The Intel Z490 Overview: 44+ Motherboards Examined
by Gavin Bonshor on April 30, 2020 10:00 AM ESTASRock Z490 PG Velocita
The ASRock Z490 PG Velocita is one of two Phantom Gaming branded models for Z490 at launch and is very well versed for enthusiasts and gamers. It includes a decent 10-phase power delivery for the CPU, support for Intel Rocket Lake with a PCIe 4.0 clock generator, as well as two full-length PCIe 3.0 slots, support for up to 128 GB of DDR4-4666 memory, and it also includes a 2.5 G Ethernet controller.
The design is similar to previous Phantom Gaming models with black and grey heatsinks, with red accents. ASRock has included two zones of integrated RGB LEDs onto the PG Velocita, with an RGB ASRock logo and backlit area on the rear panel cover, as well as an RGB Phantom Gaming logo on the chipset heatsink. All the boards RGB including the two aRGB and two RGB LED connectors can be customized via the ASRock Polychrome RGB software.
It has two full-length PCIe 3.0 slots which operate at x16+4, with three PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. ASRock's spec sheet isn't very clear on support, but it does state support for 10th generation Comet Lake desktop processors and 'future' Intel Core processors which is Rocket Lake. The top full-length PCIe slot is PCIe 4.0 ready, as well as the PCIe M.2 slots, with an onboard PCIe 4.0 clock generator. Touching on the storage, there's two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, with six SATA ports from the chipset, and a further two SATA ports provided which are controlled by an ASMedia ASM1061 controller. This means six of the eight available SATA ports support RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays.
For the power delivery, ASRock is using a 10+2+1 power delivery, with 50 A DrMOS power stages and 12K DIP capacitors. Providing power is a pair of 8-pin 12 V ATX CPU power inputs. The power delivery itself is cooled by a pair of large finned heatsinks which are joined together by a single heat pipe. On the top heatsink, ASRock has included two small cooling fans to aid in dissipating heat from the power delivery, while the rear panel cover incorporates a single fan into the design of the other heat sink. ASRock recommends users cool this model with water cooling to avoid mechanical conflicts with certain air coolers, for optimal cooling performance on Intel's 10th Gen processors.
On the rear panel is one USB 3.2 G2 10 Gbps Type-C, one USB 3.2 G2 10 Gbps Type-C, and four USB 3.2 G1 ports. Included on the board is a PCIe Key-E M.2 slot with two antenna ports on the rear panel, but doesn't include a wireless interface. Users can opt to purchase their own wireless interface providing it is M.2 Key-E 2230. Included for networking, it has two Ethernet ports, one powered by a Realtek RTL8125BG 2.5 G, and the other by an Intel I219-V Gigabit controller. The five 3.5 mm color-coded audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output are controlled by a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec, while the board also has a pair of video outputs including a DisplayPort 1.4, and an HDMI port. Finishing off the rear panel is a PS/2 keyboard and mouse combo port.
The ASRock Z490 PG Velocita is a new model in its line-up, with similar aesthetics to its existing Phantom Gaming range, and caters to the mid-range. Primarily targeting gamers, it has plenty about it to make it a premium mid-range offering with 2.5 G Ethernet, a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec, and support for two-way AMD Crossfire support. ASRock hasn't yet unveiled a price for the Z490 PG Velocita, but we will update this as more information is available.
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Tomatotech - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
Get better hubs then. At least mains powered hubs.I understand not everyone has wifi/ ethernet printers, bluetooth / radio mouse / keyboard / headset, or usb hubs in their monitors, but there does seem to be slightly less need for lots of USB ports compared to a few years ago.
Beaver M. - Saturday, May 2, 2020 - link
Not an option due to several reliability issues and issues recognizing claimed "better hubs" in the first place. Even well known big companies produce crappy USB hubs.As a normal user I have
a printer
a mouse
a keyboard
a gamepad with USB dongle
a USB headset
an external HDD
several external USB ports for USB sticks, temporary Bluetooth dongles, charging devices, etc., which can be up to 4 at a time
Specialized
things:
a joystick
a USB microphone interface
Not really unusual.
Add webcams, card readers, Wifi adapters and many other not really unusual stuff and you still wont have anything rare.
Lots of USB ports are important. Period. And it doesnt even matter if its an ATX board or a NUC. They are always very important.
duploxxx - Friday, May 8, 2020 - link
wow so many USB that you need in the back, how long have you been searching on the internet to find all of these? You can buy cases that also serve USB, or backend brackets….a printer : wireless
a mouse - keyb sure
a gamepad, connected from the back? often to short cable
a USB headset ---- audio connection which you can link with USB mic….
a USB External HDD.... zzz one that you can put away for backup or just horrible initial design from storage perspective
several external USB.... all front unless you Always use your usb dongles and put them in the back "loooooool"
joystick.... yeah use gmaepad and joystick at the same time. same as the gamepad regarding cable length
webcam... easy connection in monitor hub
card readers... again in the back used all day right....
USB wifi adapters? really are you joking?
in other words lots of pathetic feedback... learn to design a desktop computer
Beaver M. - Saturday, May 2, 2020 - link
Low USB port count has been a problem far longer than 5 years.Only Asus seem to have gotten the hint at some point, but Asus is crappy quality and CS.
Seeing Gigabyte adding enough now is a good sign, because they usually were the ones having the least amount of them.
I agree on the hubs. Not only do they die, some of them even nuke your mainboards USB ports through feedback loops. Not to mention they always either have connection problems or issues with sleep or hibernation.
Chaitanya - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
Whats wierd is most of the boards from Asus and Asrock have multiple 40mm fans to cool VRMs while they seem to stick solid slabs of Aluminium and calling it a day unlike Gigabyte and Msi(on top end atleast) who have proper finned heatsinks.Deicidium369 - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
The only reason people think Asus are a high end manufacturer is their price and the truckloads of equipment they give to anyone with more than 10 subs on Youtube. Gigabyte or go home.Beaver M. - Saturday, May 2, 2020 - link
Agreed. Same with ASRock and their crappy customer support and massive USB issues.Gigabyte always tried to add important features. Remember when they added their "extra ounces" of copper? All other manufacturers whined that it doesnt do anything and Gigabyte should stop because its a "waste of resources". LOL!
Now they all do it because it makes the mainboard much more reliable.
Sure, they dont have the best OC boards, but in the last few years OC has become very niche, because you cant really OC CPUs well anymore, unless you want to use LN or custom liquid coolers.
Andrew LB - Sunday, May 10, 2020 - link
I've been building/repairing/upgrading computers for people for close to 30 years and I've had more problems with Gigabyte than any other current major brand. Abit was even worse but they're long gone. I'm willing to bet that those of you who say a company has bad customer service was due to you contacting them via e-mail. Pickup the phone next time and i bet it will go much easier.Best CS from my experience is EVGA.
taz-nz - Saturday, May 2, 2020 - link
To many board still don't have attached back plates, should be standard now.Nice to see gigabyte bring proper finned heatsink to Mid range board, pity so many other boards still have cosmetic lumps of aluminum, instead of proper VRM heatsinks, and worse that so many still choose to cover the those so called heatsinks with cosmetic plastic covers that only reduce airflow and hurt thermal performance more, while also interfering with large air cooler fitment.
Oxford Guy - Saturday, May 2, 2020 - link
"What's interesting is how similar the Z490 and Z390 chipsets are in terms of specifications, which adds the question of why Intel has opted for a new socket, on what is effectively a refresh of its 14 nm process node."Baffling is a better word than interesting.
If AMD weren't so competitive then it would make more sense to paint oneself into a corner even more.