MSI, the leading gaming motherboard brand, is proud to announce its newest X299 flagship motherboard, the X299 XPOWER GAMING AC. Designed for PC enthusiasts and overclockers who love sheer performance, the new XPOWER features an incredible 14 phase (12+1+1) DigitALL premium power design with Loadline Calibration to harness even the most powerful Intel Core X-Series processors. With the addition of MSI's Turbo Socket and External Clock Gen, powered by top quality components from Military Class 6, such as Titanium Choke II for higher efficiency and power delivery, even the most demanding overclockers are being challenged to push the new XPOWER to its limits.

Colorful today launched its flagship socket LGA2066 motherboard, the iGame X299 Vulcan X, which it showcased earlier at the 2017 Computex. The board is available in two variants based on their color-schemes, white and black. The white model features a white PCB, I/O shroud, and white PCH and VRM heatsinks, while the black variant is almost completely black. Both variants have an identical feature-set. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS, and 6-pin PCIe power connectors, and uses a 10-phase VRM to power the CPU. The CPU is wired to eight DDR4 DIMM slots, and four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots.

Storage options include a 32 Gb/s M.2-22110 slot, a 32 Gb/s M.2-2280 slot, and six SATA 6 Gb/s ports. USB connectivity includes two USB 3.1 ports (one each type-A and type-C), six USB 3.0 (four on the rear panel and two by headers); and two special USB 2.0 ports on the rear panel which are optimized for gaming input devices, with additional electrical stabilization. Of its two gigabit Ethernet connections, one is driven by an Intel i211-AT controller, and the other by Realtek DragonLAN 8118AS. Audio includes a Realtek ALC1220 CODEC with 120 dBA SNR; a headphones amp, audio-grade capacitors, and ground-layer isolation. The board features dual-BIOS with manual switching, and a host of overclocking features. The company didn't reveal EU pricing.

With the rise of bitcoin/ethereum mining, AMD graphics cards once again became one of the top-selling graphics card series in the market. However, it is relatively harder to acquire the economic mining motherboard due to the fact that Intel slowly discontinued the H81 and B85 chipset, and this caused the shortage of mining motherboards in the market. Users found a new way out along with the release of the 100-series chipset, yet many of them found that when they attached 6 AMD graphics cards on the 100-series motherboard, even though the board successfully recognized 6 graphics cards, there were always exclamation marks on 3 or 4 graphics cards within device manager in the OS. And, of course, the cards with exclamation marks would not function properly during mining. MSI consistently heard such inquiries from customers.

Hence, MSI does a series of tests for its products and picked a couple motherboards including Z170-A PRO, Z170A SLI PLUS, Z170 KRAIT GAMING, Z170A KRAIT GAMING, Z170A KRAIT GAMING 3X, Z270-A PRO, H270-A PRO which fit the purpose of mining. There are few things that need to be done before mining and it will be explained in the paragraph below using MSI Z270-A PRO as example.DOWNLOAD: MSI Motherboard BIOS Update for Mining Builds

Quite a few motherboard manufacturers are designing boards for crypto-currency mining rigs. The idea behind these boards is to serve up as many PCI-Express add-on card slots as possible, so miners can wire those slots out through risers, and drive way more than 7 GPU/ASIC cards. This makes for a better investment than building additional machines for more than 7 cards. Crypto-currency mining isn't bandwidth-heavy, and so even PCI-Express x1 provides sufficient connectivity for mining cards. The H81A-BTC V20 from Colorful is a socket LGA1150 motherboard, which takes in old "Haswell" and "Broadwell" CPUs, a pair of DDR3 memory modules, and puts out seven PCI-Express slots, of which one is x16, and the rest x1. The board draws power from 6-pin PCIe and 4-pin Molex, besides 8-pin EPS and 24-pin ATX, to cope with add-on cards that don't have their own power sources.

