Welcome back to ComputerWorld,
the objective of today's article is to help you purchase a Z490 motherboard. Incredibly
there are over 50 different Z490 motherboards on the market today with prices
ranging anywhere from $150 all the way up to $1300 and in my opinion there are
just way too many different models and that does make buying a Z490 motherboard
a bit of a daunting task. This article is intended to simplify the process and
in doing. So it does overlook a rather large swath of Z490 motherboards. Now
the primary goal here is to help you avoid any bad boards which are often found
in the entry level mini ITX and micro ATX segments. So this is where we'll
focus that said i also have a best mid-range option which sees us look at
boards priced around $200 but beyond that boards price between 200 and 400 have
been largely ignored. This is because there aren't really any bad boards here
they all feature very capable vrms. So it's really just about picking your
desired price point and then comparing these three or four boards that occupy
that segment based on the features that you require for example the gigabyte Z490
AORUS ultra and msi meg Z490 unify they both cost $300. They both feature
monstrous vrm. MSI's would probably be a bit better but at that point it really
doesn't matter which way you go both are overkill even for an overclocked core
i9 100k. Gigabyte's gone with a flashier design while msi's unifi range is more
minimalistic. Again with an emphasis on vrm performance and when it comes to
features they're both stacked with pretty much all the same gear. I guess what
i'm trying to say here is there's no bad or wrong option we're very much
splitting hairs at this point. So lets start the topic
Top 5 Best Z490 Motherboard
Best
Value Z490 Motherboard(Asus Prime Z490-P & MSI Z490-A Pro):- So let's start
with the best value entry level Z490 category. In other words, what's the
cheapest Z490 motherboard you should buy actually. Let's narrow that down a
little bit further to the cheapest ATX motherboard because there's a really nice $150
ATX board that we'll look at in the micro ATX category. The best budget ATX
boards include the asus prime Z490-P and the msi Z490-A pro and in terms of vrm
and performance they're both surprisingly good. Now you might expect all z
series boards to handle all k skew processors but that's rarely the case. Especially
if you plan on overclocking but both these asus and msi boards handled the core
i9 10900k at 5.1 gigahertz with ease as for features that are pretty sparse. But
that's not unusual for Z490 motherboards priced around $160 as for which one
you should purchase well as far as i can tell there's nothing wrong with either
option. They're both excellent and very evenly matched so my advice is to go
with whichever model is cheaper in your region or whichever you prefer the look
of maybe you prefer the asus bias. For example as for boards to avoid in this
price range the gigabyte Z490m gaming x and Z490ud are both very super when it
comes to vrm quality and struggle to handle the overclocked case skew parts. In
fact they'll actually fail to pass core heavy workloads with the 10700k and 10
900k. But if they are available at much lower prices than the asus and msi
boards just mentioned then they would be decent value pairings with a core i5
10600k. Just note your upgrade path may be limited. As for boards that you
should avoid at all costs they include the asrock Z490 phantom gaming 4, the Z490
pro 4, the Z490m pro 4 and even really the Z490 still legend. Though i am
hoping asrocks can fix the still legend with a bias update that increases the
board's power limits basically the board throttles the vrm before it should.
So to
reiterate if you're after an affordable Z490 board that can overclock k-skew
parts without breaking a sweat you want to be looking at either the asus prime Z490-P
or the msi Z490-A pro.
Best Mid
Range(MSI Z490 Tomahawk & Gigabyte Z490 Vision G):- Now if you've got a
little bit more money to spend you can get some really nice boards for up
around $200 from day one a standout option. For me which was featured on our
early 10th gen coverage was the msi meg Z490 tomahawk priced at $190. It really
is a great quality motherboard in our testing the Z490 tomahawk peaked at just
74 degrees running the core i9 10900k clocked at 5.1 gigahertz using 1.35 volts.
