The Intel Z490 Overview: 44+ Motherboards Examined
by Gavin Bonshor on April 30, 2020 10:00 AM ESTASUS ROG Strix Z490-E Gaming
Moving down the ASUS product stack from the Maximus XII series to the more affordable Strix range, the ASUS ROG Strix Z490-E Gaming is the most equipped from its mid-range gaming-centric options. The ASUS ROG Strix Z490-E includes a Thunderbolt 3 header, with two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, six SATA ports, and an Intel 2.5 G Ethernet controller and AX201 Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface pairing. It also features a 14+2 power delivery with a broad set of heatsinks and has plenty of integrated RGB LEDs and RGB headers to allow users to make their systems pop.
Looking at the design, ASUS Strix has an edgy look with its branding on the large rear panel cover and chipset heatsinks, with do include integrated RGB LEDs. The power delivery and chipset heatsinks are connected via a heat pipe, and also helps to keep the two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots running cool. The power delivery consists of a 14+2 design, which is using a teamed setup with an ASP1405I PWM controller in a 7+2 configuration. As mentioned, the ROG Strix Z490-E has two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, with six SATA ports, and has three full-length PCIe 3.0 slots. These operate at x16, x8/x8, and x8/x8/+4, with three PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. Memory compatibility is decent with support for up to DDR4-4600 with a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB across four memory slots.
For the rear panel, ASUS has included a single 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 small BIOS Flashback button is present, with a pair of video outputs consisting of an HDMI 1.4b, and DisplayPort 1.4. Controlling the onboard audio composed of five 3.5 mm jacks and S/PDIF optical output is a SupremeFX S1220A HD audio codec. At the same time, networking options include an Intel I225-V 2.5 G Ethernet controller and Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface.
The ASUS ROG Strix Z490-E has an MSRP of $300 and caters to uses looking for a mixture of premium controllers with lots of rear panel USB connectivity. It targets the upper segment of the mid-range and is ASUS's premium Strix model. The Intel 2.5 G Ethernet port and Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface pairing offer plenty of quality networking options, while the pair of PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots with heatsinks offer support for hot running NVMe SSDs.
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plonk420 - Sunday, May 3, 2020 - link
noice! thanks for the VRM information! amusingly (to myself), i look at VRM stuff before i look at I/O :Dkwinz - Monday, May 4, 2020 - link
I genuinely don't know why this new chipset exists. It bringa virtually nothing new. DMI 3.0 in a new chipset is a disgrace.Oxford Guy - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
"I genuinely don't know why this new chipset exists."Smoke and mirrors is fun?
Landfills are hungry?
mrvco - Monday, May 4, 2020 - link
Gotta keep those mobo mfgs busy I guess. Hopefully Intel’s Groundhog Day antics don’t distract them too much from the B550 boards I’m waiting patiently on.MadAd - Monday, May 4, 2020 - link
Not again, yet another tired selection of ATX clunkers, with a few mandatory ITX thrown in .When on earth are we/the industry going to move on from this prehistoric outdated form format!AdditionalPylons - Tuesday, May 5, 2020 - link
Very glad to see 2.5GbE finally becoming more common. Hopefully this convinces network switch manufacturers to get out some cheaper 2.5+ GbE switches soon.DarkAndHungryGod - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
The Intel Smart Sound support is duplicated in the first table, Intel Chipset Comparison, and there is one difference between both entries.duploxxx - Friday, May 8, 2020 - link
conclusion: an amazing high count of motherboards for a wasted CPU generation….who ever believes that this is a platform to buy think twice. Knowing Intel I would not fall into the Multi generationCPU / chipset support..... i am sure the super turbo will look nice from benchmark perspective….
nonoverclock - Thursday, May 21, 2020 - link
I'm upgrading from an i7 4770 and want to get the latest, so for me, I'm quite interested in this gen.joshw351 - Wednesday, May 13, 2020 - link
I like how these mobo manufacturers think they can charge 1k for a motherboard when you can throw a 150-200$ waterblock from EK on a regular mobo.