ECS announced the A55F2P-M2, an entry-level socket FM2+ motherboard, that's ready for AMD's A-Series "Kaveri" APUs, and backwards-compatible with "Richland" and "Trinity" APUs. The narrow micro-ATX motherboard draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 4-pin CPU power connectors, and uses a 3+2 phase VRM to condition it for the APU. The socket is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory, a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot, and a PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slot. A legacy PCI slot makes for the rest of the expansion area. Storage connectivity includes four SATA 3 Gb/s ports. Display outputs include DVI and D-Sub. Two USB 3.0 ports, 6-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, and PS/2 connectors make for the rest of the connectivity. Expect this board to go around the $50 mark.

Here are the first pictures of an AMD A10-7700K "Kaveri" APU with its integrated heat-spreader (IHS, or 'lid') removed. Put next to its predecessors, "Richland," "Trinity," and "Llano," AMD's new APU silicon is its biggest for the DIY PC market, more so because it's built on the 28 nm silicon fab process, compared to its predecessors being built on 32 nm. The die measures roughly 245 mm², and packs a staggering 2.41 billion transistors.

Under the IHS, AMD is using a thermal paste to transport heat from the die, and not a solder. The chip should be easy to de-lid, if you know what you're doing. Kaveri integrates two "Steamroller" x86-64 CPU modules with two cores each, a total of 4 MB of L2 cache, a massive on-die GPU with 512 stream processors based on the Graphics CoreNext micro-architecture, a dual-channel DDR3 IMC with hUMA and DDR3-2400 native support; and a PCI-Express 3.0 root complex.

ASUS released a prototype of the first desktop PC motherboard with SATA-Express support, the Z87-Deluxe/SATA-Express. A variant of ASUS' flagship socket LGA1150 motherboard from its mainline Z87 series, the Z87-Deluxe, the board features two SATA-Express ports. SATA-Express sees a fusion between two of the most successful serial I/O interfaces, SATA and PCI-Express. It's essentially ATA over PCI-Express 2.0 x2, which offers a raw bandwidth of 8 Gbps per direction, 16 Gbps total. The SATA-Express port is structured similar to the classic SATA port, with PCI-Express lanes running over two 7-pin SATA connectors, and an additional block of 4 pins that make up the 18 pins required by 2-lane PCI-Express. A SATA-Express connector is thus unified, and legacy SATA devices should still be able to run off one of the two 7-in SATA connectors in a SATA-Express block.

Since there are no SATA-Express drives in the market, ASUS gave TweakTown a MacGyver contraption that adapts SATA-Express to a physical PCI-Express 2.0 x4 slot (electrical x2). An ASUS RAIDR Express PCI-Express SSD was found to offer sequential transfer rates of around 750 MB/s on ATTO. The rest of the board is practically identical to the Z87-Deluxe. The board uses a 16-phase VRM to condition power for the LGA1150 CPU. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors. Expansion slots include three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x16/NC/NC or x8/x8/NC or x8/x4/x4, depending on how they're populated); and four PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slots.

In addition to the Z87I GAMING AC model seen last week, MSI is set introduce another mini ITX LGA1150 motherboard, the H87I AC. Seen below, this H87-based board features two DDR3-1600 memory slots, four SATA 6.0 Gbps ports, one PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot, Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1 channel audio, four USB 3.0 ports, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, plus Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11ac WiFi.

The H87I AC makes use of Military Class 4 components and is available for pre-order at €102.

Courtesy of MSI's Facebook page we can now have a pretty good look at two of the company's upcoming Gaming Series products, two compact components known as the Z87I GAMING AC and GTX 760 GAMING OC ITX.

The Z87I GAMING AC is a mini-ITX motherboard that's powered by the Intel Z87 chip and features Military Class 4 components, two DDR3 memory slots, five SATA 6.0 Gbps ports, one PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot, Killer E2200 NIC Ethernet, 7.1-channel audio (with Audio Boost technology), and even 802.11ac WiFi support.

