Intel Z690 vs H670 vs B660 vs H610 Chipset Comparison
Written on February 8, 2022 by William GeorgeIntel's 12th Gen Core processor family initially launched with the top-end Z690 chipset, but in the months since that time Intel has added additional chipset options with varying feature sets. Now that several of those have been released, we are taking a look at the four desktop chipsets: Z690, H670, B660, and H610.
Intel Z690 vs Z590 vs Z490 Chipset Comparison
Written on October 29, 2021 by William GeorgeOver the last few iterations of their mainstream Core processors, Intel has offered many different chipsets with varying features. However, within each generation one stands at the top of the product stack, usually with naming using the "Z#90" convention. Today we are taking a look at the last three such chipsets: Z490, Z590, and the latest Z690 to see what has changed over the years.
PCI-Express 4.0 vs 3.0 Video Card Performance
Written on November 30, 2020 by William GeorgePCI-Express has been the standard for connecting video cards and other expansion devices inside of computers for many years now, and several generations of the technology have now passed. With each of those generations, the amount of data that can be transferred over the PCIe connection has increased. How much impact does that have on modern video cards? Is there any benefit to running a PCIe 3.0 card in a 4.0 slot, or loss if using a 4.0 card in a 3.0 slot?
AMD X570 vs B550 vs A520 Chipset Comparison
Written on November 13, 2020 by William GeorgeAMD has three current chipsets for their mainstream Ryzen processors, each targeting a different segment of the market with appropriate features and pricing. What is the difference between each of these chipsets, though? Knowing that can help make sure you get the right motherboard for your next workstation PC.
Messy Memory Speed Standards
Written on November 9, 2020 by William GeorgeHere at Puget Systems, we have tried to be careful about sticking to CPU manufacturer memory specifications - to ensure the best reliability, and to avoid overclocking memory controllers (which could, technically, violate CPU warranties). But increasingly complicated memory speed support schemes on many newer processors, combined with a lack of supply of certain speed modules, has forced us to adopt a new approach to what we offer in our workstations.
DaVinci Resolve 14 GPU Scaling: Core i9 vs Xeon W vs Dual Xeon SP
Written on March 6, 2018 by Matt BachBlackmagic's DaVinci Resolve is known for how well it utilizes multiple GPUs to improve performance, but is this still true with cards like the new NVIDIA Titan V? And do you really need a Xeon or Dual Xeon setup to get the best performance possible?
Z370 vs Z270: What is the Difference?
Written on September 29, 2017 by Matt BachWith the announcement of the first Coffee Lake-S CPUs, Intel has also released details for the the new Z370 chipset. But what makes it different from the old Z270 chipset?
Core i7 7820X vs Core i9 7900X: Do PCI-E Lanes Matter For GPU Rendering?
Written on September 11, 2017 by William GeorgeBenchmark results demonstrating that PCI-Express x8 vs x16 speeds don't impact GPU rendering performance.
OctaneRender GPU Platform Comparison: Skylake X, Xeon W, and Threadripper
Written on September 6, 2017 by William GeorgeThis article looks at several motherboard chipsets, including X299 and X399, comparing how well they handle performance scaling across multiple GPUs in OctaneBench 3.06.2.
FurryBall GPU Rendering Platform Comparison: Skylake X, Xeon W, and Threadripper
Written on September 6, 2017 by William GeorgeThis article looks at several motherboard chipsets, including X299 and X399, comparing how well they handle performance scaling across multiple GPUs in the FurryBall RT benchmark.
V-Ray GPU Rendering Platform Comparison: Skylake X, Xeon W, and Threadripper
Written on September 6, 2017 by William GeorgeThis article looks at several motherboard chipsets, including X299 and X399, comparing how well they handle performance scaling across multiple GPUs in V-Ray 3.57.01.
X299 vs X99: What is the Difference?
Written on July 11, 2017 by Matt BachWith the release of the first Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X CPUs, Intel has also launched the new X299 chipset. But what makes it different from the old X99 chipset?
Z270, H270, Q270, Q250, B250 - What is the Difference?
Written on January 5, 2017 by Matt BachAlongside the launch of Intel's new consumer Kaby Lake CPUs, there is also a whole new line of motherboard chipsets available. These six chipsets are divided into two separate categories: consumer and business. In this article, we will examine the features of each of the new chipsets to help you determine which is right for you.