In this issue of the Ryzen BIOS update digest, we have the latest updates. Our BIOS update digest lets you keep track of crucial BIOS updates that improve stability of your AMD Ryzen machine. As per usual, only updated BIOSes from the last digest are listed. Changes are listed after each BIOS, sans beta BIOSes which do not always include change logs. You can find it all below.

In this release, we have several betas graduating to final release, mostly all consisting of AGESA 1.0.0.6 code.

Cryptocurrency mining has once again found revitalized value thanks to skyrocketing cryptocurrency prices now reaching record highs. GPU-based mining has long-been the most cost-effective and most accessible way of entering this field and BIOSTAR has been one of the foundations that helped many enthusiasts as well as investors in creating platforms for this industry. BIOSTAR since the H81A and TB85 series have been favorites by miners for its balance of price and scalability offering support up to six graphics cards for maximum board utilization.

Thanks to years of professional experience in mining backed by feedback from customers as well as internal R&D, BIOSTAR has debuted its most innovative mining platform yet. Making its debut during COMPUTEX 2017, motherboards that support up to 8 graphics cards were showcased by BIOSTAR in its booth receiving positive feedback from the people present. Today BIOSTAR has just up the ante with the announcement of it's the world's first motherboard that can support up to 12 graphics cards simultaneously with the global announcement of the TB250-BTC PRO specialized cryptocurrency mining motherboard.

GIGABYTE introduced the AB350N-Gaming WiFi, its first socket AM4 motherboard in the mini-ITX form-factor, with support for the entire Ryzen "Summit Ridge" processor family, the 7th generation "Bristol Ridge" A-series APUs, and the upcoming Ryzen "Raven Ridge" APUs. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors, and conditions it for the AM4 SoC with a 6-phase VRM. The motherboard is based on AMD B350 chipset.

The AM4 SoC is wired to two DDR4 DIMM slots, supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel memory, the lone PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot, a 32 Gb/s M.2 slot on the reverse side of the PCB, two out of four of the board's SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and two out of six of the board's USB 3.0 ports. Other USB connectivity includes two USB 3.0 ports from the B350 chipset, and two 10 Gb/s USB 3.1 ports (both type-A). Networking includes a WLAN card with 802.11ac WiFi, and Bluetooth 4.2, and gigabit Ethernet. 8-channel HD audio driven by a 120 dBA SNR CODEC makes for the rest of it. The company didn't reveal pricing.

MSI introduced the B350M Pro-VD and A320M Pro-VD socket AM4 motherboards. Built in the slim micro-ATX form-factor, the two boards are nearly identical, and differ only with the chipset (AMD B350 and A320). The boards draw power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors; conditioning it for the AM4 SoC with a 6-phase VRM. The APU socket is wired to two DDR4 DIMM slots, supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory; a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot, and both of the boards' PCIe x1 slots. Two of the four SATA 6 Gbps ports on the boards come from the AM4 SoC. Display outputs include DVI and D-Sub. Gigabit Ethernet and 6-channel HD audio make for the rest of them. The only feature the B350M Pro-VD offers over its A320-based twin is support for CPU overclocking. The two could feature sub-$80 price-points.

GIGABYTE introduced the MZ30-AR0 motherboard for single-socket AMD EPYC processor-powered servers and workstations. The motherboard is built in the E-ATX form-factor, and features a single SP3r2 socket, for AMD EPYC 7000-series processors. Given that EPYC is a full-fledged SoC, the board has no chipset. An ASpeed AST2500 remote-management chip puts out basic display and IPMI features. The board draws power from two 8-pin EPS connectors, besides the 24-pin ATX. The CPU socket is flanked by 16 DDR4 DIMM slots, which support up to 512 GB of octa-channel DDR4 memory.

