Z490 Motherboard Comparison Review
Z490 Motherboard - If you are looking for the best Z490 motherboard, either in feature set or for your money than today, we have nine different motherboards, which I have thoroughly tested over the last month and I'm happy to report to you that there's pretty much good news for all these Boards Now,.
Of course, when it comes to a comparison between MSI, Asus, ASRock and Gigabyte, who holds the crown when it comes to the Z490 release. Let'S go through the Z490 Taichi Aorus Master Plus TUF gaming, Wi-Fi Maximus Formula, XII, MEG, ACE Z490-E Strix ROG Gaming, Aorus Pro AX PG, Velocita, Vs Vision G. motherboards and first of all, the price - let's pull this up here.
Because these are the MSRP in US dollars and from what I can check on you egg. This is roughly what they are indeed coming out over in the USA. Then, when we look at the price comparison compared to Australia.
That is, there is a pricing differential compared to PPP terms to the US, and that is it looks like gigabyte is edging out here. So, in other words, if you're in Australia, the gigabyte boards are going to represent the best value automatically, based on better rates, that gigabyte of selling their motherboards in Australia for asrock is following close second here and then a Zeus do need to fix up a little Bit of their pricing in Australia.
That is, there is a pricing differential compared to PPP terms to the US, and that is it looks like gigabyte is edging out here. So, in other words, if you're in Australia, the gigabyte boards are going to represent the best value automatically, based on better rates, that gigabyte of selling their motherboards in Australia for asrock is following close second here and then a Zeus do need to fix up a little Bit of their pricing in Australia.
I feel especially the likes of the formula 12, which is coming almost double that in dollar terms versus the US dollar, 500 versus 980. So with that said, let's move over to the VRM the most important thing, with a motherboard, especially in the likes of Z, 490, where you're most likely going to go out and buy a 10 900 K or an overclockable CPU.
You want to make sure that it's going to handle it at the very least out of the box, and of course, if you want to put some water cooling on there, you can extract some even higher overclock. So this is where I was happy to report out of the box.
All of these motherboards in today's comparison did very well. They did so with good power efficiency to the Azurill PG velociter did win on both the overclocked and the stock results with the power efficiency, though the pro ax do a good job here as well, where that came in second place.
All of these motherboards in today's comparison did very well. They did so with good power efficiency to the Azurill PG velociter did win on both the overclocked and the stock results with the power efficiency, though the pro ax do a good job here as well, where that came in second place.
Some of the other boards, though it wasn't much of a difference, we're talking 10 20 watts at best out-of-the-box and both overclocked, though I will point out, even though I felt the formula 12 had slightly ever slightly the best PRM. In today's comparison, its power consumption did go up because it's got so many extra features on board like a massive amount of RGB, as well as an oled readout. So do keep in mind.
If you buy this board, you will be using more power, even if you overclock to 5.2 yigit's, there's pretty much all the rest of the competitors in today's graph, though another thing I will point out here, even though the temperatures look the lowest on the tough gaming, I did test this in lower ambience and even though I've dealt or adjusted these results.
If you buy this board, you will be using more power, even if you overclock to 5.2 yigit's, there's pretty much all the rest of the competitors in today's graph, though another thing I will point out here, even though the temperatures look the lowest on the tough gaming, I did test this in lower ambience and even though I've dealt or adjusted these results.
I feel like I've seen this over the last few years, where Delta adjusted results, I feel aren't 100 % accurate in that the cold of the temperatures are. I feel that they favor those that are tested under colder conditions, even after the Delta adjusting, if that makes any sense.
If someone studied thermodynamics and can tell me and validate what I'm saying here, and why I would love to read your thoughts on that. But what it's worth out-of-the-box, if you're getting a 10 900k, letting it boost a 49, gigahertz old core - you do not have to worry about any of these motherboards in the graph, and with that said, it looks like the z4 90 tough gaming plus Wi-Fi is taking out the best value. If you just want to get a ten.
Nine hundred K put it under some water, cooling or a big air cooler and then enjoy your CPU, but what about the overclocked results? Here'S where we're moving in through that territory, where a bed of erm poor some of the best VRMs do matter, and this is where the pro ax did a really good job, as well as the velocity. Even though the temperatures got hot.
Nine hundred K put it under some water, cooling or a big air cooler and then enjoy your CPU, but what about the overclocked results? Here'S where we're moving in through that territory, where a bed of erm poor some of the best VRMs do matter, and this is where the pro ax did a really good job, as well as the velocity. Even though the temperatures got hot.
