Gigabyte's Upcoming Motherboard Refresh Leaked via the EEC

[TheLostSwede]

The Eurasian Economic Commission or the EEC for short, has become something of a source when it comes to upcoming product leaks, at least as far as the model names goes and now a range of upcoming motherboards from Gigabyte has made an appearance on its site. What we're looking at is a range of refreshed boards, some that were on display at Computex, but most of them haven't been officially announced as yet. On the Intel side, all the new models have an X somewhere towards the end of the model names to reflect them being part of the refresh and at least some SKUs are getting WiFi 7 support, All except one model is based on the Z790 chipset, at least as far as most of us are concerned, as there's one custom SKU that's said to be for a Chinese system integrator that won't be available outside of China. As the China specific SKU is already listed on Gigabyte's Chinese website, we've included a picture of the B70M YT Pioneer WiFi below.

On the AMD side of things, Gigabyte is adding a more affordable X670E SKU with the X670E Aorus Elite AX. Here, AMD has stuck with a simple V2 to reflect the refreshed boards, but it's unclear what has changed on these models. Gigabyte has also added a few new MicroATX B650 boards, with the B650M Aorus Elite AX Arctic which will be a white and/or silver motherboard with matching design elements. This board will have limited availability and although it might be found in retail in some countries, it's largely intended for system integrators. The other two new boards are the B650M A Elite AX Arc—we were told by a source that this is a mistake in the filing—and the B650M Gaming WiFi, which should be a cheaper alternative to the B650M Gaming X models the company is currently offering. These boards should start arriving in the autumn some time, at least based on the boards Gigabyte was showing at Computex.



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[Chaitanya]

Werent these boards shown off at computex?

 

[TheLostSwede]

Werent these boards shown off at computex?

Nope, only the two high-end Z790 boards.

 

[ir_cow]

Werent these boards shown off at computex?

Pretty much. If one vendor showed stuff, it was certain the rest had a few ready to go.

 

[chrcoluk]

Would this make a 3rd gen of boards on the LGA 1700? Surely two is enough.

 

[pressing on]

Would this make a 3rd gen of boards on the LGA 1700? Surely two is enough.

I don't think 600 or 700 series motherboard owners will be complaining. Some vendors have already issued initial BIOS updates for the "next-gen processors". So it's an open secret that something is coming from Intel, quite what is another matter. All is due to be revealed around the third week in September, but the leakers will no doubt be busy before then.

 

[Tomorrow]

I don't think 600 or 700 series motherboard owners will be complaining. Some vendors have already issued initial BIOS updates for the "next-gen processors". So it's an open secret that something is coming from Intel, quite what is another matter. All is due to be revealed around the third week in September, but the leakers will no doubt be busy before then.

Everyone who follows leaks knows they will bring out refresh boards based on 700 series chipsets for Raptor Lake Refresh.

New AM5 boards are more curious. For example two DIMM memory OC focused boards like Gigabyte B650E Tachyon is still MIA despite the support page existing and has received four BIOS updates even but cannot be bought from anywhere: https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/B650E-AORUS-TACHYON-rev-10

 

[TheLostSwede]

Everyone who follows leaks knows they will bring out refresh boards based on 700 series chipsets for Raptor Lake Refresh.

New AM5 boards are more curious. For example two DIMM memory OC focused boards like Gigabyte B650E Tachyon is still MIA despite the support page existing and has received four BIOS updates even but cannot be bought from anywhere: https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/B650E-AORUS-TACHYON-rev-10

The Tachyon was only produced in a very very limited series and most went straight to overclockers. If I remember right, a few boards were on sale in Japan.

 

[Tomorrow]

The Tachyon was only produced in a very very limited series and most went straight to overclockers. If I remember right, a few boards were on sale in Japan.

That's what i figured. So basically the same as EVGA's Dark series boards - straight to XOC and nothing in retail.

Sad that only two DIMM AM5 options are still budget focused A620 or ITX boards. No love for full size ATX boards.
Do you by any change have any info on MSI boards? They had interesting Unify series AM4 boards that stripped out all the RGB while retaining memory OC focus.

Would be nice to see something like that for AM5 in the future.

 

[msimax]

That's what i figured. So basically the same as EVGA's Dark series boards - straight to XOC and nothing in retail.

Sad that only two DIMM AM5 options are still budget focused A620 or ITX boards. No love for full size ATX boards.
Do you by any change have any info on MSI boards? They had interesting Unify series AM4 boards that stripped out all the RGB while retaining memory OC focus.

