Intel's brand new Z590 motherboard platform has officially been unveiled and it comes with full support for 11th Gen Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs that are planned for launch in March 2021. The latest motherboards from Intel partners come with enhanced designs, offering increased I/O and superior power delivery system for Intel's last 14nm desktop family.
Intel Z590 Platform Officially Introduced - PCIe Gen 4.0 & Full Support For 11th Gen Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs
Before we begin this roundup, let's start by taking a look at the 11th Gen Desktop CPU family and the respective Z590 platform.
Intel's Rocket Lake-S desktop CPU platform will feature support on LGA 1200 socket which made its original debut with Comet Lake-S CPUs although on 400-series motherboards. The Intel Rocket Lake-S processors will be launching alongside the 500-series motherboards but will be backward compatible with 400-series motherboards. In addition to the flagship Z590 motherboards, B560 motherboards will support memory overclocking which has been highly anticipated by budget PC builders.
Intel Desktop Platform Chipset Comparison
| Chipset Name | Coffee Lake S (KBL-R) PCH / Z370 Platform | Coffee Lake S (CNL-H) PCH / 300 Series (Z390/H370, B360, Q370, H310) | Comet Lake-S (CML-S) PCH / 400 Series (Z490) | Rocket Lake-S (RKL-S) PCH / 500 Series (Z590) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Process Node | 22nm | 14nm | 14nm | 14nm |
| Processor | 8C, 6C, 4C (6 Consumer SKUs at Launch) Enhanced IA and Memory Overclocking Gen 9 Intel Graphics GT2 (Up To 24 EUs) Consumer Only |
8C, 6C, 4C, 2C (Full corporate/consumer SKU stack at launch) Enhanced IA and Memory Overclocking Gen 9 Intel Graphics GT2 (Up To 24 EUs) Corporate/vPro & Consumer |
10C, 8C, 6C, 4C, 2C (Full corporate/consumer SKU stack at launch) Enhanced IA and Memory Overclocking Gen 9 Intel Graphics GT2 (Up To 24 EUs) Corporate/vPro & Consumer |
8C, 6C (Full corporate/consumer SKU stack at launch) |
| Memory | Up To DDR4-2666 (Native) | Up To DDR4-2666 (Native) | Up To DDR4-2933 (Native) | p To DDR4-3200 (Native) |
| Media, Display & Audio | DP 1.2 & HDMI 1.4 HDCP 2.2 (HDMI 2.0a w/LSPCON) HEVC & VP9 10-bit Enc/Dec, HDR, Rec.2020, DX12 Integrated Dual-Core Audio DSP |
DP 1.2 & HDMI 1.4 HDCP 2.2 (HDMI 2.0a w/LSPCON) HEVC & VP9 10-bit Enc/Dec, HDR, Rec.2020, DX12 Integrated Dual-Core Audio DSP SoundWire Digital Audio Interface |
DP 1.2 & HDMI 1.4 HDCP 2.2 (HDMI 2.0a w/LSPCON) HEVC & VP9 10-bit Enc/Dec, HDR, Rec.2020, DX12 Integrated Dual-Core Audio DSP SoundWire Digital Audio Interface |
DP 1.2 & HDMI 2.0, HBR3 HDCP 2.2 (HDMI 2.0a w/LSPCON) 12-bit AV1/HEVC & VP9 10-bit Enc/Dec, HDR, Rec.2020, DX12 Integrated Dual-Core Audio DSP With USB Audio offload SoundWire Digital Audio Interface |
| I/O & Connectivity | Integrated USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Thunderbolt 3.0 (Alpine Ridge) |
Integrated USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Integrated Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi / BT CNVi) Integrated SDXC 3.0 Controller Thunderbolt 3.0 (Titan Ridge) w/ DP 1.4 |
Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2 Integrated Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi / BT CNVi) Integrated SDXC 3.0 Controller Thunderbolt 3.0 (Titan Ridge) w/ DP 1.4 |
Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20G) Integrated Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi6E/ BT CNVi) Integrated SDXC 3.0 Controller Thunderbolt 4.0 (Maple Ridge) |
| Storage | Next Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 3.0, SATA 3.0 |
Next Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 3.0, SATA 3.0 |
Next-Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 3.0, SATA 3.0 |
