The Intel Z490 Overview: 44+ Motherboards Examined
by Gavin Bonshor on April 30, 2020 10:00 AM ESTASUS has a pretty stacked Z490 line-up, which represents multiple key market areas for desktop users. It's gaming and enthusiast specific Republic of Gamers brand makes an appearance with a couple of interesting boards, with more ROG Z490 models set to be launched at a later date. Other brands include the TUF Gaming which is its entry-level offering for gamers, its Prime series which are aimed more at professional users with clean-cut aesthetics, and its ProArt range which caters to content creators.
Some of the ASUS ROG specific features which we've seen on previous chipsets including Intel's Z390, and AMD's X570 include ROG Optimem III. ASUS claims Optimem III can boost memory performance with intelligent overclocking thus increasing memory frequency and lowering latencies. ASUS also uses its AI overclocking intelligent automatic overclocking technology, with support for the ASUS AI Suite. ROG is famous for its red and black branding but now opts for more subtle silver and black themes throughout to allow users to create vivacious looking systems without color mismatches.
ASUS ROG Maximus XII Extreme & Extreme Glacial
Although the ASUS ROG Maximus XII Extreme nor the new ROG Maximus XII Glacial isn't announced for launch, we do have some information that we can share on the non-Glacial variant. Both models are E-ATX in size, and the ASUS ROG Maximus XII Extreme will feature a 16-phase power delivery running in teamed mode for better transient response, with two 8-pin 12 V ATX CPU power inputs. It is likely the Glacial will have integrated water blocks, but we will confirm this when we get more information, but both Maximus XII Extreme models are likely to have the same core feature set.
The ASUS ROG Maximus XII Extreme will feature support for up to DDR4-4700 memory with four slots supporting up to 128 GB of capacity. It has two full-length PCIe 3.0 slots which operate at x16 and x8/x8, with a half-length PCIe 3.0 x4 slot. It looks to have a wave of aluminium armour stretching around the PCIe slot area, with a black and silver design. There are four PCIe 3.0 x4 slots with two of the slots supporting M.2 22110 and two M.2 2280 form factor drives. It looks as though two of the M.2 slots will be present on the board, with the additional two coming via an included ROG.DIMM.2 M.2 add-on card. It has eight SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays.
Networking support is also impressive, which consists of an Aquantia AQC107 10 G Ethernet controller, with a second Ethernet port controlled by an Intel I225-V 2.5 G. Another addition is an Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface with support for BT 5.1. Included in the specifications is a Thunderbolt EX 3-TR card which will come in the accessories bundle, with two USB 3.2 Type-C front panel headers. Controlling the audio will be a SupremeFX S1220 HD audio codec which provides five 3.5 mm audio jacks and a single S/PDIF optical output. From what we can see on the rear panel, there are two USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, six USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports, and a Clear CMOS and BIOS Flashback button.
ASUS hasn't provided details on when we might see the ROG Maximus XII Extreme model to hit retail shelves, but it has set an MSRP of $750 which puts it as one of the most expensive Z490 models to date.
This page will be updated when more information becomes available to us.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
52 Comments
View All Comments
Tomatotech - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
Get better hubs then. At least mains powered hubs.I understand not everyone has wifi/ ethernet printers, bluetooth / radio mouse / keyboard / headset, or usb hubs in their monitors, but there does seem to be slightly less need for lots of USB ports compared to a few years ago.
Beaver M. - Saturday, May 2, 2020 - link
Not an option due to several reliability issues and issues recognizing claimed "better hubs" in the first place. Even well known big companies produce crappy USB hubs.As a normal user I have
a printer
a mouse
a keyboard
a gamepad with USB dongle
a USB headset
an external HDD
several external USB ports for USB sticks, temporary Bluetooth dongles, charging devices, etc., which can be up to 4 at a time
Specialized
things:
a joystick
a USB microphone interface
Not really unusual.
Add webcams, card readers, Wifi adapters and many other not really unusual stuff and you still wont have anything rare.
Lots of USB ports are important. Period. And it doesnt even matter if its an ATX board or a NUC. They are always very important.
duploxxx - Friday, May 8, 2020 - link
wow so many USB that you need in the back, how long have you been searching on the internet to find all of these? You can buy cases that also serve USB, or backend brackets….a printer : wireless
a mouse - keyb sure
a gamepad, connected from the back? often to short cable
a USB headset ---- audio connection which you can link with USB mic….
a USB External HDD.... zzz one that you can put away for backup or just horrible initial design from storage perspective
several external USB.... all front unless you Always use your usb dongles and put them in the back "loooooool"
joystick.... yeah use gmaepad and joystick at the same time. same as the gamepad regarding cable length
webcam... easy connection in monitor hub
card readers... again in the back used all day right....
USB wifi adapters? really are you joking?
in other words lots of pathetic feedback... learn to design a desktop computer
Beaver M. - Saturday, May 2, 2020 - link
Low USB port count has been a problem far longer than 5 years.Only Asus seem to have gotten the hint at some point, but Asus is crappy quality and CS.
Seeing Gigabyte adding enough now is a good sign, because they usually were the ones having the least amount of them.
I agree on the hubs. Not only do they die, some of them even nuke your mainboards USB ports through feedback loops. Not to mention they always either have connection problems or issues with sleep or hibernation.
Chaitanya - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
Whats wierd is most of the boards from Asus and Asrock have multiple 40mm fans to cool VRMs while they seem to stick solid slabs of Aluminium and calling it a day unlike Gigabyte and Msi(on top end atleast) who have proper finned heatsinks.Deicidium369 - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
The only reason people think Asus are a high end manufacturer is their price and the truckloads of equipment they give to anyone with more than 10 subs on Youtube. Gigabyte or go home.Beaver M. - Saturday, May 2, 2020 - link
Agreed. Same with ASRock and their crappy customer support and massive USB issues.Gigabyte always tried to add important features. Remember when they added their "extra ounces" of copper? All other manufacturers whined that it doesnt do anything and Gigabyte should stop because its a "waste of resources". LOL!
Now they all do it because it makes the mainboard much more reliable.
Sure, they dont have the best OC boards, but in the last few years OC has become very niche, because you cant really OC CPUs well anymore, unless you want to use LN or custom liquid coolers.
Andrew LB - Sunday, May 10, 2020 - link
I've been building/repairing/upgrading computers for people for close to 30 years and I've had more problems with Gigabyte than any other current major brand. Abit was even worse but they're long gone. I'm willing to bet that those of you who say a company has bad customer service was due to you contacting them via e-mail. Pickup the phone next time and i bet it will go much easier.Best CS from my experience is EVGA.
taz-nz - Saturday, May 2, 2020 - link
To many board still don't have attached back plates, should be standard now.Nice to see gigabyte bring proper finned heatsink to Mid range board, pity so many other boards still have cosmetic lumps of aluminum, instead of proper VRM heatsinks, and worse that so many still choose to cover the those so called heatsinks with cosmetic plastic covers that only reduce airflow and hurt thermal performance more, while also interfering with large air cooler fitment.
Oxford Guy - Saturday, May 2, 2020 - link
"What's interesting is how similar the Z490 and Z390 chipsets are in terms of specifications, which adds the question of why Intel has opted for a new socket, on what is effectively a refresh of its 14 nm process node."Baffling is a better word than interesting.
If AMD weren't so competitive then it would make more sense to paint oneself into a corner even more.