We have chosen a best mid-range option which looks at boards priced around the $200 mark. There are two M.2 slots with heatsink and support PCI-E Gen3 solid-state drives. The board has got heatsink over the MOSFETs and chipset that keeps them cool during overclocking and higher loads. Moreover, the overclocking capability of high-end Z490 motherboards is much higher compared to cheaper or budget Z490 options. Incredibly, there are over 50 Intel Z490 motherboards on … This high-end Z490 chipset ATX motherboard excels in every department, whether it is aesthetics, performance, features, or quality. If you're simply after the most extreme Intel Z490 motherboard money can buy (without going down the water-cooling mono-block path), there are three very expensive options: the MSI Z490 Godlike, Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Xtreme and Asus ROG Maximus XII Extreme. The motherboard supports 5000 MHz DDR4 memory in OC mode, which is quite fascinating. The board comes in an all-black color scheme, and this gives it a stealth look. The motherboard sports RGB lighting and comes with BIOS Flashback button to upgrade to BIOS without the need for any CPU in emergency situations or CPU upgrade. Thanks to a good VRM implementation, both these Asus and MSI boards handled the Core i9-10900K at 5.1 GHz. The build quality of the motherboard is good, and it feels robust. Most LGA115x coolers will work in the new sockets, but if you're buying a 10th-gen Intel Core processor, you will have to buy a new motherboard. Hello dear. If, like many people, you have an NZXT Kraken AIO, or perhaps their HUE RGB infrastructure then getting a motherboard which can make full use of these items and is nicely integrated seems to make perfect sense. Best budget overclocker- MSI Z490 A Pro. Core Boost Technology. The board also possess super-fast USB 3.2 Gen2 USB ports along with USB Type-C port. Both are good but I would prefer MSI Z490 MEG Unify. Overall, a good buy for anyone, especially the ones who prefer Gigabyte more than other brands. Z490 chipset is for overclockers and enthusiast gamers who want to take their unlocked CPUs to the next level. Other features include Dual BIOS, Q-Flash BIOS Flashback button, fast USB 3.2 Gen2 ports with USB Type-C port, BIOS Debug LED, and HDMI port for onboard display connectivity. If you are looking for a good affordable mid-range motherboard that does not have a gaming theme to it, then ASUS PRIME Z490-A fits the bill perfectly. We have tested that board and it’s very good, but at the same price as the Tomahawk we tend to prefer the MSI board. The ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Formula is the flagship of the ASUS X570 motherboards and certainly one of the highest quality AM4 boards from Asus. We're hoping Asrock can fix the Steel Legend with a BIOS update but for now we've seen that board throttling the VRM well before time. You can run a high-end Intel Core i9 10900K at 5.2 GHz on this board without any issues. It is a high-quality motherboard that uses 6-layer PCB construction and comes with three PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots with support for 2-Way NVIDIA SLI and 3-Way AMD CrossFire Technology. Our top pick is the ASUS ROG Strix Z490-E Gaming. Three decades of fine-tuning and modularity … The Gigabyte board offers extra USB ports on the I/O panel and has the slightly better board layout that doesn’t see some of the SATA ports oddly positioned. The MSI Z490-A Pro and ASUS Prime Z490-P. Even though Z490 and Z390 chipsets, as well as the 10th-gen CPUs are very similar from its predecessors, Intel has opted once again to move to a new socket, from the LGA115x onto LGA1200. Explore. For NVMe solid-state drives, it has got two M.2 slots with thermal guards or heatsinks installed. ... Our first Z490 mainboard from ASUS leaves a good impression as usual. Best mATX Motherboard for i7-10700K As mentioned in our extensive Z490 motherboard roundup, our favorite mATX Z490 board is the Asus ROG STRIX Z490-G Gaming (Wi-Fi). The board packs a dozen 45A power stages for the vcore portion of the VRM with some rather large heatsinks, so it’ll have no trouble overclocking the Core i9-10900K, even with minimal air-flow. The following are the models that we can recommend. In addition to the features offered by Z390 motherboards, Z490 motherboards also include the support for the faster 2.5G LAN and WiFi 6 support. AORUS 15P (Intel 10th Gen) Explore. These motherboards come with more and better VRMs, are PCIe 4.0 ready, offer a lot of features, and exhibit great performance and high overclocking. Intel Z490 Chipset: New Socket, (Slightly) Different Features . REVOLUTIONARY Z490 MOTHERBOARDS: Your PC Transformed Style . Z490 motherboards still lag behind the flagship X570 motherboards from AMD that include the support for the faster PCIe Gen 4 interface. The motherboard has dual LAN (2.5GbE and 1GbE) and Wi-Di 6 for super-fast network connectivity. With a little more budget, you can get some really nice boards for up around $200. There are various models of Z490 motherboards available from different board manufacturers. MAG Z490 TOMAHAWK EXCLUSIVE FEATURE. The secondary slot is wired for x8 bandwidth and when in use will half the bandwidth available to the primary PCIe x16 slot. Here are the best budget Z490 motherboards that you can get for a budget, mid-range, or even high-end 10th generation Intel Core series processors. ), up to 128 GB, Dual Channel, DIMM x 4, PCIe 3.0 x16 x 3, PCIe 3.0 x1 x 3, M.2 x 2, SATA 3.0 x 6, 5 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (USB Type-C x 1), 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 6 x USB 2.0, Overclocking support, RAID support, 8 Channel HD Audio, 2.5G LAN, Asus SafeSlot, supports 2-Way NVIDIA SLI and 3-Way AMD CrossFire, RGB LEDs, RGB, and ARGB Headers, Intel Optane Memory Ready, M.2 heatsink, VRM & Chipset heatsinks, AI Cooling and Overclocking, 12+2 DrMOS power stages, Thunderbolt header, Integrated I/O Shield, Optical S/PDIF out, DIMM x 4, PCIe 3.0 x 16 x 3, PCIe 3.0 x1 x 2, M.2 x 2 (NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4), SATA 6Gb/s x 6, 8 x USB 2.0, 5 x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2, USB Type-C x 2 (Back Panel + Internal Header). For network connectivity, it comes with dual LAN (1G+2.5G) and Intel WiFi 6 + Bluetooth 5.1. Even if the MSI is marginally better equipped, at that point it won't matter, both are overkill even for an overclocked Core i9-10900K. The board also has some RGB LED on it that looks pretty nice. As this is an Asus ROG series product, which means this motherboard is advertised for gaming, but in reality, it can do much more than that. The VRM heatsinks use L shaped heatpipe, and there are two fans at one side and one at the other where the Integrated I/O shield + armor is present. The board comes with three PCIe 3.0 x16 (all steel armored) and supports 2-Way NVIDIA SLI and 2-Way AMD CrossFire multi-GPU technologies. The Z490 chipset natively does not support the PCIe Gen4 standard. The Gigabyte’s answer to the MSI MAG Z490 TOMAHAWK and ASUS TUF GAMING Z490-PLUS is the Gigabyte Z490 AORUS ELITE. This can be considered as the best option for users who are a fan of overclocking in a lesser price range than a premium Z490 motherboard. Our first Z490 mainboard from ASUS leaves a good impression as usual. Inhalt. © 2020 TechSpot, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The motherboard supports 5000MHz (OC) DDR4 RAM up to 128GB capacity. ), up to 64GB, Dual Channel, SATA 6Gb/s x 4, 5 x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 4 x USB 2.0, USB Type-C, Overclocking support, RAID support, 8 Channel HD Audio, 2.5G LAN, Intel WiFi 6 + BT 5.1, LED Illuminated Audio Jacks, RGB Lighting, ARGB Headers, M.2 Heatsink, 8 + 2 DRMOS Power Stages, Pre-mounted I/O Shield, VRM Heatsink with L-shaped Heatpipe and Fan, Chipset Heatsink, Asus SafeSlot. Terms of Use Privacy Policy Change Ad Consent Advertise. This is the I/O panel of the $750 MSI MEG Z490 Godlike. Asus Rog strix Z490 Gaming E MSI Z490 MEG Unify, I’m running it with Intel i7 10700K, and RTX 3080, Please advice which one is better, i don’t care much about RGB, as i can still get my build lighting with Fans, cooler and RAM. Best design The ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-E Gaming would make a solid foundation for a home gaming PC or a top-performance workstation. Suivant. The latest generation of Intel Core CPUs have arrived accompanied by the new Z490 motherboard platform. The motherboard comes with three PCIe x16 slots and supports multi-GPU configurations like 2-Way NVIDIA SLI and 2-Way AMD CrossFire. The built quality of the motherboard is solid, and it also has a metal backplate that gives it protection and provides extra strength to the PCB. If you’re after a no compromise solution, then in our opinion that’s MSI’s Godlike. Here you will find all the information about Graphics Cards, PC Gaming, PC Components and Computer Hardware. You also get some nice features such as 2.5 Gbit LAN, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 for 20 Gbps support and a few extra USB ports when compared to the cheaper boards. So, here I am going to list the best Z490 motherboards, starting from budget to the top-end, so that you can buy the best Z490 motherboard based