A large selection of socket LGA1200 motherboards by MSI, based on Intel Z490 chipset, was leaked to the web. MSI is bringing at least 10 motherboard models based on the Z490, with prices starting around 200€ (likely inclusive of taxes). It looks like socket LGA1200 motherboards will be significantly pricier than the previous-generation, owing to steeper CPU VRM requirements, or Intel merely aligning its partners to march AMD X570 chipset in average motherboard pricing. The lineup begins with the Z490-A Pro at 200€. The Z490 Gaming Plus and Z490 Tomahawk are allegedly priced at 210€ and 240€, respectively. The Z490M Gaming Edge WiFi, Z490 Gaming Edge WiFi, and Z490 Gaming Pro Carbon go for 250€, 250€ and 330€, respectively. The premium MEG lineup includes the Z490I Unify at 330€, its ATX sibling, the Z490 Unify at 360€, the Z490 Ace at 520€, and the crown jewel, the Z490 GODLIKE, at a whopping 960€, according to pricing leaked by momomo_us.

Komachi Ensaka posted pictures of four motherboard models. Besides all the modern connectivity options you could possibly want, including Thunderbolt, 10 GbE, USB 3.2 x2 (20 Gbps), 802.11ax WLAN, and five M.2 slots, the MEG Z490 GODLIKE appears to have an HEDT-like 18-phase VRM that pulls power from two 8-pin EPS connectors, and enough overclocking muscle to try and justify its near-four-figure price. The MPG Z490M Gaming Edge WiFi forms the "mid-range" of the lineup, covering all the bases for serious gaming PC builds with any of the upcoming 10th generation Core LGA1200 processors. The MPG Z490 Gaming Plus is a fascinating board design, in that it finally sheds the red+black color scheme of its predecessors, trading it with a solid black color scheme with just a touch of RGB LEDs. It covers all the essentials that the platform has to offer. Lastly, there's the Z490-A Pro, the "entry level product that still appears to have a beefy VRM and platform essentials.

AMD is reportedly looking to launch their B550 mainstream motherboards this coming June 16th, with an announcement being pegged for May 21st. WCCFTech, quoting industry sources, says these motherboards will now finally be released to the public, nearly a year after the launch of AMD's Ryzen 3000 series and accompanying X570-based motherboards. This will mark the first time PCIe 4.0 will be available in a mainstream-geared platform and chipset; until now, users looking for more cost-effective builds to support their Ryzen CPUs had to make do without PCIe 4.0 support with a motherboard from previous generations, since the feature was only available on the (more expensive) X570 motherboards.

The B550 chipset should thus become the new choice for users looking to build new systems on a budget; and part of the reason for AMD delaying the launch of this chipset as much as it has could certainly be an effort to increase revenues due to the X570's higher ASP. It's expected that B550 motherboards will be had for higher pricing than AMD's previous mainstream B450 motherboards, though, due to increased costs with improved I/O and the additional requirements for PCIe 4.0 wiring. Considering AMD's X570-based motherboards can be had from the $150 barrier upwards, it's likely (via an educated guess only) that B550 will occupy the $90-$150 range.

AMD's upcoming Ryzen 4000 series "Vermeer" lineup of CPUs based on the new Zen 3 core is slated to launch sometime in late 2020, and we have information about the chipset support of 4th generation of Ryzen CPUs. The laptop manufacturer XMG, known for its crazy Apex 15 laptop with 16 core AMD Ryzen 3950X CPU inside, has posted a Reddit thread about its new laptop. In the thread, XMG has listed specifications of the laptop, and in one point it mentions support for Ryzen 4000 series of CPUs. XMG has written that the B450 motherboards will be supporting the next generation CPUs simply by microcode updates AMD will push to OEMs. XMG uses the B450 chipset in its laptops, so they are presumably going to offer some configurations with Ryzen 4000 CPUs in the future. This information is good news for everybody who has a motherboard with a B450 chipset as they can get a bit more mileage out of it.

