Gigabyte Shows Off Motherboard With Golden CPU Socket, Tons of Bling

Motherboards have gotten pretty outrageous over the past few years. Back in the day, spending $500 on a motherboard was seen as extreme, but nowadays, we have boards that cost $1,200, like the MSI Godlike. Now, Gigabyte is one-upping all those fancy boards with a new limited-edition model with a gold-plated CPU socket, among other flashy amenities. One could even call it extreme tech, if one were so inclined.
Several images of the Intel Z790 motherboard appeared in a Facebook post by a user named Duy Manh, who notes the board is destined for the Vietnamese market. However, given American’s propensity for computer bling, we wonder if some of them will also make it stateside. The post was flagged by Tom’s Hardware, and the standout feature is the golden CPU socket, which is covered by a frosted cover that appears to be just for decoration. It’s doubtful you will even be able to see the CPU socket once a cooler is attached, but it looks snazzy in photos.
Another notable feature on the board is the absolutely gigantic heatsink that covers the entire lower portion of the motherboard. Gigabyte calls this glittery aesthetic “crystalized titanium,” and it’s reminiscent of G.Skill Trident Z Royal memory, which features a shimmering specked crystal appearance. There are also no outward-facing connectors on the board at all, with all the I/O relegated to the edges of the board for an extra-clean appearance.
There is also an embedded display for system monitoring on the I/O cover to the left of the CPU socket. The included image shows it displaying CPU and VRM temperatures, CPU voltage, fan speed, and one more reading we can’t quite make out (CPU opt?). This is certainly a slick feature and also appears on MSI’s Godlike boards.
The board appears to be part of a limited-edition product line called Xtreme Ice, which features a Z790 motherboard and an RTX 4080 GPU. Each of these products has a golden badge indicating its serial number, and the post notes that they’ll be sold in extremely limited quantities. Given its amenities, including what appears to be an included PCie Gen 5 SSD heatsink, we’re sure its price will be as extreme as its aesthetic.
ExtremeTech supports Group Black and its mission to increase greater diversity in media voices and media ownerships.
© 2001-2024 Ziff Davis, LLC., a Ziff Davis company. All Rights Reserved.
ExtremeTech is a federally registered trademark of Ziff Davis, LLC and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission. The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of ExtremeTech. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product or service, we may be paid a fee by that merchant.

source