Next-Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 4.0, SATA 3.0 |
| Security | Intel SGX 1.0 | Intel SGX 1.0 | Intel SGX 1.0 | N/A |
| Power Management | C8 Support | C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby | C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby | C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby |
| Launch | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
Main features of Intel's Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs include:
- Increased Performance with new Cypress Cove core architecture
- Up to 8 cores and 16 threads (Double Digit IPC Gains Over Skylake)
- New Xe graphics architecture (Up To 50% higher Performance Than Gen9)
- Increased DDR4 3200 MHz Memory Support
- CPU PCIe 4.0 Lanes (Available on Z490 & Z590 Motherboards)
- Enhanced Display (Integrated HDMI 2.0b, DP1.4a, HBR3)
- Added x4 CPU PCIe Lanes = 20 Total CPU PCIe 4.0 Lanes
- Enhanced Media (12 bit AV1/HVEC, E2E compression)
- CPU Attached Storage or Intel Optane Memory
- New Overclocking Features and Capabilities
- USB Audio offload
- Integrated CNVi & Wireless-AX
- Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20G)
- 2.5Gb Ethernet Discrete LAN
- Discrete Intel Thunderbolt 4 (USB4 Compliant)
The architecture for Rocket Lake CPUs is said to be Cypress Cove which is reportedly a hybrid between the Sunny Cove and Willow Cove design but will feature Xe Gen 12 GPU architecture. We have also been told that the Z590 motherboard series with Thunderbolt 4.0 support will be announced later this year so expect more information on Rocket Lake CPUs in the coming months.
With the platform details out of the way, let's start with the roundup. All Intel board partners have launched their respective lineup of Z590 / B560 and H510 series motherboards. You can check out by navigating through the pages provided below.
The ASRock Z590 lineup has 5 key segments, there's a single flagship motherboard while the high-end lineup comprises the Taichi and the Velocita. To be precise, there three boards in the Phantom Gaming lineup, two boards in the Steel/Extreme series, and 3 boards in the Pro/mainstream lineup. Following is the list of all the motherboards in ASRock's line up.
- Z590 Taichi
- Z590 PG Velocita
- Z590 Steel Legend
- Z590 Extreme 4
- Z590 Phantom Gaming 4
- Z590 Pro 4
- Z590M PRO 4
- Z590 Phantom Gaming-ITX
- Z590M-ITX/ac
I will detail these variants below starting off with the high-end ASRock Z590 Taichi motherboard (Just note that an undisclosed flagship Z590 model will be revealed by ASRock later, which would also be added to the roundup once it's officially released).
ASRock Z590 Taichi
The ASRock Z590 Taichi is a high-end motherboard and continuation of the Taichi family. The latest version features an updated design and supports a much bigger variety of features that make this Taichi the best one yet! ASRock is going all out with a 14 Phase Dr.MOS Power Design with 90 Amp power stages which are given power through dual 8-pin connectors. The ASRock Z590 Taichi features four DDR4 DIMM slots that can support up to 5000 MHz (OC+) frequencies and up to 128 GB of capacity. The board has large heatsinks over the VRMs and a Taichi logo embedded real panel I/O plate which looks great.
While the VRM heatsinks are massive with an aluminum fin design, there are interconnected with heat pipes to dissipate heat. There's also active cooling in the form of a single PWM controlled fan which comes with 0dB Silent cooling technology. This means that the fans would only operate under heavy workloads and stay silent under idle scenarios. The entire cooling is part of the XXL Aluminum Alloy design that ASRock has taken years to perfect. There are Power and Reset buttons at the bottom next to the Debug LED which is always a great addition to high-end boards.
