ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-E Gaming – Review

The ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-E Gaming motherboard is an ATX sized offering which is primarily targeted towards enthusiasts, gamer and users looking to push the envelope on the new Intel 10th Gen Core processors, such as the Core i9-10900K and Core i7-10700K. The Z490 boards doesn’t support 9th Gen, so there won’t be backward compatible. This model sits quite high up in the product segment and offers users latest Intel I225-V 2.5Gb LAN, two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 and a total of six SATA ports. ASUS has taken the unique STRIX design and implemented the new Z490 chipset into the mix for a high-performance and feature-packed offering designed for enthusiasts looking to push the new Intel processors.

The STRIX Z490-E Gaming is quite similar in specification and design in comparison to the ASUS previous STRIX Z390-E Gaming with an upgrade. First of all the chipset heatsink on the newer Z490-E Gaming resembles that of the one we saw on the STRIX Z390-E Gaming with the design similar. Even the power phase heatsinks look alike as previous Z370 but with added copper pipe to reduce the heat and ASUS adding more 14+2 power phase to the Z470-E Gaming, but with same componentry.

 

On the back I/O panel of connections including four USB 2.0 Type-A, a single USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C and four USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports, as well as a DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI video output. In addition a total of five 3.5mm audio jacks with a S/PDIF optical output. Touching on the networking capabilities of the Z490-E Gaming reveals Intel 2.5 Gigabit LAN port with one powered by latest Intel I225-V of 2.5 Gigabit NICs. Also present on the rear panel is a set of antenna connectors for the integrated Intel AX201 802.11ax WIFI6 adapter with wireless speeds up to 2.4Gbps and Bluetooth 5.1.

The board comes with the latest Intel AX201NGW wireless M.2 card. It’s support Bluetooth 5.1 and the antenna 2T2R Wi-Fi 6 technology, including new features such as:

• Uplink/Downlink OFDMA
• 1024QAM
• Data rates up to 2.4 Gbps
• WPA 3
• Channel bandwidth 160Mhz

Intel® Wi-Fi 6 AX201NGW is a CRF module that uses the Intel proprietary interface, and thus can only be used with select Intel chipsets and platforms.

Intel I225-V 2.5 Gigabit LAN chip

The board uses a custom Digi+ PWM chip to control 14+2 power phase for deliver power to Intel Processor. The VRM heatsinks are hefty and a copper heat pipe that stretches round the CPU socket.

What’s new on the ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-E Gaming, 14+2 -phase power control with an Digi+ ASP1900B a ultra low quiescent single loop 8-phase output PWM Controller operating in a 7+1 configuration.

For the CPU section deliver by 14 50A SiC639 “MOSFETs” in the power phase and 2 50A SiC639 for GT or IGPU “Intel Graphics”.

They working as a team to deliver high efficiency power to Intel CPU and IGPU. Each individual phase is complemented with a dedicated choke and capacitors throughout. Please take note the power phase aren’t parallel design.

Below the Intel Socket spotted a VCCSA and VCCIO power phase.

4 x DIMM, Max. 128GB, DDR4-4800 (OC) MHz Channel Memory Architecture

The ROG SupremeFX 8-Channel Realtek High Definition Audio CODEC S1220A with Dual OP Amplifiers. With a dual supply op amp, the output AC signal is able to raise high on V+ “Positive Voltage” and on the low V- “Negative Voltage”. Unlike a sinlge supply op amp which is connected to ground and cuts off at the 0V line, a dual supply op amp can go negative, as far negative as the negative voltage fed into V-. So the sound produce depth in sound stage and you need to match with a good speaker to hear the difference. ASUS also pair with Japanese Nichicon electrolytic capacitors to  make the sound more than decent, and they are able to perform neutral, but  powerful in bass.

To access to the top M.2 port and you need to remove a large plastic covers to get the port, very troublesome. The bottom slot is a M.2 for you to insert another M.2 and both support PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD.

Intel Z490 Comet Lake chipset.

How We Test ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-E Gaming

ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-E Gaming is a mid high range-level motherboard in ASUS Z490 segment. As such, our workstation, based on an ROG STRIX Z490-E gaming motherboard and Intel Core i7 10700K 8cores 16 threads processor.  The ram we will be using is  G.Skill’s F4-3600C16D- 16GTZNC memory kit. ADATA SX8200 500Gb M.2 NVMe SSD is used as well to run with benchmark.

We will be using latest Nvidia DCH driver 451.67 and Windows 10 Professional Build 2004.

CPUZ

PCMark 10

It’s measures overall system performance for modern office work using tests based on real-world apps and activities. PCMark 10 is the latest version in Futuremark’s series of industry standard PC benchmarks. PCMark benchmarks measure complete system performance using tests based on real-world apps and activities. In PCMark 10, these tests include everyday tasks like browsing websites, video chat, writing and spreadsheets, photo and video editing, and playing games. This makes it an ideal benchmark for testing all types of Windows PC, from tablets and hybrids to notebooks and desktops.

PC Performance Test

Benchmark the speed of your PC computer hardware

Cinebench R2.0

Cinebench is a real-world cross-platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s hardware capabilities.

3Dmark Advanced Edition

3DMark includes everything you need to benchmark your PC and mobile devices in one app. Whether you’re gaming on a smartphone, tablet, notebook, or a desktop gaming PC, 3DMark includes a benchmark designed specifically for your hardware.