloads.
Intel hasn’t shared detailed specifications, launch dates, or pricing, though the company did say that it was launching eight new high-performance desktop PC chips. We’ll update as more information becomes available.
In 2020, Minisforum, a company that focuses on Mini-PCs, started a crowdfunded campaign to launch its latest device, the Minisforum EliteMini H31G. The company is starting to send out the Mini PC to those who backed it and has now made it available for sale via its website.
The H31G is an updated version of the Minisforum H31 Mini PC that now supports 9th generation Intel Processors; Intel Core i5 9500F and i7 9700F. It also comes equipped with an Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti 4GB GPU soldered onto the motherboard. It looks to be a direct competitor to Intel’s NUC (Next Unit of Computing) with it being just slightly larger. Due to the housing of the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti GPU.
(Image credit: MiniForums)
Minisforum EliteMini H31G Specs
Operating System
Windows 10 Pro
Processor
Intel 9th/8th Gen Desktop Processor
Motherboard
Mini Form Factor
GPU
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
Memory
2x DDR4 (2666 MHz)
Storage
1x M.2 2280 PCIe SSD, 1x 2.5 inch SATA HDD, 1x M.2 2242 SATA SSD, 1x TF Card Slot
WiFI Connectivity
M.2 2230 WiFi Support (Intel WiFi 6 AX200, BT 5.1)
Video Output
HDMI, Display Port
Audio Output
3.5mm Audio Jack, Line In / Headphones Out
Ethernet Port
10/100/1000
USB
4x 3.0 USB Ports
While the Nvidia GTX 1050 ti doesn’t turn any heads, it still is better than both Intel’s and AMD’s iGPU offers. According to the Minisforum website, the H31G is being catered towards “game enthusiasts and advanced content creators alike.” Thanks to the GPU, it’s a fairly capable PC that is up to the task of gaming at 1080p at medium/high settings. Minisforum have provided several in-game benchmarks they conducted with the PC. For such a small PC that isn’t a custom build with a ton of power, these numbers are impressive. for what it is.
Miniforums H31G Game Testing Results at 1080p
Game Name
Frames Per Second
PUBG
48-60
Fortnite
35-45
Red Dead Redemption 2
40-55
Grand Theft Auto 5
46-60
CS GO
166-216
Far Cry 5
50-55
The Witcher 3
53-58
Watch Dogs 2
40-58
Just Cause 4
45-55
If you’re interested in seeing the H31G in action, be sure to check out the video below from ETA Prime. He was able to get his hands on the H31G and has tested it with several games.
Pricing for the H31G starts at $399.99 that includes the GTX 1050 Ti without any ram, CPU, or SSD, all the way up to $899.99 for a fully loaded configuration. This pricing, again, puts it right alongside Intel’s NUC, and may make it an attractive alternative.
Normally, at this time of year, most of the Tom’s Hardware staff is in Las Vegas, combing the show floor at CES and going hands-on with the latest technology. Sadly, due to COVID-19, the entire show and adjacent activities have gone virtual. So we’re all attending from our homes, but we’re inviting you along to join us.
This week, we’re doing more than a dozen different live streams with some of today’s top tech companies, talking about and demoing their latest products while taking your questions in chat.
All of these Tom’s Hardware Live shows will air on YouTube, Facebook, Periscope and Twitch, along with our internal video player. If you’re joining from YouTube or Facebook, we’ll see your comments live and can address your questions.
Here’s a current schedule of Tom’s Hardware Live events, along with links to watch / participate in them.
