A number of months in the past, we seemed on the Z690 Aorus Grasp and located the upper-midrange board to have strong energy supply and lots of M.2 sockets for the most recent storage. Right now, we’ll have a look at the B660 Aorus Grasp that lives a bit down the product stack, on a chipset that eliminates CPU overclocking. Priced at a between $190 and $210 relying on the place you discover it, the B660 model of the Aorus Grasp additionally comes well-equipped and is a strong selection from a options perspective.
The B660 Grasp comes with virtually all the pieces you’d count on from a B660 board. There are three M.2 sockets, succesful 16-phase 60A energy supply, a last-gen flagship audio codec, together with built-in Intel Wi-Fi 6 and a couple of.5 GbE. Gigabyte makes use of a black and grey heatsink mixture right here, which some might not discover notably interesting. That mentioned, that is nonetheless a handsome board and the heatsinks and shrouds overlaying many of the board, delivering a premium look.
Examined efficiency with our B660 Aorus Grasp was common amongst its DDR4 friends. It excelled within the Procyon suite however was a bit slower than others within the video and picture enhancing portion. Gaming outcomes had been on par with the remaining, whereas energy consumption was higher than most general. As standard, you’d be hard-pressed to note any efficiency deficits with out seeing them in a benchmark outcome.
Under, we’ll take a more in-depth have a look at the Aorus Grasp’s options, software program, and efficiency to see how this sub-$210 board stacks up towards the remaining and if it finds a spot on our finest motherboards checklist. First, right here’s an in depth checklist of the B660 Aorus Grasp’s specs, direct from Gigabyte.
Specs: Gigabyte B660 Aorus Grasp
| Socket | LGA1700 |
| Chipset | B660 |
| Kind Issue | ATX |
| Voltage Regulator | 18 Section (16 55A SPS MOSFETs for Vcore) |
| Video Ports | (1) HDMI (v2.1) |
| (1) DisplayPort (v1.2) | |
| USB Ports | (1) USB v3.2 Gen 2×2, Kind-C (20 Gbps) |
| (5) USB v3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) | |
| (4) USB v2.0 (480 Mbps) | |
| Community Jacks | (1) 2.5 GbE |
| Audio Jacks | (5) Analog + SPDIF |
| Legacy Ports/Jacks | ✗ |
| Different Ports/Jack | ✗ |
| PCIe x16 | (2) v4.0 (x16, x4) |
| PCIe x8 | ✗ |
| PCIe x4 | ✗ |
| PCIe x1 | (1) v3.0 (x1) |
| CrossFire/SLI | Helps AMD Quad and 2-Approach Crossfire |
| DIMM slots | (2) DDR4 5333+(OC), 128GB Capability |
| M.2 slots | (2) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps), PCIe (as much as 110mm) |
| (1) PCIe 3.0 x4 (32 Gbps), PCIe (as much as 110mm) | |
| U.2 Ports | ✗ |
| SATA Ports | (4) SATA3 6 Gbps (Helps RAID 0/1/5/10) |
| USB Headers | (1) USB v3.2 Gen 2, Kind-C (10 Gbps) |
| (1) USB v3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) | |
| (2) USB v2.0 (480 Mbps) | |
| Fan/Pump Headers | (8) 4-Pin (CPU, Water Cooling CPU, System) |
| RGB Headers | (2) aRGB (3-pin) |
| (2) RGB (4-pin) | |
| Diagnostics Panel | 4-LED Debug (CPU/Boot/VGA/RAM) |
| Inner Button/Change | Reset and QFlash buttons |
| SATA Controllers | ✗ |
| Ethernet Controller(s) | Intel I225-V (2.5 Gbps) |
| Wi-Fi / Bluetooth | Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 (2×2 ax, MU-MIMO, 2.4/5/6 GHz, 160 MHz, BT 5.2) |
| USB Controllers | Realtek RTS5411 |
| HD Audio Codec | Realtek ALC1220-VB |
| DDL/DTS | ✗ / ✗ |
| Guarantee | 3 Years |
Contained in the Field of the Gigabyte B660 Aorus Grasp
Contained in the field, together with the motherboard, Gigabyte features a barebones set of equipment together with SATA cables, a Wi-Fi antenna, and many others. As appears to be a rising development, this board didn’t include a driver disk/USB stick, however yow will discover the most recent on-line on the web site in case your retail model is identical. Under is a whole checklist of the included extras.
- (2) SATA cables
- (3) M.2 screws
- Wi-Fi Antenna
- Microphone
- G-connector
- Stickers/case badge
- Guide
Design of the Aorus Grasp
General, the B660 Aorus Grasp appears like a lot of its costlier (and overclockable) Z690 siblings. The matte black 6-layer PCB offers strategy to black and grey heatsinks to cowl all of the components that get scorching. The big black VRM heatsink dominates the left facet of the motherboard and homes Aorus branding, backlit by RGB LEDs. The second RGB space is beneath the board within the top-right nook. The highest VRM heatsink, together with the M.2 and chipset heatsinks, are grey with grooves cutout for extra floor space and a design aspect. The chipset heatsink sports activities the Aorus falcon as properly.
General we like the looks. Whereas there are different boards on the market that cowl extra of the PCB, we now have to recollect this can be a budget-focused board. Nonetheless, it’s going to look good lit up inside your case, assuming you don’t thoughts the contrasting coloration of the heatsinks.
