The Intel Z590 Motherboard Overview: 50+ Motherboards Detailed
by Gavin Bonshor on January 19, 2021 10:15 AM ESTMSI MAG Z590 Tomahawk WIFI
The Tomahawk series has been well regarded as one of the most cost-effective boards when considering both features and price points. For Z590, MSI looks to have gone a slightly different route and equipped it towards the mid-range, with plenty of competitive controllers and specifications. The MSI MAG Z590 Tomahawk is advertised with a large 16-phase power delivery and follows a black and dark gray color scheme throughout. MSI has gone as far as numbering its M.2 heatsinks, which resembles a militaristic theme that is fitting, as it hails from its Arsenal gaming series.
The MSI MAG Z590 Tomahawk's features include two full-length PCIe slots, with one full-length PCIe 4.0 x16, a second full-length PCIe 3.0 x4 slot, and two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. Similar to its MPG series of boards, the Z590 Tomahawk WiFi has three M.2 slots, each with heatsinks, and includes one PCIe 4.0 x4 and two PCIe 3.0 x4/SATA slots. MSI splits up the location of the SATA ports, with four right-angled connectors in an X-shaped cutout on the PCB, with two straight-angled ports located at the bottom. All six of the SATA ports include support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays. Memory support is impressive, with speeds of up to DDR4-5333 and up to 128 GB of capacity across four memory slots.
The MSI MAG Z590 Tomahawk WiFi includes 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. MSI includes a premium Intel pairing with its latest AX210 Wi-Fi 6E interface and a single I225-V 2.5 GbE controller for networking. Onboard audio is powered by an unspecified Realtek HD audio codec, with five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output included. Two video outputs include one DisplayPort 1.4 and one HDMI 2.0b. Finishing off the rear panel, which includes a pre-attached I/O shield, is a tiny BIOS Flashback button.
MSI has set an MSRP of $239 for the MAG Z590 Tomahawk WiFi, which is more than it was for the launch of Z490. Despite this, the Tomahawk is no longer a bridge between the entry-level and the mid-range; it's a solid mid-range model. It has plenty to offer for the price, including premium 2.5 GbE and Wi-Fi 6E networking, as well as three M.2 slots and USB 3.2 G2x2 Type-C.
88 Comments
View All Comments
worldnewsnow - Friday, March 12, 2021 - link
https://editorpen.com/https://editorpen.com/today-deals/
https://editorpen.com/news/
https://editorpen.com/news/entertainment/
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.