Earlier this year Chinese PC manufacturer Chuwi announced the AeroBox a new high performance mini office PC utilizing the yet to be announced AMD A9-9820 APU. The AeroBox looks suspiciously like a certain games console from afar and now in an exclusive with TechRadar Pro a Chuwi spokesperson confirmed that the Chuwi AeroBox will use the same motherboard as the Xbox One S. The spokesperson also described the AMD A9-9820 APU chip found inside the PC as a "new 7th-generation chip" that runs on Windows 10."

The A9-9820 is a eight core chip with a max frequency of 2.35 GHz and will be paired with a Radeon R7 350 GPU running at up to 985 MHz. The A9-9820 is expected to be based on the Jaguar microarchitecture like the APU found in the Xbox One S and use DDR3 memory. The AeroBox features four DDR3 slots and room for an 2.5" drive, in its base configuration the AeroBox will come with 8 GB of DDR3 memory and a 250 GB M.2 SATA SSD. Chuwi is yet to announce a price for the AeroBox and has confirmed it won't be available outside of Japan at launch.

Lenovo may be planning to join the likes of ASUS, MSI, ASRock and many more in the gaming motherboard market under its Legion brand according to Guru3D. Images have leaked on Weibo of two Lenovo Legion branded motherboards in non-standard form factors with Intel's 300 and 400 series chipsets, for the current generation Coffee Lake and next generation Comet Lake-S chips respectively.

While these boards appear to bare the Legion branding it is likely they will only be used in OEMs due to their non-standard form factor and lack of features. The motherboards appear to sport 8+2 phase power delivery systems, VRM heatsinks, dual M.2 connectors, four DIMM modules, WiFi and dome audio capacitors. The motherboards feature only one 16x PCI-e slot and very minimal I/0, so it will be interesting to see if these motherboards get a consumer launch.

Today BIOSTAR announced the A10N-9830E SoC motherboard a small form factor board with a built in Quad Core FX-9830P AMD Bristol Ridge processor and integrated AMD Radeon R7 graphics. This board could be a good fit for a HTPC or light office build, featuring a M.2 slot, support for 32 Gb ram and USB 3.2 Gen1.

Small in its form yet amazing performance output, the BIOSTAR A10N-9830E SoC motherboard is easily one of the best SoC motherboards in the market. Ideal for gamers and casual home users, the A10N-9830E has a built-in Quad Core FX-9830P AMD Bristol Ridge processor and integrated AMD Radeon R7 graphics that offers strong performance, power efficiency and graphics to make the ideal light gaming PC in a compact and lightweight Mini-ITX form factor.

A report via DigiTimes paints a bleak image on shipments for motherboards and GPUs. According to the publication, citing sources close to motherboard makers, the initial impact of the outbreak severely affected production - and the entire supply chain ecosystem needed to ferry these across the world. Alongside reduced demand in China (reported to be down 50% YoY and unlikely to pick up until July at the earliest) and other countries, the stage is set for a record low in some of our most favored hardware pieces.

Market observers had expected a seasonal increase in demand entering Q3 2020 which may never come to fruition, as DigiTimes also mentions AMD, Intel and NVIDIA as being unlikely to achieve their target sales for this time period. The reduced demand could see prices come down on components and various hardware pieces, should it linger for longer than the fabrication bottlenecks factories are currently facing. Some publications are pointing towards this drop in demand as a reason for NVIDIA to delay their expected GTC announcements, which the company's CEO, Jensen Huang, has already come out saying "Could wait".

EK Water Blocks, the European premium computer liquid cooling gear manufacturer, unveiled another sTRX4-based monoblock made for TRX40 AORUS MASTER motherboard. This time, during the development of the monoblock, EK's engineering team went for a more elaborate approach, which can be seen from the shape of the monoblock. This is a complete all-in-one (CPU and motherboard) liquid cooling solution for the Aorus motherboard that is based on AMD TRX40 chipset for AMD Ryzen 3rd generation Threadripper processors.

