The Intel Z490 Overview: 44+ Motherboards Examined
by Gavin Bonshor on April 30, 2020 10:00 AM ESTGIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Pro AX
The GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Pro AX motherboard positions itself underneath the Z490 Aorus Ultra with an interesting selection of controllers and features. It includes two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec, support for DDR4-4800 memory, and features an Intel 2.5 G Ethernet controller and Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface.
Following a similar design to GIGABYTE's other Z490 Aorus models, the Z490 Aorus Pro AX has a black metallic PCIe slot area cover, with a small strip of RGB LED lighting integrated into the rear panel cover. Focusing on PCIe support, there are three full-length PCIe 3.0 slots which run at x16, x8/x8, and x8/x8/+4, with two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots flanking both sides of the top full-length slot. It includes two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, each with heatsinks and the Aorus Pro AX makes use of six SATA ports with RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 support. Up to 128 GB of DDR4-4800 memory can be installed across four memory slots, with dual-channel support. For enthusiasts, the Z490 Aorus Pro AX has a 12-phase power delivery, with 50 A power stages, and uses a direct heat pipe cooling which connects both heatsinks together.
On the rear panel is two USB 3.2 G2 10 Gbps Type-A, a single USB 3.2 G2 Type-C, four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and four USB 2.0 ports. A solitary HDMI video output makes up the integrated graphics support, with a Realtek ALC1220-VB HD audio codec powering the five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output. For networking, GIGABYTE is using an Intel 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 Pro AX has a full 12-phase power delivery with solid-looking heatsinks will please enthusiasts, and GIGABYTE has included an Intel 2.5 G Ethernet and Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface pairing, with two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 ports. This makes the GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Pro AX more of a middle of the road option without scrimping on quality, which is reflected in its MSRP of $269.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
52 Comments
View All Comments
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.