NVIDIA announced the market availability of its GeForce GTX 780 Ti graphics card. Based on the same "GK110" silicon as the GTX TITAN, the GTX 780 Ti features its full complement of 2,880 CUDA cores, 240 TMUs, 48 ROPs, and a 384-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding 3 GB of memory. The core is clocked at 875 MHz, with a maximum GPU Boost frequency of 928 MHz; the the memory is clocked at a staggering 7.00 GHz (GDDR5-effective), at which the memory bandwidth is 336 GB/s.

The GeForce GTX 780 Ti is based on the same PCB and cooling solution as the GeForce GTX 780, draws power from a combination of 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power connectors, features a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 bus interface, and a combination of two DVI, and one each of HDMI and DisplayPort connectors. The card is 4-way SLI capable. NVIDIA is pricing the GeForce GTX 780 Ti at US $699.99, about $150 pricier than the Radeon R9 290X, but close to $300 cheaper than the GTX TITAN. NVIDIA is also running a free-game scheme that will see buyers of the GTX 780 Ti get Steam keys for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Batman: Arkham Origins, and Splinter Cell: Blacklist; and a coupon that shaves up to $100 off an NVIDIA Shield purchase.Don't forget to check out our comprehensive GeForce GTX 780 Ti review.

An alleged company slide detailing the architecture of AMD's upcoming "Hawaii" GPU was leaked to the web, revealing a monstrous combination of components. The GPU maintains the same component hierarchy as "Tahiti." The most distinguishing feature here is that whereas "Tahiti" features two shader engines, "Hawaii" features four. What it translates to, is double the geometry processing power, four independent geometry processors with a tessellation unit each, and double the number of ROPs, at 64. Each shader unit features 11 compute units (CU), the number-crunching machinery of the GPU. Each CU holds 4 TMUs (texture memory units), and 64 stream processors.

The four shader engines of "Hawaii" are tied to a unified command processing structure, a 1 megabyte L2 cache, a 512-bit wide GDDR5 memory interfaces, and the ancillaries, that include the PCI-Express 3.0 x16 bus interface, six display controllers (six TMDS links in all), CrossFireX XDMA, and multimedia accelerators that include UVD (accelerates high-def video), VCE (video codec engine, accelerates multimedia codecs), and the new TrueAudio hardware DSP.

ASUS launched its first The Ultimate Force (TUF) series motherboard based on a mid-range chipset by Intel, the TUF Vanguard B85. Designed for gamers who don't overclock their CPUs, and for businesses that change their IT infrastructure every decade, this motherboard is a tight ship. To begin with, it uses a simple 4-phase VRM to condition power for the CPU, but that VRM consists of high-grade components, and is cooled by heatsinks. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors. The LGA1150 socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel memory; and one PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot. A second PCI-Express x16 slot is electrical gen 2.0 x4, wired to the PCH. One each of PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and legacy PCI, make up the rest of the expansion area.

Storage connectivity on the TUF Vanguard B85 includes four SATA 6 Gb/s, and two SATA 3 Gb/s, all of which are assigned as internal ports. Display connectivity includes one each of dual-link DVI, HDMI, D-Sub, and DisplayPort. The board offers a total of six USB 3.0 ports, four on the rear panel, and two via internal headers. 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, PS/2 mouse/keyboard combi-plug, and a number of USB 2.0/1.1 ports, complete the connectivity package. The board feature all the TUF military-grade durability paraphernalia, including the Thermal Radar feature from the TUF Sabertooth series. Expect this one to go for about $110.

For gamers who don't plan on overclocking their CPUs, GIGABYTE announced a new gaming desktop motherboard, branded within its G1.Killer series no less. The G1.Sniper B5 combines the key ingredients of a G1.Killer motherboard, with the mid-range Intel B85 Express platform, supporting Core "Haswell" processors in the LGA1150 package. It's built in the standard ATX form-factor. Since the chipset doesn't support CPU overclocking, GIGABYTE went easy on the CPU VRM, with a 4+1 phase design, which is guaranteed to run any socket LGA1150 CPU at its stock speeds. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors.

