The Intel Z590 Motherboard Overview: 50+ Motherboards Detailed
by Gavin Bonshor on January 19, 2021 10:15 AM ESTWe start with ASRock's models by opening up our overview of each Z590 motherboard in alphabetical order (by the vendor). ASRock uses the latest Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6E CNVi across its models. There is also an an ASRock Graphics Card Holder, designed to support bulky cards.
ASRock Z590 Taichi
Many years ago, ASRock entered into a sponsorship deal with a successful gamer to produce its gaming models. What they got was mostly a name to sell the hardware, and since then ASRock's most notable motherboard line is now the Taichi. Originally unveiled for Intel's Z270 chipset, it's a regular mainstay with its solid blend of cogwheel inspired aesthetics and premium features. The ASRock Z590 Taichi is ATX and looks to be the brand's flagship model at present.
ASRock Z590 Taichi with ASRock's new GPU holder
For 2021, the ASRock Z590 Taichi has opted for a more clean-cut all-black aesthetic, with RGB LED lighting elements within the rear panel, the chipset heatsink, and the underside of the board at the right-hand side. ASRock is also advertising an 8-layer PCB with a 14-phase power delivery with 90 A power stages. The Z590 Taichi includes three full-length slots, with the top slot operating at PCIe 4.0 x16, two of them running at x8/x8, and a single small PCIe 3.0 x1 slot. Other features include triple M.2 slots, with one operating at PCIe 4.0 x4 from the CPU and two with PCIe 3.0 x4 from the chipset. These final two have SATA support, as well as the eight traditional SATA ports. It also includes four memory slots with support for DDR4-5000 memory, with a maximum capacity of 128 GB.
The rear panel includes dual Thunderbolt/USB 4.0 Type-C ports, with two USB 3.2 G2 Type-A and four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A ports. It includes dual Ethernet, one driven by a Killer E3100G 2.5 G NIC and the other by an undisclosed Intel Gigabit controller. Wireless connectivity comes from an undisclosed Wi-Fi 6E interface, likely the Intel AX210, which includes support for BT 5.2. It uses a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec for onboard audio, with an assisting ESS Sabre ES9128 DAC for uprated audio capability. There is also a single HDMI video output.
At the time of writing, ASRock hasn't shared details on its Z590 pricing.
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James5mith - Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - link
Awesome, Multi-GbE this generation! Remind me again which company sells Multi-GbE switches for less than $20/port?Tilmitt - Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - link
We live in joyful hope.dtexo - Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - link
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/compar...AX210 doesn’t seem to be CNVi, but PCIe+USB
dtexo - Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - link
Same with Killer Wi-Fi card(s)https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/produc...
Oxford Guy - Thursday, January 21, 2021 - link
So Intel can marry its "Killer" ethernet port to its skull-bearing SSDs for maximum performance in Edge.Harry Lloyd - Thursday, January 21, 2021 - link
The price of the PRIME Z590-A cannot be right. That has always been the fully-featured variant of an entry-level Z-chipset model. The Z490-A costs just over 200 $ now. Is this because of the VRM setup? Who needs 16 phases on a board like this? You will not buy this for extreme overclocking anyway.All these ASUS prices seem ridiculous.
Targon - Thursday, January 21, 2021 - link
And I thought the X570 chipset boards were a bit crazy when it comes to prices, these are off the rails on the crazy train! I am all for having a POST code display, but OLED screens to see on the motherboard what this or that is also seems like a waste of money. If you can get the machine to POST in the first place, going to the BIOS to get data about what is going on with this or that is enough. A waterblock for those who plan to use liquid cooling will also add to the price, no question, and it isn't a bad idea, but some of these other things that just add to the price without adding functionality is what I have a problem with.PaulHoule - Friday, January 22, 2021 - link
Ugh.I've never found motherboard reviews that helpful and the last article I read on this site makes me feel worse about it because now I know the performance of a system I build might depend more on the turbo behavior of the motherboard than on the CPU.
I've often found that getting a motherboard is a crap shoot and frequently you find that a particular motherboard has limitations on what you can do with the PCI lanes, or a component that had 35 db of noise for the reviewer has 50 db of noise for me and so forth. I see that $1800 motherboard and I ask myself, "do they make enough of these that they really know that the analog audio path is clean?" and such.
Last time I built a system I had to replace about half of the components at least once to get something I was happy with.
These days I'm inclined to go to a system builder just to have somebody to RMA it to, but if reviews were useful I might go back to building a system myself.
Ghostline91 - Tuesday, January 26, 2021 - link
How's the Biostar Z590 board? It looks like they're going back to more high-end specs and this one might be a good one to try out. When will we see reviews?vinicici22 - Wednesday, January 27, 2021 - link
do you guys know if the z590-a rog strix out yet? or it's just already sold out on every sites?