Gigabyte Offers Sneak Peek at a Future AMD Motherboard

R

rgMekanic

[H]ard|News
Joined
May 13, 2013
Messages
6,943
Gigabyte is showing off a new X470 motherboard for the upcoming second generation Ryzen processors. While AMD has provided few details on what X4700 will bring. Some notable features are finned heatsinks on the VRMs, a slew of Frag Harder lights, power and clear CMOS buttons on the built-in I/O shield, and the one I like the most, a sockets BIOS chip that can be field-swapped.

I have to say the new board looks great. Seeing what Gigabyte has been doing, and playing with one in our cooler test system, I'm seriously thinking my next build will have a Gigabyte motherboard in it. How has it taken so long for an easily swappable BIOS chip!?

A strategically-placed piece of electrical tape prevented us from seeing the board's full name, but we can confidently say that this is the Gigabyte Aorus X470 Gaming 7 WiFi. The most immediately evident (and welcome) change on this board relative to recent Gigabyte designs is the return of skived aluminum fins on its VRM heatsink.
 
I am digging that BIOS chip! Previous dual-BIOS approaches have been weird at least on my Gigabyte boards. It was never clear how or when exactly you could switch over from backup to main, or how to have the backup overwrite the main, and it was always poorly documented. Or maybe I'm thinking of MSI, now I'm not sure.

This takes the guesswork out and lets you recover an otherwise totally hosed BIOS. Now, I do hope they include a 2nd chip in the box, otherwise it's kind of ass to have to order one when you've got a problem.
 
not new my z270 classified has 1 swappable and two soldered in...

Switch position 1... bios 1... 2 bios 2... 3 bios 3... flip when off. I know a few boards prior have had this.
 
i hate those clear cmos buttons on the back.. have 3 asus ROG mATX boards that we use in the field and operators accidentally press them all the time.. no way to disable that I could find (besides maybe some epoxy)
 
admiralperpetual said:
i hate those clear cmos buttons on the back.. have 3 asus ROG mATX boards that we use in the field and operators accidentally press them all the time.. no way to disable that I could find (besides maybe some epoxy)
Click to expand...

I'm good with the button being there, but it needs to be recessed imo, not easily bumpable when trying to plug something in
 
Spaceninja said:
Looks nice, too bad you can't find a video card to go in it, and have to sell a kidney to afford RAM......
Click to expand...

I bought 32GB of 3600 for a SFF build I did back in late September, now I bought the RAM a while before that because I waited for a deal, but having checked back for another set...

...The price has doubled, I was flabbergasted.

SSDs are up and video cards are like hen's teeth. On top of that, I have watched the prices of every single component right down to the case fans go steadily up over the last few months.

SHENANIGANS! SHENANIGANS I SAY!
 
wow... that is an extremely beefy looking VRM cooler on that board... and they covered up quite a lot of it with plastic looking things that blocks airflow.
 
Twisted Kidney said:
I bought 32GB of 3600 for a SFF build I did back in late September, now I bought the RAM a while before that because I waited for a deal, but having checked back for another set...

...The price has doubled, I was flabbergasted.

SSDs are up and video cards are like hen's teeth. On top of that, I have watched the prices of every single component right down to the case fans go steadily up over the last few months.

SHENANIGANS! SHENANIGANS I SAY!
Click to expand...

Those are the reasons my current machines are going to keep going till they die, then I'll grab something at work off the shelf that was abandond. Hopefully someone comes in with something nice soon.
 
Looks like a well planned out board. I prefer the real finned heatsinks instead of that cartoon gamer chic crap.
 
As for the comments concerning the chipset cooling, I will reserve judgement until I get a temperature gauge on those heat sinks. I've seen designs that look like they should work well that don't, and ones you can't imagine doing anything that work amazingly well.
 
admiralperpetual said:
i hate those clear cmos buttons on the back.. have 3 asus ROG mATX boards that we use in the field and operators accidentally press them all the time.. no way to disable that I could find (besides maybe some epoxy)
Click to expand...
Why are you using ROG boards in the field? The phrase 'right tool for the job' comes to mind. Not the board's fault... it's the fault of whoever specced them for build.