Storage options include 8 SATA III ports while expansion includes three PCIe x16 slots (1x PCIe 4.0 & 2x PCIe 3.0), two PCIe 3.0 x1, and three M.2 (1x Gen 4x4, 2x Gen3x4) ports. All three M.2 slots come with heatsinks that are part of the PCB armor that covers the lower half of the motherboard. The PCH heatsink is made up of a brushed aluminum design, same as the I/O cover, and features the ASRock Gear logo design etched into it along with a great display of ASRock's Polychrome Sync RGB effects. Underneath the side of the PCB, there's an RGB strip lighting it up which also looks great.
For I/O, ASRock features 2 Thunderbolt 4 (USB 4.0) Type-C ports, 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (Type-C), 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2 (2 Type-A rear), 8 USB 3.2 Gen 1 (4 front, 4 Rear), 4 USB 2.0 (Front) ports, Killer E3100 2.5 Gb / Intel 1Gb Ethernet LAN ports, WiFi 6E + BT 5.2 (2x antenna ports), 1 HDMI, 1 SPDIF port, 1 BIOS flashback switch and an HD audio jack that is powered by the Realtek ALC1220 codec plus an ESS SABRE 9218 DAC with WIMA Audio caps (NAHIMIC Audio). The ASRock Z590 Taichi should come in at a price of around $400-$450 US.
ASRock Z590 Phantom Gaming Velocita
Next up, we have the ASRock Z590 Phantom Gaming Velocita. The Velocita also comes with a 14 Phase Dr.MOS VRM design which is powered by dual 8-pin connectors and features four DDR4 DIMM slots with support of up to 4800 MHz memory and 128 GB capacities.
The Phantom Gaming design has been kept in tradition with the older motherboards, supporting a red/black/silver color scheme with fine use of PolyChrome SYNC RGB on the board. The VRMs are cooled off by two large heatsinks with a copper heat pipe running through them and like the Taichi, the Velocita also features triple fans as part of its XXL Aluminum Alloy heatsink design which offers active cooling to the VRMs.
Storage options include 6 SATA III ports while expansion slots include three PCIe 4.0/3.0 x16 (1x Gen 4 / 2 x Gen 3), one PCIe 3.0 x1, and triple M.2 slots (1 Gen 4x4 and 2 Gen 3x4). All expansion slots are PCIe 4 compliant and the M.2 storage slots come with M.2 Armor heatsinks. I/O on the board includes 10 USB 3.2 Gen 1 (6 Front, 4 Rear Type-C), 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type-A + Type-C) ports, Killer E3100 2.5G and Intel 1G Ethernet LAN ports, 2x WiFi antennas for WiFi 6E + BT 5.2, 1 HDMI, 1 DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, and an HD Audio jack powered by the Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec along with the fancy Nahimic 3D sound support.
The motherboard also comes with a pre-fitted I/O shield like the Taichi model. Expect pricing to be around $250-$300 US.
ASRock Z590 Extreme 4
The ASRock Z590 Extreme 4 aims to be the $199-$249 US option with features close to the PG line. The motherboard has a very stylish touch to it with black and blue accents all over that heavily use Polychrome Sync RGB LEDs on the PCH Heatsink, Front Panel I/O Cover, and the side of the board.
The CPU is powered by a 14 Phase Dr.MOS VRM which is run by an 8+8 pin connector configuration and there are four DDR4 DIMM slots offering support of up to 128 GB capacities with speeds of up to 4800 MHz (OC+). Storage options include 6 SATA III ports. The VRMs do come with aluminum heatsink blocks but don't feature any active cooling or heat pipe solution.
Expansion slots include two PCIe 4.0/3.0 x16 slots, three PCIe 3.0 x1 slots, and three M.2 slots (1 Hyper M.2 Gen 4x4, 2 Ultra M.2 Gen 3x4). A single Ultra and Hyper M.2 slots are cooled by M.2 Armor heatsinks while the rest don't feature any cooling. I/O includes a 2.5G Realtek LAN port, 3 USB 3.2 Gen 2 (2 Type-A 10 Gb/s + 1 Type-C 20Gb/s) ports, 6 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (4 front / 2 rear), 6 USB 2.0 (4 front / 2 rear) ports, HDMI / DP out-puts, PS/2 port, and a 7.1 channel HD Audio jack powered by the ALC 1220 Codec. There are also 2x antennas for WiFi 6E + BT 5.2 support.
