Intel showed off non-standard Arc A770 and Arc A750 graphics cards from Gunnir and ASRock

At yesterday's Innovation 2022 event, Intel showed off non-standard versions of the Arc A770 and Arc A750 graphics cards from its partners Gunnir and ASRock for the first time.
Until now, the company only showed the reference versions of these gas pedals in their own Limited Edition.Arc A770 and Arc A750 in Gunnir and ASRock implementations.
Image source: Cool3CGunnir some time ago confirmed that they are developing their own versions of the Arc A7 series graphics cards.
The manufacturer's range will include solutions with cooling systems with two and three fans.
The graphics cards themselves have a thickness of 2.2 expansion slots.
They got two 8-pin connectors for additional power.
For comparison, the reference versions of these graphics cards have one 8-pin and 6-pin power connectors each.
Image source: Cool3C Gunnir Arc A770.
Image source: EngadgetASRock has also shown two versions of its new graphics cards, the Arc A770 Phantom Gaming and Arc A750 Challenger.
Both ASRock graphics cards are also equipped with pairs of 8-pin auxiliary power connectors.
ASRock A770 Phantom Gaming and Arc A750 Challenger.
Image source: XFastest Intel has confirmed that partners are allowed to change the frequency characteristics of the gas pedals.
In other words, in non-standard versions of video cards will receive factory overclocking of the graphics processor.
Unfortunately, during the presentation Intel did not announce the sales launch date of non-reference versions of Arc A770 and Arc A750 graphics cards.
At the moment we know that the sale of the senior Arc A770 in the Limited Edition reference version will start on October 12.
The card is priced at $329.

ASRock's Intel Arc A380 graphics card started selling in Europe, price €189

ASRock started selling the entry-level Intel Arc A380 Challenger ITX graphics gas pedal in European markets.
In the German electronics store Mindfactory the novelty is priced at €189 (including VAT) and is ready to ship to customers.Image source: ASRockThis is probably the first Intel Arc A380 version to finally make its way to Europe.
Released much earlier, the Arc A380 Photon from Chinese company Gunnir has not made it to European store shelves yet.
The graphics card can only be purchased at online marketplaces like JD.com and also in USA e.g.
Newegg.ASRock Intel Arc A380 Challenger ITX has a compact cooling system which includes aluminum monoblock radiator and one 100mm fan.
The graphics card is only 190mm long.
It will fit nicely into a very compact ITX-format motherboard.
Source image: Mindfactory.eThe Intel Arc A380 is based on the Alchemist ACM-G11.
It consists of 8 graphic Xe-core.
The card has on board 6 GB of GDDR6 memory with an effective frequency of 15.5 GHz (15.5 Gb/s).
For novelties factory overclocking of the graphics processor is declared.
The chip runs at 2250 MHz, which is 250 MHz higher than the reference value.
In spite of this, the indicator of power consumption of graphics cards has remained the same and is the reference 75W.
The gas pedal got one 8-pin connector for additional power.

Intel Arc A380 graphics cards will soon start to be officially sold outside of China

Intel Arc A380 discrete graphics cards start to appear in US stores, writes VideoCardz.
For several months since its release they were sold only in China.
At first they were only sold as part of a ready-made computer assembly, but later they began to be offered as an individual product.
Now the novelties have made it to the U.S.
retail.Image source: VideoCardzThe ASRock Arc A380 Challenger ITX model, introduced back in early July, recently made its way to the U.S.
retailer Newegg, which priced it at $ 140.
For comparison, in China it is priced at $192.
The version from ASRock uses a non-standard PCB design and features a cooling system with a single fan.
The claimed power consumption level of the gas pedal is 75W.
It is equipped with one 8-pin connector for additional power.
Three DisplayPort 2.0 and one HDMI 2.0 interface are provided in the graphics interface set.Picture source: NeweggThe ACM-G11 chip inside the graphics gas pedal has eight Xe cores and is factory overclocked.
It runs at a frequency of 2250 MHz.
The card has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory with 96-bit interface support.
According to independent reviews, the performance of Intel Arc A380 falls short of Radeon RX 6400 - the weakest AMD's current generation card.
However, after additional overclocking, the card is able to compete with more efficient GeForce GTX 1650 from NVIDIA.According to US-based Newegg, shipments of ASRock Arc A380 Challenger ITX graphics card will start August 22nd.

