The Intel Z490 Overview: 44+ Motherboards Examined
by Gavin Bonshor on April 30, 2020 10:00 AM ESTASUS Prime Z490M-Plus
One of the most basic and therefore budget-focused models is the micro-ATX ASUS Prime Z490M-Plus. Some of its primary features include two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, five SATA ports, and three video outputs on the rear panel. It has less in terms of features than the ATX sized Prime Z490-P, but it looks to offer variation in both pricing, and form factor than the rest of ASUS's product stack.
While we don't currently know what the design of the Prime Z490M-Plus consists of, it's likely that it will follow a basic silver and black theme like other Prime models. It has two full-length PCIe 3.0 slots which operate at x16/+4, with two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. It has two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots with five SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays. Memory support for the Z490M-Plus is lowest of all the ASUS Z490 models, with support for DDR4-4400 across four slots, with a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB.
In terms of USB support, the ASUS Prime Z490M-Plus has support for up to 14 USB ports combining what's available from front panel headers and what's on the rear panel. It includes a trio of video outputs including an HDMI 1.4b, a DisplayPort 1.4, and a DVI which could be a viable choice for budget users planning to take advantage of integrated graphics. For networking the board is using an Intel I219-V Gigabit Ethernet controller, while the onboard audio is taken care of by a more budget-friendly Realtek ALC887 HD audio codec.
It doesn't come with a staggering price with an MSRP of just $150, which currently puts it as the cheapest Z490 model from ASUS out of the boards we currently know about. ASUS hasn't revealed when it will be launched, but it shouldn't be too long after launch.
This page will be updated when more information becomes available to us.
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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.