BIOSTAR has been a manufacturer of robust and highly reliable motherboards for many years and has a wide range of models on both Intel and AMD platforms to choose from and a plethora of supplementary components catering to many user preferences.

Designed in the Mini-ITX form factor, the new BIOSTAR A10N-9630E motherboard is built with form and functionality to rival everything else in the market. With an inbuilt AMD A10-9630P quad-core processor and support for AMD Radeon R5 graphics, the BIOSTAR A10N-9630E is sleek, reliable and affordable suited for consumers who like to run basic tasks such as browsing the web, sending emails and running office applications and is perfect for many industrial applications because its ultra-small Mini-ITX form factor suited for small builds that save office space creating a neat, tidy workspace. The A10N-9630E motherboard is also designed for edge computing with better performance and low power consumption.

MSI, a world-leading motherboard manufacturer, proudly introduces two new B450 MAX motherboards, B450 GAMING PRO CARBON MAX WIFI and B450M BAZOOKA MAX WIFI. For the 3rd Gen Ryzen processors, the new MAX motherboards are optimized with best compatibility in every aspects. These two new MAX motherboards can satisfy more gamers and users.

As the most iconic motherboard for mainstream gamers, this time GAMING PRO CARBON also includes a MAX version for stylish gamers to perfectly match with 3rd Gen Ryzen processors. With millions colors and 17 LED effects, Mystic Light offers customization options for ever-changing RGB experience. B450 GAMING PRO CARBON MAX WIFI is also equipped with USB 3.2 Gen2 solution with up to 10 Gbps transfer speed. Audio Boost 4 with Nahimic 3 provides stable and high quality sound effects with premium components. Furthermore, concerning the higher performance-based 3rd Gen Ryzen processors, B450 GAMING PRO CARBON MAX WIFI includes Extended Heatsink Design and M.2 Shield to ensure better heat dissipation effects and lower temperature for CPUs and M.2 devices. Flash BIOS Button becomes more and more important and gives more convenience for BIOS updates.

The B550 chipset has been absent for a while, meaning that mid-tier motherboard models were lacking and that space is about to be filled. So far, the only thing we got was a B550A chipset, which lacked proper support for PCIe 4.0 connection, based on the refreshed B450 chipset. The B550A supports only one PCIe 4.0 slot, the one connected directly to CPU, while the regular, non-A version is said to deliver proper PCIe 4.0 configuration. The first picture of AMD's upcoming B550 motherboard has appeared.

Thanks to the findings of VideoCardz, we have a picture of a B550 motherboard manufactured by SOYO, a Chinese motherboard manufacturer, and the brand behind Maxsun. Pictured below is a Micro-ATX format motherboard featuring two x16 PCIe 4.0 slots and one smaller, x1 slot. There are two DDR4 slots, along with M.2 PCIe 4.0 connector. Additionally, it has some interesting dragon-inspired masking as well.

BIOSTAR, a leading brand of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices, today introduces the H61MHV2 motherboard that supports Intel's 2nd and 3rd generation Core i7 / i5 / i3 / Pentium / Celeron processors in the 1155 package. BIOSTAR has been a manufacturer of robust and highly reliable motherboards for many years and has a wide range of models on both Intel and AMD platforms to choose from and a plethora of supplementary components catering to many user preferences.

Due to popular demand and the availability of supporting components, BIOSTAR has decided to relaunch Intel's H61 chipset series motherboards with the all-new H61MHV2 motherboard, a reboot of its popular predecessor the IH61MF-Q5. Built in a Micro-ATX form factor, the H61MHV2 motherboard is packed with some of the most requested upgrades build to be compatible with the old architecture and looks to provide a robust, affordable and highly reliable user experience that caters consumers who are looking for a good motherboard to upgrade their existing office workstation without breaking the bank.

Here are some of the first close-ups of the ASRock B550AM Gaming motherboard, which made its first appearance back in October 2019. The B550A is a rebadged B450 low-power "Promontory" chipset. Boards based on the chipset are guaranteed to support all 3rd generation Ryzen desktop processors out of the box. The B550AM Gaming draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors, conditioning it for the AM4 SoC with an 8+2 phase VRM.

