The Gigabyte H610M H DDR4 represents the bargain-basement of an Intel 12th Generation Alder Lake motherboard.

Editor's note (January 2024): The H610M H DDR4 now supports 14th Gen "Raptor Lake Refresh" and 13th Gen "Raptor Lake" processors with a BIOS update that is available for download from Gigabyte's official website.

For today's article, we'll be checking out the Gigabyte H610M H DDR4 motherboard. As a budget motherboard with Intel's bargain-basement H610 chipset, which packs support for the latest Intel 12th generation Alder Lake processors in the LGA1700 package, this board is clearly targeted at the low-end PC market.

Summary of Specifications

• Processor Support: Intel 12th Generation LGA1700 Core, Pentium Gold and Celeron processors
• Chipset: Intel H610
• Memory: 2x DDR4 slots, max 64GB, up to DDR4 3200 support
• Audio: Realtek ALC897 audio
• LAN: Realtek/Intel Gigabit Ethernet (dependent on board revision number)
• WIFI: No
• Expansion Slots: 1x PCIe 4.0 x16, 1x PCIe 3.0 x1
• Storage: 4x SATA III, 1x PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2
• Form Factor: microATX

Packaging & Contents

Being a budget-oriented offering, the H610M H DDR4 comes with the absolute minimum in terms of accessories:

• 2x SATA III cables
• 1x I/O shield
• 1x manual

Gigabyte's chosen to do away with a DVD driver disc, which is an environmentally-friendly move seeing as optical drives are going the way of the woolly mammoth with modern PCs.

Board Aesthetics

For this board, Gigabyte's gone with a black and grey colour scheme, with angular grey accents on the bottom half of the board that do help with enhancing the board's overall appearance. As an entry-level motherboard, it does not come with an integrated I/O shield, nor does it come with built-in aesthetic LEDs/RGB LEDs.

As this board clearly does not have any overclocking chops, the VRMs do not come with any heatsinks at all.

In order to keep manufacturing costs low for this board, the single M.2 slot does not come with a heatsink.

Memory Support

The H610M H DDR4 comes with two DDR4 slots with support for up to 64GBs of RAM, and the DDR4 3200 standard. 

USB Front Panel Headers

For front panel USB connectivity, the board comes with a single USB 3.2 Gen 1 front panel header, which provides support for up to two front panel USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A ports. This is complemented by two USB 2.0 front panel headers, with each header providing support for two USB 2.0 Type A ports.

Expansion Slots & Storage Options

The H610M H DDR4 comes with a single PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, and a PCIe 3.0 x1 slot, with both slots made out of plastic.

For storage, the board comes with four SATA III ports set in a straight-angled configuration, and a single PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slot that is directly connected to the H610 chipset. If you're intending to use a PCIe 4.0-capable M.2 SSD with this motherboard, do note that the SSD will run at PCIe 3.0 speeds instead.

Interestingly, Gigabyte's chosen to go with a plastic latch to hold the M.2 drive in place, instead of the usual metal screw and standoff arrangement. The position of the plastic latch is adjustable so as to cater to M.2 drives of different lengths.

Audio & Internet Connectivity

Realtek's ALC897 codec performs audio duty for the H610M H DDR4, while the 8111H chip, also by Realtek, provides Gigabit ethernet support with this board. One thing to note with this board is the fact that different board revisions come with different ethernet chipsets:

• Revision 1.0: Intel Gigabit ethernet
• Revision 1.1/1.3: Realtek Gigabit ethernet
• Revision 1.2 (revision of the board in this article): Realtek 8111H Gigabit ethernet

Fan & RGB Headers

The H610M H DDR4 comes with a total of three fan headers:

• 1x CPU_FAN
• 1x SYS_FAN1
• 1x SYS_FAN2

RGB support is a little lacking with this board however - it comes with just a single 12V RGB header, with no addressable RGB headers provided at all.

Rear I/O

The H610M H DDR4 comes with the following rear I/O ports

• 2x PS/2 ports
• 1x VGA port
• 1x HDMI 2.0 port (supports 4K resolution at 30Hz instead of 60Hz)
• 4x USB 2.0 Type-A ports
• 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports
• Gigabit Ethernet port
• Audio jack connectors

Conclusion & Pricing

To sum up, the Gigabyte H610M H DDR4 is a basic Intel 12th Generation Alder Lake motherboard that is well-suited for a low-end PC build, targeted at PCs meant for internet surfing and office productivity work. In view of this, an Intel Core i3, Pentium Gold or Celeron processor would be right at home with this board.

If you’re intending to get a Core i5 and above processor however, you might be better off with a board with Intel's B660 chipset instead, as there are budget B660 boards out there which are near the price range of the H610M H DDR4, and these boards could net you access to features such as PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots, a better power delivery solution and even 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet.

As of June 2022, this board can be had for a price of around S$159 Singapore dollars, which converts to approximately $115 US dollars.

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The motherboard featured in this article was a review unit provided on loan from CDL Trading Pte Ltd, an authorised distributor for Gigabyte in Singapore.