ASRock Z590 Steel Legend
The ASRock Z490 Steel Legend aims to be another $149-$249 US option with features similar to the Extreme 4. The motherboard has an arctic camo design scheme all over and makes use of ASRock's Polychrome Sync RGB LEDs on the PCH Heatsink, Front Panel I/O Cover, and the side of the board.
The CPU is powered by a 14 Phase Dr.MOS VRM (50A) which is run by an 8+8 pin connector configuration and there are four DDR4 DIMM slots offering support of up to 128 GB capacities with speeds of up to 4800 MHz (OC+). Storage options include 6 SATA III ports. The VRMs do come with aluminum heatsink blocks but don't feature any active cooling or heat pipe solution.
Expansion slots include two PCIe 4.0/3.0 x16 slots, three PCIe 3.0 x1 slots, and triple M.2 slots (1 Hyper Gen 4x2, 2 Ultra Gen 3x4). Only 1 Hyper and Ultra M.2 slots are cooled by M.2 Armor heatsinks while the rest don't feature any cooling. I/O includes a 2.5G Realtek LAN port, 3 USB 3.2 Gen 2 (2 Type-A + 1 Type-C) ports, 6 USB 3.2 Gen 1 & 6 USB 2.0 ports, HDMI / DP outputs, PS/2 port, and a 7.1 channel HD Audio jack powered by the ALC 897 Codec & 2x Antennas for WiFi 6E + BT 5.2.
ASRock Z590 Motherboards:
ASRock B560 Motherboards:
Moving over to the MSI 500 series lineup, the board manufacturer is preparing 15 Z590, 12 B560 & 3 H510 motherboards. The MSI lineup will feature a range of families. These include the MEG or Massive Enthusiast Gaming lineup which focuses on the enthusiast gaming segment, MPG which stands for Massive Performance Gaming and carters the high-end market, MAG, or the Massive Arsenal Gaming which focuses on the mainstream and budget segment while the PRO series is designed with content creators in mind.
Following is the complete lineup of motherboards that MSI is going to offer:
MSI Z590 Motherboard lineup:
- MEG Z590 GODLIKE
- MEG Z590 ACE
- MEG Z590 ACE GOLD EDITION
- MEG Z590 UNIFY
- MEG Z590I UNIFY
- MPG Z590 GAMING CARBON WIFI
- MPG Z590 GAMING FORCE
- MPG Z590 GAMING EDGE WIFI
- MPG Z590 GAMING PLUS
- MPG Z590M GAMING EDGE WIFI
- MAG Z590 TOMAHAWK WIFI
- MAG Z590 TORPEDO
- Z590 PRO WIFI
- Z590-A PRO
- Z590 PRO 12VO
MSI B560 Motherboard lineup:
- MPG B560I GAMING EDGE WIFI
- MAG B560 TOMAHAWK WIFI
- MAG B560 TORPEDO
- MAG B560M MORTAR WIFI
- MAG B560M MORTAR
- MAG B560M BAZOOKA
- B560M PRO-VDH WIFI
- B560M PRO-VDH
- B560M PRO WIFI
- B560M PRO
- B560M-A PRO
- B560M PRO-E
MSI H510 Motherboard lineup:
- H510M PRO
- H510M-A PRO
- H510I PRO WIFI
MSI MEG Z490 GODLIKE
MSI is back with its GODLIKE, this time featuring the Z590 chipset and design that is much powerful than ever. The MSI MEG Z590 GODLIKE features an insane amount of technical expertise that has gone into its design and development. Featured as MSI's flagship Z590 product, the Z590 GODLIKE comes with an insane power delivery setup. You get a Direct 20 Phase All-Digital VRM with 90 Amp Smart Power Stages. Power to the VRM and CPU socket is provided through a dual 8-pin connector configuration.