Expansion slots include two long PCI-Express slots, but only one of them is wired to the CPU, and supports PCI-Express 3.0 x16 speeds. The other slot is electrical gen 2.0 x4, and wired to the B85 PCH. Two each of PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and legacy PCI, make up the remaining expansion slots. Storage connectivity includes four SATA 6 Gb/s, and two SATA 3 Gb/s ports. The audio solution is based on a Realtek ALC898 CODEC (110 dBA SNR), ground-layer isolation, Nichicon audiophile-grade electrolytic capacitors on the AMP stage, and a removable OPAMP chip. There's no Bigfoot Killer NIC, but a decent Intel-made GbE LAN chip. The board features AMI UEFI BIOS with GIGABYTE's latest G1.Killer series setup program (minus the CPU overclocking options, of course), backed by dual-BIOS.

In addition to the G1.Assassin 3, Gigabyte showed off its first motherboards with Thunderbolt 2.0 connectors. Armed with 20 Gb/s of bandwidth, Thunderbolt 2.0 gives you enough bandwidth to drive high-resolution displays (beyond WQHD), and storage arrays with SSDs. Among these motherboards are the Z87X-UD7 TH. Gigabyte distinguished the "UD7" brand extension from "OC," which marks products that prioritize performance-enhancing components over connectivity, while the UD7 leads the company's mainline Z87X pack with top-grade connectivity, and electricals not too far behind the Z87X-OC.

The Z87X-UD7 TH is built in the standard ATX form-factor. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS, an optional 4-pin ATX, and an optional SATA power input. It uses a 16-phase VRM to power the CPU, which uses high-grade PowIRstage driver-MOSFETs. The VRM cooler is a combination of an active air-cooled heatsink, with a coolant channel that lets you make it part of your liquid cooling loop. This cooler shares some of its heat with the heatsink covering the PLX PEX8747 bridge chip, and the PCH, which also features a fan-heatsink. The board features five PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots, of which three are gen 3.0 x16 capable, and four gen 3.0 x8 capable. A mechanism lets you bypass the bridge chip, and connect a single graphics card directly to the CPU. Two PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slots complete the expansion area.

Gigabyte showed off an early version of its upcoming high-end socket LGA2011 motherboard, the G1.Assassin 3, at IDF. Based on the same Intel X79 Express chipset as its predecessor, this board is built in the standard ATX form-factor. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors. It uses a 9-phase VRM to condition power to the CPU socket, which uses PowIRstage driver-MOSFETs by International Rectifier. The CPU socket is wired to eight DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64 GB of memory, and four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots. A couple of PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slots complete the expansion area.

Storage connectivity on the G1.Assassin 3 includes four each of SATA 6 Gb/s and SATA 3 Gb/s ports. Network connectivity includes two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, from which one is driven by an Intel-made controller, and an add-on card with 802.11ac WLAN, and Bluetooth 4.0. A hyped up feature here is its Creative Sound Core3D audio, with a high SNR DAC, audiophile-grade OPAMP circuitry with user-replaceable amps (Gigabyte calls this AMP-UP). Six USB 3.0 ports, and a number of USB 2.0/1.1 ports make for the rest of it. Gigabyte didn't finalize heatsink designs for the VRM or PCH, and there's no word on when exactly the company plans to launch the thing.

ASUS announced its first socket LGA2011 motherboard after Intel's Core i7 "Ivy Bridge-E" family launch. Sticking to the simplified model naming scheme introduced by its LGA1150 motherboard lineup, the board is named X79-Deluxe, and is styled just like them (black PCB, black expansion-slots, gold heatsinks). It is expected to ship with out of the box support for Intel's latest HEDT chips. The board is built in the standard ATX form-factor, drawing power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors. It uses a 10-phase VRM to power the CPU socket, which is wired to eight DDR3 DIMM slots, and four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots. A couple of PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slots, wired to the PCH, make for the rest of its expansion.

