The Intel Z490 Overview: 44+ Motherboards Examined
by Gavin Bonshor on April 30, 2020 10:00 AM ESTGIGABYTE Z490M Gaming X
Following the same design as its ATX sized counterpart, the GIGABYTE Z490M Gaming X is one of just a small handful of micro-ATX motherboards on Z490. Not as popular and sought after as mini-ITX, micro-ATX does offer users plenty of benefits with more than one PCIe 3.0 expansion slot, but in a smaller than ATX sized frame. The GIGABYTE Z490M Gaming X has two full-length PCIe 3.0 slots, with two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, six SATA ports, with an Intel Gigabit Ethernet controller and Realtek ALC1200 HD audio codec powering the onboard audio.
Based upon a more simplistic design for gamers without any integrated RGB, the Z490M Gaming X uses black and grey accented heatsinks, with a black and grey patterned PCB. It has two full-length PCIe 3.0 slots which operate at x16/+4, with a single PCIe 3.0 slot. For the storage, it uses two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, with the bottom of the two coming with its own heat sink. A total of six SATA ports, with two right-angled and four straight-angled ports offering support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays. Up to 128 GB of DDR4-"""" can be installed across four memory slots, which is impressive for a budget board, with GIGABYTE offering 32 GB UDIMM support across all of its Z490 models.
Despite following much of the same design as the ATX sized GIGABYTE Z490 Gaming X, the micro-ATX Z490M Gaming X does include a single USB 3.2 G1 Type-C port on the rear panel. Also present is one USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, and four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A ports. A pair of video outputs are present including a DisplayPort 1.4, and HDMI video output, with the five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output which are powered by a Realtek ALC1200 HD audio codec. Users with legacy keyboard and mice will find a single PS/2 combo port, while the rear panel is finished off with a single Intel Gigabit powered Ethernet port.
The GIGABYTE Z490M Gaming X is the one of a small selection of micro-ATX Z490 models, with most opting to aim at the entry-level and mid-range markets. The GIGABYTE Z490M Gaming X won't be available at launch and doesn't currently have any pricing attached. It shouldn't be too expensive and represent a solid low-cost option for users looking for a smaller form factor but doesn't necessarily want to pay the premium for a mini-ITX model. It has plenty of features, but mostly aimed at users with lower budgets, and should prove popular in an undersaturated micro-ATX market.
This page will be updated when more information becomes available to us.
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.