The AM4 socket is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots supporting dual-channel DDR4 memory; the board's sole PCI-Express 4.0 x16, and an M.2-22110 slot that has PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA 6 Gbps wiring. The only other expansion slot is a PCI-Express x4 wired to the B550A chipset, which is likely gen 2.0. Other storage connectivity includes six SATA 6 Gbps ports. USB connectivity includes two USB 3.2 gen 2 ports (from which one is type-C), and six USB 3.2 gen 1 ports (from which two are by headers). Network connectivity includes WLAN (likely 802.11ac), and a 1 GbE wired interface. The 6-channel HD audio appears to be driven by a premium Realtek ALC1220-class CODEC. There are two 4-pin RGB and one 3-pin ARGB headers. The company didn't reveal pricing, or whether this board is even available in the retail channel, given that back in October we heard that the B550A was an OEM exclusive.

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.

Intel's upcoming 400-series desktop chipset will lack support for PCI-Express gen 4.0. The motherboards will stick to gen 3.0 for both the main x16 PEG slots wired to the LGA1200 socket, and general purpose PCIe lanes from the PCH, according to a Tom's Hardware report. It was earlier expected that 400-series chipset motherboards will come with preparation for PCIe gen 4.0, so even if the upcoming 10th gen "Comet Lake" desktop processors lacked gen 4.0 root-complexes, the boards would be fully ready for the new bus standard in 11th gen "Rocket Lake" desktop processors.

10th gen "Comet Lake" desktop processors are built on 14 nm process, and implement Intel's current-gen CPU core design Intel has been implementing since 6th gen "Skylake." It's only with 11th gen "Rocket Lake" that the mainstream desktop platform could see a new CPU core design, with the company reportedly back-porting "Willow Cove" CPU cores to the 14 nm process. "Rocket Lake" is also expected to feature a small Gen12 iGPU with 32 execution units, and a new-gen uncore component that implements PCIe gen 4.0. PCIe gen 4.0 doubles bandwidth over gen 3.0, and while only a handful GPUs support it, the standard is made popular by a new generation of M.2 NVMe SSDs that are able to utilize the added bandwidth to push sequential transfer rates beyond M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 limitations.

As we gear up for another Intel CPU launch with their 10th Gen Comet Lake-S CPUs with up to 10 cores, motherboard manufacturers have to go through the process of getting their products approved through various regulatory requirements. The Eurasian Economic Commission is one which constantly gives little snippets towards the future, and now, MSI motherboards based on Intel's Z490 chipset and LGA 1200 socket have shown up.

Knowing MSI's usual staple of motherboards for each product generation, there aren't many surprises here. The entries refer to these MSI motherboards: Z490-A PRO (Standard ATX); Creator Z490I (Mini-ITX); MAG Z490 TOMAHAWK (Standard ATX); MPG Z490M GAMING EDGE WIFI (Micro-ATX); MPG Z490 GAMING; CARBON WIFI (Standard ATX); MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS (Standard ATX); MEG Z490I UNIFY (Mini-ITX); MEG Z490 UNIFY (Standard ATX); MPG Z490 GAMING EDGE; WIFI (Standard ATX); MEG Z490 ACE (Standard ATX); MEG Z490 GODLIKE (E-ATX). You can expect the GODLIKE to be so in both features and price, as usual, topping out MSI's lineup.

ASUS updated its AMD socket sTRX4 motherboard series with the new ROG Zenith II Extreme Alpha, a slight step-up from the original ROG Zenith II Extreme that debuted with AMD's 3rd gen Ryzen Threadripper family. Although ASUS' entire sTRX4 motherboard lineup will support the upcoming 64-core Threadripper 3990X, the new Extreme Alpha is better designed for overclocking it. The new board looks visually identical to the original ROG Zenith II Extreme, and has an almost-identical feature-set, with the only difference being the CPU VRM solution. The new ROG Zenith II Extreme Alpha implements a 16-phase CPU VRM with Infineon TDA21490 power-stages replacing the TDA21472 power-stages on the original ROG Zenith II Extreme (possibly increase output current or I-out from 70 A to 90 A). This could marginally increase the product price. The rest of the feature-set is identical.