Storage connectivity includes eight internal SATA 6 Gb/s ports, of which just two are wired to the X79 PCH, four SATA 3 Gb/s ports, and two eSATA 6 Gb/s. Out of the eight USB 3.0 ports on this board, you get six on the rear panel, two by header. The X79 Deluxe features the latest WiFi GO! module by ASUS, which lends it 802.11 ac WLAN, and Bluetooth 4.0 support. Of the two gigabit Ethernet ports on the board, one is driven by an Intel-made controller. 8-channel HD audio, and a number of USB 2.0/1.1 ports make for the rest. Among the ASUS-exclusive features are USB BIOS Flashback, EPU, TPU II, ASUS SSD Caching, and USB 3.0 Boost. The X79 Deluxe from ASUS is expected to go for US $349.99. Find a comprehensive review at the source.

Known more for its server and workstation motherboards; and rackmount server chassis; Supermicro dipped its toes into consumer (DIY) motherboards, announcing the C7Z87-OCE, a socket LGA1150 motherboard based on the Intel Z87 Express chipset. Built in the standard ATX form-factor, this board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, and 8-pin EPS connectors. It features a rather bland blue PCB, with seemingly basic heatsinks over the chipset and CPU VRM. In reality, the 22 nm-built Z87 Express PCH, with a 4.1W TDP can make do with a heatsink like that. The one on the VRM, on the other hand, is suspect. It appears to use a 6-phase digital PWM circuitry with driver-MOSFETs.

The LGA1150 socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, and three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/NC/NC, x8/x8/NC, x8/x4/x4). A trio of close-ended PCI-Express 2.0 x4 find room in between them. The board offers a total of eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, six from the Z87 PCH, two from a third-party controller. Also on offer, are eight USB 3.0 ports, four on the rear panel, four by headers. The board offers 8-channel HD audio with optical SPDIF output, a pair of gigabit Ethernet interfaces, Thunderbolt (which doubles up as mini-DisplayPort), dual-link DVI and D-Sub display outputs. Although driven by AMI Aptio UEFI BIOS, it features a classic keyboard-driven setup program UI. The company didn't release pricing. Find a complete review at the source.

ASRock unveiled the H87E-ITX/ac, its first mini-ITX motherboard featuring 802.11ac WLAN. Based on Intel's H87 Express chipset, the board seats Core "Haswell" processors in the LGA1150 package. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, conditioning it for the CPU with a 4-phase VRM. Up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory is supported through a pair of conventional 240-pin DIMM slots. A PCI-Express 3.0 x16 makes for the board's lone expansion slot, aside from the mPCIe that's populated by the WLAN card.

Connectivity on the H87E-ITX/ac include 802.11ac WLAN, based on Intel's i217V chipset, offering up to 867 Mbps of wireless bandwidth, gigabit Ethernet, and Bluetooth 4.0. It makes use of all SATA channels of the H87 PCH, offering five internal SATA 6 Gb/s, and an eSATA 6 Gb/s. 8-channel HD audio based on Realtek ALC1150 CODEC, with optical SPDIF, four USB 3.0 ports, a pair of USB 2.0/1.1 ports; and display connectivity that includes one each of DVI, DisplayPort, and HDMI, make for the rest of it. ASRock will begin shipping the board a little later this week.

EVGA launched its flagship socket LGA2011 motherboard, the X79 Dark (model: 150-SE-E789-KR). It made its debut at this year's International CES event. Designed for open-air benches, this motherboard requires a case that can seat E-ATX motherboards. It measures 304.8 x 263.5 mm (LxW). It draws power from a combination of a 24-pin ATX input, two 8-pin EPS inputs, and a 6-pin PCIe input, to stabilize bus-supplied power for add-on cards. The X79 Dark from EVGA comes with a plethora of features for CPU and VGA overclockers alike. In addition to onboard controls, EVBot support, consolidated voltage measurement points, EVGA deployed a brand new UEFI setup program interface, which debuted with some of its premium Z87-based motherboards.