ASRock announced X670E Taichi Carrara marble board and other AMD X670E motherboards for Ryzen 7000 chip

ASRock announced the first motherboards on AMD X670E chipset designed for upcoming Ryzen 7000 processors.
The company announced the X670E Taichi Carrara, X670E Taichi, X670E Steel Legend and X670E PRO RS.
All four models support DDR5 RAM and PCIe 5.0.
Image source: ASRockThe X670E Taichi Carrara is a special edition that was released on the occasion of ASRock 20th Anniversary.
In its design, the novelty uses the look of Carrara marble.
The features of ASRock X670E Taichi Carrara:AMD X670E chipset;26-phase power supply;DDR5 memory support;1x PCIe 5.0 x16, 1x PCIe 5.0 x8;HDMI video output;Realtek ALC4082 7.1 HD Audio, ESS SABRE 9218 DAC amplifier;8x SATA III, 1x M.2 PCIe 5.0 x4, 3x M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4;2x Thunderbolt 4.0/USB4 Type-C, 1x Front USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C;5x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, 7x USB 3.2 Gen1 (three on back panel, four on front);Killer E3100G 2.5G LAN and Killer AX1675X with 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6E) and Bluetooth network controllers.ASRock X670E Taichi model follows the features of the above model.
The novelty differs in the design theme.
It uses mostly black coloring with some colored elements.
This is ASRock's flagship model.
ASRock X670E Steel Legend model is aimed at building a powerful gaming system.
Unfortunately, the vendor didn't tell us about the product appearance, so let's name the key features: AMD X670E chipset;18-phase power supply;DDR5 memory support;1x PCIe 5.0 x16, 1x PCIe 4.0 x4;1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort;Realtek ALC1220 7.1 HD Audio with Nahimic Audio support;4x SATA III, 1x M.2 PCIe 5.0 x4, 3x M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4;Front and rear USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C;1x rear USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, 10x USB 3.2 Gen1 (6 rear, 4 front);Dragon 2.5Gbps LAN, 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6E) and Bluetooth support.ASRock X670E Pro RS is designed for mainstream customers.
It features a simplified power supply circuit, but is suitable for building a gaming system based on Ryzen 7000 processors.
Featured features: 16-phase power system;DDR5 memory support;1x PCIe 5.0 x16, 2x PCIe 4.0 x1;1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort;Realtek ALC897 7.1 HD Audio with Nahimic Audio support;6x SATA III, 1x M.2 PCIe 5.0 x4; 3x M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4, 1x M.2 PCIe 3.0 x2/SATA;rear USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C and USB 3.2 Gen2 Type A+C;8x USB 3.2 Gen1 (four front, four rear);Dragon 2.5Gbps LAN controller.No information on availability and pricing were available.

ASRock X670E Taichi motherboard for Ryzen 7000 processors revealed before the announcement

An ASRock X670E Taichi motherboard based on the latest AMD X670E chipset is featured in a closed video section on the ASRock YouTube channel.
The board is designed for the upcoming Ryzen 7000 (Raphael) processors.
The preview function of the video allowed to see part of the device.Image source: YouTube / ASRockThe video will premiere in 5 days.
In other words, soon after AMD's presentation at Computex 2022, where the manufacturer will talk about next-generation Ryzen desktop processors on Zen 4 architecture, new chipsets for motherboards and possibly future Radeon RX 7000 graphics on RDNA 3 architecture.Video description confirms that the board uses AMD flagship chipset X670E, and is also equipped with a 26-phase power subsystem.
The company is going to introduce two Taichi series board models for the new Ryzen processors - X670E Taichi and Taichi Carrara.
However, it is unknown which of the two models is shown in the image above.
From the latest leaks we also know that the manufacturer in addition to the Taichi series is going to release models X670 PG Riptide, X670 Phantom Gaming 4 and X670 Steel Legend.
However, nothing is yet known about the date of their announcement.Judging by the image above, ASRock X670E Taichi board has got two PCIe x16 slots.
They are probably both PCIe 5.0 standard.
In addition, in the image you can see four slots for DDR5 RAM.
The new chipset appears to be passively cooled, which is good - the less fans, the less noise.
Also you can see the new socket LGA 1718, aka Socket AM5 for Ryzen 7000 processors.
Of course, the company may show the novelties earlier than indicated in the timer of the video.
But in any case, we have to wait for next week.Earlier it was reported that Gigabyte will show four models of motherboards with AMD X670 chipset at Computex 2022.
The manufacturer confirmed that all of them will get PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 support.

ASRock started to provide AMD X370 motherboards with Ryzen 5000 support - only the firmware for X370 Pro4 is supported so far

ASRock has released BIOS update for X370 Pro4 motherboard on AMD X370 chipset, which adds support for Ryzen 4000 (Renoir) and Ryzen 5000 (Vermeer) processors. It looks like AMD is really working on making motherboards with AMD 300-series chipsets compatible with current generation CPUs.