The RACING B450GT3 motherboard is built for gamers that require high-performance on a micro-ATX form factor. Fitted with the B450 chipset that supports AMD's Ryzen 3000 Series processors. The RACING B450GT3 motherboard is packed with loads of functions and features that are found in most high-end gaming AM4 motherboards and is designed with BIOSTAR's signature premium black Racing themed PCB style.

The RACING B450GT3 supports 4-DIMM DDR4-1866/2133/2400/2666/2933/3200 (OC) with up to 64G maximum capacity, 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C port (10 Gb/s), 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A port (10 Gb/s), 1x M.2 (32 Gb/s) and 6x SATA3 connectors. Gamers will also appreciate the Hi-Fi 7.1ch HD Audio for truly immersive sound quality that is enabled with the Realtek ALC1150 7.1-Channel Audio, Dual BIOS for auto-recovery, and Iron Slot Protection for a much more stable and durable port composition.

EK, the European premium liquid cooling gear manufacturer, is releasing a unique chipset water block made for Aorus motherboards based on AMD X570 chipset - the EK-Quantum Momentum Chipset Aorus X570. The EK-Quantum Momentum Chipset Aorus X570 water block completely replaces the PCH (chipset) heatsink and the small fan which is the primary source of the noise. This water block-based solution removes a moving part, thus providing a more long term solution with 0 noise and far superior thermal performance.

This chipset block is specifically made for the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite, Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra and Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master motherboards. The EK-Quantum Momentum Chipset Aorus X570 water block is made in Slovenia, Europe and is available for pre-order through EK Webshop and Partner Reseller Network. This Quantum Line water block will start shipping on the 22nd of January 2020 for €39.99.

ASRock at CES 2020 showcased their newfound commitment to AMD APUs and CPUs in the form of their new 1-liter Jupiter A320 mini-PC and the A320-M motherboard. The A320-M motherboard supports up to 65 W AMD APUs, features dual SODIMM memory sticks support, includes 1x NVMe M.2 storage slot and 1x SATA. Video outputs include 2x HDMI and one D-Sub.

ASRock also showcased their Jupiter A320 Mini-PC, which was previously an Intel-only product but will now be offered with AMD innards as well. Offering support for up to 65 W AMD APUs, the Jupiter A320 offers 2x NVMe M.2 storage expansion, 1x SATA, and 8x USB (including 2x Type C and 2x Type-A in the front panel). Video output is taken care of by 1x DisplayPort or 1x HDMI.

The Tomahawk line of motherboards by MSI gained popularity in recent times on the back of high cost/performance and an aspirational feature-set for its price, but has seen competition from the likes of ASUS TUF Gaming. When MSI launched its AMD X570 chipset motherboards, a Tomahawk product was MIA. The company finally got around to one, with the MAG X570 Tomahawk Wi-Fi. In its product-stack, MSI appears to be positioning this product above the MPG X570 Gaming Plus, but a notch below the MPG X570 Gaming Edge Wi-Fi and the popular X570 Gaming Pro Carbon. The Tomahawk is equipped with a visibly bigger chipset fan-heatsink than the Gaming Plus, and a more powerful CPU VRM solution, with a 14-phase setup. You also get chunky VRM heatsinks, a metal I/O area shroud, and an integrated I/O shield.

The MAG Tomahawk X570 upstages competition with networking: 2.5 GbE wired Ethernet and 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6). The 2.5 GbE interface is pulled by a Realtek 8125B-CG controller, while the WLAN is Intel AX200-family. Other noteworthy specs include two M.2 PCI-Express gen 4.0 slots with heatsinks on both; and a premium ALC1220-based onboard audio solution (which is a segment-first for the Arsenal Gaming series). The MAG Tomahawk X570 Wi-Fi will begin selling within Q1-2020, priced around $180.

