• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Gigabyte's B660 Gaming X DDR4 Leaks, Suggests Lower Cost Motherboards Won't be Getting PCIe 5.0

TheLostSwede

News Editor
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Messages
17,802 (2.42/day)
Location
Sweden
System Name Overlord Mk MLI
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 SE with offsets
Memory 32GB Team T-Create Expert DDR5 6000 MHz @ CL30-34-34-68
Video Card(s) Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phantom GS
Storage 1TB Solidigm P44 Pro, 2 TB Corsair MP600 Pro, 2TB Kingston KC3000
Display(s) Acer XV272K LVbmiipruzx 4K@160Hz
Case Fractal Design Torrent Compact
Audio Device(s) Corsair Virtuoso SE
Power Supply be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850 W
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard Corsair K70 Max
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/yfsd9w
Based on the Intel 600-series chipset leak earlier today, it was easy to conclude that all 600-series motherboards would be getting PCIe 5.0 support, but alas, that is not the case. We've already seen some rock bottom Z690 without PCIe 5.0 and thanks to Videocardz we now know that Gigabyte's B660 Gaming X DDR4 will also lack PCIe 5.0 support.

How do we know this board doesn't support PCIe 5.0? First of all, the x16 slot closest to the CPU uses one of Gigabyte's older reinforced PCIe 4.0 slots, whereas all of its Z690 boards with PCIe 5.0 support uses a new, white type of slot. These slots use a visually different kind of reinforcement as well, even if it's only marginally different. However, Gigabyte doesn't appear to be silk screening PCIe 5.0 on supported boards and it's possible that they're using a different slot vendor for the B660 boards.




Out of the 18 available PCIe lanes, the four from the CPU are used for the top most M.2 slot, with another four PCIe 4.0 most likely being used for another M.2 slot, with the third one being PCIe 3.0. That leaves us with two PCIe 4.0 lanes and four PCIe 3.0 lanes. We're guessing that the two PCIe 4.0 lanes are used for the two PCIe x16 slots at the bottom of the board, since they're only PCIe x1 electrically if you take a closer look at the slots. This leaves a PCIe 3.0 for the 2.5 Gbps Ethernet controller, while we're not entirely sure what the remaining three lanes are used for.

The board features the expected four SATA ports, plus two rear 10 Gbps USB 3.2 ports, as well as a front header for what should be a 20 Gbps USB 3.2 port. There are also a couple of 5 Gbps USB 3.2 ports and a front header for another two, as well as four rear USB 2.0 ports and two headers for another four. The board also has a DP and HDMI port, although it's unknown what type they are, but most like DP 1.2 and HDMI 1.4. As the board name suggests, this board uses DDR4 memory. Unlike most of Gigabyte's Z690 boards, the B660 Gaming X features a full set of 3.5 mm audio jacks. Gigabyte's Q-Flash Plus is also supported and the board has an additional button for resetting the CMOS. Overall it's not a very exciting board, but hopefully it'll be priced at a more reasonable level than its Z690 siblings.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
Joined
Aug 4, 2020
Messages
1,624 (1.01/day)
Location
::1
Good. For like 99.9% of all users, PCIe 5.0 is just throwing good money after the bad.
 

TheLostSwede

News Editor
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Messages
17,802 (2.42/day)
Location
Sweden
System Name Overlord Mk MLI
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 SE with offsets
Memory 32GB Team T-Create Expert DDR5 6000 MHz @ CL30-34-34-68
Video Card(s) Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phantom GS
Storage 1TB Solidigm P44 Pro, 2 TB Corsair MP600 Pro, 2TB Kingston KC3000
Display(s) Acer XV272K LVbmiipruzx 4K@160Hz
Case Fractal Design Torrent Compact
Audio Device(s) Corsair Virtuoso SE
Power Supply be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850 W
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard Corsair K70 Max
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/yfsd9w
Good. For like 99.9% of all users, PCIe 5.0 is just throwing good money after the bad.
I'd say the chipset is a bit limiting here, the H670 should be a better option for ATX boards. Had this been mATX it would've made more sense to use the B660.
 
Joined
Aug 4, 2020
Messages
1,624 (1.01/day)
Location
::1
True.
Then again, there's plenty of ordinary users™ who'd be far better off buying mATX or even mini-ITX than full blown ATX to save a few more bucks (bc they'll never use all those connectors et cetera) yet insist on it so yeah xd
 

TheLostSwede

News Editor
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Messages
17,802 (2.42/day)
Location
Sweden
System Name Overlord Mk MLI
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 SE with offsets
Memory 32GB Team T-Create Expert DDR5 6000 MHz @ CL30-34-34-68
Video Card(s) Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phantom GS
Storage 1TB Solidigm P44 Pro, 2 TB Corsair MP600 Pro, 2TB Kingston KC3000
Display(s) Acer XV272K LVbmiipruzx 4K@160Hz
Case Fractal Design Torrent Compact
Audio Device(s) Corsair Virtuoso SE
Power Supply be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850 W
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard Corsair K70 Max
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/yfsd9w
True.
Then again, there's plenty of ordinary users™ who'd be far better off buying mATX or even mini-ITX than full blown ATX to save a few more bucks (bc they'll never use all those connectors et cetera) yet insist on it so yeah xd
Sadly it doesn't tend to save a lot of money though and many mini-ITX boards are stupidly expensive for what they are.
At least there are some decent mATX boards for Intel, whereas for AMD there aren't many at all.
 