Their power efficiency still remained very good in that, even though they got less phases, for instance, versus the Maximus formula 12, they did so with a lower switching rate. I feel, which is represented in the temperatures and also the power consumption. So both these boards perform phenomenally well.
The vision G was still able to take the 10 900 K to 5.2 gigahertz, but it did need more power, and so it did start to lose a bit of power efficiency at these levels, the Z 490 tough gaming plus wasn't able to get the CPU to 5.2 gigahertz the vrm just wasn't good enough, but that being said, we took it to 5.1 gigahertz and it still did a good job and considering it's one of the cheapest motherboards. In today's comparison, I think the vision Jian is eight for.
Ninety tough gaming are very well justified, even at that all the rest of the board's here in the comparison that this Trixie, the Meg ace, the RS Pro X, the master and the Tai Chi and the velociter all do the phenomenal job of handling the 5.2 gigahertz. Ten nine hundred K overclock with great power efficiency, though now moving on to onboard audio.
The vision G was still able to take the 10 900 K to 5.2 gigahertz, but it did need more power, and so it did start to lose a bit of power efficiency at these levels, the Z 490 tough gaming plus wasn't able to get the CPU to 5.2 gigahertz the vrm just wasn't good enough, but that being said, we took it to 5.1 gigahertz and it still did a good job and considering it's one of the cheapest motherboards. In today's comparison, I think the vision Jian is eight for.
Ninety tough gaming are very well justified, even at that all the rest of the board's here in the comparison that this Trixie, the Meg ace, the RS Pro X, the master and the Tai Chi and the velociter all do the phenomenal job of handling the 5.2 gigahertz. Ten nine hundred K overclock with great power efficiency, though now moving on to onboard audio.
If you guys want to get a total solution - and you want some of the best onboard audio, then I feel like the vision. G did a pretty good job here, as well as the velociter and the pro ax for the money, the Z for 180 tough gaming.
It did have great crosstalk levels and it also had decent bass roll-off, but it did have a slight shake in the frequency response curve when we tested that so the onboard audio on the TUF was decent, though the rest of the boards in today's comparison were good Or very good, in the case of the Maximus formula 12.
It did have great crosstalk levels and it also had decent bass roll-off, but it did have a slight shake in the frequency response curve when we tested that so the onboard audio on the TUF was decent, though the rest of the boards in today's comparison were good Or very good, in the case of the Maximus formula 12.
That was extremely good to the point where you could even use the mic in for professional recordings versus the other solutions which did have either noise or noise suppression being used on the mic import. But in terms of the output, the Z, 490 tough gaming plus Wi-Fi was the only odd outlier here, but even then it was decent enough. Of course.
What about getting a high-speed nvme Drive and then wanting that to be cooled by the included heat shields that these motherboards offer, and this is where all these boards here did a great job of cooling down um to drive.
You can see that versus the no heat shield option, which does take the nvme to very high temperatures which, if you're using it for prolonged times, could invert some throttling on that drive. So basically they're all fine. Make sure that if you want to use more than one m2 at high speeds, make sure that the board you're looking at has two of these m2 heat shields or you may wish to install one yourself.
You can see that versus the no heat shield option, which does take the nvme to very high temperatures which, if you're using it for prolonged times, could invert some throttling on that drive. So basically they're all fine. Make sure that if you want to use more than one m2 at high speeds, make sure that the board you're looking at has two of these m2 heat shields or you may wish to install one yourself.
But if you're just using a single nvme driving at n900 k, then all boards are going to do an absolutely fine job there with all those temperatures and results out of the way. It'S now time to talk about my experience with the boards and the feature sets included, which I feel if you're buying boards, especially at this price range.
You want to get a good feature set that matches what you need so out of the four boards. I'M gon na point out a zoo sand as rock, because they've got features that I like, and it depends on who you are Azusa. Have there AI features which you got, the AI overclocking they've also got the AI cooling, which you can control both of those in the bios.
You want to get a good feature set that matches what you need so out of the four boards. I'M gon na point out a zoo sand as rock, because they've got features that I like, and it depends on who you are Azusa. Have there AI features which you got, the AI overclocking they've also got the AI cooling, which you can control both of those in the bios.
Then they've got the AI networking, so if you're on a congested network it can handle your packets and prioritize gaming packets. I have tested this out on their routers in the past and it has worked phenomenally well as rocked.
