Take a good minute to reminisce all the joy and fun you had on the internet. Good times, I tell you. Then take another solid minute to recollect those dark depressing moments when the connection was either slow or unstable. Images turning into rectangles with red crosses, laggy videos that took forever to load, downloads that tragically failed at the last few seconds, and it all seemed like the world was coming to an end. Rest assured that ASRock is bringing better Internet connections to the upcoming Intel 8 Series motherboards with A-Style: 2T2R Dual Band 802.11ac WiFi + Bluetooth v4.0.

ECS introduces the first Intel 8-Series Motherboards featuring the new 4th Generation Intel Core processor family for their new family of desktop motherboards Pro, Deluxe and Essentials.

The new ECS (Elitegroup Computer Systems) family of motherboards featuring the new Intel 8-series Chipset family with new designed specifically for the new 4th Generation Intel Core processor family of CPUs, which will be available and shipping worldwide in Q2 2013. The new chipset features support for full SATA III 6 Gb/s internal ports and PCI-Express Gen.3 x16 bus design. They also integrate USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, and enable responsiveness technologies like Intel Smart Response, Intel Smart Connect, and Intel Rapid Start.

If you've been following news of computing technologies, you've probably already noticed the presence of Thunderbolt technology. Now the maestros of motherboard manufacturing, ASRock is the world's first to add more of these wonderful Thunderbolt ports to the upcoming Intel 8 Series motherboards! What's more, the company's top-of-the-line Z87 Extreme9/ac motherboard is the world's first Intel 8 Series motherboard to pass the Intel Thunderbolt certification.

These Thunderbolt ports will come on ASRock's Z87 Extreme9/ac, which are allegedly arriving to the market very soon, along with dozens of other exciting new features, such as ASRock's A-Style. So, if you're looking forward to build a solid next gen desktop rig with insanely fast data transfer abilities and innovative new software or hardware features, keep your eyes open for this bad boy.

MSI proudly announced the release of its new EPIC embedded board?MS-98D1. The MS-98D1 is a compact EPIC size embedded board with Intel Atom Dual Core processor for low-power fanless solution. Featuring with dual core, fanless design, rich I/O, and wide input voltage of 9 to 36 VDC, the MS-98D1 is especially ideal for industrial applications that involve control and communications, or any industrial fields that require fanless embedded systems.

The dual Gigabit LAN built-in also benefit the target applications by providing broad-band communication capability that is required by many industrial fields. For some systems that need additional communication or I/O interfaces, the PCI-104 slot of MS-98D1 allows system integrators to stack more modules with no limits, offering more application possibilities with this small board. Moreover, 2 independent displays with VGA, DVI, and Dual LVDS outputs enable the MS-98D1 to be applied for remote monitoring and control systems as well.

Among the pile of new features motherboard makers are coming up with, for their next-generation socket LGA1150 motherboards, this one from ASRock is bound to stand out. Select ASRock 8-series motherboards will feature water-proofing. Why do you need it? Because the enthusiast crowd likes to use water-cooling, and custom-built water-cooling loops are prone to leaks and spills, if not done right. Water-proofing ensures the board is more resilient to coolant spills. ASRock doesn't guarantee protection from all kinds of liquid coolants, but at least it's a step in the right direction. Other innovations by ASRock include enhanced onboard audio, HDMI in (for video recording), 802.11 ac WLAN, and HomeCloud software.

ASRock is serious about breaking the 1 million motherboards-shipped mark for this year. The company is going into the emerging Intel Z87 chipset-based socket LGA1150 motherboard market with an extremely strong lineup covering a wide range of price-points. The company is preparing as many as three OC series models, two Fatal1ty series ones, and six Extreme series models. A defining feature of ASRock's lineup is the introduction of onboard 802.11 ac WLAN controllers on select models. The "/ac" brand extension denotes this feature.

Three of the company's top models based on the Z87 Express chipset include the Z87 Extreme11, Z87 Fatal1ty Professional, and Z87 OC Formula. The Z87 Extreme11, available with the /ac option, is the company's flagship socket LGA1150 motherboard, maxing out the platform's feature-set, and augmenting it with an additional PCI-Express lane budget, Thunderbolt, 802.11 ac, and a plethora of connectivity options. The Extreme series targets consumers who want the most connectivity. Other models in the series include the Z87 Extreme 9(/ac), Z87 Extreme6(/ac), Z87 Extreme 4, and the micro-ATX Z87M Extreme4.