Joined
Aug 4, 2020
Messages
1,624 (1.01/day)
Location
::1
Even $5 saved's a good deal if you'll never gonna make use of the ATX features tbh
 
Joined
Jan 13, 2021
Messages
109 (0.08/day)
Processor AMD 5800X
Motherboard MSI MPG B550 GAMING EDGE WIFI
Cooling Water Cooler SilverStone PF360-ARGB
Memory HyperX Fury, 32GB (4x8GB), 3600MHz, DDR4, CL17, HX436C17FB3K4/32
Video Card(s) RX 6800 XT Sapphire Nitro+ OC
Display(s) Acer Predator X34 34"
Power Supply Sharkoon 850W, 80 Plus Gold, SilentStorm CoolZero
Software Windows 11 21H2 Build 22000.318
I bet the vrm will also be cut down like the z590 and b650. Watch out for those motherboards that claim support for high end cpus, but because of the lower quantity and quality of VRMs end up losing a lot of performance.
 

TheLostSwede

News Editor
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Messages
17,802 (2.42/day)
Location
Sweden
System Name Overlord Mk MLI
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 SE with offsets
Memory 32GB Team T-Create Expert DDR5 6000 MHz @ CL30-34-34-68
Video Card(s) Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phantom GS
Storage 1TB Solidigm P44 Pro, 2 TB Corsair MP600 Pro, 2TB Kingston KC3000
Display(s) Acer XV272K LVbmiipruzx 4K@160Hz
Case Fractal Design Torrent Compact
Audio Device(s) Corsair Virtuoso SE
Power Supply be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850 W
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard Corsair K70 Max
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/yfsd9w
I bet the vrm will also be cut down like the z590 and b650. Watch out for those motherboards that claim support for high end cpus, but because of the lower quantity and quality of VRMs end up losing a lot of performance.
Looks like 8+2+1?
 
Joined
Jan 13, 2021
Messages
109 (0.08/day)
Processor AMD 5800X
Motherboard MSI MPG B550 GAMING EDGE WIFI
Cooling Water Cooler SilverStone PF360-ARGB
Memory HyperX Fury, 32GB (4x8GB), 3600MHz, DDR4, CL17, HX436C17FB3K4/32
Video Card(s) RX 6800 XT Sapphire Nitro+ OC
Display(s) Acer Predator X34 34"
Power Supply Sharkoon 850W, 80 Plus Gold, SilentStorm CoolZero
Software Windows 11 21H2 Build 22000.318
Joined
Dec 28, 2012
Messages
3,974 (0.91/day)
System Name Skunkworks 3.0
Processor 5800x3d
Motherboard x570 unify
Cooling Noctua NH-U12A
Memory 32GB 3600 mhz
Video Card(s) asrock 6800xt challenger D
Storage Sabarent rocket 4.0 2TB, MX 500 2TB
Display(s) Asus 1440p144 27"
Case Old arse cooler master 932
Power Supply Corsair 1200w platinum
Mouse *squeak*
Keyboard Some old office thing
Software Manjaro
Joined
Dec 29, 2010
Messages
3,809 (0.74/day)
Processor AMD 5900x
Motherboard Asus x570 Strix-E
Cooling Hardware Labs
Memory G.Skill 4000c17 2x16gb
Video Card(s) RTX 3090
Storage Sabrent
Display(s) Samsung G9
Case Phanteks 719
Audio Device(s) Fiio K5 Pro
Power Supply EVGA 1000 P2
Mouse Logitech G600
Keyboard Corsair K95
Good. For like 99.9% of all users, PCIe 5.0 is just throwing good money after the bad.
This. Heck even 4.0 isn't used much outside of production environments.
 
Joined
Jul 10, 2018
Messages
253 (0.11/day)
I consider the Asus Prime Z690-A to be a 'lower cost' motherboard. It's only £250 and supports both DDR5 RAM and PCI-E 5.0. No reason for people to be looking at B660's. If they want cheap the Prime Z690 already is. Although getting hold of some DDR5 RAM is a bit difficult right now. But there are more shipments due in mid january.
 