On the other hand, they do have their RGB control built into the BIOS, and for me personally, this is why I would be picking an AZ rock board. Out of the Z 490 lineup, even though the pro ax is going to win in terms of total value in today's comparison, we'll get onto that later. The internet update in the bias as well is also an extremely handy to have feature so the other three boards from gigabyte, MSI and a Zeus.
On the other hand, they do have their RGB control built into the BIOS, and for me personally, this is why I would be picking an AZ rock board. Out of the Z 490 lineup, even though the pro ax is going to win in terms of total value in today's comparison, we'll get onto that later. The internet update in the bias as well is also an extremely handy to have feature so the other three boards from gigabyte, MSI and a Zeus.
They all have their software based RGB control, but I feel like Azrael, definitely do get the nod for having that RGB control on the bios and it can affect performance if you've got the software on in Windows as I've been chucked in the past. Don'T terms of the BIOS itself from all these four companies in the years of use of that BIOS, I feel, like all four companies have done a very good job.
However, I did find a slight problem in the vision Jie. It'S nothing that you can't work around and same with the C 490 tough gaming, when I did those individual reviews. I'Ll put the links to those reviews up here and also in the description for all the boards that I've done dedicated reviews for. But for what it's worth, none of these motherboards in today's comparison had any glaringly wrong problems. That would detract me from buying.
It was just some little problems that you may come into and they're easily solved in the case of the vision, G and the Z for naughty tough gaming. Of course, the last thing to talk about is how many PWM fan headers these boards have how many USB ports they have if they have included Wi-Fi 6 or Bluetooth 5.
However, I did find a slight problem in the vision Jie. It'S nothing that you can't work around and same with the C 490 tough gaming, when I did those individual reviews. I'Ll put the links to those reviews up here and also in the description for all the boards that I've done dedicated reviews for. But for what it's worth, none of these motherboards in today's comparison had any glaringly wrong problems. That would detract me from buying.
It was just some little problems that you may come into and they're easily solved in the case of the vision, G and the Z for naughty tough gaming. Of course, the last thing to talk about is how many PWM fan headers these boards have how many USB ports they have if they have included Wi-Fi 6 or Bluetooth 5.
Now you can check this out on the individual websites on the spec sheets on the boards themselves, though, generally with Z, 490, the more money you spend, the more USB ports, you're gon na get on the back you're gon na get Wi-Fi 6 included, Bluetooth, 5 and More addressable, RGB and PWM fan headers.
Though, with all that out of the way, it's finally time to give you guys a clear-cut recommendation on these boards and, as I alluded to in the intro, with the price differences between Australia and the US, if you can find Any one of these boards around their price point on sale, then I would definitely go with the one on sale because there really wasn't anything that would wholeheartedly stop me from buying any one of these bullets in today's comparison.
Now, if the board isn't in today's comparison, it means that I haven't tested it, so I cannot give you a recommendation on that board. I have heard some bad things about some of the real entry-level as rock and gigabyte boards, so you may wish to check out individual reviews of those before it's worth awards for value.
It'S gon na go for the z4 90-plus tough gaming Wi-Fi this board comes in with Wi-Fi six Bluetooth. Five you've got a really good vrm for the $ 200 price point, and if you don't need the Wi-Fi, you can save twenty bucks, but the board performed phenomenally. Well, throughout all the tests and the ten 900k was able to get to 5
1 gigahertz now the onboard audio was decent, but at this price point, if you want to get a Z, 490 motherboard, that's going to do it all. Then this is a well justified board for the money. So with that aside, the Z, 490 tough gaming, Wi-Fi definitely gets the award for value having Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5 and also having a easy to use bios overclocking quite well and giving you good vrm temperatures.
I felt like the board, really hit hard for the money and if you don't need the Wi-Fi 6, then you can get it for $ 20, cheaper at 180 USD and it can still handle the 10 900k. Absolutely fine. Now, in terms of the vision G that board the aesthetics on that easily wins out, I thought it was one of the best-looking boards in today's comparison, even despite it having a typo which dad man pointed out in the review and he sort of made a little Joke about it, but other than that I'd say the $ 200 Vision G at 5.2 gigahertz. It did start to struggle in power efficiency.
So out of the box, the Z, 490 tough gaming, Wi-Fi did very well, but the vision G had slightly better onboard audio. So, if you're going for the onboard audio option with no Wi-Fi, you might want to go with that choice. Around $ 200, though, is stepping up now to the mid-range $ 250 around this area. I feel like this is personally where it is.