The rampage doesn't end here, the MEG Z590 GODLIKE also features support for four DDR4 Rams with speeds of up to 5000+ MHz (OC) and a capacity of up to 128 GB. The board features 6 SATA III ports and also dual USB 3.0 front panel headers. Before we talk about I/O and expansion on this motherboard, let's look at the design itself. MSI's MEG Z590 GODLIKE is simply put, brilliant in its design and features. The E-ATX motherboard features several heatsinks and a futuristic design theme on it with brushed metallic accents in grey and black colors. The heatsink includes an 8mm Heatpipe and also comes with active Frozr cooling with Zero Frozr technology.
The motherboard features several mirrors that are embedded on the motherboard which display various RGB effects and one cut out actually has a built-in OLED screen which is a continuation from the Z490 GODLIKE. You will be able to see a range of things such as GIFs, System info, Debug function, and various other details with the Dynamic Dashboard II utility. The motherboard also comes with an aluminum backplate.
Now coming to the expansion slots, the MSI MEG Z490 GODLIKE motherboard features two PCIe 4.0 x16 slots and quad M.2 slots (1x Gen4x4, 3x Gen 3x4), all of which are cooled by the M.2 Shield Frozr heatsinks. MSI also bundles the board with an M.2 XPANDER-Z Gen4 S AIC which offers two additional M.2 slots that are cooled by active cooling. There's an additional 6-pin connector on the bottom of the board to help it support the additional power stress of the PCIe lanes when loaded up with several devices at once. But here's the thing, MSI has added extra PCB layers to the PCBs on all Z490 boards, 8 in total on the GODLIKE.
For I/O, you get 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports, 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2 (2 Type-A) ports, 6 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports,1 MiniDP port, 10G (Aquantia AQC107) / 2.5G (RTL8125B) Ethernet LAN ports, Intel WiFi 6E (BT 5.2) functionality, Audio Boost HD and to top it all off, buttons for Clearing CMOS & flashing the BIOS. The Z490 GODLIKE won't be coming in cheap as reflected by its specifications and design so expect the board to cost north of $600 US.
MSI Z590 Motherboards:
The Gigabyte / AORUS motherboard lineup will be featuring a total of 13 motherboards. The Z590 AORUS lineup comes with more enthusiast and gaming-specific features than the Gigabyte lineup while the Vision series is more so focused on the content creation segment.
Select AORUS boards would be featuring Tantalum Polymer Capacitors which offer 50% faster recovery from a transient situation, reducing voltage spikes and offering a more stable and efficient power delivery to the CPU. AORUS's new Xtreme Memory technology includes Shielded Memory Routing which enables more stability and less interference when running high-frequency DDR4 DIMMs on AORUS motherboards. And lastly, we have the updated Direct Touch II & Fins Array II design that adds thicker heat pipes and finned heatsink blocks for higher thermal performance.
Gigabyte's Z590 lineup of motherboards include:
- Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Xtreme
- Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Master
- Gigabyte Z590 AORUS TACHYON
- Gigabyte Z590 AORUS PRO AX
- Gigabyte Z590I AORUS Ultra
- Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Elite AX
- Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Elite
- Gigabyte Z590 Gaming X
- Gigabyte Z590 UD AC
- Gigabyte Z590 UD
- Gigabyte Z590 Vision D
- Gigabyte Z590 Vision G
- Gigabyte Z590I Vision D
Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Xtreme
Starting with the specifications, the Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Xtreme is designed from top-to-bottom to support Intel's 11th Gen Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs. It features the LGA 1200 socket that can be used to house both 10th Gen Comet Lake and 11th Gen Rocket Lake CPUs (depending on your own preferences if you're going for more cores/threads or a better overall performing chip).
The board packs an insane 20+1 phase digital VRM design with 100A power stages. This VRM delivery system is cooled off by two large aluminum-finned heatsinks which are interconnected by a solid copper Heatpipe with nickel-plating. There's a good chance that Gigabyte is using an active cooling solution that could be hidden underneath the I/O plate. The I/O plate itself features an RGB lit design with the AORUS Eagle engram.