Expansion slots include four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 with full-time x16 wiring, one x16 with x8 wiring, and two x8 slots. Storage connectivity includes four slimSAS 12 Gb/s ports, which put out sixteen SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and a 32 Gb/s M.2 slot. Networking is care of two 10 GbE ports driven by a Broadcom BCM57810S processor, and a single GbE port. There's no onboard audio or even USB 3.1 ports.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, begins shipment of its long awaited X299 AORUS Gaming Motherboards. With the flood gates open, consumers can find these boards at all major retail outlets and online stores. GIGABYTE previously offered pre-order customers incentives to upgrade and break into the enthusiast segment.

GIGABYTE has come out swinging with its new X299 AORUS Gaming Motherboards. To ensure consumers feel the full extent of performance and features of these motherboards, GIGABYTE has put together an Xperience Pack that helps to accent key technologies that come onboard. The Xperience Pack is filled with bonuses such as an AORUS Hoodie, 1-Year subscription to Xsplit Gamecaster, LEDs from CableMods, a Limited Launch Edition Keyboard Mousepad, and Sennheiser CX3.00 In-Ear Headphones. From its AMP-UP Audio to its RGB Fusion Technology, each bonus item is critical to enhance elements of the GIGABYTE X299 experience,

MSI today introduced the X299 Tomahawk Arctic motherboard. A near-identical variant of the X299 Tomahawk, the board features a mostly-white color scheme with grey and black accents. It features a white PCB with grey streaks. The white scheme carries over to the chipset and VRM heatsinks, the rear I/O shroud, the eight DDR4 DIMM and four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots. The heatsinks and rear I/O shroud also feature brushed-aluminium inserts for added style.

The X299 Tomahawk Arctic is a bustling metropolis which draws power from a single 8-pin EPS connector besides 24-pin ATX. The board features a 9-phase CPU VRM, and 4-phase memory. The CPU socket is wired to eight DDR4 DIMM slots, and four PCIe 3.0 x16 (x16/NC/x16/NC or x16/NC/x8/x8 or x8/x8/x8/x8 with 44-lane CPUs; x16/NC/NC/NC or x8/NC/x8/x4 with 28-lane CPUs). The first and third slots feature metal reinforcement. Storage connectivity includes two 32 Gb/s M.2 slots, a 32 Gb/s U.2 port, and eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Networking is care of a single GbE connection driven by Intel i219-V controller. The onboard audio solution combines a Realtek ALC1150 (up to 115 dBA SNR) CODEC with audio-grade capacitors, and ground-layer isolation. The company didn't reveal pricing.

In this issue of the Ryzen BIOS update digest, we have the latest updates. Our BIOS update digest lets you keep track of crucial BIOS updates that improve stability of your AMD Ryzen machine. As per usual, only updated BIOSes from the last digest are listed. Changes are listed after each BIOS, sans beta BIOSes which do not always include change logs. You can find it all below.

Toppc Pushes the X299 Gaming Pro Carbon AC Motherboard to Reach New DDR4 Frequency Milestone
One year ago, MSI's in-house overclocker, Toppc, broke the DDR4 5GHz barrier using G.SKILL memory and the MSI Z170I GAMING PRO AC motherboard. Today, 1 year later, he raises the bar once again and became the first ever to push DDR4 speeds to 5.5GHz under liquid nitrogen cooling using the new MSI X299 GAMING PRO CARBON AC motherboard. With the MSI X299 GAMING PRO CARBON AC, MSI's most customizable high-performance Intel X299 based motherboard, Toppc was running G.SKILL DDR4 memory with an unbelievable DDR4-SDRAM clock speed of 5500MHz. This world record shows MSI's dominant position on performance for X299 by using MSI's unique and patented DDR4 Boost technology. The MSI X299 GAMING PRO CARBON AC is not only feature packed for gamers and great for case modding, it is also perfectly suited to deliver power for heavy gaming & overclocking sessions.