Monday: January 11, 2021
12 pm ET / 9 am PT: Sapphire Technology (YouTube, Facebook)
4 pm ET / 1 pm PT: HyperX (YouTube, Facebook)
5 pm ET / 2 pm PT: Thermaltake (YouTube, Facebook)
6 pm ET / 3 pm PT: HP (YouTube, Facebook)
7 pm ET / 4 pm PT: Intel (YouTube, Facebook)
Tuesday: January 12, 2021
2 pm ET / 11 am PT: Acer (YouTube, Facebook)
3:30 pm ET / 12:30 pm PT: Lenovo (YouTube, Facebook)
4 pm ET / 1 pm PT: Asus Graphics Team (YouTube, Facebook)
5:15 pm ET / 2:15 pm PT: Dell (YouTube, Facebook)
Wednesday: January 13th, 2021
1 pm ET / 10 am PT: Kingston (YouTube, Facebook)
2 pm ET / 11 am PT: Asus Motherboard Team (YouTube, Facebook)
In the mini PC Magnus One (ECM 10700 C), Zotac accommodates high-performance components in a small space. In contrast to the previous E-series devices, this time the manufacturer is mostly installing desktop hardware that can be replaced if necessary. Zotac positions the mini PC as an all-rounder that should be suitable as a workstation and gaming system.
Zotac builds Intel’s Core i7 in the Magnus One – 10700 of the Comet Lake-S series (8 cores, 16 Threads, 2.9-4.8 GHz). This means that the CPU will soon be a thing of the past, as Intel will launch the successor generation Rocket Lake in March 2021 S wants to introduce. Also on board are Nvidia’s current desktop graphics card GeForce RTX 3070 with its own cooling and 8 GB of RAM. An adapted LGA 696 motherboard is used in the Magnus One, which has space for two SO DIMM memory latch offers. That is enough for a maximum of 64 GByte DDR4 – 2933 – SDRAM. By default, Zotac installs 16 GByte.
In the preconfigured version, Zotac installs Windows 10 Home on a 512 GB M.2 SSD with SATA 6G connection. There is also a 1 TB HDD in 2.5 inch format for additional data. Users can retrofit another M.2 SSD with a PCI Express 3.0 connection. Alternatively, Zotac wants to sell the Magnus One as a barebone, in which the buyer has to install data carriers and RAM himself.
Connectivity In In terms of connectivity, the Mini-PC has two Ethernet ports with 2.5 GBit / s (NBase-T) and 1 GBit / s. The Magnus One communicates wirelessly thanks to the Killer Chip AX 1650 via fast Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5 The GeForce RTX 3070 offers three DisplayPort 1.4a connections and one HDMI 2.1 – all three allow Ultra -HD displays with 3840 × 2160 pixels and up to 144 Operate Hertz. The mainboard also has the HDMI 1.4 port of the combined processor GPU, which is used for 30 Hertz in Ultra HD is sufficient.
Zotac Magnus One ECM 73070 C (7 pictures) In the preconfigured version, Zotac installs Windows 10 Home on a 512 GByte M.2 SSD with SATA 6G connection. There is also a 1 TB HDD in 2.5-inch format for additional data. Users can retrofit another M.2 SSD with PCI Express 3.0 connection.
There are eight USB ports (4 × USB 3.2 Gen 1 with 5 GBit / s, of which once Type-C, and 4 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 with 10 Gbit / s) available. An SD card reader and a microphone / headphone combo connection are located on the front of the device. A 144 – watt power supply with 80 – Plus-Platinum certification supplies the components with power.
Information Zotac has not yet made the price and availability in Germany.
As the expected launch of Intel 500-series motherboards approaches, Z590 boards have been pictured ahead of their announcement. The latest set of leaks include four ASUS motherboards: the ASUS Z590 Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial, the ASUS Z590 Maximus XIII Hero, the ASUS Prime Z590-A, and the ASUS TUF Z590-Plus WiFi.
The ASUS Z590 Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial looks like it will be the flagship 500-series motherboard from the Taiwanese manufacturer, featuring an embedded EK waterblock over the CPU socket and another on the chipset, lots of RGB lighting, and a silver PCB shielding that fuses with both waterblocks. As per the picture from @harukaze5719, this E-ATX motherboard features 2x PCIe x16 slots, one PCIe x4 slot, multiple USB internal connectors, from which 2x are USB 3.2 Gen2, 2x 8-pin Aux power connectors, 2x PCIe M.2 interfaces, and an LED display.
