The Intel Z490 Overview: 44+ Motherboards Examined
by Gavin Bonshor on April 30, 2020 10:00 AM ESTBiostar Racing Z490GTA
Adding a new element of variety to a small handful of Z490 models at launch, the Biostar Z490GTA has a striking design which emanates from the center of the board and has a sun-ray effect black grey printed patterned PCB. Another model focused on the entry-level ATX Z490 motherboard market, the Z490GTA includes two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, six SATA ports and features a Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface.
The Biostar Z490GTA opts for a uniquely implemented visual design across its heatsinks and PCB from its premier Z490GTA Evo model. The black, grey and white color scheme is present on the heatsinks and PCB, with some integrated RGB LEDs within the rear panel cover. The board features two full-length PCIe 3.0 slots which operate at x16/+4, with three PCIe 3.0 x1 slots For storage is a pair of PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, each with an included heatsink, with six SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays. There are four memory slots which have support for up to 128 GB of DDR4-4400 memory. Biostar is advertising a 14-phase power delivery with an 8-pin + 4-pin pair of 12 V ATX power inputs designed to deliver power to the CPU.
On the rear panel is four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports, which means no USB 3.2 G2 or Type-C connectivity is featured. A trio of video outputs consisting of a single HDMI, DisplayPort 1.4, and D-Sub are present to allow users to leverage the integrated Intel graphics. For the onboard audio, Biostar is using a Realtek ALC1150 HD audio codec with just three 3.5 mm audio jacks, while an Intel Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface provides both wireless networking and BT 5.1 device support. A single Intel I219-V Gigabit Ethernet port and separate PS/2 keyboard and mice inputs finish off the interesting Z490GTA rear panel.
Positioned below the Z490GTA Evo in its product stack, the Biostar Z490GTA has the core features expected from an entry-level calibre Z490 model. It is basic in design, and includes basic Gigabit Ethernet, although Wi-Fi 6 support is a nice thing to have. The Biostar Z490GTA has an MSRP of $""""" and puts it as one of the cheapest Z490 models available for the launch of Intel's 10th generation Comet Lake processors.
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Andrew LB - Saturday, May 9, 2020 - link
So these boards bring Wifi6, PCI-Express 4.0, gigabit 2.5, and for people like myself who are upgrading from a Z87 board.... just about everything is a huge leap.... yet you think there is just 'more of the same'? I guess if you're one of those idiots who buys a new CPU every year, then clearly this is not the release for you. Nor would AMD's latest offerings if that same metric is applied.So what's your problem with Capitalism? Do incremental design improvements offend you? Or is it profit that does? Hate to break it to you, but its profit motive that fuels innovation. Collectivism is a cancer and by its very nature hinders progress due to it not rewarding exceptionalism. It's why countries like China don't innovate. Otherwise they wouldn't need forced technology transfers from those who manufacture goods in their country.
Zenzdeluxe - Wednesday, September 2, 2020 - link
Thanks for that. The hypocrisy of these people. Imagine imbibing in the fruits of the capitalist system which besides continuing innovation, provides more spoils at lower price points for everyone than ever before. The audacity of such entitlement and seemingly collectivist / marxist based criticism is mind boggling. Cognitive dissonance off the scale indeed.ilkhan - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
Details page for GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Pro AX (copy and paste because who can keep them straight otherwise) makes a big deal of no usb-C, but it's there in the picture...ecjp - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
Yeah, I noticed that too. Gigabytes site shows same picture and lists "1 x USB Type-C™ port on the back panel, with USB 3.2 Gen 2 support" in the specs, so I assume its an error in the article.gavbon - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
Thanks for picking that up. I must have been writing about the wrong board. Apologies, it's updatedregsEx - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
"Integrated into the Z490 chipset is an Intel Wi-Fi 6 CNVi which allows motherboard vendors to integrate its AX200 wireless solutions directly from the chipset with a CRF module."CNVi is an old generation 802.11ac controller. Here it is CNVio2. CRF module is AX201. AX200 is a standalone controller that can work on any system. X570 motherboards with 802.11ax support, for example, packs with AX200 card.
lunaticbunny - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
There are no boards under $200. Seems like this Z490 chipset got the X570 inflation treatment as well.drexnx - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
just like the X570 boards, they've all got seriously beefed up VRMsand maybe the pcie4 tax wasn't just a cash grab? we'll really see when AMD B550 comes out, where those board prices land
Andrew LB - Saturday, May 9, 2020 - link
Plenty of boards under $200.ASUS Prime Z490M-PLUS
GIGABYTE Z490 AORUS Elite
ASUS TUF Gaming Z490-Plus
ASUS TUF Gaming Z490-Plus wifi
GIGABYTE Z490 UD
MSI Z490-A PRO ProSeries
A bunch of Asrock boards will be under $200 as well. You can see many prices already on Amazon.
dgingeri - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
It looks like, potentially, at least Gigabyte has decided to include a decent number of USB ports. I can't tell with the Asus board, but all the rest look to have only 6 USB ports, an annoyingly small number. I have been really annoyed with the lack of USB ports on boards for the last 5 years. Heck, with the old 440BX boards, we had 2 ps2, 4 or 6 USB, 1 or 2 serial, and a parallel port. We've lost the other ports, and internal drives in most computers, and not gained USB ports to compensate for it. External hubs aren't going to do it, either, as those stupid things keep dying in a matter of months.