The Intel Z590 Motherboard Overview: 50+ Motherboards Detailed
by Gavin Bonshor on January 19, 2021 10:15 AM ESTASUS TUF Gaming Z590-Plus & Z590-Plus WIFI
The Ultimate Force, or known as TUF, used to be a premium focal point of ASUS's motherboard range built on durability and when it used to have a better-than-standard warranty and full body armor. However over the last couple of years the brand has shifted somewhat as the ASUS TUF series now represents its entry-level gaming options. ASUS is advertising a 14+2 phase power delivery, with one 8-pin and 4-pin 12 ATX CPU power input pairing, three M.2 slots, and Intel 2.5 GbE and Wi-Fi 6 networking. The only difference between the two Z590-Plus and Z590-Plus WIFI is the latter is using a wireless CNVi module. Everything else is identical.
The ASUS TUF Gaming Z590-Plus WIFI includes two full-length PCIe slots, one PCIe 4.0 x16, another at PCIe 3.0 x4, with two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. It includes three M.2 slots, one with PCIe 4.0 x4, and two PCIe 3.0/SATA, and includes six SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays. ASUS includes support DDR4-4800 memory, with four available slots that can accommodate up to 128 GB.
Looking at the rear panel, ASUS includes one USB 3.2 G2 Type-C, two USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, two USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. It's using Intel's I225-V 2.5 GbE controller and includes an Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 CNVi, supporting BT 5.0 devices. For users looking to use Intel's integrated graphics, there's a DisplayPort and HDMI video output, with a PS/2 combo port, and five 3.5 mm and S/PDIF optical output powered by a Realtek S1200A HD audio codec.
When ASUS rebranded The Ultimate Force (TUF) series from a robust series focused on reliability and toughness to its entry-level gaming series, the price being touted for the ASUS TUF Gaming Z590-Plus WIFI is $306, which is certainly not entry-level pricing. This is due to various premium controllers, albeit well used, including an Intel 2.5 GbE and Wi-Fi 6 pairing. There is a non WIFI version with a slightly lower price tag of $290.
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James5mith - Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - link
Awesome, Multi-GbE this generation! Remind me again which company sells Multi-GbE switches for less than $20/port?Tilmitt - Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - link
We live in joyful hope.dtexo - Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - link
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/compar...AX210 doesn’t seem to be CNVi, but PCIe+USB
dtexo - Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - link
Same with Killer Wi-Fi card(s)https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/produc...
Oxford Guy - Thursday, January 21, 2021 - link
So Intel can marry its "Killer" ethernet port to its skull-bearing SSDs for maximum performance in Edge.Harry Lloyd - Thursday, January 21, 2021 - link
The price of the PRIME Z590-A cannot be right. That has always been the fully-featured variant of an entry-level Z-chipset model. The Z490-A costs just over 200 $ now. Is this because of the VRM setup? Who needs 16 phases on a board like this? You will not buy this for extreme overclocking anyway.All these ASUS prices seem ridiculous.
Targon - Thursday, January 21, 2021 - link
And I thought the X570 chipset boards were a bit crazy when it comes to prices, these are off the rails on the crazy train! I am all for having a POST code display, but OLED screens to see on the motherboard what this or that is also seems like a waste of money. If you can get the machine to POST in the first place, going to the BIOS to get data about what is going on with this or that is enough. A waterblock for those who plan to use liquid cooling will also add to the price, no question, and it isn't a bad idea, but some of these other things that just add to the price without adding functionality is what I have a problem with.PaulHoule - Friday, January 22, 2021 - link
Ugh.I've never found motherboard reviews that helpful and the last article I read on this site makes me feel worse about it because now I know the performance of a system I build might depend more on the turbo behavior of the motherboard than on the CPU.
I've often found that getting a motherboard is a crap shoot and frequently you find that a particular motherboard has limitations on what you can do with the PCI lanes, or a component that had 35 db of noise for the reviewer has 50 db of noise for me and so forth. I see that $1800 motherboard and I ask myself, "do they make enough of these that they really know that the analog audio path is clean?" and such.
Last time I built a system I had to replace about half of the components at least once to get something I was happy with.
These days I'm inclined to go to a system builder just to have somebody to RMA it to, but if reviews were useful I might go back to building a system myself.
Ghostline91 - Tuesday, January 26, 2021 - link
How's the Biostar Z590 board? It looks like they're going back to more high-end specs and this one might be a good one to try out. When will we see reviews?vinicici22 - Wednesday, January 27, 2021 - link
do you guys know if the z590-a rog strix out yet? or it's just already sold out on every sites?