Two of the more unique mass-market designs on show on Computex 2017 have to be the Phanteks EVOLV Shift and Shift X SFF cases. These are the essence of a tower case (though they can also lie on their side like a roman citizen at dinner time, if you are so inclined.) These are aluminum and tempered-glass crafted cases, with a ridiculous 17 (W) x 27 (D) x 48 (H) cm footprint on the Shift. The Shift X is the taller solution of the two, with a 65 cm height. These little cases than could support water cooling and component placement in multiple orientations, and include an integrated RGB controller to boot.

The front I/O contains just two USB 3.0 ports, but it's the interior which shines. Phanteks managed to cram a lot into such a compact form-factor. Motherboards will have to be of the mini-ITX type, there's no way around that; however, there's also with support for 2x PCI slots, and the Shift X brings support for 2x internal 3.5" and 2x 2.5" drives (you can also mount 2.5" solutions on the 3.5" bays, mind you.) It also supports PS2 PSUs, while the smaller Shift has to cut one of the 3.5" bays, and only supports SFF PSUs. However, for their sizes, both Shifts support 3x 120 mm and 3x 140 mm fans on the front of the case, and 1x 120 mm, 1x 140 mm fans on the bottom. The EVOLV Shift will retail for $110, while the Shift X brings that number up to $160.

ECS took to Computex to showcase seven different motherboards from both AMD and Intel. First up we have the Z270 Lightsaber, which is great at deflecting laser blaster shots. It's an LGA 1151 socket motherboard, features 8-channel audio courtesy of a Realtek ALC 1150 audio chip, a Killer E2500 Gigabit controller, 1x M.2 slot with support for SATA, NVMe, and Intel Optane. There are 3x PCIe x16 slots, which work at x8 x8 x4 when all slots are populated, as is usual with Z270 motherboards.

EVGA at its Computex 2017 booth showed off its premium socket LGA2066 motherboard, the X299 FTW. The company also unveiled its micro-ATX X299 Micro. Built in the ATX form-factor, the X299 FTW is positioned below the X299 DARK, and features a clean layout with conveniently located connectors. It draws power from a pair of 8-pin EPS connectors besides an optional 6-pin PCIe, and the 24-pin ATX. The CPU socket is flanked by eight DDR4 DIMM slots, and four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots. An open-ended x4 and another x1 make for the rest of its expansion.

The X299 FTW is characterized by a groovy RGB LED lighting system that covers not just the PCH heatsink, but also the CPU VRM heatsink, and the I/O shroud, which runs the entire length of the motherboard. Storage connectivity includes two 32 Gb/s M.2 slots (a 110 mm and an 80 mm, each); two 32 Gb/s U.2 ports, and eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Other connectivity includes two USB 3.1 ports (including a type-C port), eight USB 3.0 ports, high-grade onboard audio with Realtek ALC1220 codec; and two GbE network interfaces.

EVGA unveiled a formidable lineup of socket LGA2066 motherboards, based on Intel X299 Express chipset. One of the models which caught our eye is the X299 DARK. Designed for extreme overclocking, this board is halfway between ATX and E-ATX width. It draws power from an angled 24-pin ATX, an angled 6-pin PCIe, and two 8-pin EPS connectors, and conditions it for the CPU using a high-current 9-phase VRM. The CPU is wired to just four DDR4 DIMM slots, supporting quad-channel memory; and four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots. The fifth x16 slot which is electrical x4 and an open-ended x4 slot; which are wired to the PCH; make for the rest of the expansion.

Storage connectivity on the EVGA X299 DARK includes a 32 Gb/s M.2 slot, two 32 Gb/s U.2 ports, and eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports. USB connectivity includes two 10 Gb/s USB 3.1 (of which one is type-C), and eight USB 3.0 (six on the rear panel, two by headers). Networking includes 802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.1 WLAN, a 10 GbE wired connection driven by an Intel i210-T1 controller, and a 1 GbE driven by an i219-V. The onboard audio features a Creative Sound Blaster DSP. This is one of the rare few board in which the I/O shroud extends into an integrated I/O shield, which could be useful for open-air benches.