Thermaltake, the leading PC DIY premium brand for Cooling, Gaming Gear and Enthusiast Memory solutions, today announced the release of the Floe RC360 / RC240 ARGB all in one liquid CPU & RAM cooler kit, the first in the industry to combine RAM with AIO liquid cooling, which is compatible with Thermaltake memory modules (Sold separately). Thermaltake took a leap on exploring more possibilities for providing a powerful cooling solution for memory modules.

Floe RC360 / RC240 ARGB all in one liquid CPU & RAM cooler kit allows users to maximize their overclocking performance, granting users the ability to equip a high-quality all-in-one cooling system including a water block, radiator, an ARGB controller, 3 airflow 120 mm fans on the RC360 version and 2 airflow 120 mm fans on the RC240 version. This provides the user with superior cooling performance, longer lifespan and stability.

BIOSTAR have left out a teaser trailer for a new motherboard, which seemingly packs an improvement to the company's RGB design on the heatsinks surrounding the CPU area. While this could simply be a new product announcement for an already existing motherboard lineup, we know fully well that Intel is gearing up for the announcement of their Comet Lake-S family of CPUs, which have already been broadly approached in this publication. It makes sense for motherboard companies, who are certainly already privy to the new Intel platform specifications, to start teasing the new features they've come up with to accompany a new generation of motherboards.

Intel's Comet Lake-S family will introduce builders to the new Intel LGA 1200 socket (some things never do change). The new 10000 series CPUs should see another core bump through the lineup, with the top of the line Core I9-10900K CPU sporting a reported 125 W TDP running through its 10-core, 20-thread design. Considering the number of leaks and additional information that has been recently coming to light regarding Intel's latest CPU launch, it seems plausible that the company is gearing up to an announcement, and as such, motherboard makers are also flexing their marketing muscles to get in the first wave of sales.

The DARK rises again. Not content to merely shatter records and competition in the consumer market, the EVGA SR-3 DARK merges two extreme performance lines of EVGA motherboards to bring balance to the force with exceptional performance and engineering. Featuring the Intel C622 chipset, hexa-channel memory support, 23 phase power design, 16-layer PCB, dual-10 GbE LAN ports, a waterblock to passively or actively cool the DARK's VRM, and so much more, this board is packed with everything and is still compact enough to fit in a full E-ATX form factor.

With the EVGA SR-3 DARK, you don't need to see its identification to know that the next evolution of the X299 and Z390 DARK motherboards features the latest improvements for performance and enthusiast needs.

ASUS today rolled out the Pro WS X299 SAGE II, a redesign and refresh of its WS X299 SAGE series quasi-workstation motherboards, designed for those who want to use Intel's 10th generation Core XE "Cascade Lake-X" HEDT processors in a workstation-like environment (CEB form-factor) and can make do without ECC memory. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and two 8-pin EPS power connectors, along with an optional 6-pin PCIe power input to stabilize add-on card power delivery. An 8-phase VRM conditions power for the socket LGA2066 processor. The board employs PLX PEX8747 bridge chips to convert two x16 PCIe gen 3.0 links from the LGA2066 processor to four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots with full bandwidth, or seven slots with x16/x8/x8/x8/x8/x8/x8 wiring.

Storage options on the ASUS Pro WS X299 SAGE II include three U.2 ports, two M.2 slots (one right below the PCH heatsink, and the other vertical); and eight SATA 6 Gbps ports. Network connectivity includes two 2.5 GbE interfaces driven by a pair of Intel i225-LM controllers. USB connectivity includes two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports driven by an ASMedia controller (from which one is type-C), a second such controller driving an internal port, and eight USB 3.2 gen 1 ports from the X299 PCH. A high-grade onboard audio solution featuring Realtek S1220A HDA codec, headphones amp, ground-layer isolation, and audio-grade capacitors, make for the rest of this board. The company didn't reveal pricing.