ASUS has silently began rolling out motherboard BIOS updates for its Intel 9-series chipset motherboards, which provide hardening against "Meltdown" and "Spectre" vulnerabilities, through a CPU microcode update. Intel, if you'll recall, released microcode updates for "Haswell" and "Broadwell" processors this March, but you were at the mercy of your motherboard manufacturer to pass them on to you. The BIOS updates pack the latest version 24 microcode for 4th generation "Haswell" and 5th generation "Broadwell" processors in the LGA1150 package.

A small catch here, is that the BIOS updates are marked "beta" by ASUS, because the understanding is that all 9-series motherboards sold through 2014-15 are EOL, and have probably lapsed warranty coverage, so the company is limiting its liabilities in case BIOS updates fail, or if the platform still ends up "vulnerable" somehow. The latest version of InSpectre confirms that the latest BIOS for the Z97-A, one of the more popular motherboards by ASUS based on the Z97 Express chipset, passes hardening against Meltdown and Spectre, coupled with Windows 10 April 2018 Update. You should find the latest BIOS updates in the "Support" tab of the product page of your motherboard on ASUS website. Here's hoping other motherboard manufacturers love their customers as much.

Arctic unveiled a new fan-less CPU cooler for Intel LGA115x sockets, the Alpine M1 Passive. With a rated cooling capacity of 48W (TDP), the cooler is only recommended for dual-core LGA1150 and LGA1151 Core i3, Pentium, Celeron, or energy-efficient Core i5 processors. Its design couldn't get any simpler - a big chunk of aluminium that's ridged to make up fins of the heatsink, with a bulge near the CPU area, with pre-applied thermal paste. Measuring 95 mm x 95 mm x 69 mm (LxDxH), it weighs in at 508 g. Available now, it's priced at 13€. It could prove to be an interesting option for low-power builds that never game.

For those looking to build a gaming rig on a shoestring budget, yet want a "gamer-centric" motherboard that has good onboard audio, GIGABYTE launched just the thing - the P85-Gaming 3. This socket LGA1150 motherboard is based on Intel B85 Express chipset, and derives the "P" in its model name from the fact that it has minimal connectivity for its integrated graphics (just one HDMI port), since its target buyers use discrete graphics cards anyway. The board is built in the slim (190 mm wide) ATX form-factor, and draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors. The CPU is powered by a basic 4-phase VRM.

Expansion slots include one PCI-Express 3.0 x16, a second x16 slot that's electrical gen 2.0 x4 and wired to the PCH; and two each of PCIe 2.0 x1 and legacy PCI. Storage connectivity includes four SATA 6 Gb/s and two SATA 3 Gb/s. Its onboard audio solution features a Realtek ALC892 CODEC, backed by audio-grade electrolytic capacitors, a headphones amp, and ground-layer isolation. Gigabit Ethernet, and four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel, two by headers), make for the rest of it. Expect an attractive sub-$100 price tag.

Eurocom is shipping high performance gaming laptops with unlocked socket based Intel Core i7-5775C desktop processors and top of the line, upgradeable NVIDIA GeForce, AMD Radeon and NVIDIA Quadro MXM 3.0b graphics. The EUROCOM P5 Pro Extreme closes the gap between laptops and high performance desktop computers by bringing home a full-fledged Intel Core i7-4790K or I7-5775C with overclocking and no compromises. The EUROCOM P5 Pro is a hig performance, desktop gaming and workstation in disguise.

The Intel Core i7-5775C is a socketed desktop processor with Intel's most advanced on-die graphics engine, Iris Pro Graphics 6200, it is compatible with the LGA 1150 interface, and they're also multiplier-unlocked, allowing users the ability of overclocking it for additional performance. Eurocom provides an optional unlocked BIOS to allow customers to take full advantage of overclocking capabilities within unlocked Intel processors. These 14nm Intel Broadwell CPUs advance power efficiency over previous offerings by specifying 65W TDPs for unlocked quad-core models p to 95W for overclocking and maximum performance.