EVGA X79 Dark features a 12-layer PCB. It uses a 12+2 phase VRM to power the CPU, a 4-phase VRM for the memory, and features power-gating to individual PCI-Express slots. On the expansion front, you get five PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots, from which two are electrical x16-capable, and all five electrical x8-capable, depending on how the slots are populated. Storage connectivity includes six SATA 6 Gb/s internal ports, two of which are from the X79 PCH, four from third-party controllers; four SATA 3 Gb/s ports from the PCH, and two eSATA 3 Gb/s. The rest of its connectivity includes 8-channel HD audio, two gigabit Ethernet interfaces (both driven by Intel-made controllers), six USB 3.0 ports (four on the rear panel, two by header), Bluetooth, and a number of USB 2.0/1.1 ports. EVGA X79 Dark bear a street-price of US $399.99.Many Thanks to Radrok for the tip

Z87 MPOWER and Z87 MPOWER MAX, two of MSI's top overclocker-targeted socket LGA1150 motherboards, are joined by the company's new flagship motherboard, the Z87 XPOWER. Built in the XL-ATX (345 x 264 mm) form-factor, this board gets you the best MSI has to offer, and is ideal for both CPU and VGA overclocking benches. The CPU is powered by a gargantuan 32-phase digital-PWM power supply, which draws power from two 8-pin EPS connectors, in addition to the 24-pin ATX, and an optional 6-pin PCI-Express connector.

The CPU socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3-3000+ memory, and a PLX PEX8747 PCI-Express gen 3.0 bridge chip, which gives out four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots, two of which are x16 capable, all four of which are x8-capable. One of the five x16 slots, the second one from top, is directly wired to the CPU, and plugging a graphics card on that slot will bypass the bridge-chip. This slot is ideal for when you have just one card. Two PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slots take seat between the x16 slots, wired to the PCH. In addition to 4-way NVIDIA SLI and 4-way AMD CrossFireX, the board includes Lucid Virtu MVP 2.0 software.

Galaxy extended its top-end Hall of Fame (HOF) brand extension to motherboards, and unveiled its flagship socket LGA1150 motherboard, the Z87 HOF. The board uses two PEX8747 x48 bridge chips, probably chained, to give out four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots, all four of which stay at electrical x16, no matter how you populate them. The board uses a 16-phase VRM to power the CPU, which draws power from two 8-pin EPS connectors, in addition to the 24-pin ATX. The board takes advantage of its unique PCI-Express configuration to support 4-way SLI and CrossFireX.

Sadly, the board doesn't impress quite as much with storage connectivity. You get four SATA 6 Gb/s ports, an mSATA/mPCIe, and an eSATA. DVI, HDMI, 8-channel HD audio, and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of it. The board gives you plenty of overclocking features, such as onboard OC controls, dual-BIOS, voltage measurement-points, an OC module, and a feature-rich UEFI setup program.

Sapphire unveiled its first socket LGA1150 motherboards, designed for 4th generation Core "Haswell" processors, although they're not completely out of the pipeline, and Sapphire is yet to finalize heatsink designs. Among the boards shown at Computex are the micro-ATX Pure Platinum Z87M-PR, and the ATX Pure Platinum Z87A-MA, both of which offer a pretty mid-range feature-set. The Z87M-PR gives you a 5-phase VRM that powers the CPU, four DDR3 DIMM slots, a single PCI-Express 3.0 x16, and one each of mPCIe, PCIe 2.0 x1, and legacy PCI. The board offers four each of SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 ports, eight USB 2.0/1.1 ports, DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI display outputs, gigabit Ethernet, and 8-channel HD audio.

