Gigabyte has unveiled a brand new sequence of “Z790 X Gen” Aorus motherboards aimed toward supporting Intel’s upcoming 14th-gen Raptor Lake Refresh processors. The brand new boards characteristic a number of upgrades over their non-X counterparts, together with enhanced DDR5 frequency help, higher M.2 mounting, improved VRM cooling, and extra.
Raptor Lake Refresh is the codename of Intel’s subsequent era of desktop CPUs, that includes a “tuned-up” model of Intel’s Raptor Lake CPU structure. Based mostly on what we learn about Raptor Lake Refresh, Intel won’t be releasing a motherboard chipset era to enrich the brand new chips — i.e. Z890, H870, and B860. As a substitute, Intel and its companions will likely be repurposing present 700-series chipsets to help Raptor Lake Refresh on the manufacturing unit and within the type of BIOS updates for present motherboards. We are able to’t formally verify this but, however Gigabyte’s new Z790 motherboard refresh makes it appear very possible this would be the case.
The checklist of Aorus motherboards getting the “X Gen” therapy contains the brand new Z790 Aorus Professional X, Z790 Aorus Elite X WiFi 7, Z790 Aorus Elite X AX, Z790 Aorus Elite X, Z790 Aorus Grasp X, and Z790 Aorus Xtreme X (Gigabyte’s flagship motherboard).
Gigabyte’s new X boards acquire entry to 2 new DDR5 upgrades that enhanced the reliability and efficiency of DDR5 reminiscence modules put in on the board. One is a brand new DDR5 XMP Auto Booster characteristic that enables customers to effortlessly enhance DDR5-5600-rated XMP kits to 6000MHz with the clicking of a button. The opposite is a brand new know-how Gigabyte dubbed Again Drilling that reportedly enhances sign integrity, boosting frequency headroom and reliability.
Gigabyte has additionally built-in its EZ-Latch M.2 mounting system into the Z790 X Gen motherboards, to simplify the set up of M.2 SSDs. In comparison with conventional options, Gigabyte’s new set up mounts don’t require any screws, permitting customers to latch SSDs in place much like PCIe graphics playing cards. Gigabyte has additionally built-in a brand new EZ-Latch Click on system into its boards that introduce screwless set up for M.2 heatsinks.
Talking of cooling, Gigabyte has additionally improved the cooling potential of its VRM heatsinks and M.2 cooling designs in a few of its Z790 X Gen motherboards. The Aorus Xtreme X and Grasp X get entry to Thermal Armor Fin-Array heatsinks outfitted with a specialised nanocarbon coating that reportedly improves (or optimizes) thermal efficiency by 10%. To enhance system temperatures, the boards are additionally gaining I/O air flow that may scale back system temperatures by as much as 7°C in line with Gigabyte. Each boards additionally include Gigabyte’s M.2 thermal guard PCIe Gen 5 SSD coolers.
Gigabyte has added additional reinforcement to its new motherboards as effectively, which improves the sturdiness of the PCIe slot(s), reminiscence slots, and M.2 slots. The backplate has been upgraded to characteristic a nanocarbon coating too, and the x16 slot(s) are outfitted with an interior lining rubber strip that protects graphics playing cards from PCB scratches.
For added element on Gigbyte’s upcoming boards, check with the corporate’s press launch, and keep tuned to HH as we get nearer to the launch of Intel’s 14th Gen desktop processors.
