The Intel Z490 Overview: 44+ Motherboards Examined
by Gavin Bonshor on April 30, 2020 10:00 AM ESTMSI MEG Z490 Ace
Moving one step down MSI's enthusiast-focused Z490 product stack is the more affordable, but equally extravagant MSI MEG Z490 Ace. A representative of the MEG Z490 Godlike, the Ace drops some of the more premium controllers and opts for a more gaming-focused selection. This includes three PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, six SATA ports, two Ethernet controllers consisting of a Realtek 2.5 G and Intel Gigabit, with an Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface.
Its design is reminiscent of previous iterations of the Ace series, with a primarily black finish, including black heatsinks on a black PCB with gold accents. On the rear panel cover is an elegant RGB enabled A-shaped logo, most likely to signify the A from the Ace branding. The chipset heatsink and M.2 heatsinks follow the same design, with a yellowish accented line going through it, with some RGB LEDs on the heatsink itself. On the rear of the board is a large metal backplate which is designed to stop the PCB from bending during installation.
Looking at its expansion support, there's three full-length PCIe 3.0 slots which operate at x16, x8 and x4, with three PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, two PCI 3.0 x1 slots, and six SATA ports which support RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 arrays. On the memory front, there's a total of four slots with support for up to DDR4-4800, with a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB. Along the bottom of the board is an overclocker's toolkit consisting of a 2-digit LED debugger, a power button, and a reset button. On the back is a large metal backplate to prevent PCB bending.
On the rear panel is a single USB 3.2 G2 20 Gbps Type-C, three USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, two USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. Also featured is a pair of Ethernet ports, one powered by a Realtek RTL8125B 2.5 G controller, and the other by an Intel I219V Gigabit. There are two antenna inputs for the Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface which has support for BT 5.1, and the three 3.5 mm and S/PDIF Optical output is powered by a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec. Finishing off the rear panel is a clear CMOS button, and a BIOS Flashback button.
Even though the MSI MEG Z490 Ace is a step down from the Godlike in terms of features, it's still a solid representation of a premium desktop model. The Ace continues the trend of offering sleek aesthetic design, with a competitive feature set, with an equally competitive price expected with a lot of its features focused on gaming and enthusiasts.
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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.