At a media event held in its Taipei headquarters, GIGABYTE demonstrated its AMP-UP integrated audio solution that will feature on some of its upcoming motherboards. On that pretense, it even got to show of two of its top socket LGA1150 motherboards, built for Core "Haswell" processors, the G1.Sniper 5, and the G1.Sniper M5. Positioned in gamer-overclocker targeted G1.Killer series, the two boards are based on Intel Z87 Express chipset. The G1.Sniper 5 is the larger standard ATX motherboard; while the M5 is a compact micro-ATX offering. The pictures also confirm that socket LGA1150 retention module and bolt-spacing is identical to sockets LGA1155 and LGA1156.

The G1.Sniper 5 appears to feature a 16-phase VRM, which uses ferrite-core chokes, and the same International Rectifier PowIRstage components as Ultra Durable 5 motherboards from the previous generation. This time around, the CPU plays a greater role in voltage regulation. The driver-MOSFETs on the board are cooled by an active fan-heatsink, which also has a liquid channel running through it, so you could make it part of your CPU loop. Thankfully GIGABYTE didn't let its imagination run away with designs of the other heatsinks on the board, one of which cools the Z87 Express chipset, and the other we imagine, a PLX PEX8747 48-lane PCI-Express 3.0 bridge chip. This chip gets you 4-way SLI/CrossFireX support.

With Computex 2013 a little over a month away, alongside which Intel plans to launch its 4th generation Core "Haswell" family, motherboard manufacturers are gearing up for another summer of product launches, with compatible socket LGA1150 motherboards. Among these is MSI, which teased its flagship motherboard that targets overclockers and PC enthusiasts interested in taking the Core i7-4770K and Core i5-4670K for a spin. This motherboard falls inside the company's Big Bang series, bearing the name Z87 XPower. As the name suggests, it's based on Intel's Z87 Express chipset.

Not much is known about the Big Bang Z87 XPower, except what the teaser video (after the break) and a couple of corner-shots reveal. Expect a fancy new color scheme (probably a combination of gold and black), a new design scheme for the VRM and chipset heatsinks with a glowy "X" sign, the usual plethora of overclocking options MSI packs with its high-end motherboards, and what appears to be an mSATA or mPCIe slot, in one of the pictures.

Axiomtek's MANO873 Mini ITX motherboard based on the Intel Q77 Express chipset is designed for the 3rd Generation Intel Core i7/i5/i3 processors in the LGA1155 socket. The high-performance MANO873 supports Intel 3-D transistor, Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 technology, Intel Hyper-Threading technology, 16 GB DDR3 1333/1600 system memory, and PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot. It also supports Intel Active Management Technology 8.0, Intel Small Business Advantage solution, Intel Smart Response Technology, Intel Rapid Storage Technology, Intel vPro, Trusted Platform Module 1.2, and SATA RAID for various mission critical applications.

In addition, the Intel HD Graphics 4000/2500 engine with DirectX 11 support is built into the chipset to provide fast graphics performance. With all the innovative features, the MANO873 is ideal for high-end industrial applications, such as storage server, POS, kiosk, medical, gaming, digital signage, and surveillance security monitoring.

Even though nothing much about ASRock's next generation Intel 8 Series motherboards can be revealed yet, we simply can't restrain ourselves from spilling out the good news that ASRock's Z87 Extreme4 is the world's first Intel 8 Series motherboard to pass Windows 8 hardware certification. So, yeah, users may be ensured that ASRock's Z87 Extreme4 will support the latest operating system from Microsoft without any problems, and bear in mind that it's coming to you real soon.

ASRock is always striving for the most advanced hardware designs, as well as the latest software applications. The company is dedicated to offer users only the best cutting edge technology, which of course includes the latest Windows 8 operating system. Why settle for second place when you can be number one? Be the first to lay your hands on the 8 Series computers with ASRock.

Durathon from Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) exclusively delivers a hassle free computing experience by solving common PC hardware problems before they can even occur. A specially devised testing regime – far stricter than common industry standards and combined with the highest quality components, ensures that ECS Durathon motherboards can be relied on stability and reliability far into the future. Durathon derives from Durable and Marathon, which means each board runs through the strenuous testing cycle and guaranteed the ability of working flawlessly even under the most extreme environmental conditions.

For PC owners suffering crashes, instability and poor performance, ECS Durathon motherboards go above and beyond industry standards to ensure that your motherboard can now deliver the stability, reliability and performance that we promise. ECS Durathon comprises four interlocking tests and enhancements together to protect PCs and defeat many of the most common causes of hardware problems and system instability.