GIGABYTE showed off what could be the company's most affordable socket LGA2066 motherboard, the X299-UD4. It features a minimalist design with features the platform provides. Built in the ATX form factor, the board draws power form a single 8-pin EPS connector, besides 24-pin ATX. The CPU is wired to eight DDR4 DIMM slots, besides three out of the five PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots. Two of the slots are electrical x4 and wired to the PCH.

Storage connectivity on the X299-UD4 includes two 32 Gb/s M.2 slots, and eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports. USB connectivity includes two 10 Gb/s USB 3.1 ports (both type-A), and eight USB 3.0 (four on the rear panel, four by headers). Networking includes a single GbE connection driven by an Intel i219-V controller, and audio is care of a Realtek ALC1220 (120 dBA SNR) codec with ground-layer isolation and WIMA capacitors. It wouldn't surprise us if this board goes for under $200.

Here are some of the first pictures of AMD socket SP3r2 (LGA 4094) motherboards for Ryzen Threadripper HEDT processors. The socket is visibly bigger than Intel LGA2066, and is flanked by eight DDR4 DIMM slots. The other characteristic feature of these boards is that they feature up to three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots with full x16 wiring, taking advantage of the 64-lane PCIe root complex, with the fourth slot splitting away x8 lanes from the third slot. This is unlike Intel, where after you've spend $999 on their 10-core processor, you can only run up to two slots at x16.

The first motherboard on our tour is an ASRock X399 Fatal1ty Gaming 9. This board is loaded for bear with four x16 slots (all of which are wired to the CPU), eight DDR4 DIMM slots for the quad-channel memory interface, 32 Gb/s M.2 and U.2 storage connectivity, and at least four of the eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports that come directly from the CPU for the least latency. An interesting observation here is that all three boards we've seen draw power from just a single 8-pin EPS connector besides 24-pin ATX, unlike several LGA2066 boards that over a second EPS or 4-pin ATX input for the CPU VRM. Could this mean that AMD also beat Intel with HEDT energy-efficiency?

Two days ago, we brought you a sneak peek of the X299 Aorus Gaming 9 flagship motherboard by GIGABYTE. Here are the other three boards, the X299 Aorus Gaming 7, the X299 Aorus Gaming 3, and the X299 Ultra Gaming. The Gaming 7 is positioned a notch below the Gaming 9, yet is based on the same PCB. You lose out on two out of three the M.2 heatsinks, and the PCIe add-on card with additional M.2 slots. That's pretty much all that set the two apart.

Next up, is the X299 Aorus Gaming 3, which could be one of GIGABYTE's cheaper LGA2066 motherboards. This board, based on a simpler PCB, does away with much of the paraphernalia of its bigger siblings. It draws power from just a single 8-pin EPS power connector besides 24-pin ATX; has just two 32 Gb/s M.2 slots, and a simpler onboard audio solution with ALC1220 CODEC instead of the ESS Sabre chips on the higher models. Then there's the Z299 Ultra Gaming, positioned between the Gaming 3 and Gaming 7. This board too is based on the same PCB as the Gaming 7 and Gaming 9, but features simpler onboard connectivity features.

MSI is proud to unleash a complete line-up of next generation high-end X299 motherboards during COMPUTEX 2017. With the inclusion of the most popular models from MSI's Enthusiast, Performance and Arsenal GAMING Series there is a gaming motherboard available for any type of gamer, PC enthusiast, or case modder. Also content creators and professionals have a great, feature packed option ready to assist them with to the addition of the MSI X299 SLI PLUS motherboard.

Here's the first picture of MSI's flagship socket LGA2066 motherboard, the MSI X299 XPower Gaming AC. It features a polarizing silvery/white design, which you'll either love or hate. Built in the ATX form-factor (well, midway between ATX and E-ATX), the board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, 4-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS, and an optional 4-pin Molex. A 14-phase VRM conditions it for the CPU, which is wired to eight DDR4 DIMM slots, and four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/NC/x16/NC or x16/NC/x8/x8 or x8/x8/x8/x8).

