The editor said: The main car of the 12th generation Core has finally arrived, how does the B660DDR4 motherboard perform with the 12600K? After reading this review, you will know the answer.
At the end of October last year, Intel with a revolutionary large and small core high-performance hybrid architecture, released the 12th generation Core "Alder Lake-S" desktop processor series, I have to say that Intel this big tube toothpaste is really powerful, not only using the new Intel 7 process node, under the blessing of the hybrid architecture, both high-performance output, but also has excellent multi-threaded performance.
After the first batch of "vanguard troops" landed more than 2 months later, the "main force" of the 12th generation Core finally came, the regular version of the 12th generation Core processor was launched, and also ushered in the Intel B660 motherboard chipset for mainstream users, so with the performance part officially unbanned, today we bring you the gigabyte snow sculpture B660 MAORUSPROAXDDR4 motherboard (hereinafter referred to as "Gigabyte Snow Sculpture B660M DDR4 motherboard") evaluation.
In the previous review of the Z690 motherboard, we also introduced the new features of the 600 series motherboard, such as: adding native PCIe 4.0 channels, upgrading the DMI bus channel to DMI Gen 4.0 (B660 DMI bus is DMI 4.0 x4), and adding a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20Gbps) high-bandwidth interface.
At the same time, the B660 motherboard still supports memory overclocking and XMP configuration overclocking functions, and users can get additional performance improvements by increasing the memory frequency.
Outside the motherboard
Gigabyte Snow Sculpture B660M DDR4 motherboard packaging is still familiar AORUS style, printed with a large sci-fi style carved brand logo, the bottom right is to support Intel 12th generation Core processor and Intel B660 chipset logo, the motherboard has a 4-year national warranty.
On the back of the package are the specifications of the product, as well as some parameters, including 12+1+1 digital power supply design, efficient heat dissipation design, equipped with USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C high-speed interface, equipped with Intel 2.5G Gigabit network card and WIFI-6 support wireless network card.
The motherboard size is the standard mATX specification, the motherboard VRM part, the main M.2 hard disk bit, and the south bridge are covered with a silver-white metal cooling vest, which is also the main feature of gigabyte snow sculpture motherboard, visually bringing a more fresh feeling.
Motherboard feature appreciation
VRM heat dissipation vest for a one-piece molding design, printed with a linear carved logo, GIGABYTE also adopts a striped groove design that increases the heat dissipation area on the heat dissipation vest, with a high coefficient of thermal pads, which can provide better heat dissipation efficiency for the VRM power supply module and ensure the stable output of current.
CPU
The external power supply is 4Pin+8Pin, which meets the power output requirements of 12th generation Core processors.
Socket LGA-1700 slot with protective bezel to prevent damage to pins from collisions.
Four DDR4 memory slots, available on the right, are equipped with dedicated memory power supply and control modules, which can output more powerful currents for memory and improve memory overclocking stability.
USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A and USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C front connectors provide a high-bandwidth transfer experience with the chassis front panel interface.
The motherboard is equipped with two M.2 hard disk connectors, both at PCIe 4.0 x4 rates, with the main M.2 hard drive bit direct-attached CPU and the secondary M.2 hard drive as the connected chipset.
The main PCIe x16 slot is PCIe 4.0 x16 rate and is equipped with metal protective armor for enhanced durability.
Below are the HD audio components, audio connectors, system fan pins, and RGB sync pins.
The TDP setting of the Intel 600 series motherboard chipset is still 6W, so its working thermal dissipation needs can be met through passive heatsinks.
In terms of rear interface, GIGABYTE Snow Sculpture B660M DDR4 motherboard is equipped with four USB 2.0 Type-A interfaces, WIFI antenna interfaces, a DP interface, an HDMI interface, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 x2 Type-C interface, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A interface, four USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A interfaces, an RJ45 network interface that supports 2.5G, and an audio component interface.
Motherboard disassembly appreciation
After the motherboard removes the heat dissipation vest, the layout of each component on the motherboard is still quite regular.
VRM thermal vest is equipped with a thermal conductive sticker with high thermal conductivity, which can quickly export the heat generated by the VRM power supply module to the heat dissipation vest, effectively reducing the temperature of the MOSFET and bringing more stable power supply performance.
Gigabyte Snow Sculpture B660M DDR4 motherboard is equipped with 12+1+1 power supply, of which 12 phases power VCore core, 1 phase power supply VCCGT core display, and 1 phase power supply VCCAUX.