MSI, industry leader in motherboard and graphics card technology is happy to announce the availability of its complete Gaming motherboard lineup. At CeBIT 2013 the world got a first hands-on experience with the new models and the completely new look and feel of the motherboards and thanks to that we've received overwhelming positive reviews from gamers and media. As part of the 2013 series of motherboards, the new Z77 Gaming models will be available far into 2014. Together with the recently introduced Gaming Graphics Cards from MSI, they allow awe-inspiring PC builds from PC Gamers and Enthusiasts.

The MSI Z77 Gaming motherboards are designed to have as little lag as possible, to have the best possible input relay connections from your devices (mouse, keyboard and headset) and have the best audio set up integrated in the motherboard and have room for several graphics cards. These are but a few examples of how MSI has tried to perfect this Gaming motherboard for the enthusiasts who want the best hardware to get the best performance where it counts: in-game.

GIGABYTE rolled out the C1007UN-D mini-ITX motherboard, for entry-level desktops. It ships with an Intel Celeron 1007U BGA processor hard-wired to the board, with a compatible fan-heatsink pre-installed. Based on the 22 nm "Ivy Bridge" micro-architecture, the 1007U is a dual-core chip, clocked at 1.50 GHz, with 2 MB of L3 cache, and 17W TDP. Backing the chip on this motherboard is Intel's NM70 chipset.

The C1007UN-D from GIGABYTE features two DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel memory. Storage interfaces consist of one SATA 6 Gb/s and two SATA 3 Gb/s internal ports, and an eSATA 3 Gb/s port. Legacy PCI makes for the lone expansion slot. Connectivity includes two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, 6-channel HD audio, six USB 2.0 ports, an RS232 COM port, LPT (by header), and PS/2. Display outputs include D-Sub (VGA) and HDMI. GIGABYTE did not release pricing information, but considering the CPU itself is priced around $90, we expect this board to be priced around $150.

Even as most motherboard vendors showed off at least half-baked versions of their socket LGA1150 motherboards based on the Intel Z87 Express chipset, supporting 4th generation Core "Haswell" processors; ASUS has been relatively mum. The company doesn't even have a motherboard booth at CeBIT, to begin with. The company did manage to release teaser pictures of three new motherboards, which lead its three consumer motherboard lines: Republic of Gamers (ROG), The Ultimate Force (TUF), and mainline (P9Z87?).

The teaser pictures reveal nothing more than the plaque printed on the center of the motherboard. The first picture below teases what could be P9Z87 Deluxe. Someone at ASUS loves M&Ms. The second picture teases TUF Gryphon Z87. It looks like ASUS had enough of the Sabertooth brand extension. The third picture, dissimilar from the others, is of a new innovation ASUS will introduce with its next ROG motherboard based on the Z87 chipset. It appears to be a device that plugs into one of the motherboard's headers. Probably an external overclocking module akin to EVGA EVBot?

It turns out that MSI's Gaming Series begins with not just the Z77A-GD65 Gaming, but two other models; the Z77A-G43 Gaming, and Z77A-G45 Gaming. Like the Z77A-GD65 Gaming, the other two are nearly identical to their originals, except for a few differences: Killer E2200 low-latency network interfaces, Creative Sound Blaster Cinema audio, fancy VRM heatsinks with dragon head-shaped fins, themed PCH heatsinks, Gaming Series branding on the POST screen and a themed UEFI BIOS interface. With Z87-based LGA1150 motherboards being just three months away, MSI could rush these motherboards into the market.Source: Hardware.info

MSI displayed its upcoming Z87A Gaming Series motherboard. The company is yet to begin work on cosmetic details such as PCB color, heatsinks, component color scheme, etc., but a bulk of its development is complete. To begin with, the board uses a strong 16-phase VRM to power the CPU, which draws power from two 8-pin EPS connectors. The CPU is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory; and three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots in x16/NC/NC or x8/x8/NC or x8/x4/x4 configurations, depending on how they're populated. Four x1 slots make for the rest of its all-PCIe expansion slot area.

