11th Gen
In July last year, we reviewed NZXT's N7 Z490 motherboard for Intel's 10th generation Comet Lake processors. Typically later to the market than other vendor's key models, NZXT has announced its latest option which aims to benefit from the PCIe 4.0 support in Rocket Lake. Enter the N7 Z590. Some of the features include a full-cover panel across the PCIe slot area, Wi-Fi 6E, 2.5 GbE, dual M.2, support for DDR4-4600 memory, and is advertised with a 14-phase power delivery. NZXT entered the motherboard market for the first time back in 2018 with the N7 Z370, which we also reviewed. Typically known more for its clean-cut chassis and cooling products, NZXT first tasked the job of providing the PCB and componentry to ECS for the...
Intel at Computex 2021: Tiger Lake-U Refresh, Mediatek 5G Solutions, NUC 11 Extreme
Due to the global pandemic, this year’s annual Computex event in Taiwan is being held virtually, but all the big-name companies have keynotes to present their latest news and...
40 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 5/30/2021MSI MEG Z590 Ace Motherboard Review: Premium Rocket Lake with TB4 and 4x M.2
Prior to the release of Intel's 11th Generation Rocket Lake processors, motherboard vendors unveiled their ranges of Z590 motherboards ready for the realm of PCIe 4.0. We saw a...
12 by Gavin Bonshor on 5/26/2021Intel 11th Generation Core Tiger Lake-H Performance Review: Fast and Power Hungry
Conclusion: Powerful, but Power Hungry After last week’s reveal of Tiger Lake-H, today’s results put things into context for Intel’s new high-end enthusiast mobile platform. The new design follows roughly...
229 by Brett Howse & Andrei Frumusanu on 5/17/2021GIGABYTE Z590 Aorus Tachyon Review: Built for SPEED
One of the most unique models on the Z590 chipset is the GIGABYTE Z590 Aorus Tachyon. While it functions as a 'relatively' normal day-to-day motherboard, the main focus is...
15 by Gavin Bonshor on 5/10/2021Intel’s Integrated Graphics Mini-Review: Is Rocket Lake Core 11th Gen Competitive?
In the last few months we have tested the latest x86 integrated graphics options on the desktop from AMD, with some surprising results about how performant a platform with...
165 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 5/7/2021GIGABYTE Z590 Aorus Master Review: Soaring High With Rocket Lake
The latest flagship desktop processor from Intel, the Core i9-11900K, has been out for over a month, and we've been busy putting numerous Z590 motherboards on tests to see...
39 by Gavin Bonshor on 4/28/2021Intel Confirms Tiger Lake-U Refresh Later in 2021
The combination of Intel’s ability to drive 10nm product onto the shelves coupled with silicon supply chain shortages has put into question exactly what might be coming into the...
36 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 4/27/2021ASRock Z590 Taichi Review: An Intel Motherboard with Moving Parts (and Thunderbolt 4)
Intel has now launched its latest 11th Generation Core processors for desktop. The highest performing of these is the Core i9-11900K, with 8 cores and 16 threads, and it...
50 by Gavin Bonshor on 4/1/2021The ASRock Z590 OC Formula Motherboard: By and For Overclockers
ASRock and its in-house extreme overclocker Nich Shih have created the latest in its series of high-end enthusiast-grade motherboards. The OC Formula brand returns, famed for its good extreme...
20 by Gavin Bonshor on 4/1/2021Intel Rocket Lake (14nm) Review: Core i9-11900K, Core i7-11700K, and Core i5-11600K
Today is the official launch of Intel’s 11th Generation Core processor family, given the internal name ‘Rocket Lake’. Rocket Lake showcases new performance gains for Intel in the desktop...
279 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 3/30/2021The Intel B560 Motherboard Overview: 30+ Budget Models Starting from $75
Intel is set to launch its latest generation of processors, known as Rocket Lake 11th Gen, on the 30th March 2021. We know Rocket Lake brings with it PCIe...
59 by Gavin Bonshor on 3/29/2021Intel Launches Rocket Lake 11th Gen Core i9, Core i7, and Core i5
In the myriad of news and early reviews, Intel is today officially launching its 11th Generation Core family of desktop processors, also known as Rocket Lake, built on Intel’s...
156 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 3/16/2021Rocket Lake Redux: 0x34 Microcode Offers Small Performance Gains on Core i7-11700K
One of the leading questions as to our original Core i7-11700K review was the validity of those results given that, as usual with launches, motherboard vendors push BIOS updates...
90 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 3/14/2021The MSI Z590 Godlike, Comparing it to the Z490 Godlike
One of MSI's most prominent motherboard ranges is its Godlike series, set as the premium model no matter which platform it is aimed at. As Intel has recently launched...
24 by Gavin Bonshor on 2/1/2021The Intel Z590 Motherboard Overview: 50+ Motherboards Detailed
At the start of 2021, Intel has unveiled its latest desktop platform, designed primarily for its Rocket Lake 11th generation processors. Intel is officially moving to PCIe 4.0, with...
89 by Gavin Bonshor on 1/19/2021Intel Launches 11th Gen vPro For Tiger Lake Mobile CPUs, Adds CET Security Tech
Among Intel’s CES 2021 announcements this afternoon, the chip giant is using the annual show to launch their updated vPro platform for their latest-generation “Tiger Lake” Core processors. vPro...
1 by Ryan Smith on 1/11/2021Intel’s New H35 Series: Quad Core Tiger Lake now at 35 W for 5.0 GHz
Historically, both main x86 processor manufacturers have developed their mainstream mobile processors for a power target of 15 W, which in turn have been sold as their U-series chips...
15 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 1/11/2021Intel’s 8-Core Mobile Tiger Lake-H, at 45 W, to Ship in Q1
Ever since the launch of Intel’s 11th Gen Core mobile processors, known as Tiger Lake, back in September, the chips' limited core counts have not gone unnoticed. At a...
22 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 1/11/2021Intel Previews 11th Gen Core Rocket Lake: Core i9-11900K and Z590, Coming Q1
Spending five generations on the same base microarchitecture is a long time. Progress and excitement can be sustained through optimizing a process node, adding cores, and extracting every drop...
33 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 1/11/2021