Have you constructed a system of the current generation yet, devoted HotHardware reader? If not, one of our initial hypotheses is that the high price of motherboards is to blame. Intel’s 700-series platform is currently limited to the Z790 chipset, and as a result, motherboards for this platform start at around $200 street price. In contrast, AMD’s B650 chipset is available and the cheapest boards cost roughly USD 150. A new leak purports to reveal pre-release pricing for MSI’s B760 motherboards, bringing some relief.
Regular leaker chi11eddog (@g01e3nm4ng0 on Twitter) has released a screenshot that appears to list all of MSI’s B760-chipset motherboards. The screenshot was taken from a screen displaying an Excel spreadsheet. The lineup consists of DDR4 and DDR5 motherboards, ranging from the $169 PRO-B760M-A WiFi DDR4 to the $229 MAG B760 Tomahawk WiFi.
As the leaker notes, a few of the motherboards on the list contain the suffix MAX, which may indicate that these boards include overclocking features comparable to those of the MAG B660M Mortar MAX WiFi. This difficult-to-find model included an external clock generator on the motherboard to support BCLK overclocking, allowing users to significantly exceed the intended clock rates of locked processors.
| MPG B7601 EDGE WIFI DDR4 | $209 | ||
| MAG B760 TOMAHAWK WIFI | $229 | $219 | MAG B660 TOMAHAWK WIFI |
| MAG B760 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4 | $219 | $209 | MAG B660 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4 |
| MAG B760M MORTAR MAX WIFI | $229 | ||
| MAG B760M MORTAR MAX WIFI DDR4 | $219 | ||
| MAG B760M MORTAR WIFI | $199 | $209 | MAG B660M MORTAR WIFI |
| MAG B760M MORTAR WIEL DDR4 | $189 | $199 | MAG B660M MORTAR WIEL DDR4 |
| MAG B760M MORTAR | $189 | $199 | MAG B660M MORTAR |
| MAG B760M MORTAR DDR4 | $179 | $189 | MAG B660M MORTAR DDR4 |
| PRO B760-P WIFI DDR4 | $179 | ||
| PRO B760M-A WIFI DDR4 | $169 | $169 | PRO B660M-A WIFI DDR4 |
This comparison image from another Twitter leaker, (@harukaze5719 on Twitter), is also interesting. It compares the leaked MSI B760 pricing to the launch pricing for the company’s B660 motherboards. Several boards, including the entire micro-ATX “Mortar” lineup, have decreased in price, while the ATX Tomahawk boards have both increased by $10. It was rumored that motherboards in the 700-series would be priced slightly higher, so the disparity is perplexing.
| 꿸뮴 | Z790 | H770 | B760 | H610 |
| DMI 4.0 | X8 | X8 | X4 | X4 |
| PCle 4.0 | 20 | 16 | 10 | 0 |
| PCle 3.0 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 8 |
| USB 3 (20Gbps) | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| USB 3 (10Gbps) | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| USB 3 (5Gbps) | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 |
| USB 2.0 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 10 |
| SATA 3.0 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
Intel has not announced any 700-series chipsets other than the existing Z790, so the specifications are unknown. However, the Chinese technology website Expreview appears to have the information. Examining the graph, we observe the expected decline in PCIe and USB connectivity as we move down the stack. The reduction from eight to four DMI 4.0 lanes in the B760 chipset appears significant, although it must be noted that the budget chipset also eliminates several high-speed connectivity options, thereby reducing the need for high CPU throughput.
As Intel has not yet announced these products, we do not know when they will be released; however, we will likely learn more at CES next week.