The Z87A-MA, on the other hand, offers the same CPU VRM as its little sibling, one PCI-Express 3.0 x16, a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical gen 2.0 x4, wired to the PCH), two PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and two legacy PCI. You get six each of SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 ports, but oddly enough, the rest of the connectivity is a notch worse. 8-channel HD audio makes way for 6-channel. Sapphire's other motherboards are more interesting finds, but more on that later.

ASUS launched its socket LGA1150 motherboard lineup with three products in its coveted Republic of Gamers (ROG) lineup, the flagship Maximus VI Extreme, the micro-ATX Maximus VI Gene, and the mid-range Maximus VI Hero. A little earlier today, the mini-ITX Maximus VI Impact joined the team with a stunning feature-set for its size. At Computex, we pictured the last piece of the puzzle, the Maximus VI Formula. Pictured below, this ATX motherboard based on the Z87 chipset is best suited for liquid-cooled rigs with 3-way graphics cards. It borrows a piece of technology over from the TUF series, a thermal armor that covers most parts of the board. The armor makes contact with a water block that actively cools the board's CPU VRM.

The Maximus VI Formula uses an identical CPU VRM to the Maximus VI Extreme. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS. A 4-pin ATX and Molex can be optionally connected to stabilize overclocks. The LGA1150 socket 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), it lacks the PEX8747 bridge chip of its bigger sibling. Three other PCI-Express 2.0 x1 chips make for the rest of the expansion. Connectivity on the Maximus VI Formula includes ten SATA 6 Gb/s ports, eight USB 3.0 ports, SupremeFX audio, gigabit Ethernet (Intel controller), 802.11 ac WiFi, and Bluetooth 4.0. ASUS didn't reveal launch plans.

ASUS announced its first Republic of Gamers (ROG) motherboard in the mini-ITX form-factor, the Maximus VI Impact, which could go on to become choice number one for SFF gaming PC builders. Arguably the most feature-rich mini-ITX motherboard ever made, the Maximus VI Impact is a socket LGA1150 motherboard based on Intel Z87 Express chipset, which supports 4th generation Core "Haswell" processors.

The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, and conditions it using a 10-phase VRM that off-shoots into its own little PCB, with heatsink. The other three daughterboards on the Maximus VI Impact include the SupremeFX Impact, a sound-card with an audiophile-grade 115 dBA DAC, OPAMPs, and audio-grade capacitors; and an mPCIe combo card that lends it 802.11 ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0; and an ImpactControl card that gives overclockers POST diagnostic readouts and CMOS reset/restore at the push of a button, right from the rear panel.

Ahead of its grand Computex launch alongside the Core "Haswell" processor family, Intel's homebrew socket LGA1150 Desktop Board products are being previewed online. One such covers the company's flagship motherboard, the DZ87KLT-75K "Kinsley." The board features a CPU power supply that's most compliant to Intel's iVR design for Core "Haswell" processors, with an 8-phase design. You'll either love or hate the new heatsink design. Expansion slots include three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x16/x8/x4), three PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and surprisingly, a legacy PCI.

Storage connectivity includes six SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the Z87 PCH, two from a third-party controller, and an mSATA 6 Gb/s. The board features a single first-generation Thunderbolt port, which doubles up as mini-DisplayPort, the only other display output than HDMI. A variant of this board without Thunderbolt (in which the port works only as mini-DisplayPort), could be sold as DZ87KL-70K. Rest of the board's connectivity include eight USB 3.0 ports (six rear, two by header), eight USB 2.0/1.1 ports, two 800 Mbps FireWire ports (one rear, one by header), 8-channel HD audio with optical SPDIF, two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, and an optional front-panel module that gives the board front-panel USB 3.0 ports, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, and Bluetooth 4.0. In addition to the five 4-pin PWM fan headers, the board appears to feature several overclocker-friendly features. Find a video presentation at the source.