The power supply module is composed of MOSFET + fully enclosed inductor + capacitor, each phase core power supply and VCCAUX power supply are equipped with ON Semiconductor NCP302155 MOSFET chip, the maximum continuous output current of a single piece is 60A, this power supply specification is even equipped with a high-end i9 processor is enough to drive.
Core power supply PWM control chip for ON Semiconductor NCP81530, this model is still a new face, the official website did not find the information, is currently known to use 16 + 1 + 2 phase power Z690 small eagle motherboard also use this control chip, that drive the snow eagle this set of power supply is not a problem.
VCCGT nuclear display power supply adopts upper and lower tube MOSFET design, one upper bridge and two lower bridges, the upper bridge adopts ON Semiconductor NTMFS4C10N, and the lower bridge adopts ON Semiconductor NTMFS4C06N, and the maximum continuous output current of the two is 50A. On the left is the ON Semiconductor NCP81270C PWM controller chip, which controls the VCCAUX power supply output.
Memory power supply is also an up-and-down tube MOSFET design of one upper and lower bridges, and the models are also ON NTMFS4C10N and ON Semiconductor NTMFS4C06N.
Intel I225-V chip, E3 stepper version, responsible for 2.5G wired network.
Realtek RTS5411, USB 3.2 Gen 1 signal relay chip, controls the output of the front USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A interface.
Realtek RTS5463, USB 3.2 Gen 2 signal relay chip, is responsible for controlling the output of the front USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C interface.
ON Semiconductor's NB7NQ621 signal repeater, which is responsible for signal output from the rear HDMI and DP interfaces.
Realtek ALC897 audio chip.
Intel AX201 (Gig+) wireless card that supports WIFI 6 802.11ax high-speed networks and the Bluetooth 5.2 wireless protocol.
Introduction to the test platform
Processor we chose Intel i5-12600K, it is currently one of the latest mainstream high-performance processors, but also the 12th generation of Core processors in the player's voice of a higher one, the current price of less than two thousand yuan, used to be a high-performance game U cost performance is still quite high.
We are still running tests based on Windows 11 Pro 21H2.
Detailed configuration information can be seen in the figure, each hardware has adopted a higher product configuration on the market, to help the motherboard to play the best performance.
Theoretical performance testing
In the CPU theory performance section, we selected the CPU-Z and 3D Mark test software to test the theoretical performance of the processor, and added the default performance data of the i5-12600K on the Z690 D5 motherboard for comparison, which represents the default performance level of the i5-12600K to see if the B660 motherboard can play the same full blood performance.
The results are quite interesting, the i5-12600K both in the performance test back and forth, some of the data even B660 motherboard is higher.
In CPU-Z, the single-core is equal, and the multi-core DDR5 memory is slightly ahead. In the 3DMark software, FIRE STRIKE three tests, the B660 motherboard physical score up to 6%; while time SPY two tests, Z690 D5 motherboard under the CPU score slightly 2%; CPU PROFILE test, Z690 D5 with memory bandwidth advantages some projects are more dominant, but the maximum thread performance, the two are flat.
Memory & Storage Performance Testing
In terms of memory performance, the cache and memory test on the AIDA64 was routinely run, and at the memory timing frequency of DDR4-3600 CL18, the memory read speed was 53073MB/s, the memory write speed was 50418MB/s, the memory replication speed was 53170MB/s, and the latency was 66.2ns.
However, when you first get on the computer, the motherboard BIOS is turned on by default in Gear 2-way mode, and the delay score is much worse, so if you have a high memory delay in the running test, you can check whether the BIOS has opened the memory crossover.
This time, the B660 motherboard chipset is natively equipped with PCIe 4.0 channels, so both M.2 interfaces are PCIe 4.0 x4 rates, which means that both M.2 hard disk bits can enjoy the ultra-high-speed performance of PCIe 4.0 SSDs.
Of course, it's not just speed measurement, we have to see if the bus bandwidth of the B660 can meet the full speed of two PCIe 4.0 SSDs at the same time.
We tested two PCIe 4.0 SSDs simultaneously using crystaldiskmark, the original speed measurement software, to see if they could perform at the best at the same time.
Judging from the test results, the two PCIe 4.0 SSDs have played the nominal performance level, which can prove that the B660 motherboard can meet the full power of the two PCIe 4.0 SSDs, and there will be no bandwidth shortage problems.