Jumping over to the ASUS Z590 Maximus XIII Hero, it has some similarities to the Z590 Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial. It also features an E-ATX form factor, RGB lighting, 2x 8-pin Aux power connectors, and 2x PCIe M.2 interfaces, but it comes with one extra PCIe x16 slot, one less USB 3.2 Gen2 interface, and a “less shielded” PCB. Instead of white, this model features a black and dark grey design similar to the ASUS Maximus XII Hero.
Image credit: @harukaze5719, @VideoCardz
Regarding the ASUS Prime Z590-A and the TUF Z590-Plus WiFi ATX motherboards, as shared by VideoCardz, both are aimed for mid-range systems, featuring 2x PCIe M.2 slots, smaller chipset and VRM heatsinks than the Maximus XIII motherboards, and a 4-pin and an 8-pin Aux power connectors. Besides the fact it features 3x PCIe x16 slots instead of just 2, the white-themed Prime motherboard also looks to feature more RGB lighting than the black-themed TUF board.
Intel is expected to introduce its 500-series motherboards at CES 2021.
KitGuru says: Are you a fan of ASUS motherboards? Out of these four motherboards, which one would you use for a Rocket Lake-S system?
In the Thermaltake case, the motherboard tray is rotated 90 from normal, making it easy for the tower-type case to support long graphics cards.
Thermaltake has started its own share of CES with a new case. Named The Tower 100, the case promises to provide the user with plenty of space in a small area.
The Tower 100 case is, as the name implies, a tower-like case, but designed for the mini-ITX size class, it requires little space underneath. The housing is only 266 millimeters wide and deep, but it has a height of almost 463 e.g. There is a tempered glass panel on three sides of the case, but on the sides part of the width is dedicated to ventilation. The housing also focuses on dust filtration with magnetic filters.
The motherboard is mounted in the case 90 inverted, which allows even long graphics cards to be used in the case. The clearest disadvantage is that the housing only supports one 120 radiator in the ceiling.
Technical features of Thermaltake The Tower 100:
External dimensions: 266 x 462, 8 x 266 mm (L, K, S), volume 32, 75 liters
Weight: 6.1 kg
Material: SPCC steel, tempered glass
Front panel connections: USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C x 1, USB 3.0 Type-A x 2, microphone and headphone connectors
Compatible motherboards: Mini-ITX
Disc slots: 2 x 2.5 ”, without rear fan 2x 3.5”
Expansion card slots: 2
Maximum video card dimensions: length 330 mm
Maximum height of the processor roller: 190 mm
Power supply location: ATX (max. Length 180 mm)
Fans: 100 Fans on the roof and rear 120 x 120 x 25 mm, 1000 RPM, 16 dBA)
Fan locations: On the ceiling 120 / mm , on the rear panel 120 / mm mm, in the power supply cover 120 / / mm mm
Radiator locations: 120 mm on the ceiling
The Tower 100 case comes in both black and white Snow. The company will announce its exact launch date and price closer to release, but at least for North America, enclosures are still expected this month.
Z 812 motherboards provide, among other things, a more robust power supply and a PCIe 4.0 M.2 connector connected directly to the Rocket Lake processor.
Intel is preparing new ones based on the Rocket Lake architecture 11. next-generation Core processors to be released, according to preliminary data, in March. Although the processors will also work with existing 490 motherboards, the company will release new
alongside them. series chipsets.
Now the first images of Z 590 motherboards from several manufacturers have been leaked to the web. The motherboards will support PCI Express 4.0, and with the increased PCIe bands on Rocket Lake processors, an M.2 connector connected directly to the processor is also included.
Asus’ leaked range currently includes motherboards ROG Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial and Hero, Prime Z 590 – A and TUF Z 590 – Plus WiFi. The top model Extreme Glacial is equipped with monoblock cooling and OLED display. MS Z’s selection includes the MAG Z 590 Tomahawk WiFi, MEG Z 20210111 Godlike and MPG Z 590 Gaming Carbon WiFi.