Noctua announced in its Computex 2015 presentation that the company will give away adapters that let its CPU cooler models from as far as 2005 support Intel's upcoming socket LGA1151. The company will give away NM-115x retention module, which will let you install its CPU coolers on socket LGA1151 motherboards, which drive Intel's upcoming 6th generation Core "Skylake" processors. Products in Noctua's current product-stack already support LGA1151, as the socket features an identical mount-hole spacing to its predecessors, the LGA1150, LGA1155, and LGA1156. Those with older Noctua coolers that are upgrading from another socket (eg: LGA775 or LGA1366) should be able to write to Noctua with a few simple purchase details, and receive the adapter for free.

Intel's upcoming 5th generation Core processors targeted at PC enthusiasts, the Core i7-5775K, and the Core i5-5675K, will be available in the retail channel on June 1st (NA, EMEA), and June 2nd (APAC). The two were available to the OEM channel since earlier this month. This is when you will be able to buy the two at a ground store, or online, in retail (box) packaging. Built in the LGA1150 package, the two will be compatible with existing Intel 9-series chipset motherboards (with BIOS updates).

Based on the swanky new 14 nm "Broadwell" silicon, the i7-5775C and the i5-5675C are quad-core chips. The i7-5775C offers clock speeds of 3.30 GHz, which spools up to 3.70 GHz with Turbo Boost; and will feature HyperThreading, enabling 8 logical CPUs. The i5-5675C offers 3.10 GHz clocks, with 3.60 GHz Turbo Boost frequencies. Both chips will offer 6 MB of L3 cache, Intel Iris Pro 6200 graphics; and TDP as low as 65W. For this reason, and others, the two won't exactly replace the i7-4790K and i5-4690K from the product stack. The two will ship with unlocked base-clock multipliers, letting you overclock them, and could still make for great buys for premium gaming PC builds.

From a sea of black and red, Gigabyte brushed a refreshing stroke of green, with its latest socket LGA1150 motherboard, the Z97X-Game Plus. Designed to compete with $150-ish mainline products such as ASUS Z97-Pro Gamer, which are loaded with gamer-centric features and product design, though barely missing premium gaming brands such as ROG or G1.Gaming; the new Z97X Game Plus could be particularly appealing to gamers with "green" (read: reference NVIDIA) gaming PC builds. The Z97X-Game Plus is a socket LGA1150 motherboard, with out of the box support for 5th gen Core "Broadwell" processors, in addition to Core "Haswell."

The board draws power from 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors. An 8-phase VRM conditions it for the CPU, which is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, and three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/NC/NC or x8/x8/NC or x8/x4/x4). Other expansion slots include three PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and one legacy PCI. Storage connectivity includes six SATA 6 Gb/s ports (from which two wire out as SATA-Express 10 Gb/s), and one M.2 (PCIe 2.0 x2 physical layer). Notable features include Gigabyte's famed AMP-UP onboard audio, with an EMI-shielded 115 dBA SNR CODEC, ground-layer isolation, audio-grade electrolytic caps, and an OPAMP with tuning for music and gaming; Broadcom Killer E2200 gigabit Ethernet, six USB 3.0 ports, and dual-UEFI BIOS. Expect a $140-150 pricing.

Intel's parting gifts to the LGA1150 platform, the Core i5-5675C and the Core i7-5775C, are shaping up to be a pleasant surprise to overclockers. Built on the 14 nm "Broadwell" silicon, the two quad-core chips come with extremely low rated TDP of 65W, for products of its segment. We weren't sure of those energy savings somehow translated into a massive overclocking headroom. It turns out, there's hope. Toying with a Core i7-5775C chip on an ASRock Z97 OC Formula, Hong Kong-based HKEPC found that the chip was able to reach 5.00 GHz clock speeds with ease on air-cooling, and a core voltage of 1.419V. At 4.80 GHz, the i7-5775C crunches 32M wPrime in 4.399 seconds.

Major pre-built desktop manufacturers began listing products driven by 5th generation Core "Broadwell" processors, which are having a brief stint at the markets before being replaced by 6th generation Core "Skylake" processors in Q3-2015. The 5th Generation Core family is led by two parts, the Core i5-5675C, and the Core i7-5775C, both of which come with unlocked base-clock multipliers, are based on Intel's new 14 nanometer silicon fab process, and built in the LGA1150 package, compatible with existing Intel 9-series chipset based motherboards, with BIOS updates.

