The Intel Z490 Overview: 44+ Motherboards Examined
by Gavin Bonshor on April 30, 2020 10:00 AM ESTGIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Pro AX
The GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Pro AX motherboard positions itself underneath the Z490 Aorus Ultra with an interesting selection of controllers and features. It includes two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec, support for DDR4-4800 memory, and features an Intel 2.5 G Ethernet controller and Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface.
Following a similar design to GIGABYTE's other Z490 Aorus models, the Z490 Aorus Pro AX has a black metallic PCIe slot area cover, with a small strip of RGB LED lighting integrated into the rear panel cover. Focusing on PCIe support, there are three full-length PCIe 3.0 slots which run at x16, x8/x8, and x8/x8/+4, with two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots flanking both sides of the top full-length slot. It includes two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, each with heatsinks and the Aorus Pro AX makes use of six SATA ports with RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 support. Up to 128 GB of DDR4-4800 memory can be installed across four memory slots, with dual-channel support. For enthusiasts, the Z490 Aorus Pro AX has a 12-phase power delivery, with 50 A power stages, and uses a direct heat pipe cooling which connects both heatsinks together.
On the rear panel is two USB 3.2 G2 10 Gbps Type-A, a single USB 3.2 G2 Type-C, four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and four USB 2.0 ports. A solitary HDMI video output makes up the integrated graphics support, with a Realtek ALC1220-VB HD audio codec powering the five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output. For networking, GIGABYTE is using an Intel I225 2.5 G Ethernet controller, with an Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface which also adds support for BT 5.1 devices.
The GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Pro AX has a full 12-phase power delivery with solid-looking heatsinks will please enthusiasts, and GIGABYTE has included an Intel 2.5 G Ethernet and Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface pairing, with two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 ports. This makes the GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Pro AX more of a middle of the road option without scrimping on quality, which is reflected in its MSRP of $269.
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DanNeely - Thursday, April 30, 2020 - link
I really hate when new articles are inserted below the lead spot because it's hit or miss if I ever notice them. I missed this one during several visits to the site and only found it when Google suggested it in response to a search I made.Jedibeeftrix - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
agreed, i found this by accident, and check AT twice or more a day.sunshinerevans55 - Sunday, May 3, 2020 - link
I basically make about $12,000-$18,000 a month online. It’s enough to comfortably replace my I was amazed how easy it was after I tried it . This is what I’ve been doing old jobs income, especially considering I only work about 10-13 hours a week from home… www.iⅭash68.ⅭomYB1064 - Monday, May 4, 2020 - link
This must have taken some writing. Kudos to the author(s). A good one stop article for anybody planning on going the Intel route. Intel seem to be adept at packaging old milk (not wine) in a new bottle. At least increase the number of PCIe lanes...boozed - Monday, May 4, 2020 - link
I recommend using the RSS feed, then you get everything and you get it chronologically.Exodite - Wednesday, May 6, 2020 - link
+1 on RSS!The "magazine layout" that plagues many sites and makes it impossible to distinguish between old articles, new articles and commercials can thankfully still be avoided through RSS.
Wardrop - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
Funny that ASRock are the only manufacturers to have a mATX X570 motherboard for AMD's platform, yet for Intel they're the only one's NOT to have a mATX motherboard.Beaver M. - Saturday, May 2, 2020 - link
You mean they are relevant again, because they have fixed their stereotypical USB issues?Marlin1975 - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
So in other words a re-spin of previous chipset with little to no real useful extra features but will require a new board. Classic intel. This is one of many reasons my last system was Intel and my new system is AMD now.Unless you are a intel fanboy why keep supporting this?
regsEx - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
New networking controllers, support for PCIe 4 CPUs (RKL-S that will be released in future).Some boards also have USB Gen 2x2 support with external ASMedia controller. I know no any X570 board with USB Gen 2x2 support. Only Gen 2x1.