Can you imagine five M.2 SSDs in your rig? MSI can, and besides three 32 Gb/s M.2 slots on the board (two 110 mm and one 80 mm), an included PCIe 3.0 x8 riser card gives you two additional 110 mm 32 Gb/s slots. Other storage options include a 32 Gb/s U.2 port, and ten SATA 6 Gb/s. The board supports NVMe RAID and Optane. Networking is care of two Intel i219-V driven GbE interfaces, and an Intel-driven 802.11ac WLAN with Bluetooth 4.1 connection. MSI Mystic Light RGB software marshals not just a splattering of RGB LEDs all over the board, but also an "art in motion" LED ornament on the PCH heatsink.

ASUS returned to its extremely durable TUF (The Ultimate Force) line of motherboards with the TUF X299 Mark 2. You'll notice that it dropped the "Sabertooth" moniker. This LGA2066 motherboard covers all the feature-set checkboxes of a premium motherboard plus the military-grade durability people have come to expect of the TUF series. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, 4-pin ATX, and 8-pin EPS power connectors, conditioning it using an 8-phase VRM.

The TUF X299 Mark 2 features eight DDR4 DIMM slots, three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/x16/NC or x16/x8/x8), an open-ended x4, and two x1 slots completing the expansion area. Storage features include two 32 Gb/s M.2 slots (of which one is perpendicular), and six SATA 6 Gb/s ports. USB connectivity includes two USB 3.1 ports (one each type-A and type-C), and eight USB 3.0. 8-channel HD audio driven by a Realtek ALC1220A CODEC, and a single gigabit Ethernet connection, powered by Intel i219-V make for the rest of it.

BIOSTAR has consistently improved its motherboard product design back to the standards of its TPower glory-days, and unveiled this stunning looking flagship LGA2066 motherboard, the Racing X299GT9. Built in the E-ATX form-factor, the board features a well-spaced out layout, and draws power from a pair of 8-pin EPS power connectors, and a 6-pin PCIe, besides 24-pin ATX. It conditions it for the CPU with a 14-phase VRM. The CPU is wired to eight DDR4 DIMM slots, and seven PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/x16/x8/x4/x4/x4/x4).

Storage connectivity on the BIOSTAR Racing X299GT9 includes two 32 Gb/s M.2 slots (stacked), two 32 Gb/s U.2 ports, and four SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Connectivity includes a 10 GbE connection driven by Intel X550AT processor), a second 1 GbE driven by Intel i219-V, USB connectivity includes two 10 Gb/s USB 3.1 ports (one each type-A and type-C), and six 5 Gb/s USB 3.0. The onboard audio features a Hi-Fi circuit. The board is peppered with RGB LEDs and additional headers.

ASUS showed off its PRIME X299-A socket LGA2066 motherboard. The PRIME series consists of ASUS' mainline motherboards, and a consistent product design theme follows through the entire lineup. We reckon that the PRIME X299-A will be the "entry-level" socket LGA2066 offering by ASUS, topped by the PRIME X299-PRO and PRIME X299-Deluxe. Built in the ATX form-factor, the board draws power from 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS, and a 4-pin ATX power connector. It uses a simple 8-phase VRM to condition power for the CPU. The LGA2066 socket is wired to eight DDR4 DIMM slots, in addition to three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/x16/NC or x16/x8/x8). Two close-ended PCI-Express 3.0 x4 and an x1 slot make for the rest of the expansion.

Storage connectivity includes two 32 Gb/s M.2 slots (one 80 mm and the other 110 mm), and eight SATA 6 Gb/s. There's just the one gigabit Ethernet interface driven by an Intel I219-V controller, and an onboard audio solution featuring Realtek ALC1220 (120 dBA SNR) CODEC, audio-grade capacitors, and ground-layer isolation. This board could be priced around the $200 mark.