The Core i5-5675C and i7-5775C aren't exactly successors of the i5-4690K and i7-4790K. The i7-5775C is placed in a product tier Intel calls "P1+," while the i5-5675C is placed in one called "MS2+." The two aren't exactly in the same plane as P1K (eg: i7-4790K) or MS2K (eg: i5-4690K), respectively, and don't qualify as P1 (eg: i7-4790 non-K) or MS2 (eg: i5-4690 non-K). The two still feature unlocked multipliers. This places them somewhere between P1K/MS2K and P1/MS2. Both the i5-5675C and i7-5775C are quad-core chips, and physically feature just 6 MB of L3 cache. The i7-5775C has access to all 6 MB of it, while the i5-5675K features just 4 MB.

In what could be a sign of Intel being stuck with "undigested" Core "Haswell" inventories, BGA chips becoming commonplace for desktop platforms that don't see CPU upgrades, or even "Broadwell" being too short a stopgap between "Haswell" and "Skylake," the company has reportedly decided to launch just two socket LGA1150 Core "Broadwell" parts, when the silicon hits the market towards June.

Built in the 14 nm silicon fab process, "Broadwell" will bring about performance/Watt increments, and Intel doesn't appear to be in the mood to trade those in for higher clock speeds (higher performance out of the box). It's relevant to note here, that the "Broadwell" core is essentially an optical shrink of the "Haswell" CPU architecture to 14 nm, much like "Ivy Bridge" was to "Sandy Bridge," even if the silicon seating the cores itself is much different (meatier iGPU). Intel will be going in with just two parts, both of which are unlocked, for PC enthusiasts to chew on. These include the Core i7-5775C and the Core i5-5675C.

Japanese cooling expert Scythe announces a new revision of its Kodati CPU Cooler. Scythe is one of the first manufacturers to announce a special solution to the market for the socket AM1 (FS1b). Users have finally the chance to exchange the stock AM1 CPU cooler against the much more powerful Kodati Rev. B. The new revision furthermore inherits the socket support to the common sockets from AMD and Intel, which is very typical for Scythe products.

Scythe Kodati CPU Cooler aims specifically at the HTPC and Mini-ITX market, where size and weight is crucial. Thanks to its total heights of mere 34 millimeters and weight of 180 grams, Kodati Rev. B CPU cooler is able to fit to basically every compact system. This has been achieved by implementing the Stealth Fan Mounting Structure (S.F.M.S), where the pre-installed fan is located between the aluminum fin-structure and copper-baseplate. Fast heat dissipation is assured thanks to the two copper-heatpipes with 6 mm thickness. Users are able to control the supplied 80 mm fan in the range between 800 and 3.300 RPM thanks to the PWM support. The airflow varies between 10,2 and 42,2 m3/h (6,0~24,82 CFM), depending on the fan speed. The specified noise level during operation starts at inaudible 8,2 dBA and goes up to merely audible 32.5 dBA.

Along the sidelines of GDC 2015, Intel offered a few details on how the year could look for its desktop processor lineup. The company is preparing to launch socketed Core "Broadwell" processors in mid-2015 (late Q2 or early Q3), likely in the sidelines of Computex 2015. Broadwell is an optical shrink of "Haswell" to the new 14-nanometer silicon fab process, with a minor feature-set update, much in the same way as "Ivy Bridge" was an optical shrink of "Sandy Bridge" to the 22 nm process.

The socketed Core "Broadwell" chips could come in the LGA1150 package, running on existing 8-series and 9-series chipset motherboards, with BIOS updates. The optical shrink seems to be working wonders for the silicon. Quad-core chips based on "Broadwell" could come with TDP rated as low as 65W (and we're not talking about the energy-efficient "S" or "T" brand extensions here). Some dual-core variants in the series may even be based on the smaller Core M "Broadwell" silicon, which physically features just 2 cores (and isn't a bigger quad-core silicon with two cores disabled in what's a colossal waste of rare-earth metals on a production scale). Some of those dual-core parts could come with TDP rated as low as 28W.

