By: Jonathan Kwan
March 4, 2022
Can you definitively identify different brands of chocolate chip cookies by a blind taste test? I was chatting with a friend a while back, and I made the claim that I could accurately tell Costco bakery cookies apart from other supermarket bakeries purely by taste. He acknowledged what I said, but wanting to witness my claims firsthand, he arranged a taste test to see if I could prove what I said was true. Therefore, we got together some chocolate chip cookies from three bakeries -- Costco, Superstore, and Calgary Co-op -- and got down to business. To make sure everything is fair, all three chocolate chip cookie samples were broken down to pieces of equal size and were passed to me while I was blindfolded. The result? I was able to accurately tell them all apart, just as I said I could. If you ask me how I could tell the difference between them, here is how it worked: Costco cookies are the thinnest with the most balanced texture and taste, while Superstore is thick, very buttery, and extremely sweet. I simply got Co-op by the process of elimination, since I never had it before. When it comes to motherboards, one could say they are basically all the same thing. Any minor performance difference can usually be attributed to manufacturers giving slight overclocks to the CPU at default settings. However, the difference in features and functionality are known to the user, and hence why there are strong preferences to different brands and lineups among enthusiasts. It has been many years since I have reviewed a motherboard, and it has been even more years since I have last reviewed one from ASUS. But today, we are back with the ProArt B660-Creator D4 from the popular motherboard maker, which is a fancy looking motherboard loaded with features for content creators. Can one tell the difference with all it has to offer? Read on to find out!
Our review unit of the ASUS ProArt B660-Creator D4 came in a medium-sized, brown corrugated cardboard box from ASUS' American offices in Fremont, California, USA. Using FedEx International 2day, the motherboard arrived safely to us here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for our review today. It was the only thing inside the box, but we have many other ASUS product reviews coming up for all of you, as they were shipped in separate packages.
ASUS has always done a great job in varying their retail box designs for different product lines, and the ProArt B660-Creator D4 is no exception. Its clean design and predominantly black and gold color scheme accentuates its digital creative art theme. At the top, we can see the ASUS ProArt branding and ProArt B660-Creator D4 model designation underneath it. An array of badges indicates its B660 chipset, Intel Core 12th gen, LGA 1700, PCIe 5.0, Intel Optane Memory. HDMI, and Windows 11 support. At the back, lots of pictures and diagrams highlight its detailed features and specifications.
Speaking of specifications, before we move on, let us take a look at the detailed specifications of the ASUS ProArt B660-Creator D4, as obtained from the manufacturer's website:
CPU
Intel® Socket LGA1700 for 12th Gen Intel® Core™, Pentium® Gold and Celeron® Processors
Supports Intel® 10 nm CPU
Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 and Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0**
* Refer to asus.com for CPU support list.
** Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 support depends on the CPU types.
Chipset
Intel® B660
Memory
4 x DIMM, Max. 128GB, DDR4
5333(OC)/5000(OC)/4800(OC)/4600(OC)/4400(OC)/4266(OC)/4000(OC)/3866(OC)/3733(OC)/3600(OC)/3466(OC)/3400(OC)/3333(OC)/3200/3000/2933/2800/2666/2400/2133 Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory*
Dual Channel Memory Architecture
Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
OptiMem II
* Actual Memory frequency support depends on the CPU types and DRAM modules, for more information refer to asus.com for the Memory QVL (Qualified Vendors Lists).
Graphics
1 x HDMI® port**
1 x Type-C port supports DisplayPort output***
1 x DP IN that will have output through Type-C port
* Graphics specifications may vary between CPU types. Please refer to intel.com for any updates.
** Support 4K@60Hz as specified in HDMI 2.1.
*** Support 8K@60Hz as specified in DisplayPort 1.4.
**** Output at the USB Type-C® ports left under RJ45 ports requires a USB-C to DisplayPort adapter cable. VGA resolution support depends on graphic cards' resolution.
Expansion Slots
Intel® 12th Gen Processors
1 x PCIe 5.0/4.0/3.0 x16 slot
Intel® B660 Chipset*
1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (supports x4 mode)
1 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slot**
* Supports Intel® Optane Memory H Series on PCH-attached PCIE slot
** PCIe X1 shares bandwidth with M.2_2. PCIe X1 will be disable when M.2_2 runs at PCIe x4 mode by manually enabled.
Storage
Total supports 3 x M.2 slots and 4x SATA 6Gb/s ports*
Intel® 12th Gen Processors
M.2_1 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280/22110
- Intel® 12th Gen processors support PCIe 4.0 x4 mode.
Intel® B660 Chipset**
M.2_2 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280 (supports PCIe 3.0 x4 mode)***
M.2_3 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280/22110 (supports PCIe 4.0 x4 mode)
4 x SATA 6Gb/s ports***
* Intel® Rapid Storage Technology supports SATA RAID 0/1/5/10.
** Intel® Rapid Storage Technology supports Intel® Optane Memory H Series on PCH attached M.2 slots.
*** M.2_2 slot shares bandwidth with PCIe X1 and WiFi Key E. M.2_2 will run at PCI 3.0 x2 mode either a device is detected at PCIe x1 or WiFi Key E slot.