Z270 vs Z170: What is the Difference?
Written on January 5, 2017 by Matt BachWith the release of the first Skylake-S CPUs, Intel has also launched the new Z170 chipset. Unlike previous launches where Intel releases all the new chipsets and CPUs at the same time, this time only the top chipset and unlocked (K-series) CPUs will be available at launch.
Z170, H170, H110, B170, Q150, Q170 - What is the Difference?
Written on November 4, 2015 by Matt BachWith the rolling launch of Intel's new consumer Skylake-S CPUs complete, there is also a whole new line of motherboard chipsets available. These six chipsets are divided into two separate categories: consumer and business. In this article, we will examine the features of each of the new chipsets to help you determine which is right for you.
Z170 vs Z97: What is the Difference?
Written on August 5, 2015 by Matt BachWith the release of the first Skylake-S CPUs, Intel has also launched the new Z170 chipset. Unlike previous launches where Intel releases all the new chipsets and CPUs at the same time, this time only the top chipset and unlocked (K-series) CPUs will be available at launch.
X79 vs X99: What is new in X99 and Haswell-E
Written on August 29, 2014 by Matt BachThe X99 chipset is a major improvement over X79 adding native USB 3.0 support, more SATA 6Gb/s ports, DDR4 support, and plenty of other little updates. Haswell-E also adds a lot of improvements, but has an overall drop in core frequency that makes it not as clearly better than Ivy Bridge-E.
Z97 vs H97 - What is the Difference?
Written on May 11, 2014 by Matt BachThe Z97 and H97 chipset have recently been added to Intel's line of chipsets, replacing the previous Z87 and H87 chipsets. In this article we will take a look at the specifications for the Z97 and H97 chipsets to see what differences there are between them.
What is new in Z97 and H97
Written on May 11, 2014 by Matt BachThe Z97 and H97 chipset have recently been added to Intel's line of chipsets, replacing the previous Z87 and H87 chipsets. These new chipsets are really more of an incremental update, but still add a little bit in terms of new features.
Z87, H87, H81, Q87, Q85, B85 - What is the difference?
Written on June 2, 2013 by Matt BachWith the release of Intel's fourth-generation Haswell CPUs, there are also a whole new line of motherboard chipsets available. Initially there are six different chipsets that are divided into two separate categories: consumer and business. In this article, we will examine the features of each of the new chipset to help you determine which is right for you.
Product Review: MSI FM2-A75IA-E53 Motherboard
Written on March 6, 2013 by Matt BachAMD's FM2 platform is a great choice when you want decent graphical performance but either do not have the space or do not want to spend the money on a discrete video card. Unfortunately, there are only two mini-ITX boards currently on the market: the ASRock FM2A75M-ITX and the MSI FM2-A75IA-E53. Today we will be looking at the MSI FM2-A75IA-E53 to determine if it is a board we would like to carry in our product line; specifically to update our Echo line of systems.
Product Review: Asus P8C WS
Written on August 20, 2012 by Matt BachThe Asus P8C WS is a workstation class motherboard that includes many features sought after by businesses and home users alike. Most notably, it supports Intel E3 Xeon processors and ECC memory, making it a very stable platform. The varied types of ports and headers also makes it great for machines where backwards compatibility with older devices is critical.
How it Works: Intel SSD Caching
Written on June 29, 2012 by Matt BachSSD caching is not new, but is something we have not inspected closely since its introduction with the Z68 chipset. In this article, we will be answering the questions: What is SSD caching? How do you set up and configure SSD caching? And what kind of performance improvements you should expect by using it.
Product Review: Intel DH77DF
Written on May 4, 2012 by Matt BachWith the launch of the new 7-series chipsets, we spent the last few weeks looking at numerous Mini-ITX motherboards in order to update our Echo line of systems. There are many boards available from various manufactures, but the motherboard that immediately caught our attention was the Intel DH77DF.
Product Review: Intel S2600COE
Written on April 24, 2012 by Matt BachThe Intel S2600COE is a part of the recently launched Romley platform and is intended exclusively for use in server systems. This motherboard includes onboard video and four integrated Intel Gigabit LAN ports, but is very limited in the number of USB ports available. Because of the strong server focus of this board, however, there are many desktop features (namely S3 sleep and fan throttling) that are not supported.