For a home enthusiast user, or who they're intended for in other words, they're great.

Your post is like complaining about getting the interior of your Rolls Royce dirty when using it as a troop transport.
 
admiralperpetual said:
i hate those clear cmos buttons on the back.. have 3 asus ROG mATX boards that we use in the field and operators accidentally press them all the time.. no way to disable that I could find (besides maybe some epoxy)
Click to expand...

What field are you where you need a high-end gaming motherboard in systems? Seems like a poor choice for a business system.
 
I will probably dump my rig for this new board and ryzen setup. I have a 64gb 8x8 that's gonna have to go away with my board and cpu
 
Swappable bios chips used to be commonplace.

bios.jpg


bios.jpg



The trend started dying out sometime in the past decade with fewer and fewer boards with them. I remember when Abit was still around, you could actually buy replacement bios chips directly from them.
 
rgMekanic said:
Agreed, but this one is pretty much tool-less as well

View attachment 50774
Click to expand...
I doubt it's truly tool less. You probably still need the edge of a flat head screwdriver to pry it out just like prior designs. I couldn't imagine all the tech support nightmares if someone bumped that plug open while installing a graphics card, RAM, etc. and the chip fell out.

-edit- Then again... maybe if you open those wings out a little further it pushes it out.
 
Last edited:
MrDeaf said:
wow... that is an extremely beefy looking VRM cooler on that board... and they covered up quite a lot of it with plastic looking things that blocks airflow.
Click to expand...

honestly the vrm's don't really get that hot.. my board has the vrm's covered with plastic shit and even at 1.45v the vrm's only hit 60c the fins will definitely help but i don't think these boards have a huge issue with VRM temps.. might be a different story for threadripper though but i've never really looked into it.
 
As a shallow consumer, I find these motherboards look a little shite compared to NZXT's recent offerings - features aside.
 
rgMekanic said:
Gigabyte is showing off a new X470 motherboard for the upcoming second generation Ryzen processors. While AMD has provided few details on what X4700 will bring. Some notable features are finned heatsinks on the VRMs, a slew of Frag Harder lights, power and clear CMOS buttons on the built-in I/O shield, and the one I like the most, a sockets BIOS chip that can be field-swapped.

I have to say the new board looks great. Seeing what Gigabyte has been doing, and playing with one in our cooler test system, I'm seriously thinking my next build will have a Gigabyte motherboard in it. How has it taken so long for an easily swappable BIOS chip!?

A strategically-placed piece of electrical tape prevented us from seeing the board's full name, but we can confidently say that this is the Gigabyte Aorus X470 Gaming 7 WiFi. The most immediately evident (and welcome) change on this board relative to recent Gigabyte designs is the return of skived aluminum fins on its VRM heatsink.
Click to expand...

My other nephew wants me to build him a gaming system. His older brother is going to be pissed when he finds out how much bang for your buck you can get now thanks to AMD. And this motherboard will likely be on my short list (Once [H] gets a review out of course!)
 
Derangel said:
What field are you where you need a high-end gaming motherboard in systems? Seems like a poor choice for a business system.
Click to expand...

Resolume Arena.. find me a dual-16x length slot mATX board (fits in Prodigy M or similar) case that ISN'T a gaming board.. especially 3 years ago or so.
 
focbde said:
Why are you using ROG boards in the field? The phrase 'right tool for the job' comes to mind. Not the board's fault... it's the fault of whoever specced them for build.

For a home enthusiast user, or who they're intended for in other words, they're great.

Your post is like complaining about getting the interior of your Rolls Royce dirty when using it as a troop transport.
Click to expand...

see above, couldn't find any other boards that had dual 16-x slots in a mATX size..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top