Intel Z490 Motherboard Review Collection
It’s obviously not a “cheap” motherboard, but as I said, it’s not going to be right up with the ultra-expensive ones either. It’s certainly well equipped either way, with an impressive Enhanced Power Design for reliable overclocking. There’s also M.2 support, 2.5G LAN, AX WiFi, and a Lightning USB, and plenty more beyond. If that’s not ticking all the boxes for your next PC build, I’ll be shocked.
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Aesthetics are certainly a strong point with this motherboard, offering up plenty of RGB lighting and effects, but it’s certainly function before form here. Enormous heatsinks, a massive INTELSIL Digital PWM setup with 16+1 phases and a 90A power stage, built-in WiFi 6 and 2.5G LAN. Plus you get extensive support for M.2, all complimented with M.2 Shield Frozr. ESS DAC & Nahimic for audio, and much more.
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The MSI MEG ACE may be lavished in shiny gold trim, but the MSI MEG Z490 Unify is much sleeker, stealthy and more menacing. It’s also shed a few features such as dual LAN and some of the heatsinks and armour is a little more dialled back to lower the cost. However, make no mistake, as this is still a MEG series motherboard, meaning it’s still crammed full of high-end features that will appeal to the enthusiast gaming market.
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It seems with every generation we see fewer and fewer mini-ITX motherboards, which is a real shame, as I absolutely love them. Then again we see even fewer mATX motherboards now, which is also a real shame. Thankfully, AORUS has a heck of an answer with their Z490I Ultra motherboard, which comes packed with incredible features for such a compact motherboard.
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There are a LOT of motherboards hitting the market for Z490, but few come with the hardware to rival the Gigabyte Z490 AORUS XTREME. This is one of their high-end motherboards to date, with only the XTREME Waterforce motherboard matching the features in the AORUS range. Bigger heatsinks, bigger VRM, bigger armour, bigger performance and overclocking potential, and as you might expect, a bigger price.
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If anything can do it though, it’ll be the ASUS ROG MAXIMUS XII EXTREME, as big and bold as it’s obnoxious all-caps product name. It’s the flagship board from the ASUS range, offering up stunning aesthetics, dazzling RGB, and all the features you’ll need to either break some world records or create one of the best performing gaming rigs around.
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The Alpha, The Omega, Thee Almighty! There are few words that could top “EXTREME” or “ULTIMATE” but I think GODLIKE just about tops them all. That’s a bold name for any product though, you’re implying it’s basically infallible and perhaps even omnipotent. What I’m getting at, is that if this isn’t the fastest most amazing motherboard ever, it’s a bit of a silly name.
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The Z490 AORUS Pro is like the entry-level model of a supercar. The cheapest Ferrari is still a Ferrari. It gives you 90%+ of the thrills of the most extreme motherboard at a much more sensible price point. With that in mind, the Pro AX is one of the boards I’m looking forward to the most.
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Sitting high up in the Gigabyte AORUS motherboard range, you’ll find the mighty Gigabyte Z490 AORUS Master, one of their flagship motherboards for the enthusiast gaming and overclocking market. Of course, it’s not quite as extreme as they, erm, XTREME, but it’s certainly up there in terms of build quality, features, and style.
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The ASUS ProArt Z490 Creator 10G is ASUS’ first ProArt DIY-market product obviously aimed at consumers that want something more specialized. Of course, as a motherboard, there’s really not a lot it can be specific about in terms of what it does but i does include the connectivity option that was previously only via daughter cards or onboard on more expensive HEDT options.
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