Ethernet
1 x Realtek 2.5Gb Ethernet
1 x Intel® 1Gb Ethernet
ASUS LANGuard
Wireless & Bluetooth
M.2 slot only (Key E, PCIe)*
*Wi-Fi module is sold separately.
USB
Rear USB (Total 9 ports)
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C® port (shared with DisplayPort graphic output)
4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (4 x Type-A)
4 x USB 2.0 ports (6 x Type-A)
Front USB (Total 7 ports)
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 connector (supports USB Type-C® with 60W PD/QC4+)
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 header supports additional 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 ports
2 x USB 2.0 headers support additional 4 USB 2.0 ports
Audio
Realtek 7.1 Surround Sound High Definition Audio CODEC*
- Supports: Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-retasking
- Supports up to 24-Bit/192 kHz playback
Audio Features
- Power pre-regulator reduces power input noise to ensure consistent performance
- Premium audio capacitors
- Dedicated audio PCB layers
- Audio cover
- Unique de-pop circuit
* Due to limitations in HDA bandwidth, 32-Bit/192 kHz is not supported for 7.1 Surround Sound audio.
** A chassis with an HD audio module in the front panel is required to support 7.1 Surround Sound audio output.
Back Panel I/O Ports
1 x USB Type-C® port supports USB 3.2 Gen2 and DisplayPort output
4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (4 x Type-A)
4 x USB 2.0 ports (4 x Type-A)
1 x DisplayPort (Input only)
1 x HDMI® port
1 x Realtek 2.5Gb Ethernet port
1 x Intel® 1Gb Ethernet port
5 x Audio jacks
1 x Optical S/PDIF out port
Internal I/O Connectors
Fan and Cooling related
1 x 4-pin CPU Fan header
1 x 4-pin CPU OPT Fan header
1 x 4-pin AIO Pump header
4 x 4-pin Chassis Fan headers
Power related
1 x 24-pin Main Power connector
1 x 8-pin +12V Power connector
1 x 4-pin +12V Power connector
Storage related
3 x M.2 slots (Key M)
4 x SATA 6Gb/s ports
USB
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 connector (supports USB Type-C® with 60W PD/QC4+)
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 header supports additional 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 ports
2 x USB 2.0 headers support additional 4 USB 2.0 ports
Miscellaneous
3 x Addressable Gen 2 headers
1 x AURA RGB header
1 x Clear CMOS header
1 x COM Port header
1 x Front Panel Audio header (AAFP)
1 x M.2 slot (Key E)
1 x SPI TPM header (14-1pin)
1 x 20-3 pin System Panel header with Chassis intrude function
1 x Thermal Sensor header
1 x Thunderbolt™ header
Special Features
ASUS 5X PROTECTION III
- DIGI+ VRM (- Digital power design with DrMOS)
- Enhanced DRAM Overcurrent Protection
- ESD Guards
- LANGuard
- Overvoltage Protection
- SafeSlot
- Stainless-Steel Back I/O
ASUS Q-Design
- M.2 Q-Latch
- Q-Connector
- Q-DIMM
- Q-LED (CPU [red], DRAM [yellow], VGA [white], Boot Device [yellow green])
- Q-Slot
ASUS Thermal Solution
- Flexible M.2 heatsink
- VRM heatsink design
ASUS EZ DIY
- ProCool
- Pre-mounted I/O shield
AURA Sync
- AURA RGB header
- Addressable Gen 2 headers
Software Features
ASUS Exclusive Software
Armoury Crate
- AURA Creator
- AURA Sync
- Fan Xpert 4
- Two-Way AI Noise Cancelation
AI Suite 3
- Performance And Power Saving Utility
EPU
DIGI+ VRM
Turbo app
ASUS CPU-Z
IT Management software supported
- ASUS Control Center Express(ACCE)
ProArt Creator Hub
CreationFirst
Norton Anti-virus software (Free Trial version)
WinRAR
UEFI BIOS
ASUS EZ DIY
- ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
- ASUS EZ Flash 3
- ASUS UEFI BIOS EZ Mode
BIOS
128 Mb
Manageability
WOL by PME, PXE
Accessories
Cables
1 x DisplayPort cable
2 x SATA 6Gb/s cables
Miscellaneous
3 x M.2 Rubber Packages
1 x Q-connector
Installation Media
1 x Support DVD
Documentation
1 x ACC Express Activation Key Card
1 x User guide
Operating System
Windows® 11 64-bit, Windows® 10 64-bit
Form Factor
ATX Form Factor
12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Bundle and Chipset
3. Physical Look - Hardware, Board Layout
4. BIOS and Test System
5. Benchmark: AIDA64
6. Benchmark: Cinebench R23
7. Benchmark: PassMark PerformanceTest 10
8. Benchmark: PCMark 10
9. Benchmark: 3DMark
10. Onboard Sound Frequency Analysis
11. Thermal Measurements
12. Conclusion