so you don't need to spend big money to get the most out of intel's new 10 core
processor. Despite the fact that it is extremely power hungry when overclocked
that said msi has gone with a dozen 55 amp power stages on the tomahawk for a
combined 660 amp capacity. MSI has also included massive heatsinks which weight
a combined 393 grams. The msi Z490-A pro for example comes with 237 grams worth
of heat sinks. You also get some nice features such as 2.5 gigabit lan, usb 3.2
gen 2 times 2 for 20 gigabits per second support and a few extra usb ports when
compared to the cheaper boards. As a side note i also have the gigabyte Z490 Aorus
elite house and have fully tested that board and found it to be very good. But
at the same price as the tomahawk i do prefer the msi board and the same is
also true for the asus tough gaming Z490 plus. Overall another good board but i
feel for roughly the same price the tomahawk just offers a bit more. Having
settle at the gigabyte Z490 vision G might be worth considering over the
tomahawk for two reasons. Firstly at $200 it's the only Z490 board in this
price range to offer three full length PCIe times 16 slots though do not only the primary slot
is wired for full time 16 bandwidth as all LGA 1200 processors simply don't
support enough PCIe lans. The secondary slot is wired 4 times 8 bandwidth and
when in use the primary slot will be limited 2 times 8 bandwidth as well. Then the
third slot is wide 4 times 4 bandwidth. The vision G also offers two extra usb
3.2 ports on the i/o panel that does drop the gigabit network port but retains
2.5 gigabit lam. In terms of vrm performance the vision G is roughly on par
with the tomahawk. So with just 10 separating the two it'll come down to your configuration
preferences.
Best
mATX Z490 Motherboard(Asus ROG Strix Z490-G Gaming Wi-Fi):- Micro ATX is a form
factor that almost seems forgotten when it comes to AMD motherboards. But it is
still quite active on the intel side and when it comes to Z490 micro ATX
motherboards there are at least five options right now that come from asrock,
asus, gigabyte and msi. Unfortunately though the asrock Z490m pro 4 uses the
same atrocious vrm as the phantom gaming 4 so you can give that board a hard
pass. The gigabyte Z490m gaming x also uses the same vrm as the Z490 ud. So
unless you're very desperate i'd also recommend avoiding that board and that
leaves us with the asus prime Z490m plus at $150 and while not our outright
best mATX board and we'll get to that in a moment. I am happy to report that
this is a rather good quality board the v-core portion of the vrm packs 850 amp
power stages configured as a teamed four phase. I actually grabbed this board
and gave it a quick test as i was quite interested in how it performed and the
results are quite impressive it runs around 4 degrees hotter than the asus
prime Z490p and that means with a core i5 10 600k overclocked to 5 gigahertz
with 1.35 volts.
You're
looking at a peak operating temperature for the vrm of about 66 degrees which
is very reasonable in a well ventilated case in a 21 degree climate. Of course
like the prime Z490p the micro ATX version is extremely limited when it comes
to features but that's just par for the course when it comes to entry level Z490
motherboards. If you're after better networking and a flashier looking board
then the msi mpg Z490m gaming edge Wi-Fi is worth checking out though i find
the $190 asking price a bit much for a board packing the same vrm found on the Z490a
pro. Now if you're after the absolute best of the best when it comes to micro ATX
Z490 motherboards then look no further than the asus ROG Strix Z490g gaming
Wi-Fi at $240 dollars. It really does it all the board packs a dozen 45 amp
power stages for the v-core portion of with some rather large heat sinks. So
it'll have no trouble overclocking the core i9 10900k even with minimal airflow
in terms of features. The board's quite well equipped with half a dozen usb 3.2
ports on the i/o panel including a usb type-c port and there's also a bias
flashback button as well on board. You still get two m.2 slots two pcie times
16 slots 6 out of ports and 4 memory dims.
