The Intel Z490 Overview: 44+ Motherboards Examined
by Gavin Bonshor on April 30, 2020 10:00 AM ESTGIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Elite AC
Moving onto the entry-level Aorus branded model, the GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Elite AC, it includes a standard Intel 802.11ac wireless interface with Realtek's 2.5 G ethernet controller, and three PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots. This model is also available without Wi-Fi, and uses a direct 12-phase power delivery and comes with a more simplistic look from other Aorus Z490 models. This is the only model from GIGABYTE's Z490 Aorus line-up to use a Realtek 2.5 G opposed to the rest of the stack which uses Intel's I225V 2.5 G controller.
Opting for a basic look, the GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Elite AC benefits from three PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, with the bottom two coming with its own heat sink for use with hot running NVMe based drives. It has six SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 arrays, and provides support for up to 128 GB of DDR4-4800 memory. For the power delivery, the Z490 Aorus Elite and Elite AC use a 12-phase power delivery for the CPU, with 60 A power stages and an ISL69269 PWM controller. Providing power to the CPU is an 8-pin and 4-pin 12 V ATX CPU input pairing. There is also two full-length PCIe 3.0 slots which operate at x16/+4, with three PCIe 3.0 x1 slots.
On the rear panel is two USB 3.2 G2 10 Gbps Type-A, four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and four USB 2.0 ports. On the AC model, GIGABYTE includes an Intel 802.11ac wireless interface with BT 5.0 support, while both models come included with a Realtek RTL8125BG 2.5 G Ethernet controller. The five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output are powered by a Realtek ALC1200 HD audio codec, while the board also includes a single HDMI video output.
The GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Elite and Z490 Aorus Elite AC both target the mid-range Z490 motherboard segment and is represented with an MSRP starting at $219. It includes a basic set of features, two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots with heatsinks, with a third without, and six SATA ports which is standard for an ATX sized model. It neglects any USB Type-C connectivity, which other vendors have included from top to bottom (MSI), but this makes for a lower cost product. It also uses a slightly lesser spec HD audio codec to most boards in its product stack, but still provides support for 7.1 HD audio.
This page will be updated when more information becomes available to us.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
52 Comments
View All Comments
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.