Storage connectivity on the Z87A Gaming Series includes eight SATA 6 Gb/s slots, two of which are driven by a third-party controller. 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, eight USB 3.0 ports (six on the rear panel, two by header), dual-HDMI and DisplayPort display outputs; effectively make for the rest of the board. The same exact PCB could be used to create two SKUs, the Z87A Gaming Series, and the Z87A-GD65. Apart from a swankier color scheme and heatsink design, the Gaming Series variant could feature a few additional overclocking features.Source: Lab501.ro

The Z87X-OC may be reserved for people who seldom patronize the PC case industry; but for everyone else, GIGABYTE has three options based on Intel's Z87 Express chipset, which supports overclocking on 4th generation Core "Haswell" K-series processors (detailed here). Leading the trio is the feature-rich Z87X-UD5H, followed by the fairly well-equipped Z87X-UD3H, and trailed by the most affordable of the three, Z87X-D3H.

The Z87X-UD5H packs a massive 16-phase CPU VRM, even if it's not backed by the Z87X-OC's voltage-control/monitoring paraphernalia. The CPU is wired to three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/NC/NC or x8/x8/NC or x8/x4/x4), three PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and a legacy PCI. The board features a total of ten SATA 6 Gb/s internal ports, six of which are driven by the Z87 PCH, four by third-party controllers. Display connectivity includes two HDMI ports, and one each of dual-link DVI and DisplayPort. 8-channel HD audio with TOSLINK digital output, two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, eight USB 3.0 ports (six rear, two by header), make for the rest of it.

At a private media unveiling held on the sidelines of CeBIT, GIGABYTE disclosed its next-generation flagship motherboard, the Z87X-OC. Like most socket LGA1150 motherboards unveiled this week, this one is still under development, and the company is yet to finalize color-scheme and heatsinks for the PCH and VRM, so don't judge it by its looks just yet. The Z87X-OC is designed primarily for overclockers.

The LGA1150 socket is powered by an 8-phase VRM, which draws power from a combination of 4-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS, in addition to the board's 24-pin ATX connector. To stabilize the board's various power domains, you can optionally plug in a 6-pin PCIe power connector. The board gives overclockers a high degree of physical on-the-fly voltage control, and measurement points. One of the chipset's four USB 3.0 ports are wired out as a type-A port on-board, letting you install and run your Windows 7/8 installation off a USB 3.0 flash-drive.

BIOSTAR unveiled a trio of socket LGA1150 motherboards at CeBIT. Unlike ASRock's creations, its boards appear more complete, with heatsinks and finalized board color scheme. All three feature the company's Puro HiFi technology, a high-quality on-board audio with a focus on physically improving audio quality, rather than artificially. Among the boards are the HiFi-B85S2, the HiFi-Z87X3D, and the HiFi-H87S3+.

To begin with, the HiFi-H87S3+ features the micro-ATX form-factor, which still leaves room for four DDR3 DIMM slots, a simple 4-phase VRM to power the CPU, one each of PCI-Express 3.0 x16 and legacy PCI, two PCI-Express 2.0 x1; 6-channel Puro HiFi audio, DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI display outputs; a pair of USB 3.0 ports, and six internal SATA 6 Gb/s connectors. It is based on the H87 chipset. The HiFi-B85S2 features a slim ATX form-factor, is based on the B85 Express chipset, features just the two DDR3 DIMM slots, a PCI-Express 3.0 x16, a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4) wired to the PCH; two each of PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and legacy PCI; six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, 6-channel Puro HiFi audio, gigabit Ethernet, four USB 3.0 ports, and a display connectivity loadout of DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI.

Here is the first selection of ASRock socket LGA1150 motherboards, pictured at the 2013 CeBIT expo being held in Hanover, Germany. Intel's 4th generation Core "Haswell" desktop processor family introduces the new 1150-pin LGA socket and Intel 8-series chipset, to form the platform. An upgrade to to "Haswell" processors should hence also involve buying new motherboards. Top-two motherboard manufacturers ASUS and GIGABYTE reportedly lack booths at CeBIT, leaving only the rest to show off their LGA1150 goods. This first compilation includes boards by ASRock and BIOSTAR. The boards are also a little rough on the edges, as their component/PCB color schemes, heatsinks, etc., haven't been finalized.

ASRock unveiled two LGA1150 motherboard models, the entry-level B85M, and the high-end Z87-Extreme6 (pictured in that order). The B85M, based on the chipset that succeeds today's small business-optimized B75 chipset, is a compact micro-ATX motherboard. It features just the two DDR3 DIMM slots, an expansion area with a PCI-Express 3.0 x16, a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4), and two legacy PCI slots. Connectivity includes six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, 8-channel HD audio, four USB 3.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet; DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI display outputs, legacy connections such as COM/LPT over headers, and PS/2 mouse/keyboard connectors.