1 gigahertz now the onboard audio was decent, but at this price point, if you want to get a Z, 490 motherboard, that's going to do it all. Then this is a well justified board for the money. So with that aside, the Z, 490 tough gaming, Wi-Fi definitely gets the award for value having Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5 and also having a easy to use bios overclocking quite well and giving you good vrm temperatures.
I felt like the board, really hit hard for the money and if you don't need the Wi-Fi 6, then you can get it for $ 20, cheaper at 180 USD and it can still handle the 10 900k. Absolutely fine. Now, in terms of the vision G that board the aesthetics on that easily wins out, I thought it was one of the best-looking boards in today's comparison, even despite it having a typo which dad man pointed out in the review and he sort of made a little Joke about it, but other than that I'd say the $ 200 Vision G at 5.2 gigahertz. It did start to struggle in power efficiency.
So out of the box, the Z, 490 tough gaming, Wi-Fi did very well, but the vision G had slightly better onboard audio. So, if you're going for the onboard audio option with no Wi-Fi, you might want to go with that choice. Around $ 200, though, is stepping up now to the mid-range $ 250 around this area. I feel like this is personally where it is.
If you want to get a ten 900k - and you just want that bit extra, because these options all had phenomenal onboard audio and they also had phenomenal power efficiency and they had that bump up on the vrm quality, the pro ax objectively wins out in today's video.
I'M gon na call it the number-one board out of all these nine motherboards I've tested here, I feel like it's a premium board at a mid-range price within the Z 490 realm, where you're getting a phenomenal vrm you're. Getting that Wi-Fi six Bluetooth, five, really good onboard audio and everything worked out in terms of compatibility and overclocking was a breeze, though the velociter PG gaming.
I'M gon na call it the number-one board out of all these nine motherboards I've tested here, I feel like it's a premium board at a mid-range price within the Z 490 realm, where you're getting a phenomenal vrm you're. Getting that Wi-Fi six Bluetooth, five, really good onboard audio and everything worked out in terms of compatibility and overclocking was a breeze, though the velociter PG gaming.
Even though it had these little fans on board its power. Efficiency was the best when overclocked in today's comparison and even out of the box, as rock, have done a great job on the switching rates on the vrm to balance the temperatures and give you really good wattage and power consumption, whilst you're overclocking.of course.
With Those fans on board it's going to keep the vrm heatsink quite cool, so I feel like, as rock have done, a phenomenal job there and I would be personally picking this board because of the polychrome RGB built into the BIOS in the ISA views with internet flash. If I need to update my boss now one more thing, though it doesn't come included with Wi-Fi 6 or Bluetooth 5, so that might be a deal-breaker for you and also with the onboard audio.
You want to keep it at a volume level at 90 or below other than that, though, both these boards score out in the boards to get in my opinion, then, of course going up to the top of the pack. We had the e Strix rog gaming, which, if you want to go with the Zeus's premium value option, then that's going to offer everything that these other two boards that we just talked about did.
But it's going to come at a slight premium over the other two boards, then we're going up to the Meg ace that did a phenomenal job, but it didn't really stand out to me personally because it didn't really offer anything over what the other options had. This is a very similar story with the taichi, the Auris master, and also the maximus formula 12.
However, the maximus formula does have an integrated 10g Nick, which did offer an absolutely gorgeous aesthetic and, at the same time, offered the option to insert water cooling into the vrm heatsink, as well as having an OLED display readout. But that does come at a cost of slightly extra power consumption first, the other boards.
In today's comparison, and with all that out of the way, I hope you guys enjoyed today's Z, 490 roundup and comparison if you did then be sure to hit that like button for us and also if you've got any questions or comments about any of the Z. 490 boards, please leave a comment in the comment section below and I'll get back to you as soon as I can, and then, with that aside, we got the question of the day which comes from mad cat four-five-six and they asked wait.
In today's comparison, and with all that out of the way, I hope you guys enjoyed today's Z, 490 roundup and comparison if you did then be sure to hit that like button for us and also if you've got any questions or comments about any of the Z. 490 boards, please leave a comment in the comment section below and I'll get back to you as soon as I can, and then, with that aside, we got the question of the day which comes from mad cat four-five-six and they asked wait.
You can wash Ram with water, so they're, referring to our Kenya's fix-it episode, which we did up with a link up here, where we did wash some faulty ddr3 memory and it did end up working out in the end, make sure if you wash computer parts with Regular tap water, please be sure to clean all the water off before you run any current through it, but also at the same time, I like to put some multi-purpose spray or wd-40 on to protect it and make sure it doesn't corrode over time.