The Intel Z590 Motherboard Overview: 50+ Motherboards Detailed
by Gavin Bonshor on January 19, 2021 10:15 AM ESTASUS Prime Z590-A
ASUS's Prime series of models have been around for multiple generations, and it's designed to offer users high-performance, with elegantly light-themed aesthetics. The ASUS Prime Z590-A ticks both of these boxes with its stunning aluminum themed design, with holographic styling on the rear panel cover and chipset heatsink. ASUS is advertising a 16-phase (14+2) power delivery and includes three M.2 slots.
The Prime Z590-A includes three full-length PCIe slots, with the top two operating at PCIe 4.0 x16 and x8/x8, with one operating at PCIe 3.0 x4. In between the two full-length slots at the bottom is a half-length PCIe 3.0 x4 slot. For storage, the board has one PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot, with two PCIe 3.0 x4/SATA M.2 slots, and six right-angled SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays. Only two out of three of the M.2 slots include a heatsink, with the middle slot reliant on good passive airflow. Prime by name, Prime by nature, as it includes a 14+2 phase power delivery with DrMOS power stages, with a large silver power delivery heatsinks and a pair of 12 V ATX CPU power inputs, one 8-pin and one 4-pin.
ASUS has included plenty of connectivity options, including a USB 3.2 G2x2 Type-C, one USB 3.2 G2 Type-C, three USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, and four USB 2.0 ports. Networking options are limited to an Intel I225-V 2.5 GbE controller, while an unspecified HD audio codec powers the five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output. Users looking to benefit from Intel's integrated HD graphics can do so with a pair of video outputs, including one DisplayPort and one HDMI.
The ASUS Prime Z590-A looks set to cost $336, which is where mid-ranged Z590 models are expected to sit. It offers a variety of features and premium controllers, including three M.2 slots, USB 3.2 G2x2 Type-C, and an Intel 2.5 GbE controller. It's not a bad price, but pricing between the time of writing and release could differ slightly.
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worldnewsnow - Friday, March 12, 2021 - link
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itr75 - Friday, March 19, 2021 - link
There is an VERY IMPORTANT ERROR in this article about the Asus Z590 gaming series motherboards - one that has potentially just cost me a chunk of the £320 i paid for one!In the article above, it states that the Z590-F Gaming WiFi motherboard will run in either x16, x8/x8 or x8/x4/x4 modes. THIS IS WRONG! The board will actually only run x16 for PCIe slot 1, if you have a card in slot 2, it drops to x8/x4 not x8/x8. for me this is a complete deal breaker as I have an RTX3070 and an LSI SAS RAID card which runs at PCIex8 - and is now running at x4 :(
fizzbuzzbang - Monday, March 22, 2021 - link
Are there any Z590 mobos that do not have a PCIe switch between the socket and the gen4-capable slots?If not, what motherboard has the best throughput @ Gen4?
Looking to plug in something like a Mellanox ConnectX-6DX which can do 1x200GbE / 2x100GbE, and want best possible bandwidth.
gsuburban - Wednesday, April 14, 2021 - link
Only one PCIe slot is 4th gen on all of these current motherboards. The other one or two M.2 slots are 3rd gen so you don't need to bother spending more money on your other NVMe storage devices.Exotica - Wednesday, April 14, 2021 - link
Regarding your z590 Vision D description:“ Finishing off the rear panel is a pair of Intel I225-V 2.5 GbE controllers, with Intel's latest AX210 Wi-Fi 6E CNVi, which also includes support for BT 5.2 devices.”
The article is in need of a correction: this board comes with the AX200 chip, not the ax210.
Lapajgo - Saturday, June 19, 2021 - link
Yeww ... a PS/2 port? I didn't know we still live in the 90s. Every time I start shopping for desktop upgrade, my search gets halted when I see PS/2 ports, VGA port, HDMI port or USB 2.0 port - it just makes me want to puke. And what's up with the motherboards that have 5 different video outputs? Pick a standard and stick with it! If I need to switch connectors I will use an adapter.P.S. Can we for ONCE see a motherboard with a decent amount of PCIe slots(I would like to see mATX with two x16 and two x4, none of that useless x1), no old USB ports but only the latest USB-C(we know how to use USB adapters and hubs), same type of video output(preferably something that supports the latest video standards), and NO legacy ports !!! Oh and if possible at least 3 M.2 NVMe ports, to allow for a decent RAID.
Lapajgo - Saturday, June 19, 2021 - link
Ah crap, I forgot - and a dual 2.5Gb LAN please. Some of us can no longer have their workloads on legacy 1Gb connections.rosarian0007 - Saturday, August 6, 2022 - link
Does the Asus Prime Z590-A Motherboard have a Third-Party USB Controller? Gensys Logic? I have an Asus Prime Z590-A it has a Gensys Logic USB Controller. Why would they not use the Intel Z590 Chipset USB controller.