We've known since a little earlier this week that MSI has been working on a new product line targeting gamers, which builds on the success of its Gaming Series notebooks; that the company has been working on a variant of the Z77A-GD65 motherboard based on the series; and that the series could also include graphics cards and gaming-grade all-in-one desktops. MSI revealed a few more byte ahead of its big CeBIT unveiling.

To begin with, our suspicious voiced last week are true, the company's first Gaming Series motherboard is in fact a variant of the Z77A-GD65, with a few changes: an overhauled VRM and chipset heatsink design inspired by the dragon-head logo; a black+red color scheme, Bigfoot Killer E2200 low-latency network controller, and possibly Creative Sound Blaster Cinema audio. Moving on, we're hearing that the first graphics card in the Gaming Series will be based on GeForce GTX 670. It could be positioned above the company's fastest GTX 670, the Power Edition/OC. In addition to a slightly new cooling solution, the card could feature an improved VRM.

MSI, the world's leader in motherboards and graphics cards has chosen Creative Sound Blaster Cinema audio technology for its new motherboard lineup. Sound Blaster is the leading brand in PC gaming audio and MSI is excited about the prospect of providing class-leading audio technology with its motherboards. Thanks to the Sound Blaster Cinema suite of audio technologies, gamers can enjoy upgraded surround sound through their stereo headphones, enhanced gaming sound effects and Smart Volume control for long gaming sessions.

When using Sound Blaster Cinema, gamers will be able to hear their opponents more clearly and easily while enjoying the competitive advantage of accurate positional audio to reveal the precise location of their opponents. Sound Blaster Cinema will first be introduced on MSI's new Gaming motherboards, on display at CeBIT 2013 in Hanover from March 5th to March 9th.

MSI launched the X79A-GD45 PLUS socket LGA2011 motherboard, targeting the US $200~250 price-range. The board uses a 9-phase DrMOS VRM to power the CPU socket, which is wired to eight DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 128 GB of quad-channel DDR3-2400 MHz memory; and three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (gray). The other two PCI-Express x16 slots (black) are electrical gen 2.0 x4, and wired to the X79 PCH. A lone PCI-Express 2.0 x1 finds some room in there.

The X79A-GD45 PLUS sticks to the chipset's feature-set, with very little third-party controller functionality. Storage connectivity includes two SATA 6 Gb/s and three SATA 3 Gb/s, all of which are internal ports. The board features four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel, two by headers), 8-channel HD audio with optical and coaxial SPDIF outputs, gigabit Ethernet, PS/2 mouse/keyboard, and a number of USB 2.0/1.1 ports making up the rest of the connectivity. It is driven by an AMI UEFI BIOS, with a few overclocker-friendly features such as diagnostic LEDs, POST state display, accessible CMOS reset button, etc.

MSI, the world-leading manufacturer of graphics cards and motherboards, is happy to announce an extensive partnership with Qualcomm Atheros to implement Killer Networking technology in not only MSI's gaming notebooks, but also a new lineup of MSI gaming motherboards. With this implementation gamers and professionals alike can now utilize Killer technology to enhance their gaming and video streaming experience. By adding a healthy dose of intelligence to the networking part of MSI motherboards a lot of work is taken out of the hands of the users who can focus better at the task at hand, be it fragging competitors or professional network services.

Gigabyte rolled out a new mini-ITX motherboard based on the AMD E350 "Zacate" APU, for entry-level PC and home-server builds, the E350N-WIN8. As the name might suggest, the board is designed to run Windows 8 with its entire feature set, including Fast Boot. It does that by replacing legacy AwardBIOS on older variants, with modern AMI UEFI, backed by Gigabyte's Dual-UEFI redundant BIOS technology that protects against failed BIOS updates. The E350N WIN8 uses a fairly big (SFF-safe) fan-heatsink to cool the APU, while a tiny heatsink cools its companion A45 FCH chipset.

The AMD E350 packs two x86-64 cores clocked at 1.60 GHz, with a maximum memory support of 16 GB, and AMD Radeon HD 6310D DirectX 11 graphics that rides on 80 stream processors. The APU is wired to two standard-size 240-pin DIMM slots. The lone expansion slot, sadly, is a legacy PCI. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin and 4-pin ATX connectors. Connectivity includes four SATA 3 Gb/s ports, eight USB 2.0/1.1 ports (four on the rear panel, four by headers), serial RS232 (COM) and parallel (LPT) ports, PS/2 mouse and keyboard connectors, and display outputs that include D-Sub (VGA) and HDMI (with 7.1-channel digital HD audio). Expect a sub-$100 price point.