The Intel Z590 Motherboard Overview: 50+ Motherboards Detailed
by Gavin Bonshor on January 19, 2021 10:15 AM ESTASUS ROG Maximus XIII Hero
Another model from ASUS's ROG Maximus line-up is the highly favorable Hero. The ROG Maximus XIII Hero offers Wi-Fi 6E, with dual 2.5 GbE and four PCIe M.2 slots. It uses a slightly different aesthetic compared with the previous Z490 Hero, with RGB LED lighting built into the rear panel cover and chipset heatsink. Still, ASUS's illustration leaves the question open whether or not the power delivery heatsink has them integrated too, which seems unlikely. The new Hero uses an ATX PCB, with a 14+2 power delivery with 90 A teamed power stages. Powering the CPU is a pair of 12 V ATX CPU power inputs.
The ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Hero includes a nice black and dark gray contrasting design, with three full-length PCIe slots. The top two operate at PCIe 4.0 x16 and x8/x8, while the bottom full-length slot is locked to PCIe 3.0 x4, and there is also one PCIe 3.0 x1 slot. The Hero includes six SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays, with four PCIe M.2 slots. Two of the M.2 slots operate at PCIe 4.0 x4, while the other two can support PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA drives. In the top right-hand corner are four memory slots with support for up DDR4-5333, with a combined capacity of 128 GB. In the top right-hand corner of the board is a two-digit LED debugger, with a power on and rest switch pairing just below it.
On the rear panel is two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C, with six USB 3.2 G2 Type-A and two USB 2.0 ports. ASUS includes two RJ45 ports powered by two Intel I225-V 2.5 GbE controllers, with an Intel AX210 Wi-Fi 6E CNVi, which also includes support for BT 5.2 devices. For users planning to use Intel's integrated graphics, ASUS includes one HDMI video output. Regarding audio, ASUS is using a SupremeFX ALC404082 HD audio codec, with an ESS Sabre9018Q2C DAC. Finishing off the rear panel is a clear CMOS button and a BIOS Flashback button with a highlighted USB 2.0 port, which users can use to flash the board's firmware.
Typically bridging the gap between the ROG Maximus Extreme and Formula models to the Strix series, ASUS has set a price of $500. While this does seem on the high side of Z590 pricing, which we already know, ASUS does include a stacked rear panel including dual Thunderbolt 4 Type-C, dual 2.5 GbE, Wi-Fi 6E, as well as six USB 3.2 G2 Type-A.
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Gastec - Sunday, January 24, 2021 - link
Well, if you don't understand these prices, then you are not a good consumer. The more you buy the more we profit! It just works! Be a good chap and CONSUME!edzieba - Tuesday, January 19, 2021 - link
ASRock ol' buddy ol' pal, you're breaking my heart here with the lack of SFF boards! The Z590I Vision D looks intriguing with the external DP injector for Thunderbolt transport, though.Dumping the ASMedia USB controller is fantastic news, this looks like a good platform for me to move onto.
RealBeast - Tuesday, January 19, 2021 - link
Nice summary, although my eyes are still watering from a couple of the top model prices. ;)shabby - Tuesday, January 19, 2021 - link
Yup pretty funny, i have to pay almost 1200 to get 10g network, thanks for the laughs asus.Kuifje76 - Thursday, January 21, 2021 - link
Have a look at the Gigabyte Aorus Master Z590, it has 10g network :)Beaver M. - Thursday, January 21, 2021 - link
Not for ASRock boards, since the ASMedia USB controllers were much more reliable and stable than the ones on chipset. Only an ASRock, though, and have been for almost 10 years now. IDK what they are doing.Extend a cable on a chipset ASRock board USB port or use a longer cable, and you will get random disconnects. No matter the cable quality.
Silver5urfer - Tuesday, January 19, 2021 - link
Can you guys please do an article like this for Z590 and X570 with Ryzen 5000 ?www.anandtech.com/show/11182/how-to-get-ryzen-working-on-windows-7-x64
If we search for "X570 Windows 7" on youtube there's a video showing MSI Ace X570 able to run it with Ryzen 3000. And I saw one person on a forum with notebooks where his Z490 Dark mobo was able to run Win7 except for the AX200 WiFi. Every piece of the board got the Drivers for the Win7, a small observation Z490 has ASMedia controller so it works with Win7 but this Z590 damn has that native bs meaning Intel will not provide the drivers for that USB3.2 for Win7..sad
Z590 Dark is coming I hope it's not this BS expensive, wtf is $1000 for a mobo for the dead end platform, MSI and ASUS insane pricing, esp MSI for it's Godlike having that tag, No matter what EVGA Dark will be the king in the OC and better support too.
In before someone reeeing over Win7. nope. Not interested in the bs talk, Win10 is a privacy nightmare even if I use WUB, O&O, Defender Blocker, WinAero, AeroGlass, Classic Shell and more it remains a stupid OS because of permanent Beta status. The 6 month releases cycle is complete BS. And on top unwanted unstable crap updates. I know how to get a Win10 stable with Enterprise and other modifications to remove useless components and unwanted bs like Defender etc. It never beats Win7 in UX and weight of the OS, too much bloatware esp that Xbox crap comes.
JfromImaginstuff - Tuesday, January 19, 2021 - link
Well then, install linux.Also it will work on windows 7, there are generic drivers that will allow the card to function, but eh function well is a different issue altogether.
Also, if you're not using linux and hating on windows like this and your not tied to the Mac ecosystem, give Linux a go, you might like it, plenty of choice if one doesn't quite meet your fancy. Just please don't use win 7, for your own online safety and stuff........
Silver5urfer - Tuesday, January 19, 2021 - link
Yeah Linux will be installed But I want a proper Stable Windows. Why do you think online safety ? Do you know that MS provides support, extended support updates are available plus even the best you can choose which of them to install and even have a pack made which removes all telemetry garbage CU updates that M$ pushes onto Win7, and with 8.1 also you can select and update what you want unlike Win10 BS. Oh and gaming with Proton on Linux I know but I want modding and all proper settings that I can enjoy for all the old fantastic games of the past decade. If there are any good games in future with DX12 only I will install Win10 Ent with all modifications. But that's not what I wanted, which only Win7 gets.Also on a side note, no top SKU has 8 SATA ports WTF ? Not even Extreme, Godlike, Xtreme. There's only one which is EVGA Z590 Dark. Stupid bs this is from all the OEMs esp the X570 got all the x8 SATA ports for top mobos.
supdawgwtfd - Tuesday, January 19, 2021 - link
If you want all that then use windows.Expecting support and help on a discontinued product is ridiculous.
If you don't like the telemetry you know you can block it all with a firewall right?