Would be nice to see something like that for AM5 in the future.

i got my dark and z790 tachyon on newegg they sell out but comes back in stock

 

[TheLostSwede]

That's what i figured. So basically the same as EVGA's Dark series boards - straight to XOC and nothing in retail.

Sad that only two DIMM AM5 options are still budget focused A620 or ITX boards. No love for full size ATX boards.
Do you by any change have any info on MSI boards? They had interesting Unify series AM4 boards that stripped out all the RGB while retaining memory OC focus.

Would be nice to see something like that for AM5 in the future.

Sorry, I don't have any good sources at MSI any more.

 

[deb]

That's what i figured. So basically the same as EVGA's Dark series boards - straight to XOC and nothing in retail.

Sad that only two DIMM AM5 options are still budget focused A620 or ITX boards. No love for full size ATX boards.
Do you by any change have any info on MSI boards? They had interesting Unify series AM4 boards that stripped out all the RGB while retaining memory OC focus.

Would be nice to see something like that for AM5 in the future.

I actually think that the Dark K|ngp|n series by EVGA are gorgeously designed, as well as only being 2-slots. idk if this is an unpopular opinion or not.

 

[Tomorrow]

I actually think that the Dark K|ngp|n series by EVGA are gorgeously designed, as well as only being 2-slots. idk if this is an unpopular opinion or not.

I like the rotated socket and all power connectors at the side. Visually it's not the best with those yellow audio caps tho as i prefer blackout design.

 

[deb]

I like the rotated socket and all power connectors at the side. Visually it's not the best with those yellow audio caps tho as i prefer blackout design.

The new Z790 model actually got rid of the yellow, it's pretty much all black.

 

[chrcoluk]

I don't think 600 or 700 series motherboard owners will be complaining. Some vendors have already issued initial BIOS updates for the "next-gen processors". So it's an open secret that something is coming from Intel, quite what is another matter. All is due to be revealed around the third week in September, but the leakers will no doubt be busy before then.

Thats not what my issue is, more that they feel the need to pump out a new SKU. It is same socket, same chipset, no need for a new SKU for new CPU release.

 

[pressing on]

Thats not what my issue is, more that they feel the need to pump out a new SKU. It is same socket, same chipset, no need for a new SKU for new CPU release.

In the absence of any details about the "next-gen" processors there is no way at this time of knowing why a refresh of the Z790 is needed rather than just the current one. On a practical level the need for a BIOS update of current Z790 boards creates the situation that new buyers are more likely to buy a refresh motherboard because they can just drop a refresh CPU straight in. It's same as it is now if you want to buy an Intel 13th gen processor. With 600 series boards it's a BIOS update, with 700 boards it's not.

The refresh Z790 boards will have some changes from the current ones. In the case of Gigabyte this includes 10Gb ethernet and Wi-Fi 7. I think it can be assumed that Z790X will be more expensive than the current Z790s. But again, the buyer has the choice if they can do a BIOS update and if they don't need any of the new features.

 

[chrcoluk]

In the absence of any details about the "next-gen" processors there is no way at this time of knowing why a refresh of the Z790 is needed rather than just the current one. On a practical level the need for a BIOS update of current Z790 boards creates the situation that new buyers are more likely to buy a refresh motherboard because they can just drop a refresh CPU straight in. It's same as it is now if you want to buy an Intel 13th gen processor. With 600 series boards it's a BIOS update, with 700 boards it's not.

The refresh Z790 boards will have some changes from the current ones. In the case of Gigabyte this includes 10Gb ethernet and Wi-Fi 7. I think it can be assumed that Z790X will be more expensive than the current Z790s. But again, the buyer has the choice if they can do a BIOS update and if they don't need any of the new features.

True, but I expect most likely is they just want to release something new as it "generates interest", new boards will create news articles and trigger new reviews.

 

[pressing on]

Yes, let's see what TechPowerUp's new motherboard reviewer has to say on this subject.

 

[Sabishii Hito]

That's what i figured. So basically the same as EVGA's Dark series boards - straight to XOC and nothing in retail.

Eh? I have a Z590 and Z690 Dark, and I've seen the Z790 Dark for sale on EVGA's site a time or too.

 

[Tomorrow]

Eh? I have a Z590 and Z690 Dark, and I've seen the Z790 Dark for sale on EVGA's site a time or too.

In the US maybe. In the EU getting any Dark series motherboard is nigh impossible. And im talking about the whole EU not just any specific country where availability is even more nonexistent. EVGA has always ignored EU as a whole. They have some availability in their EU store but not all models (Z790 Dark and X570 Dark are missing): https://eu.evga.com/products/productlist.aspx?type=1