The Intel Z490 Overview: 44+ Motherboards Examined
by Gavin Bonshor on April 30, 2020 10:00 AM ESTGIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Ultra
Representing GIGABYTE's mid-range Aorus series is the Z490 Aorus Ultra with virtually identical aesthetics when compared with the Z490 Aorus Master. It's also a step up in spec too for enthusiasts with its direct 12-phase power delivery, with use nanocarbon fins for the and direct touch heat pipes on the heatsinks with GIGABYTE claiming it improves heat dissipation. Included in the specifications is an Intel 2.5 G Ethernet controller, Inte's AX201 Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface, three PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, and three full-length PCIe 3.0 lanes with support for up to two-way NVIDIA SLI and three-way AMD Crossfire.
The GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Ultra has a black and grey theme with PCIe slot armor, with integrated RGB LEDs in the rear panel cover and a large Aorus logo on the chipset heatsink. It has three full-length PCIe 3.0 slots which operate at x16, x8/x8, and x8/x8/+4, with three PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, and six SATA ports. Cooling the 12-phase power delivery driven by an ISL69269 PWM controller is a nanocarbon fin array heatsink, with an 8-pin and 4-pin pair of 12 V ATX CPU power inputs. Memory support is improved over Z390 with four slots capable of running up to 128 GB of DDR4-4800.
On the rear panel is one USB 3.2 G2 20 Gbps Type-C, three USB 3.2 G2 10 Gbps Type-A, two USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and four USB 2.0 ports. A single HDMI video output allows users to use Intel's integrated graphics, while the three 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output are powered by a Realtek ALC1220-VB HD audio codec. For networking, GIGABYTE is using Intel's I225 2.5 G Ethernet controller, with an Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface which also adds support for BT 5.1 devices.
The GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Ultra has an MSRP of $299 and is comparable with the Z490 Aorus Master in many ways, including controller set and aesthetics. The main differences come in the power delivery, with the Z490 Aorus Ultra opting for a true 12-phase setup, with the Master opting for a 6+1 design with doublers. Both are solid offerings in the upper end of the mid-range, but the Z490 Aorus Ultra is a solid offering on paper, with GIGABYTE implementing plenty of premium features at a good price point.
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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.