Productivity testing
In terms of practical experience, we use three dimensions of daily simulation, compression/decompression, and authoring software to test the productivity performance of the platform.
In terms of daily use, use items for testing. The project includes common basic features, productivity, digital content creation, and game testing to comprehensively evaluate the experience of using the platform.
In the end, the platform received a total score of 11721 points, including 11288 points for common basic functions, 11410 points for productivity, 14094 points for digital content creation, and 28103 points for games.
Compared with the Z690 D5 platform, the performance is slightly lower, but the comparison of the results is not much different, and the actual experience cannot open up any gap.
In the 21.03 version of the performance test, the i5-12600K took 66.546 seconds to complete the test, the overall score was 85.815 GIPS, the compression score was 92.395 GIPS, and the decompression score was 79.594 GIPS.
From the performance point of view, the decompression performance of the platform equipped with DDR4 memory is lower than that of the DDR5 memory platform, the reason is that the bandwidth of DDR5 memory is huge, and more data can be transmitted during the decompression process, obviously the decompression efficiency will be higher; so if it is often necessary to decompress the user, you can consider the D5 motherboard, but if you start from the memory price and cost performance, or the D4 motherboard is more fragrant, isn't it?
In the Creative Software section, we tested the X264 FHD, X265, Puget Bench, and UL.
The X264 FHD render test score is 78.91FPS and the X265 render score is 48.55FPS.
Puget Bench da Vinci test, score 1697 points, UL video editing output test 7208 points, batch processing 9238 points, image retouching 8120 points, photo editing 8660 points.
Game frame rate test
We selected 8 AAA masterpieces for benchmark testing, in order to give full play to the performance of the CPU, reduce the intervention of graphics cards, the game resolution is unified at 1080P, all of which are the highest image quality, and DLSS and ray tracing are turned off.
In terms of frame count, the performance of the B660 motherboard is lower than the number of frames run by the Z690 D5 motherboard, but the game performance of the previous generation Z590 motherboard with i9-11900K (open ABT) is the same, and the small partner who buys the 11th generation Core is really going to cry blind.
Stability testing
Using AIDA64 software for Stress FPU roaster testing, you can see that the i5-12600K is running at 125W of power consumption.
In nearly an hour of roaster testing, the VRM temperature of the GIGABYTE Snow Sculpture B660M DDR4 motherboard read from the sensor was 50 degrees, and with the assistance of the heat dissipation vest, the VRM power supply can maintain good temperature performance and continuous high-performance output.
BIOS experience
Gigabyte Snow Sculpture B660M DDR4 Motherboard BIOS provides Simple Mode and Advanced Mode, simple mode from which you can quickly understand the platform's hardware information, and quickly enable XMP configuration overclocking.
The advanced mode provides the adjustment of CPU, memory, voltage, power wall and other aspects of information, suitable for advanced partners.
The motherboard BIOS also provides a game mode configuration, which is a blessing for small partners who like to play games, and it can automatically set the configuration suitable for the best game performance for you.
Test summary
After nearly a year of silence, Intel with its new architecture, new processor and 600 series motherboard king returned, the performance of the big improvement in the previous has been seen, and the new generation of mid-range motherboards of the main series of B660 chipset is also the same force, first of all, the double of the bus bandwidth greatly improved the scalability, this time can run two PCIe 4.0 high-speed solid-state drives, enjoy the hard disk speed up, USB 3.2 Gen 2 x2 interface to add the efficiency of external transmission more efficient, The most important thing is the support for memory overclocking, which can make the processor perform more strongly.
As one of Intel's cooperative manufacturers, GIGABYTE also released the B660 AORUS motherboard series for the first time, the GIGABYTE snow sculpture B660 MAORUSPROAXDDR4 motherboard we reviewed today, equipped with a 12+1+1 power supply module and a high-efficiency heat dissipation vest, the temperature performance in the stability test is good, and at the same time, under the blessing of high-frequency memory, it can further release the powerful performance of the 12th generation Core, even if it is equipped with a non-overclocked version, you can also get a good experience.
In terms of scalability, the motherboard has dual PCIe 4.0 M.2 hard disk slots, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 high-speed interface, and a full range of I/O interfaces, which can meet the daily expansion of high-speed transmission needs, for the pursuit of mainstream performance and practicality of the small partner can consider a wave.