Best
Mini ITX Z490 Board(MSI Z490i Unify & Gigabyte Z490i Aorus Ultra):- So who
makes the best mini ITX Z490 motherboard. Well brace yourself none of the
options worth your hard earned cash are particularly affordable all priced up
around $270 to $300. Of the four boards worth considering I'd lean towards the
gigabyte Z490i aorus ultra or the msi Z490i unify. Both cost $270. The more
expensive asus ROG strix Z490i gaming, it's also quite a good quality board but
it does feature a more crammed cpu socket which can cause problems with cooler
compatibility and of course it also costs 30 more. The asrock Z490 phantom
gaming itx is also quite a good board but it does suffer from the same cpu
compatibility problems as the asus board. In fact it's actually a little bit
worse in that regard and it also costs slightly more than the msi and gigabyte
models as for which board you should pick out of the msi Z490i unifi and
gigabyte z49 Aorus ultra. It's another one of those situations where they're
both so evenly matched that you really can't go wrong with either option. I
personally though i'd lean towards the gigabyte board for the extra usb ports
on the i/o panel those always come in handy and it also has a slightly better
board layout that doesn't see some of the sata ports oddly positioned
admittedly. it's all pretty minor stuff but that's what gets the Z490i Aorus
ultra over the line for me.
Best
High End Z490 Board(MSI Z490 Godlike):- Now if for some reason you want the
most extreme Z490 motherboard money can buy without going down the water
cooling mono block path. then there are three very expensive options. We have
the msi Z490 godlike, the gigabyte Z490 aorus extreme and then there's the asus
ROG maximus 12 extreme. If you're after a no compromise type solution then in
my opinion you want msi's godlike. Mind you $750 is an absurd price to pay for
any Z490 motherboard at least in my opinion but that's exactly how much these
extreme models cost. The board packs 16 90 amp power stages that are cooled by
real fin heatsinks with active cooling. But unless you're pulling off an
extreme of the most extreme overclocks then i don't imagine the fans will get
any chance to spin up on board features include 10 gigabit lan, you also get
2.5 gigabit lan just because 3 m.2 slots, 2 thunderbolt 3 type c 40 gigabits
per second ports, intel wi-fi 6, bluetooth 5.1, 8 channel audio and well the
list goes on. The board even features an oil panel which msi has dynamic
dashboard too. There's loads more to talk about with this motherboard but i
think you guys get the point. If for some reason you need a motherboard that
costs more than the core i9 10900k this is the one to get.
Final Thought:-
So
those are my key Z490 motherboard picks and like i said at the start of the
article, there is a absolutely ridiculous amount of Z490 motherboards on the
market and we have over half of them so that's it. Well it is a lot of
motherboards it's over 25 but as i said there's more than 50 of them and there
are a heap of boards priced between $220 and $400 that we didn't talk about in
this article and that's largely because there are really no bad options. There
are certainly some that are a little bit better than others in terms of
features and stuff. But as i said if you want to spend 300 then there'll only
be a few options there that you can compare and work out what ones have the
type of networking you want and things like that but in terms of vrm thermals
you need not worry and i'd say overall with perhaps the exception of asrock all
the motherboard makers have put quite a bit of time and effort into developing
and putting out their Z490 motherboards. So that makes it a bit easier to pick
a board as i said it's rare that you can go wrong at any price range picking
between one of these brands. Unfortunately though i can't really recommend
asrock at any of these price points and i have to say that is a first for us
but getting back to the boards priced above the Tomahawk and the Vision G. Basically
look at those boards at each price range compare the features and then work out
what you need and you can work your way up the product stack that way. So it's
in a lot of cases there's probably no need to spend $400. You'll probably find
that $300 or less boards have all the features you need and again boards price
worth of 200 are excellent in terms of vrm quality. So that really should not
be a concern anyway that is going to do it for this article and that is really
going to do it for our Z490 coverage we've provided quite a few article. Now
covering all these boards and really this is our summary of all that testing
and what we think of comparing the boards in terms of features and all price
and all that sort of stuff. So hopefully by this point you know what board is
right for you or we've at least helped you narrow down the selection from the
well you wouldn't have been looking at all 50 boards but there'd still be quite
a few you'd be looking at and hopefully we've made that process a little bit
quicker and easier .
If you have any questions about the topic Top 5 best motherboard, just leave your comments in the comment section and I will try to reply all of you. Thank you so much
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