The Intel Z490 Overview: 44+ Motherboards Examined
by Gavin Bonshor on April 30, 2020 10:00 AM ESTZ490 Power Delivery
As we do with all of our chipset overviews, we reached out to all of the motherboard vendors about what power deliveries each board features prior to launch. Many more users, compared to previous years, factor in power delivery and its thermal capabilities into their buying decisions. While the power delivery is fundamentally designed to run its relevant processors at default settings without issue, the idea of including a better specification power delivery allows for users to push processors beyond the default settings, as more voltage through the CPU means more voltage and power is handled by the power delivery.
We have reported over previous years of manufacturers embellishing claims of its power delivery and marketing them to do things it just cannot operate effectively and efficiently. We have compiled as much information as we are privy to, which we are trusting vendors to provide accurate details of. A question mark (?) denotes something we haven't been informed of, as we don't want to speculate and guess, as motherboard vendors haven't provided us with the necessary details.
As more information filters into us from vendors, as well as Z490 reviews, we will endeavour to keep the below table updated as frequently as possible. Note that all the information below has come directly from the manufacturer of each model.
| Z490 CPU Power Delivery Comparison | |||||
| Motherboard | Controller | H-Side | L-Side | Chokes | Doubler |
| ASRock Z490 Taichi | ISL69269 (12+2) |
? | ? | - | |
| ASRock Z490 Velocita | ISL69269 (10+2) |
? | ? | - | |
| ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming ITX/TB3 | ISL69269 (8+2) |
ISL99390B (8) |
? | - | |
| ASRock Z490 Steel Legend | ISL69269 (8+2) |
? | ? | - | |
| ASRock Z490 Extreme4 | ISL69269 (8+2) |
? | ? | - | |
| ASUS ROG Maximus XII Extreme | ASP1405I (8+0) |
TDA21490 (16) |
16 | - | |
| ASUS ROG Maximus XII Formula | ASP1405I (8+0) |
TDA21490 (16) |
16 | - | |
| ASUS ROG Maximus XII Apex | ASP1405I (7+1) |
TDA21490 (16) |
16 | - | |
| ASUS ROG Maximus XII Hero Wi-Fi | ASP1405I (7+1) |
TDA21490 (16) |
16 | - | |
| ASUS ROG Strix Z490-E Gaming | ASP1900 (7+1) |
SIC639 (14) |
16 | - | |
| ASUS ROG Strix Z490-F Gaming | ASP1900 (6+1) |
NCP302045 (12) |
14 | - | |
| ASUS ROG Strix Z490-G Gaming Wi-Fi | ASP1900 (6+1) |
SIC639 (14) |
14 | - | |
| ASUS ROG Strix Z490-G Gaming | ASP1900 (6+1) |
SIC639 (14) |
14 | - | |
| ASUS ROG Strix Z490-H Gaming | ASP1900 (6+1) |
NCP302045 (12) |
14 | - | |
| ASUS ROG Strix Z490-A Gaming | ASP1900 (6+1) |
NCP302045 (12) |
14 | - | |
| ASUS ROG Strix Z490-I Gaming | ASP1405I (4+1) |
TDA21461 (8) |
10 | - | |
| ASUS TUF Z490-Plus Wi-Fi | ASP1900 (6+1) |
SIC639 (14) |
14 | - | |
| ASUS TUF Z490-Plus | ASP1900 (4+1) |
SIC639 (14) |
14 | - | |
| ASUS Prime Z490-A | ASP1900 (6+1) |
NCP302045 (12) |
14 | - | |
| ASUS Prime Z490-P | ASP1900 (5+1) |
NCP302045 (10) |
11 | - | |
| ASUS Prime Z490-V | ASP1900 (4+1) |
SIC639 (8) |
9 | - | |
| ASUS Prime Z490M-Plus | ASP1900 (6+1) |
SIC639 (14) |
14 | - | |
| ASUS ProArt Z490-Creator 10G | ASP1900 (6+1) |
NCP302045 (12) |
14 | - | |
| Biostar Racing Z490GTA Evo | NCP81286 (14+2) |
FS4C029 (14) |
FSC028 (14) |
? | NCP81162 (7) |
| Biostar Racing Z490GTA | NCP81229 (12+2) |
FS4C029 (12) |
FSC028 (12) |
? | NCP81162 (6) |
| Biostar Racing Z490GTN | PCP81229 (6+2) |
NCP302155 (6) |
? | - | |
| GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Xtreme WaterForce | ISL69269 (8+1) |
ISL99390B (16) |
? | ISL6617A (8) |
|
| GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Xtreme | ISL69269 (8+1) |
ISL99390B (16) |
? | ISL6617A (8) |
|
| GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Master | ISL69269 (7+1) |
ISL99390B (14) |
? | ISL6617A (7) |
|
| GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Ultra | ISL69269 (12+0) |
SiC620A (12) |
? | - | |
| GIGABYTE Z490 I Aorus Ultra | ISL69269 (8+1) |
ISL99390 (8) |
? | - | |
| GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Pro AX | ISL69269 (12+0) |
SiC620A (12) |
? | - | |
| GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Elite AC | ISL69269 (12+0) |
SiC620A (12) |
? | - | |
| GIGABYTE Z490 Vision D | ISL69269 (12+0) |
SiC651A (12) |
? | - | |
| GIGABYTE Z490 Vision G | ISL69269 (12+0) |
SiC651A (12) |
? | - | |
| MSI MEG Z490 Godlike | ISL69269 (8+1) |
ISL99390B (16) |
? | ISL6617A (8) |
|
| MSI MEG Z490 Ace | ISL69269 (8+0) |
ISL99390B (16) |
? | ISL6617A (8) |
|
| MSI MEG Z490 Unify | ISL69269 (8+0) |
ISL99390B (16) |
? | ISL6617A (8) |
|
| MSI MEG Z490I Unify | ISL69269 (8+1) |
ISL99390B (8) |
? | - | |
| MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WIFI | RAA229001 (6+1) |
ISL99360 (12) |
? | - | |
| MSI Z490 Gaming Edge WIFI | RAA229001 (6+1) |
ON/NPC81229 (12) |
? | - | |
| MSI Z490M Gaming Edge WIFI | RT3609BE (6+1) |
4C029N (12) |
4C024N (12) |
? | - |
| MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Plus | RT3609BE (6+1) |
4C029N (12) |
4C024N (12) |
? | - |
| MSI MAG Z490 Tomahawk | ON/NCP81229 (6+1) |
NCP302155 (12) |
? | - | |
| MSI Z490-A Pro | RT3609BE (6+1) |
4C029N (12) |
4C024N (12) |
? | - |
| Supermicro C9Z490-PGW | XDPE122284C (6+2) |
TDA21490 (6) |
8 | - | |
| Supermicro C9Z490-PG | XDPE122284C (6+2) |
TDA21490 (6) |
8 | - | |
As we get more and more Z490 boards in for review, we can go deeper into the analysis in each individual review over the upcoming months.
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52 Comments
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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.