Gigabyte’s selection revealed Z 590 Aorus Xtreme, where the company has invested at least Z 490 – sibling for a heavier power supply. According to VideoCardz, the processor has + 1-phase digital power supply and the motherboard would have an unreleased ALC 4080 – an audio codec that will also be seen on other highend class Z 590 motherboards. In addition, the motherboard supports 2.5 gigabit network connection and Wi-Fi 6E.
The 3D printer Ender 3 from Creality can now be processed with a 32 – bit Upgrade mainboard. This means that it prints more quietly and supports 3D touch sensors.
The Creality Ender does not print very quietly with the standard mainboard (V1.1.4) . The leveling of the print bed is also not very precise with the microswitches that work as height sensors. Converting to stepper motor drivers of the 340 and upgrading with a touch sensor can help.
So far there was the Silent-Mainboard V1.1.5, which is equipped with quiet driver components. To connect a more precise sensor, however, an adapter was also required, which was inserted into the display line and paralyzed the printer’s beeper.
Simple flashing The board V4.2.7 originally intended for the Ender 5 is different: In addition to the quiet TMC 2208 – Driver ICs, it has its own connection for the touch sensor. The beeper remains in operation.
The board is delivered with the Marlin 2 firmware installed, but in a version for the Ender 5. To operate the Ender 3, the firmware must be flashed. Creality offers these on its download page.
The correct file for the new motherboard is the 4.2.7 Ender-3 32 bit Marlin2.0.1 BLTouch V1.3.1without adapter board TMC 2225. rar .
Flashing itself is very easy: After installing the USB driver (CH 340 ) the transferred and unzipped firmware must be copied to an empty micro SD card and saved in firmware.bin can be renamed. With this card you start the printer and the electronics get the new firmware from the memory card. Then the file can be deleted.
The board is among other things in the Creality shop for 33, 99 Euro available.
Nvidia has started teasing its RTX 3000 series launch for laptops. The GPU manufacturer is holding a virtual press event for CES tomorrow, and it’s widely expected to unveil the mobile versions of the RTX 3000 series GPUs. A new teaser video includes a very clear hint of a laptop, alongside some other announcements that Nvidia is likely to make.
Tom’s Guide notes that the teaser includes four images: a gaming laptop, the Outriders game, a GeForce RTX logo, and resizable BAR (Base Address Register). The gaming laptop hints at the RTX 3000 mobile GPUs, but it’s also likely that the RTX logo teases further desktop GPUs. Rumors have suggested Nvidia is ready to unveil an RTX 3060 GPU that will be priced below Nvidia’s latest RTX 3060 Ti card.
The resizable BAR support seems like a hint for an upcoming driver update for Nvidia’s RTX cards. Much like AMD’s Smart Access Memory, Nvidia can boost the throughput between a CPU and GPU to improve framerates. Motherboard manufacturers will need to supply BIOS updates to enable this for both Intel and AMD CPUs, but Nvidia’s teaser suggests it’s ready to roll out the necessary driver support, too.
Nvidia is holding its CES press event at 9AM PT / 12PM ET on January 12th, and we’ll be covering all of the announcements as they happen.
Thermaltake first showed us their Mini-ITX The Tower 100 case during a virtual Expo that replaced Computex in 2020 and we were intrigued, especially when we learned the price was around the £90/$90 mark. Fast forward six months and as we prepared for a virtual CES, and the delayed launch of The Tower 100, we were truly surprised when Thermaltake offered KitGuru a world exclusive review of this intriguing case. Naturally enough we accepted with almost indecent haste.
Watch the video via our VIMEO Channel (Below) or over on YouTube at 4K HERE
Main features
Minimise the iconic The Tower 900 to support Mini-ITX
Tool-free tempered glass panel x3
Pre-installed 120mm standard fan x2
Supports the latest PC hardware
Front I/O ports with 2x USB 3.0 and 1x Type-C
Specification:
Motherboard support: Mini-ITX. Expansion slots: 2. Included fans: 1x 120mm top exhaust, 1x 120mm rear exhaust. Fan mounts: 1x 120mm/140mm on PSU cover, 1x 120mm/140mm roof, 1x 120mm/140mm rear. Radiator mounts: 120mm roof. 5.25-inch optical drive bays: None. Internal drive bays: 2x 3.5-inch/4x 2.5-inch, 2x 2.5-inch. Dimensions: 463mm H x 266mm D x 266mm W.
