The Intel Z590 Motherboard Overview: 50+ Motherboards Detailed
by Gavin Bonshor on January 19, 2021 10:15 AM ESTGIGABYTE Z590 Aorus Ultra
The GIGABYTE Z590 Aorus Ultra is an ATX sized motherboard and caters towards the mid-range of the Z590 stack. GIGABYTE is advertising a 17-phase power delivery, organized into an 8+1 configuration with the CPU section doubling up on its 90 A power stages. Design-wise, the Z590 Aorus Ultra has a black PCB, with black and silver M.2 and chipset heatsinks, with an Aorus styled design built into the rear panel cover.
Towards the board's central and bottom area are three full-length PCIe slots, with the top two operating at PCIe 4.0 x16 and x8/x8, while the third full-length slot is locked at PCIe 3.0 x4. Storage options include one PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2, two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2, and six SATA ports, with support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10. GIGABYTE is currently listing Intel spec memory support with DDR4-3200, but this is likely to be higher once GIGABYTE has published its QVL memory list. However, the four memory slots do include support for up to 128 GB. In the top-right hand corner of the board is a two-digit LED debugger.
The rear panel is one USB 3.2 G2x2 Type-C, four USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and four USB 2.0 ports. For users looking to leverage Intel's HD integrated graphics, there's a single DisplayPort. There are five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output powered by Realtek's latest ALC4080 HD audio codec. The board's networking capabilities include an Intel I225-V 2.5 GbE controller, with an Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 CNVi, including support for BT 5.0 devices.
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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