We had three Z590 motherboards to test, the MSI MEG Z590 ACE, ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E, and the AORUS Z590 PRO AX. Each motherboard comes in at different price categories with the MSI model retailing at over $500 US, the AORUS model retailing at around $300 US, & the ASRock model retailing at around $200 US. The Z590 family is the last to feature the LGA 1200 socket and use DDR4/PCIe 4.0 solutions with the Z690 family coming out later this year moving forward with a new socket (LGA 1700) and also supporting new technologies such as DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0 protocol.
Following is the rundown of the motherboards we tested:
Z590 Motherboards Conclusion
| Motherboard Name | MSI MEG Z590 ACE | AORUS Z590 PRO AX | ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motherboard Price | $541.50 US | $289.99 US | $211.99 US |
| Motherboard Category | Enthusiast | Mainstream | Budget |
| Pros | Powerful VRM Design With 19 Phases & 90A MOSFETs Great For Extreme Overclocking Great BIOS With Several Tuning Options Good VRM Cooling Performance Impressive Storage Performance With Gen 4 NVMe Quad M.2 Slots With Shield Frozr Heatsinks Great VRM cooling with heat pipe implementation Triple PCIe Gen 4 x16 Slots Metal Shielded DDR4 Slots Up To 5600 MHz DDR4 Memory Support MSI Mystic Light RGB LEDs Look Great Dual Thunderbolt 4 Ports (+ 2 Mini DP Ports) Intel WiFi 6E + 2.5G LAN Audio Boost 5 With Realtek ALC4082 Codec Total of 9 USB 3.2 Gen 2/1 Ports (Internal/External) Easy Access Clear CMOS & BIOS Flash Buttons on I/O plate Pre-Installed I/O Plate Very Well-Designed & Comes With backplate, Pre-installed I/O plate with I/O Cover |
Impressive Features For Its Price ($289.99 US) Packs 13 Phase VRM with 90A MOSFETS Great For Extreme Overclocking Great BIOS With Several Tuning Options Great VRM Cooling Performance Fins-Array II Cooling Solution with Aluminum-fin heatsink Futuristic Looks & Less Flashy Design Quad M.2 Slots With Thermal Guards II heatsinks Metal Shielded DDR4 Slots Up To 5400 MHz DDR4 Memory Support Intel WiFi 6E + 2.5G LAN AMP-UP Audio with ALC4080 Codec Q-Flash support (update BIOS without CPU) Total of 12 USB 3.2 Gen 2/1 Ports (Internal/External) Pre-Installed I/O Plate with I/O cover |
Powerful VRM for its price 14 Phase Dr.MOS with 50A MOSFETs Good overclocking capabilities Good BIOS with all the necessary tuning options Triple M.2 slots with 2 Hyper M.2 heatsinks Nice Arctic Camo touch Up To DDR4-4800 MHz Memory Support WiFi 6E + Killer 2.5G LAN XXL Aluminum heatsinks covering the VRMs 13 USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (Internal/External) Comes with ASRock’s Graphics Card holder |
| Cons | Very High Price (Aimed at Enthusiasts) Only Six SATA III Ports CMOS Battery is hard to access Only Single LAN Port |
Only Six SATA III Ports No Debug LED Only Single LAN Port |
Only Single LAN Port Only two PCIe x16 slots BIOS could use a redesign |
| Conclusion | The MSI MEG Z590 ACE is an insanely well-built & premium motherboard that is targeted towards enthusiasts. If you want the best overclocking performance and feature set in terms of I/O, then look no further as this is the board to get if you’re willing to pay the high price. | AORUS retains a well-balanced motherboard with great overclocking capabilities, a handful of features, IO, and an impressive design on its AORUS PRO motherboards while retailing at under $300 US. | The ASRock Z590 Steel Legend has all the necessary features of a high-end Z590 board & comes with a sleek arctic camo theme which would go great with white PC builds. For budget Z590 builders, the Steel Legend from ASRock at $211 US is a great option! |
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The post Intel Rocket Lake Core i9-11900K 8 Core Desktop CPU Review Ft. MSI MEG Z590 ACE, ASRock Z590 Steel Legend, AORUS Z590 PRO AX Motherboards by Hassan Mujtaba appeared first on Wccftech.