There are the four standard DDR4 DIMM slots that feature metal-shielding around them and will be able to support up to 128 GB capacities with some insane speeds of around 5000 MHz (OC+). In terms of expansion, the board houses triple PCIe 4.0 x16 slots, all of which are also metal shielded.
The motherboard also features triple M.2 slots which are covered by the heatsink armor plating but only two of them run over the Gen 4.0 protocol. The Z590 PCH is hidden beneath a large heatsink with a stunning RGB LED-lit accent plate over it. In addition to these features, the motherboard also has 10GbE + 2.5GbE LAN support, Thunderbolt 4.0, WiFi 6,E, and will also get the latest ALC4080 audio chipset from Realtek.
Gigabyte Z590 Motherboards:
ASUS is initially introducing six Z590 motherboards in its product lineup. ASUS will be segmenting its product lineup into three categories which include Gaming, Productivity, and Commercial. These segments will have their own unique sub-brands such as ROG Maximus, ROG STRIX, and TUF Gaming for the Gaming segment, while PRIME, Pro Art, and Pro series motherboards would be featured in the Productivity and Commercial segments.
ASUS's Z590 lineup of motherboards include:
- ROG Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial
- ROG Maximus XIII Extreme
- 'ROG Maximus XIII HERO
- ROG STRIX Z590-E Gaming WiFi
- TUF Gaming Z590 PLUS WiFI
- PRIME Z590-A
ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Extreme & Extreme Glacial Z590 Motherboards
The ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial is as high-end as ASUS's Z590 motherboard lineup can get. The main difference between this and the standard Extreme variant is that the Glacial includes a pre-installed water block and is primarily aimed at custom-loop cooled PCs. Both boards come up with an 18+2 phase power delivery system.
The board features a dual 8-pin connector configuration to power the CPU socket, has four DDR4 DIMM slots which will be able to support up to 128 GB capacities at some really fast speeds There also seems to be a new version of the DIMM.2 expander slot which features a silver metallic color instead of the matte black colors it used before. There are several buttons for overclocking & fine-tuning the board and even voltage measurement points that are right next to the DIMM.2 slot that is essential for enthusiasts and overclockers.
Expansion slots include two PCIe 4.0 x16 and a single PCIe 4.0 x4 slot. The motherboard itself has two M.2 slots, both of which sit beneath the aluminum front cover while the PCH also gets cooled by the custom-loop water block. The DIMM.2 slot will allow for two additional M.2 slots though we don't know if they will operate at Gen 3 or Gen 4 speeds. Storage includes 6 SATA III ports and dual USB 3.0/3.2 front panel headers.
ASUS ROG Maximus XIII HERO Z590 Motherboard
Moving over to the ASUS ROG Maximus XIII HERO, this mainstream ROG Z590 motherboard will be priced at around $400 US. The motherboard seems to carry WiFi so it looks like we won't see a non WiFi implementation of this motherboard within the Z590 generation and only one model will exist. The CPU is once again powered by dual 8-pin connectors but the power delivery is not comparable to that of the Extreme variant. The memory design is similar and we see large aluminum heatsinks with embedded RGB LEDs over the VRMs and underneath the I/O plate. The VRM heatsink includes a metallic Heatpipe for faster and efficient heat dissipation.
Expansion on the motherboard includes three PCIe 4.0 x16 slots (x16/x8/x4 electrical). There are also two M.2 slots while additional storage options include 6 SATA III ports. I/O includes dual USB 3.0 and a single USB 3.2 front panel header. There is power, reset, and flex key buttons alongside a DEBUG LED on the motherboard. The motherboard also carries the SUPREMEFX Audio solution.
ASUS PRIME Z590-A Motherboard
The ASUS PRIME Z590-A motherboard features an 8+6 pin connector configuration to power the CPU socket. It also carries an impressive 18 phase power delivery and has two large aluminum heatsink covering the VRMs. The rear I/O plate covers the extended heatsink and delivers a nice touch of RGB illuminating the PRIME logo. The motherboard has four DDR4 DIMM slots that can support up to 128 GB capacities with speeds of around 5000 MHz (OC+).