We've had GIGABYTE's premium mainline socket LGA1150 motherboards, the Z87-UD4H and Z87-UD5H detailed last week. A little earlier, we've been through the company's gamer-centric G1.Sniper series, and Z87 OC Force. Below are pictures of the company's sub-$150 lineup based on the Z87 Express and B85 Express chipsets, the B85M-D3H, the Z87-D3HP, and the Z87-UD3H.

The B85M-D3H, as the name might give away, is based on Intel's B85 chipset that gives you most of the platform's feature-set, including Small Business Advantage, but excluding CPU overclocking features. Built in the micro-ATX form-factor, the board offers a simple 4-phase CPU power supply, four DDR3 DIMM slots, a single PCI-Express 3.0 x16, a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4), two legacy PCI, four SATA 6 Gb/s and two SATA 3 Gb/s, four USB 3.0 ports (two rear, two by header), a combination of DVI, HDMI, and D-Sub display outputs; gigabit Ethernet, and 8-channel HD audio.

In addition to the Z87N-WiFi mini-ITX motherboard, GIGABYTE showed off a couple of its top ATX products from its mainline Z87X series, the Z87X-UD4H and Z87X-UD5H. The two mark GIGABYTE's complete breakaway from the blue color scheme, and lack the color even on their heatsinks. The Z87X-UD4H features a hot-rod red+silver+black color-scheme, while the Z87X-UD5H features gold+silver+black. Both boards are based on the company's Ultra Durable 5 construction. Both boards appear to offer overclocker-friendly features that are reserved for the high-end, such as redundant BIOS, diagnostic LEDs and measurement points for each power domain, and high-grade electrical components.

The Z87X-UD4H offers a 16-phase CPU power supply, three each of PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (electrical x16/x8/x4), PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and a legacy PCI. It offers eight internal SATA 6 Gb/s ports, two eSATA 6 Gb/s, ten USB 3.0 ports (six on the rear panel, four by headers), 8-channel HD audio, and display outputs that include DVI, D-Sub, HDMI, and DisplayPort. The Z87X-UD5H, on the other hand, offers the same 16-phase CPU VRM and the same expansion slot layout as its sibling, but tops it up with ten internal SATA 6 Gb/s ports, dual gigabit Ethernet, a second DVI connector instead of D-Sub, and FireWire (by header). The two will most likely be part of GIGABYTE's first wave of socket LGA1150 motherboards, and could be priced above $150.

GIGABYTE unveiled the first mini-ITX motherboard based on Intel's upcoming Z87 Express chipset, ready for 4th generation Core "Haswell" processors in the LGA1150 package. The Z87N-WiFi from GIGABYTE takes advantage of the smaller package size of the Z87 PCH, to cram in every feature you'll need, on the space constrained form-factor. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin and 4-pin ATX connectors. It uses a 4-phase power supply for the CPU, which is wired to a pair of DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting dual-channel memory, and a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot. The only other expansion slot is an mPCIe, populated by the board's WiFi card. Storage connectivity on the Z87N-WiFi includes four SATA 6 Gb/s ports, all from the PCH. A pair of HDMI connectors, and dual-link DVI make for its display connectivity. Two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, 8-channel HD audio with optical SPDIF, six USB 3.0 ports (four rear, two by header), and 802.11ac WLAN make for the rest of it. The Z87N-WiFi could be part of the first wave of LGA1150 motherboards by GIGABYTE.

ASUS announced a fleet of socket LGA1150 motherboards, covering its mainline (classic), Republic of Gamers (ROG), and The Ultimate Force (TUF) lines. With this series, ASUS is adopting a new color scheme for its mainline motherboards, breaking away from the black PCB with blue heatsinks scheme it maintained since the first LGA1156 motherboards, almost four years ago. The new mainline motherboards from ASUS feature black PCBs with golden-colored heatsinks covering the VRM and PCH, and simpler naming. ASUS' first wave of Z87-based mainline (classic) motherboards include the entry-level Z87-C and Z87-A, mid-range Z87-PLUS and Z87-PRO, and premium Z87-DELUXE.