Gold-plated USB ports are followed by gold-plated CPU sockets(*)

New chipsets from AMD and Intel are in short supply – the current platforms have been around since 2022, so motherboard manufacturers are getting creative to sell new hardware after all. In the case of Gigabyte, this has led to a limited edition of the Z790 Aorus Extreme X as the Z790 Aorus Extreme X Ice.

The motherboard is largely white, with gold accents on the CPU socket and a "badge" with the serial number. Only in the case of the badge – presumably a coated sticker – does Gigabyte explicitly write that its gold coating is 99 percent pure. The announcement expansively states (translated):

"The Xtreme Prestige Limited Edition sets a new standard in gaming hardware. It is crafted to perfection and picks up on the current trend of white gaming builds. Each component is iridescent white, accented with crystallized titanium structures and adorned with a 99% Au Gold series plaque that embodies luxury and exclusivity. The series not only impresses with its aesthetics, but also promises exceptional playing and computing performance."

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Gold colors

The bracket for the processor is gold-colored, but Gigabyte makes no mention of gold plating anywhere. It could just be powder-coated or painted to save money. Anodizing seems unlikely, as the stainless steel would most likely need an aluminum coating.

The spring contacts in the CPU socket are really gold-plated on all mainboards with so-called Land Grid Arrays (LGA). They are made of spring bronze with a nickel layer, which is then plated with gold.

Worth the price of a complete PC

Gigabyte has not yet commented on the price or availability. As the normal Z790 Aorus Extreme X (ab 1089,99 €) already costs four figures, the Ice version is only likely to be an option for very few people. At the same time, Gigabyte is also launching a white and gold-colored Aorus GeForce RTX 4080 Super Xtreme Ice 16G.

There are no differences in the mainboard equipment. Both models accommodate Intel's LGA1700 processors, currently the Core i-14000 up to the Core i9-14900KS. The next generation Arrow Lake comes with a new CPU version – Upgrade options are then no longer available with the Z790 Aorus Extreme X Ice.

Gigabyte, meanwhile, is not the first company to experiment with CPU mounts. In 2017, ECS launched the Z77H2-AX with a gold-plated CPU holder and gold-coloured anodized heat sinks, back then for Intel's Ivy Bridge CPUs (Core i-3000).

(mma)