The highest left nook of the B660 Grasp is taken up by the large VRM heatsink that reaches out over the IO space, yielding a clear look. On high is the Aorus branding lit up from beneath with RGB LEDs. There are grooves reduce out for extra floor space. Above the heatsink are two EPS connectors, an 8-pin (required) and 4-pin, to energy the processor. To the precise is the second VRM heatsink, however this time it’s grey and contrasts with the black PCB and different VRM heatsink.
Persevering with proper, we run into 4 DRAM slots that lock the reminiscence down from each ends. Gigabyte helps as much as 128GB of RAM with speeds listed to DDR4 5333(OC). Since you’ll be able to’t overclock the processor with this chipset, your solely overclocking adventures have to come back from the reminiscence.
There are two 4-pin fan headers (CPU_FAN and CPU_OPT) and two RGB headers alongside the top-right edge. In whole, there are eight fan headers scattered across the board, which must be loads to manage the cooling in your chassis. Every header helps each PWM- and DC-controlled gadgets. You’ll have loads of energy for your entire followers and a water cooling pump too, as every helps as much as 2A/24W. Subsequent to the fan headers are 3-pin ARGB and 4-pin RGB headers, with the opposite two mild headers alongside the underside fringe of the board. Gigabyte’s RGB Fusion software controls the board’s RGB ecosystem.
Working our method down the precise edge, we run into the 24-pin ATX connector to energy the board, two extra fan headers (SYS_FAN5/6_PUMP), a front-panel USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) port, and barely offset is the entrance panel USB 3.2 Gen2 (10 Gbps) connector. Slightly below the screw gap listed below are the Q-LEDs that mild up through the boot course of. If there’s a downside throughout startup, one of many 4 lights (labeled Boot/CPU/VGA/RAM) stays lit declaring the final space of the issue. Since there isn’t a 2-character debug LED to share extra particulars, you’ll need to depend on this LEDs for any pre-OS hangups throughout boot.
Gigabyte makes use of an 18-phase VRM right here, with 16 phases devoted to Vcore. Energy is available in from the EPS connector(s) after which to an ON Semiconductor NCP81530 controller, which works in a teamed/parallel style (no section doubler, however two MOSFETs obtain one sign) with 16 55A ON Semiconductor NCP302155 MOSFETs. Since overclocking the processor isn’t an choice with this chipset, the 880A for Vcore is loads to run our Intel Core i9-12900K with out concern.
The underside half of the board sports activities the audio part, storage, and PCIe slots. Beginning on the left facet, we see Gigagbyte’s AMP UP! Audio branding overlaying a Realtek ALC1220-VB codec hidden beneath. Whereas the B660 Aorus Grasp might not have a elaborate DAC or opamp, it does sport a number of yellow Chemicon model audio caps, together with 4 pink WIMA caps to assist ship high quality sound. This isn’t the most recent audio codec, however being the final era’s flagship, most customers will likely be happy with the audio.
The Aorus Grasp sports activities two full-length slots and one x1 measurement slot for PCIe connectivity. The highest full-length slot makes use of reinforcement to forestall shearing from heavy graphics playing cards and runs at PCIe 4.0 x16 from the CPU. The second full-length slot sources its lanes from the chipset and runs at a most of PCIe 3.0 x4. The board helps AMD Quad-GPU Crossfire and 2-Approach Crossfire with the out there lanes. The underside slot additionally sources its bandwidth from the chipset and runs at a most of PCIe 3.0 x1.
Hidden beneath the grey heatsinks are three M.2 sockets. All sockets assist as much as 110mm, however PCIe modules solely. SATA-based M.2 modules are usually not supported. I want to see that availability for a funds board, as SATA SSDs are cheaper ( though slower) than NVMe drives. And people on a funds may need extra older storage they’d like to hold over to a brand new system. The highest socket, M2A_CPU runs at PCIe 4.0 x4, together with the second socket (M2P_SB). The underside socket, M2M_SB runs at a most of PCIe 3.0 x4. It’s price noting that when a drive populates the M2M_SB socket, the second PCIe slot will get disabled.
Alongside the precise edge, we run into two Thunderbolt AIC headers (for including an add-in card) and 4 SATA ports. The SATA ports stay energetic no matter what M.2 gadgets are used. If you wish to RAID the SATA ports, they assist RAID0/1/5/10. 4 SATA ports will likely be loads for most individuals. However once more, when you’ve got a number of older drives you wish to carry over from a earlier PC, this could possibly be limiting.
A number of headers reside throughout the underside, together with USB ports, RGB, and fan headers. Under is a whole checklist of all of the headers on this space.
- Entrance panel audio
- 3-pin ARGB header
- 4-pin RGB header
- TPM header
- (2) USB 2.0 headers
- Q-Flash+ button
- (4) System fan headers
- 2-pin temp header
- Clear CMOS jumper
- Entrance panel header
As we transfer to the rear IO space, Gigabyte was sort sufficient to preinstall the IO plate from the manufacturing facility, which supplies the B660 Grasp a premium vibe. All of the ports are labeled and simple to learn towards the black background. There’s nothing fancy again right here, just a few branding to remind you that is an Aorus product.
One factor that stands out are the ten whole USB ports which is beneficiant for a board on this worth class. We run right into a stack of 4 USB 2.0 ports on the left, whereas subsequent to that’s the Wi-Fi antenna connection. Video outputs encompass the DisplayPort (v1.2) on high, with HDMI(v2.1) on the underside. Subsequent is a USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) port that sits on high of the quick USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20 Gbps) Kind-C port. Persevering with proper, we hit 4 extra USB ports (3.2 Gen 2, 10 Gbps), with the Intel 2.5 GbE port on high. On the precise edge is the audio stack that consists of 5 analog plugs and a SPDIF out.
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