BIOSTAR announced its latest flagship socket LGA1150 motherboard, the GAMING Z97X. With a design focus on gaming PC builds that are high on connectivity, with a little bit of overclocking thrown in, rather than an all-out focus on overclocking (TPower), this board punches well above its weight with its feature-set. To begin with, the board features a rustic, industrial design, featuring a brown/gold+black color scheme for the various slots and connectors; and a black plastic shroud running the board's length. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors. A 12-phase VRM conditions it for the CPU.

Expansion slots include three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (electrical x16/NC/NC or x8/x8/NC or x8/x4/x4); and three PCI-Express 2.0 x1, wired to the PCH. Storage connectivity includes SATA-Express, six SATA 6 Gb/s, and an M.2 (electrical PCIe 2.0 x2) connector. This board also offers two supercharged USB 3.1 (10 Gb/s) ports, in addition to six other USB 3.0 ports, and a number of USB 2.0/1.1 ports. There are two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, one driven by an Intel-made controller, and another by Qualcomm Killer E2200, so you get to choose between Killer and Intel. The onboard audio features a 110 dBA SNR CODEC, a 600Ω headphones amp, and ground-layer isolation. Also included is a 5.25-inch front-panel head-unit BIOSTAR calls the "Gaming Commander," which gives you front-panel audio outputs with a volume control, amplifier control, diagnostic LEDs, and a CPU temperature indicator. A variant of this motherboard, which lacks the third PCIe x16 slot, offers a 10-phase CPU VRM, and goes easy on some other features, called the GAMING Z97W, was also released.

DeepCool rolled out the second generation of its GamerStorm Assassin type-D twin-stack CPU cooler. The Assassin II is huge, measuring in at 143 mm x 158 mm x 167 mm (WxDxH), weighing 1.48 kg (including fans). Its design consists of a large nickel-plated copper base, from which eight nicke-plated copper heat pipes pass through, conveying heat to two aluminium fin stacks. The two stacks are not of the same shape.

One of the two fin stacks features an edge that's pointing towards the rear of your case, and hence you can't strap three fans onto this heatsink, just a push fan, and a conveyor between the two fin-stacks, but not a pull fan. The push fan is a 120 mm spinner, running between 300 and 1,400 RPM, pushing up to 68.06 CFM of air, with a noise output ranging between 17.8 to 27.3 dBA. The conveyor fan is a 140 mm spinner, clocking 300 to 1,200 RPM, pushing up to 70.08 CFM of air, with a noise output ranging between 17.8 and 27.3 dBA. The Assassin II can handle all modern CPU socket types, including LGA2011v3, LGA1150, AM3+, and FM2+. DeepCool didn't mention if the cooler is good enough for 220W TDP chips such as the AMD FX-9000 series.

ID-COOLING, a cooling solution provider focusing on thermal dissipation and fan technology research and production for over 10 years, releases a newly developed Vapor Chamber CPU Cooler for Mini-ITX system: IS-VC45.

When small PC systems get more and more power hungry and house much more top-tier hardware including the CPU, effective CPU cooling is in demand. With a vapor chamber base to draw heat immediately from the processor, IS-VC45 is able to handle TDP 130W CPUs. Measuring 94×92×45mm, this cooler can fit into Mini-ITX systems easily.

In what's a clear sign of enterprise motherboard manufacturers like Supermicro and TYAN taking an interest in the DIY client-desktop market, Taiwanese company Supermicro launched the C7Z97-M, a micro-ATX, socket LGA1150 motherboard, based on Intel's Z97 Express chipset. It may not be the first motherboard based on the chipset by a traditionally enterprise-hardware company, but it's certainly the first designed to woo the PC enthusiast crowd. The features a matte-black PCB, with matte-black and ruby-red scheme, which bear a strong resemblance to Foxconn, and its Blood-Rage series.