AMD keeps reiterating that adding support for new CPUs to old motherboards & ; is not an easy task. In no small part, the problem is related to the limitations of the BIOS memory where data about support for certain processors is entered. Some issues are also related to the design specifics of older motherboards & ; not all of them have effective enough power supply subsystems (VRM) to provide the declared performance level of all Ryzen 5000 processor models. In addition, older boards do not have support for some technologies, such as PCIe 4.0, which is supported by the newer CPUs. Nevertheless, some unofficial modified BIOS versions for AMD 300-series boards with partial Ryzen 5000 support have appeared earlier on the web. Some manufacturers even claimed to release official BIOS versions for these boards, but then quickly removed their announcements and updates. ASRock has released two versions of BIOS for the X370 Pro4 board, installation of which allows you to eventually use the new AMD processors on it. However, the installation process will require patience. First of all, you need to install BIOS version 7.00. It is a transitional BIOS. The company warns that before installing it on the X370 Pro4 motherboard, make sure that no Bristol Ridge series processor (AMD A-series and Athlon X4 models) is used in the system, as the new firmware has removed support for these chips.

After that, you need to install BIOS version 7.10, which adds support for Renoir and Vermeer processors. The company does not recommend installing this version of BIOS if the PC owner uses Pinnacle Ridge (Ryzen 2000 and Ryzen 2000 Pro models), Raven Ridge (Ryzen 2000G, Athlon 200 and Athlon 200 Pro) and Summit Ridge (Ryzen 1000, Ryzen 1000 Pro) processors with the X370 Pro4 board and does not plan to switch to Ryzen 4000 and Ryzen 5000 processors. New BIOS versions for X370 Pro4 board with support for AMD Renoir and Vermeer processors can be found on the official ASRock website. There you can also check the list of supported CPUs;

ASRock unveiled DeskMeet 8-liter computers powered by Intel Alder Lake and AMD Ryzen chips

ASRock has announced small form factor desktops DeskMeet B660 and DeskMeet X300, made respectively on Intel and AMD hardware platform.

The DeskMeet concept involves the use of Mini-ITX motherboards. The enclosure has a capacity of around eight liters. The architecture is optimized to minimize internal cabling. DeskMeet B660 uses an Intel B660 chipset motherboard and supports 12th generation Intel Core processors. DeskMeet X300 version with AMD X300 chipset board is designed for AMD AM4 & ; Ryzen 5000/4000/3000/2000 processors.

Both modifications allow up to 128 GB of DDR4 RAM in the form of four DIMMs. There is a PCIe x16 slot for a discrete graphics gas pedal, SATA 3.0 ports and M.2 connectors for drives. The package includes gigabit network controller, Realtek ALC897 sound codec, additional M.2 connector for combined Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module, DisplayPort, HDMI, D-Sub, USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C, USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A, USB 2.0 Type-A etc. Dimensions are 168 × 219.3 × 218.3mm;

ASRock Rack introduced 1U server 1U8S2E-ROME/2T with AMD EPYC 7003 support

ASRock Rack announced a compact 1U server 1U8S2E-ROME/2T based on ROMED8U-2T motherboard. One EPYC 7003 or 7002 Socket SP3 (LGA4094) CPU can be installed. There are eight slots for DDR4-3200 memory modules with total capacity up to 2TB.

The front features bays for ten 2.5" standard drives: 8 × SATA and 2 × NVMe/SATA. In addition, there is a connector for a M.2 2280 solid state module with PCIe 4.0 x4 or SATA 3.0.

The server is equipped with two 10GbE network ports based on the Intel X710-AT2 controller and a dedicated management network port. Two 750W power supply units with 80 Plus Gold certification. Six 40 × 56 mm fans are responsible for cooling.

There is one expansion slot for PCIe 4.0 x16 FHHL card. The interface box has three RJ45 sockets for network cables, two USB 3.2 Gen1 ports and one D-Sub analog slot. Dimensions are 625 × 430 × 43,5 mm.

AMD does not plan to support Ryzen 5000 on X370 boards, but ASRock disagrees

As you know, AMD decided to support Ryzen 5000 processors with Zen 3 architecture on 400-series chipsets, under public pressure, though it was not originally planned. Comments from company's representatives say that this trick won't work with the 300-series chipsets. But there are reasons to believe that ASRock will do it in its own way.

The popular Japanese blogger KOMACHI ENSAKA found out that unofficial alpha versions of BIOS P6.61 are available for ASRock X370 Taichi and X370 Professional motherboards, which provide support for Vermeer and Renoir processors. The former belong to the Ryzen 5000 family, the latter came out some time ago as part of the Ryzen 4000G family with integrated graphics. These BIOS versions are dated December 8 this year and can not be found on official ASRock website, but they are already available on some computer-related websites.