Expansion slots include three PCIe 4.0 x16 (x16/x4/x4 electrical), a single PCIe 4.0 x4 slot & triple M.2 slots. Out of the three M.2 slots on the motherboard, only two feature M.2 heatsinks while 1 offers full PCIe Gen 4.0 functionality. Storage options include 6 SATA III ports and a range of I/O USB 3.2/3.0 front panel headers.
ASUS TUF Z590-PLUS Motherboard
The ASUS TUF Gaming Z590 PLUS WiFi motherboard seems to feature a similar power config as the Z590-A PRIME. But unlike the white color scheme that the PRIME motherboard carries, the TUF line comes with a black color scheme with yellow and grey accents. The motherboard has two full cover aluminum heatsinks that go on the VRMs.
Expansion slots include two PCIe 4.0 x16 (x16/x4 electrical) two PCIe 4.0 x1 and triple M.2 slots. All M.2 slots are covered by heatsinks but only like the PRIME, only a single one offers full PCIe Gen 4 functionality while the other two run on the PCIe 3.0 protocol. Storage options include four SATA III ports.
Biostar & EVGA have also launched their respective Z590 motherboard lineups. The Biostar Z590 lineup includes three new motherboards including their brand new VALKYRIE products and a few B560/H510 models while EVGA has gone all out with two models, the EVGA Z590 DARK & the Z590 FTW WiFi. Colorful also announced a total of 11 Z590/B560 and H510 chipset motherboards that can be seen in pictures below.
Biostar Z590 Motherboards:
Colorful Z590 Motherboards:
THE EVGA Z590 DARK
The EVGA Z590 DARK once again strikes fear into the hearts of other Z590 motherboards by combining every ounce of power available to the Intel Z590 chipset and fine-tuning it to perfection. This armed and fully-operational motherboard is born from a 10-layer PCB and powered by a 22-Phase VRM. With support for PCIe Gen4 graphics cards and M.2 NVMe SSDs, overclockers have nothing to fear when shooting for the highest scores in any benchmark.
For everyone else demanding the ultimate in performance, the Z590 DARK is loaded with over a dozen USB options, eight SATA ports, two 2.5Gbps NICs + WiFi 6/BT 5.1, 7.1 Channel HD Audio, three M.2 Key-M slots, and two fan headers dedicated to AIO CPU Coolers. We’ve even included a nightlight with the DARK’s first-ever ARGB cover for those times when you might need to see what you’re doing. As a wise overclocker once said, “Once you start down the DARK path, forever will it dominate your destiny.” and with the EVGA Z590 DARK, that destiny is sure to be filled with shattered records and countless victories on the battlefield.
THE EVGA Z590 FTW WIFI
The EVGA Z590 FTW WIFI is what you’ve been waiting for to bring out the best of the 11th Gen Intel Core i9 processors, which now feature support for PCIe Gen4 graphics cards and NVMe SSDs.
This motherboard redefines what it means to be For The Win with a completely updated aesthetic, a rededication to maximizing the features on an ATX form factor, and an unrelenting desire to give enthusiasts all the power, performance, and stability they can handle with a 17-Phase VRM and 8-layer PCB. In addition to blazing-fast 4800MHz+ memory support, WiFi 6/BT 5.1, DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0, and an excessive number of USB options, the EVGA Z590 WIFI also features multiple ARGB headers to customize your system lighting, a gigabit NIC, and 7.1 Channel HD Audio. The EVGA Z590 FTW WIFI is truly the next generation of FTW motherboards.
The post Intel Z590 Motherboards Roundup – 11th Gen Rocket Lake Ready Designs From MSI, ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte & More by Hassan Mujtaba appeared first on Wccftech.
source https://wccftech.com/intel-z590-motherboards-roundup-11th-gen-rocket-lake-ready-msi-asrock-asus-gigabyte/