Once you have removed the glass panels you will find that building a PC inside The Tower 100 is relatively easy as you have good access to the Mini-ITX motherboard. On the other hand, it is questionable to claim the glass panels are tool-free as you first have to unscrew the top cover of the case before you can remove the glass. Our video shows you chapter and verse on the subject, including the bizarre cable routing we used for our Seasonic Focus PX-850.
The other reason we state it is easy to build a PC inside The Tower 100 is that you have very few options. You might install a 120mm AIO cooler on your CPU or you might go for an air tower, and that is pretty much the end of the matter. We were slightly surprised that Thermaltake does not include any RGB with the Tower 100 as the glass would show lighting to good effect however this clearly keeps costs low and certainly reduces complexity.
While The Tower 100 is rated as a Mini-ITX chassis we calculate the volume at 31 litres so it is fairly large. On the plus side you have plenty of space for the power supply, CPU cooler and graphics card. You have a great many options with your build and should have no difficulty arriving at a combination of parts that deliver decent performance.
Testing
To put this case through its cooling paces we will be using a test system consisting of an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, Sapphire Radeon RX 6800 XT and an SSD. This system allows us to produce a substantial amount of heat and effectively test the Thermaltake The Tower 100‘s cooling capabilities.
The ambient temperature during our testing was a mere 15 degrees Celsius so you should add five or six degrees to our figures to get representative temperatures however the takeaway is that The Tower 100 is absolutely fine. Our Sapphire RX 6800 XT was effectively breathing fresh air and was completely happy, and it was clear the Noctua NH-U12S had no difficulty cooling our Ryzen 5 5600X.
The downside is that The Tower 100 has pretty much zero noise reduction and when you crank up the fans it gets pretty darned noisy. If you were keen to improve cooling while keeping the fans speeds low, it might be interesting to experiment with a fan installed on the power supply shroud.
Closing Thoughts
Here at KitGuru we love a decent Mini-ITX chassis such as the Cooler Master NR200P, however we acknowledge the expense of an SFX power supply and the hassle of cramming your hardware into a tiny space.
Thermaltake has gone down a different route with The Tower 100 which is relatively large for an ITX build but still small enough that you can place it on your desk without it looking ridiculous. The major design choice is an ATX power supply which is necessarily quite large with long cables. The good news is that while it seems you should be able to see all the hardware through the three glass panels, in fact the mess is contained in the lower compartment and behind the back panel.
Where we applaud Thermaltake is in their decision to go for mesh on every panel and also to employ a huge number of dust filters to ensure your PC can breathe while also keeping the innards clear. We are so used to seeing Thermaltake cases with huge slabs of glass and arrays of RGB fans that The Tower 100 comes as a welcome relief.
Our major complaint about The Tower 100 is that it is rather noisy, and we hope there is scope to work on fan locations to improve air flow at low fan speeds. We are treating The Tower 100 as Thermaltake’s first serious bid to build a small chassis and we hope we can expect more of the same in the future.
We don’t yet have a retail link, but you will be able to buy The Tower 100 for approximately £92.49 in Snow White and £83.24 in Black, converted from USD MSRPs.
Pros:
The Tower 100 is more mesh than glass and has decent air flow.
Air filters on every panel.
Interesting looks and quirky style.
Good access to the components and a relatively easy build.
Cons:
Supplied 1,200rpm fans are quite noisy
The user manual is fairly basic.
Relatively large for an ITX chassis.
Cable routing requires some thought.
KitGuru says: Thermaltake’s The Tower 100 is novel and interesting, but above all it breathes well and does a decent job.
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