Joined
Mar 21, 2016
Messages
2,508 (0.78/day)
Not a bad trade off if they are replacing PCIE 5.0 x4 slots with PCIE 4.0 x8 slots for example. I can see that is a good alternative if it's more cost effective to a lot of people. PCIE 5.0 is going to take some time to really reach maturity regardless so this makes well enough sense if there intention is more to split a PCIE 5.0 lane into two PCIE 4.0 lanes with half the bandwidth, but twice the card slot flexibility. That's a reasonable compromise and just comes down to how you use the bandwidth and divide it into lanes to be used by card adapters. It's similar to DDR4 vs DDR5 we know DDR5 is the future and PCIE 5.0 is as well, but you might be just as well off skipping it this generation and adopting it next generation be it for PCIE 5.0 or DDR5.
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2021
Messages
1,881 (1.31/day)
Location
Alaska USA
I consider the Asus Prime Z690-A to be a 'lower cost' motherboard. It's only £250 and supports both DDR5 RAM and PCI-E 5.0. No reason for people to be looking at B660's. If they want cheap the Prime Z690 already is. Although getting hold of some DDR5 RAM is a bit difficult right now. But there are more shipments due in mid january.
The cost of gpu's are running sky high atm. A lot of gamers are looking to cut cost anyway possible in order to fit one of those overpriced gpu's in their budget. Having overpriced DDR5 isn't high on their list atm.

The upcoming i5 12400F and i7 12700F expected to retail at $200 and $280 . The B660 DDR4 boards with decent VRM's will probably retail for $140 - $160+ depending on how much goodies you want with your motherboard.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/core-i5-12400-qs-cpu-24-percent-faster-core-i5-11400-gaming


 

TheLostSwede

News Editor
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Messages
17,802 (2.42/day)
Location
Sweden
System Name Overlord Mk MLI
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 SE with offsets
Memory 32GB Team T-Create Expert DDR5 6000 MHz @ CL30-34-34-68
Video Card(s) Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phantom GS
Storage 1TB Solidigm P44 Pro, 2 TB Corsair MP600 Pro, 2TB Kingston KC3000
Display(s) Acer XV272K LVbmiipruzx 4K@160Hz
Case Fractal Design Torrent Compact
Audio Device(s) Corsair Virtuoso SE
Power Supply be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850 W
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard Corsair K70 Max
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/yfsd9w
Not a bad trade off if they are replacing PCIE 5.0 x4 slots with PCIE 4.0 x8 slots for example. I can see that is a good alternative if it's more cost effective to a lot of people. PCIE 5.0 is going to take some time to really reach maturity regardless so this makes well enough sense if there intention is more to split a PCIE 5.0 lane into two PCIE 4.0 lanes with half the bandwidth, but twice the card slot flexibility. That's a reasonable compromise and just comes down to how you use the bandwidth and divide it into lanes to be used by card adapters. It's similar to DDR4 vs DDR5 we know DDR5 is the future and PCIE 5.0 is as well, but you might be just as well off skipping it this generation and adopting it next generation be it for PCIE 5.0 or DDR5.
Unfortunately, that's not the case and it would require an additional, expensive chip. Instead, you simply get 16 lanes of PCIe 4.0 in lieu of 16 lanes of PCIe 5.0.
 
Joined
Feb 1, 2019
Messages
3,669 (1.70/day)
Location
UK, Midlands
System Name Main PC
Processor 13700k
Motherboard Asrock Z690 Steel Legend D4 - Bios 13.02
Cooling Noctua NH-D15S
Memory 32 Gig 3200CL14
Video Card(s) 4080 RTX SUPER FE 16G
Storage 1TB 980 PRO, 2TB SN850X, 2TB DC P4600, 1TB 860 EVO, 2x 3TB WD Red, 2x 4TB WD Red
Display(s) LG 27GL850
Case Fractal Define R4
Audio Device(s) Soundblaster AE-9
Power Supply Antec HCG 750 Gold
Software Windows 10 21H2 LTSC
Seems a good board, not spending money on a feature that one doesnt need.
 
D

Deleted member 24505

Guest
The cost of gpu's are running sky high atm. A lot of gamers are looking to cut cost anyway possible in order to fit one of those overpriced gpu's in their budget. Having overpriced DDR5 isn't high on their list atm.

The upcoming i5 12400F and i7 12700F expected to retail at $200 and $280 . The B660 DDR4 boards with decent VRM's will probably retail for $140 - $160+ depending on how much goodies you want with your motherboard.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/core-i5-12400-qs-cpu-24-percent-faster-core-i5-11400-gaming



That 12400 is gonna be a great budget cpu.
 

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator
Joined
Oct 6, 2004
Messages
58,413 (7.90/day)
Location
Oystralia
System Name Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory 2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s) Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage 2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s) Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) | Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) | Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s) Logitech G560 | Corsair Void pro RGB |Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores Nyooom.
I dont think anyone is mad about this.


I totally agree that a good difference between top tier boards and mid/entry is the PCI-E gen level, as thats a good way to cut costs that 99% of users wont notice

I've got an RTX 3090 and an SN850, two top tier PCI-E 4.0 devices... and if someone snuck in and changed my system to PCI-E 3.0, I would not notice.
And thats even with my GPU at x8 mode, feeding that silly RAID card I have in the second slot.
 
Top