Gigabyte’s First AMD AM4 Motherboard Pictured
John Williamson / 8 years ago
AMD’s upcoming Zen architecture requires the company’s new AM4 socket to access a number of benefits including M.2 connectivity, PCI-E gen 3, DDR4 memory and much more. Thankfully, AMD is finally updating their processor product range and offering a new platform which can hopefully compete with Intel’s higher-end offerings. As you might expect, the AM4 platform is being readied and motherboard vendors are finalising their designs. Up to this point, the details have been fairly slim apart from an HP OEM motherboard being shown, but the latest leak appears to be more substantial. Images acquired by the Korean website Bodnana which have since been taken down, appear to show the first glimpse of Gigabyte’s B350M-DS3H. As you can see, the motherboard employs AMD’s new chipset although please remember this isn’t guaranteed:
The product houses two PCI-E x16 slots, a single x16 slot and can accommodate a high-speed NVMe M.2 drive.
As per usual with Gigabyte motherboards, there’s dual BIOS functionality which offers added protection just in case any BIOS updates or other stability problems arise. Also, it seems the AM4 platform will use the same mounting system as before.
Connectivity-wise, the motherboard has two USB 2.0, a PS/2 combo port, D-Sub, DVI-D, HDMI, four USB 3.0, RJ45, possibly two USB 3.1 Type-A and three audio jacks.
The audio segment utilises premium Japanese capacitors and a Realtek codec, which is mostly likely the ALC892 instead of the ALC1150. Also, it’s positioned on a dedicated section of the PCB to reduce EMI.
Here we can see the BIOS page which lists the memory multiplier, frequency and voltage. Interestingly, the 1.20v is in-tune with DDR4 standards given the operating speed and seems credible.
Clearly, this is the best information about an AM4 motherboard so far, and it’s fantastic to see Gigabyte’s new design. I’d theorise that this is a budget product though given the layout and list of features. Of course, no details on pricing or availability are disclosed and the original source has unfortunately closed the article. Therefore, information about the product is extremely limited.
Images courtesy of Bodnara.
