The Intel Z590 Motherboard Overview: 50+ Motherboards Detailed
by Gavin Bonshor on January 19, 2021 10:15 AM ESTMSI MAG Z590 Torpedo
Over the years, we've seen motherboard vendors have tried out new styles and aesthetics. Some have turned into successful ranges, such as ASRock's Taichi. MSI has announced a new model to its MAG Arsenal Gaming series called the Torpedo, which aims to sink the competition with a new color scheme similar to ASRock's Extreme series of boards. The MSI MAG Z590 Torpedo uses dark metallic blue throughout, including on the rear panel cover, heatsinks, and two of the four memory slots. It also includes integrated RGB LEDs built into the chipset heatsink and has a follows a militaristic theme.
The MSI MAG Z590 Torpedo has two full-length slots, with the top slot featuring support for PCIe 4.0 x16, the second slot locked down to PCIe 3.0 x4, and two additional PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. For storage, the Torpedo has three M.2 slots with one operating at PCIe 4.0 x4, and two with support for both PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA, with six SATA ports capable of RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10. The board has four memory slots with up to 128 GB of capacity, but MSI hasn't provided any QVL lists at present, so JEDEC spec is listed at DDR4-3200.
On the rear panel is one USB 3.2 G2x2 Type-C, one USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. The board uses dual RJ45, coming via an Intel I225-V 2.5 GbE controller, and the other one by an Intel I219-V Gigabit one. A total of five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output are driven by a Realtek ALC4080 HD audio codec. In contrast, a DisplayPort and HDMI video output pairing allows users to benefit from Intel's integrated HD graphics. Finishing off the rear panel is a small but handy BIOS Flashback button.
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WaltC - Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - link
If my x570 Aorus Master fan is "active", it has sure fooled me...;) It is not audible.Makaveli - Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - link
I'm on a Asus Prime X570-Pro for just over a year now and I've not heard the chipset fan once totally overblown issue. Drama queens!Samus - Thursday, January 21, 2021 - link
I think it's impressive Intel kept a PCIe4.0 chipset down to 6w TDP. Definitely doesn't need active cooling.Slash3 - Sunday, January 24, 2021 - link
The chipset isn't Gen4.Spunjji - Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - link
Not surprised if they're expecting users to overclock chips that will exceed 200W at stock settings. 😬YB1064 - Thursday, January 21, 2021 - link
Is it just me or are the MSRPs listed utterly insane? Intel has been relegated to a poor man's AMD, yet these crazy prices? As they say, a fool and his money are soon parted.Samus - Saturday, January 23, 2021 - link
I don't think it's actually the chipset costs that are inflating the price of the boards, but the ridiculous power circuit and components required to deliver over 200w of power to the CPU's in order for these board makers to take advantage of PL2.fundead - Wednesday, August 4, 2021 - link
I thought the active fan is for the 10 gig networking chip. It is facing that heatsink which is right next to the vrm heatsink.damianrobertjones - Tuesday, January 19, 2021 - link
Looking at the prices, I'm really, REALLY glad that I bought an AORUS Z490 Elite (£154, new) from eBay. I just don't understand the prices.aidan - Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - link
I've just done exactly the same, no regrets whatsoever