The C7Z97-M features a 6-layer PCB, a digital-PWM CPU power delivery, with ceramic multi-phase bar chokes, and driver-MOSFETs. The board draws power from 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS. You can tell it's a board made by an enterprise manufacturer, looking at components such as the ASpeed IPMI 2.0 remote management chip, an LVDS display output, a TPM header, and key toggles being left to manual jumpers. The BIOS setup program is a reference AMI Aptio (not skinned).

Xigmatek announced the TYR-SD962, its latest entry-level CPU cooler. Featuring a conventional tower-type heatsink design, the cooler is made of a base that doubles up as a tiny heatsink, from which two 6 mm thick copper heat pipes pass, making direct contact with the CPU. The heat pipes convey heat to an aluminium fin-stack, which is ventilated by a 92 mm fan. Xigmatek bundles a 9225 fluid-dynamic bearing fan, which takes in PWM control, spins between 1,200 and 2,800 RPM, with a noise output of up to 28 dBA. Measuring 65 mm x 85 mm x 121 mm (excluding the fan), the heatsink weighs 310 g. It's game for thermal loads of up to 100W, and is compatible with LGA1150, FM2+, and AM3+ (95W TDP or below only).

Chaintech, brought back to life as a motherboard brand, in partnership with Colorful, launched the iGame Z97 socket LGA1150 motherboard. A cross between a gamer-centric and overclocker-centric motherboards, the iGame Z97 combines strong electricals with features gamers expect, such as good onboard audio, and Killer E2200 NIC. The board's most striking feature is its full-coverage water block, which cools the CPU VRM and Z97 PCH.

The LGA1150 socket is powered by a 16-phase VRM. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors. Expansion slots include three PCI-Express 3.0 x16, and four PCI-Express 2.0 x1. Storage connectivity includes six SATA 6 Gb/s, and an mSATA. Display outputs include DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. 8-channel HD audio, with an OPAMP circuit and electrolytic capacitors, and Killer E2200 NIC. Dual-BIOS, and a feature-rich setup program, make for the rest of it. Chaintech is planning to launch the board in Europe and APAC markets.

Shuttle Computer Handels GmbH, the European subsidiary of Shuttle Inc., one of the leading developers and manufacturers of compact PC solutions such as the world-renowned XPC Mini-PC Barebones, strengthens its product offering in the versatile cube format even more. Today sees the launch of the SH81R4 model, a 19 cm tall barebone for the latest, fourth generation of Intel Core processors. With its features and compatibility, the XPC Barebone SH81R4 is positioned as a basic machine capable of meeting a particularly wide range of requirements. It can be used as the foundation for Mini-PC complete systems on office desks, at events, as mobile data processors or in the home environment.

Gigabyte rolled out the Z97-HD3P, its entry-level socket LGA1150 motherboard based on Intel Z97 Express chipset, and built in the ATX form-factor, with a width of just 19 cm. The board goes easy on overclocking-grade features, but doesn't leave out connectivity that makes the Z97 a successor to the Z87. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, and conditions it for the CPU, with a simple 4-phase VRM. The CPU socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, and a single PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot. Other expansion slots include one PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4), and two each of PCIe 2.0 x1 and legacy PCI.

Storage connectivity on the Z97-HD3P includes six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, one SATA-Express port (drawing out two 6 Gb/s ports), and an M.2 10 Gb/s slot. Display outputs include one each of D-Sub, DVI, and HDMI. The audio solution is basic, 8-channel Realtek ALC887 driven, but features audio-grade electrolytic capacitors, and PCB ground-layer isolation, to reduce electrical noise. Modern connectivity includes six USB 3.0 ports (four on the rear panel, two by header). Legacy ones include COM and LPT by header, and PS/2 mouse/keyboard combo port. Expect a $100-ish price.

DeepCool launched the Captain series of liquid AIO CPU Coolers, under its GamerStorm brand. The series debuts with the Captain 120, featuring a 120 x 120 mm radiator; and the Captain 240, featuring a 240 x 120 mm one. The cooler is characterized by a unique pump-block design that lets you visualize the coolant flow. The pump-block's design appears to be in-line with that of DeepCool's SteamCastle series of cases. Its block features a copper 0.2 mm micro-fin lattice. A 120 mm FDB fan with PWM control, is included, and ventilates the radiator. The cooler supports all modern CPU socket types, including LGA2011v3, LGA1150, AM3+, and FM2+. The company didn't reveal pricing.