on your budget and requirements. Design that delivers. It has got fast USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports and allows you to upgrade the BIOS without any CPU through the Q-Flash feature. Lightly populated rear panel with just a few fast USB ports. It is quite a feature-rich motherboard and comes with RGB and ARGB headers, Thunderbolt 3 support, fast USB 3.2 Gen2 ports (USB Type-C and Type-A), 8 channel Realtek S1200A gaming audio with 108 SNR ratio and has 6-layer PCB design. Explore. The ASRock Z490 Extreme4 is an ATX motherboard; there are cuts on this motherboard’s edges, which looks attractive and unique. These motherboards are quite expensive, but they offer excellent performance and have tons of features. The board also comes with AI Overclocking/Cooling/Networking, BIOS FlashBack Button, Clear CMOS Button, ARGB and RGB headers, Optical S/PDIF out port, and High fidelity audio with the SupremeFX S1220A codec. PCIE 4.0 Clock Generator. The motherboard uses 12+2 power phases for VRM with DrMOS and is capable of running high-end Intel 10th generation processors with a decent amount of overclocking. The board comes well equipped with half a dozen USB 3.2 ports on the I/O panel including a USB Type-C port and there’s a BIOS FlashBack button as well. Between those two, it’s one of those situations where they’re so evenly matched that you can’t go wrong. Explore. It has got high-speed USB 3.2 Gen2 ports (USB Type-A + Type-C) and has got BIOS Flashback button, Clear CMOS button, and BIOS debug LED. (*This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). A form factor that seems almost forgotten on the AMD side, it's still well and alive with Intel boards. It is also a great looking motherboard that has an attractive and stylish design with a fancy mix of colors. Explore. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. AORUS GeForce RTX™ 3090 XTREME WATERFORCE 24G. Then the third slot is wired for x4 bandwidth. Onboard you still get two M.2 slots, two PCIe x16 slots, six SATA ports and four memory DIMMs. You can perform some amount of overclocking on these boards but nothing serious. Note: Almost all CPU Coolers that support LGA 1151 Socket are also compatible with the LGA 1200 Socket too. Unless you’re pulling off an extreme overclock, we don’t imagine the fans will get a chance to spin up though. The motherboard comes with three PCIe 3.0 x16 slots and supports 2-Way NVIDIA SLI and 3-Way AMD CrossFire Technology. It is a PCI Express 4.0 Ready motherboard. Gigabyte Z490 AORUS Xtreme. Just like the MSI Tomahawk motherboard series that offers great performance and quality for the price, Asus has its TUF series, which is known for its high durability and performance. The RGB lighting on the board is present on the chipset heatsink and the integrated I/O shield armor, with support for RGB Fusion 2. If you have any queries regarding Z490 motherboards or which one you should get for your next build, then do ask them in the comment section below. The motherboard can support DDR4 5000 MHz (OC) memory up to 128 GB total capacity. As discussed in the intro, there’s a ridiculous amount of Z490 motherboards on the market, a ton of them priced between $200 and $400, with no bad options to choose from -- with the exception of Asrock. For example, the Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Ultra and MSI MEG Z490 Unify both cost $300 and they both feature monstrous VRMs. The MPG series brings out the best in gamers by allowing full expression in color with advanced RGB lighting control and synchronization. Maybe you have a preference for the Asus BIOS, for example. The motherboard looks stunning and has a very modern feel to it. The carbon motherboard series from MSI has always been a favorite for someone looking for more features at a lower price. MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Edge is a great value motherboard with premium features set. If you are on a limited budget, then you can choose from the entry-level Z490 motherboards mentioned below. This motherboard has one USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A port, four USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A, and one USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C port for connectivity. AORUS RGB Memory DDR4 16GB (2x8GB) 4400MHz. That's way more models than there should be, making the task of buying the best Z490 board a rather daunting one. Best Z490 Motherboards With Waterblocks. It also scores top marks in the looks department too. Z490 enthusiast level motherboards equipped with luxury components that allows geeks to be hardware ready for PCI Express 4.0 standard !