Image source: Twitter, KOMACHI ENSAKA

It is quite dangerous to flash the alpha BIOS into the motherboard you bought with your own money, that's why ASRock board owners are recommended to wait for the results of practical experiments that will not only demonstrate the compatibility of Ryzen 5000 processors with these motherboards, but also confirm that there are no serious problems with system stability. The ability of ASRock motherboard based on AMD A320 chipset to support Ryzen 5000 processors has already been proven in practice, so this precedent allows us to hope for the successful outcome of this new initiative. What is most interesting is that in their comments to Tom’s Hardware website AMD representatives confirmed that the company has no intention to officially support Ryzen 5000 processors on AMD 300 series chipset-based motherboards. So, all attempts to do so may come either from motherboard manufacturers or individual enthusiasts who modify BIOS at their own risk.

ASRock implemented AMD Smart Access Memory technology in Z490 Taichi LGA 1200 board

ASRock has released a beta BIOS for the Z490 Taichi motherboard with support for technology that allows the CPU to access the full amount of discrete graphics gas pedals' video memory at once. ASRock technology is called Clever Access Memory. In essence, it is the same technology that AMD introduced for motherboards on the 500 series chipset & ; Smart Access Memory (SAM).

AMD's SAM technology can currently only work with Radeon RX 6000 graphics gas pedals, as only they can take advantage of the Resizable BAR (Base Address Registers) feature, which is part of the PCI Express interface specifications. Future support for Resizable BARs for GeForce graphics cards will also be added by NVIDIA. According to Wccftech, enabling Resizable BAR in beta BIOS for ASRock Z490 Taichi board really does improve performance in games. The source tested in the Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

Image Source: Wccftech

The test game system used an Intel Core i7-10700K processor, two DDR4-266 memory modules and a Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics card. With the active function in the first game, performance increased by 3.3%, in the second & ; by 11.5%.  

Shadow of the Tomb Rider with Clever Access Memory active.

Result with Clever Access Memory off

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla with active Clever Access Memory

Result with Clever Access Memory off

The source also provided screenshots demonstrating how to activate Clever Access Memory in beta BIOS of ASRock Z490 Taichi motherboard.

ASRock motherboards based on AMD B450 received support for Ryzen 5000 processors

Taiwanese company ASRock reported that its motherboards based on the chipset AMD B450 now support the new processors Ryzen 5000. Owners of these boards, the manufacturer recommends to visit its official website, where you can download the latest version of the BIOS.

This new version of the microcode contains instructions allowing old motherboards to work with new AMD chips. Unfortunately, the manufacturer hasn't reported anything yet about whether the new motherboards ASRock  based on the AMD X470 chipset. However, we dare to assume that this will also happen in the foreseeable future. The names of ASRock motherboards based on AMD B450 chipset and the required BIOS version adding support for Ryzen 5000 processors can be found in the table below.

Image Source: VideoCardz

Recall that some other motherboard manufacturers also confirmed that their products based on the logic of AMD 400 series will be able to work with the new Ryzen 5000 series processors. For example, in January next year special BIOS versions with support of new chips will be received by ASUS, Biostar and MSI boards. Earlier it was also reported that Gigabyte provided compatibility of boards on AMD X470 and B450 with Ryzen 5000 processors.

ASRock introduced compact boards with AMD Ryzen V2000 processor based on Zen 2.

ASRock has announced the 4X4-V2000M and 4X4-V2000V compact motherboards, which are designed to be the basis for small form factor computers and various embedded systems. Each of the new motherboards is initially equipped with a new generation AMD processor with an active cooler.

The 4X4-V2000M is equipped with the Ryzen Embedded V2718 chip with eight Zen 2 cores and a 4.15 GHz clock speed. The 4X4-V2000V modification carries a Ryzen Embedded V2516 six-core processor up to 3.95 GHz. The first has Radeon Vega 7 embedded graphics (448 stream processors), and the second has Radeon Vega 6 with 384 stream processors.

The novelties are in 4X4 (4.09 × 4.02 inches) format. There are two SO-DIMM slots for DDR4-3200 RAM modules with total capacity up to 64 Gbytes. Standard SATA 3.0 port and M.2 connector are available for connecting drives.

The boards have network controllers Realtek RTL8125BG and Realtek R8111FPV, providing bandwidth up to 2.5 and 1 Gbit / s, respectively. The sound subsystem uses Realtek's ALC233 codec.

Provides an additional connector M.2, which can be installed in a wireless module Wi-Fi. On one side of the board there are two USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A and USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C ports, as well as an audio socket on the opposite & ; HDMI 2.0a and DisplayPort 1.2a interfaces, two USB 2.0 ports, sockets for network cables and a power connector;