ECS launched the Z97I-DRONE and H97I-DRONE mini-ITX, socket LGA1150 motherboards, which it first unveiled at Computex 2014. The two are identical to each other, with the only difference being the chipset. The Z97I-DRONE supports CPU and memory overclocking. Drawing power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors, the board features a 5-phase CPU VRM. The CPU socket is wired to a lone PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot, and two full-length DDR3 DIMM slots. The only other expansion slot is an mPCIe 2.0 x1. Storage connectivity includes five SATA 6 Gb/s. Display connectivity includes one each of dual-link DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort. Six USB 3.0 ports (four on the rear panel, two by headers), 8-channel HD audio with TOSLINK SPDIF output, and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of them.

Gigabyte launched the H81M-WW, its newest entry-level socket LGA1150 motherboard, in the compact micro-ATX form-factor, and based in Intel H81 Express chipset. Its unique selling point is an unusual onboard audio solution. The board features a Realtek ALC887 HD audio CODEC in the 6-channel configuration. Its 8-channel configuration is possible, if you plug in two channels through the jack wired to the front-panel audio header. The CODEC itself isn't impressive, with its under 90 dBA SNR, but is backed by Nichicon audio-grade electrolytic capacitors, and ground-layer isolation from the rest of the board.

The rest of its feature-set is pretty basic. The H81M-WW draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 4-pin CPU power connectors, and features a basic 3-phase CPU VRM. The CPU is wired to a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. Other expansion slots include one each of PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and legacy PCI. Storage connectivity includes two each of SATA 6 Gb/s and SATA 3 Gb/s ports. The only display output is a D-Sub (analog, max resolution 1920 x 1200). The board's other legacy connectivity includes one each of serial (COM) and parallel (LPT). Two USB 3.0 ports, and a gigabit Ethernet connection make for the rest of it.

Gigabyte announced a new G1.Gaming series socket LGA1150 motherboard for gamers who don't plan on overclocking their CPUs, the G1.Sniper B6. Retaining the classic black+green color scheme, which should go well with reference-design GTX 980 and GTX 970 graphics cards, the G1.Sniper B6 is based on Intel B85 Express chipset, and comes with out of the box support for Core "Haswell" and "Devil's Canyon" CPUs. On the flip-side, while the board features two long PCI-Express x16 slots, only one of the two is gen 3.0 x16, and wired to the CPU. The other is electrical gen 2.0 x4, wired to the PCH, instead. The board hence lacks NVIDIA SLI support.

Drawing power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, the board features an 8-phase CPU VRM. Other expansion slots include two each of PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and legacy PCI. Storage connectivity includes an M.2 10 Gb/s slot, and four SATA 6 Gb/s and two SATA 3 Gb/s ports. Gamer-grade features include AMP UP onboard audio featuring an EMI-shielded 115 dBA SNR CODEC, ground-layer isolation, audio-grade electrolytic capacitors, and a user-replaceable headphones amp; and Intel gigabit Ethernet. Expect this board to be priced under $120.

Gigabyte rolled out the entry-level H97-DS3H socket LGA1150 motherboard. Built in the ATX form-factor (305 mm x 190 mm), and based on Intel H97 Express chipset, the board features a mixture of legacy and modern connectivity that make it fit for office desktop builds. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors. It features a super-simple 2+1 phase CPU VRM. The CPU socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, and one PCI-Express 3.0 x16. Other expansion slots include PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4), and two each of PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and legacy PCI.

Storage connectivity on the H97-DS3H include six SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Display outputs include one each of dual-link DVI, D-Sub (VGA), and HDMI. Legacy connectivity includes PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports, COM (serial) and LPT (parallel) headers. On to the more modern connectivity, and you get gigabit Ethernet, 6-channel HD audio, four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel, two by headers), and a number of USB 2.0 ports. The board is driven by UEFI BIOS. Gigabyte dropped in its dual-UEFI BIOS redundancy. Expect a sub-$100 pricing.