Tuesday, February 4th 2020
GIGABYTE Lists AMD B550 and Intel Z490 Motherboards
Thanks to the findings of VideoCardz, we have information that GIGABYTE has listed its upcoming motherboards for AMD and Intel platforms. Starting with AMD's upcoming mid-range chipset, the B550 model is supposed to bring PCIe 4.0 connectivity options to lower-priced motherboard variants. So far, only high-end chipset versions like X570 had PCIe 4.0 support, while the mid-range option was lacking. GIGABYTE has prepared a total of six B550 AORUS models, along with a GAMING series which is supposed to be a tier below AORUS models. The B550 chipset will span all motherboard sizes, including ATX, Micro-ATX, and Mini-ITX.
In the EEC listing, GIGABYTE also submitted Intel's upcoming Z490 motherboards for Comet Lake-S CPUs. In the listing, we see a total of 15 motherboards listed with an unusable entry. Again the W480 chipset appears, which is meant to power workstation motherboards. This chipset will go inside a new motherboard lineup called the "VISION" series. While we don't know what this new series brings, we know that both the workstation enabled W480 chipset and regular Z490 chipset will be a part of it.
Source:
VideoCardz
In the EEC listing, GIGABYTE also submitted Intel's upcoming Z490 motherboards for Comet Lake-S CPUs. In the listing, we see a total of 15 motherboards listed with an unusable entry. Again the W480 chipset appears, which is meant to power workstation motherboards. This chipset will go inside a new motherboard lineup called the "VISION" series. While we don't know what this new series brings, we know that both the workstation enabled W480 chipset and regular Z490 chipset will be a part of it.
56 Comments on GIGABYTE Lists AMD B550 and Intel Z490 Motherboards
Let's hope.
Now, the real problem is I was just about to pull the trigger on a X470 motherboard and now B550 is supposedly close to launching again.
And I'm going to guess, that much like b450, the micro ATX boards will be shafter again, stuck with chep 4 phase VRMs with junk cooling while the mini itx and full atx boards get 6 or even 8 phase VRMs with proper cooling. Because those of us that want expansion in a smaller case just dont matter to mobo makers anymore.
I think this is more than enough for most people for the time being, no?
If a single M.2 is covered - great.
I mean: both are nice additions if provided without any drawbacks.
But this platform needs a cheap, basic chipset to run mainstream, small form factor and business desktops.
People who buy expensive CPUs (3700X and above) will likely go for an X570 anyway.
AMD tried so hard to make it like they "upgraded" chipsets (when they only needed better VRM for newer CPUs), they now have a hard time differentiating among the myriad of options they have on the market. :(
AMD could have played this off as getting optimal performance by going X570... but missed an opportunity, IMO.
Thats all we want. A 4 phase doubler that can handle OCed 3950x CPUs. It sbeen dont in the past, we used to get full proper 8 phase VRMs on mATX boards, but for some reason the wholemATX community is withering, the good VRMs are either on mITX boards or full ATX boards. When a mITX board has better VRMs then the same brand's mATX boards, you know womething is up.
Like, the b450 pro4 motherboard is perfectly acceptable, just put a 4 phase with doubler, or 6 phase with doubler VRM on it! There is plenty of room! colorful seems to have made a proper x570 micro ATX board, but I just cant find any good teardowns or reviews of it, and at $269, thats too much $$$ to try it myself.
B550 will offer PCIe4.0, but only from CPU, meaning for x16 and one M.2/x4-Slot, like X470 did for PCIe3.0. That is because PCIe-Gen from CPU is dependent on board and has nothing to do with the chipset. Many X470/B450-Boards could support Gen4 but AMD blocked ist via AGESA, allegedly because it was not stable.
Information on Chipset vary from X470 with Gen3 to X470 +4xPCIe3.0, so far less than X570 and still less than Z390/Z490, but still more than X470/B450. Most important will be Gen4 from CPU, though.
Since Gigabyte will atleast offer an B550 Aorus Master, which ist upper midrange, B550 will not only a cheap Alternative like B450, but still no highend solution.
As for Z490, I'm curious to see what vision D and vision G is about.
We're all making assumptions here, but the matter of fact is, this is up to AMD. Maybe they decide last minute that they want to differentiate their platforms differently than what we're expecting.
The boards are being designed to support PCIe 4.0, but right now, there is no AGESA/UEFI support on B550 for PCIe 4.0. I was quite surprised when I was told this was the case. And my source is rock solid in this case.
Edit: For clarification, PCIe 4.0 lanes would only be form the CPU, not the chipset.Most likely, yes, but plenty people also save money by going with a cheaper board, as they don't "need" all the extras. It goes both ways.
AMD could have easily made this card work fine on PCIe 3.0. They gave it less RAM than a lower model and went for weird wiring implementation.
They ended up with a card that benefits from being paired with a modern AMD platform.The fact that some DIY users managed to run X570 chipsets without a fan proves absolutely nothing.
A chipset should work without a fan also in cramped, poorly vented cases. It's a must if AMD wants to sell it to OEMs.
With enough airflow in a case you can "passively" cool pretty much anything - high-performance rack units being a perfect example.Besides actual cost of manufacturing, there's also the simple idea of creating a diverse offer.