ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, Biostar Ready Flagship Z590 Motherboards For Intel 11th Gen Rocket Lake-S CPUs
Intel is on the cusp of releasing its 11th Gen Core processors for the desktop, otherwise known as Rocket Lake-S, and motherboard makers are waiting in the wings for the big day. Biostar, for example, just announced a couple of flashy looking Z590 motherboards, one of which you can see above. Biostar is far from alone, however, as all the major players have new stuff on the horizon.
Biostar
Starting with Biostar, the company today announced the Z590 Valkyrie and Z590I Valkyrie. Both of them bring the bling, though the former is a full-size ATX motherboard, while the latter is a mini-ITX offering for small form factor (SFF) builds. They each feature a "fully armored cover design" with passive cooling, along with gold and pink accents.
They both also serve up a 22 phase power design and digital PWM technology. Back in the day, Biostar was mostly known for budget offerings, but it has also dabbled in higher end offerings, of which these appear to be.
While not announced today, Biostar's website also lists a Z590GTA motherboard. It's a racing themed board with a sliver and blue color scheme, with a six-layer PCB and 14-phase power design.
ASUS
ASUS ROG Maximus III Extreme Glacial (Left) And ROG Maximus XIII Hero (Right)
ASUS has outed a handful of Z590 motherboards as well. Shown above on the left is the flagship offering, the ROG Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial, and on the right is the ROG Maximus XIII Hero. Both are high-end options with a gaming edge.
The ROG Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial is one of two Extended ATX (E-ATX) motherboards ASUS has announced so for (the other being the ROG Maximus XIII Extreme). It sports an 18+2 power phase design, 10GbE and 2.5GbE LAN ports, and an integrated EK water block.
Here is the full lineup as it currently exists...
- ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial (E-ATX)
- ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Extreme (E-ATX)
- ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Hero (ATX)
- ASUS ROG Strix Z590-E Gaming WiFi (ATX)
- ASUS TUF Gaming Z590 Plus WiFi (ATX)
- ASUS Prime Z590-A (ATX)
"For Z590, we’re raising our power delivery game once more with redesigned multi-phase VRMs that range up to an massive 18+2 topology on the top-end ROG Maximus XIII Extreme. ROG Maximus XIII motherboards also employ highly capable and efficient integrated power stages across the lineup to support high sustained performance and the most demanding overclocking expeditions," ASUS says.
All of the other boards listed above sport a 14+2 power phase design. Pricing and availability will be announced at a later date.
Gigabyte
Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Xtreme
Everything in moderation, right? When it comes to hardware launches, that is a philosophy that Gigabyte chews up and spits out like a loogie, choosing instead to bombard new product offerings (CPU chipsets and GPUs) with a whole bunch of SKUs. Intel's Z590 platform is no exception.
Shown above is the Z590 Aorus Xtreme. It brings all the bells and whistles, including a dual BIOS setup, dual LAN ports (Aquantia 10GbE and Intel 2.5GbE), a 20+1 power phase design, reinforced PCI Express slots, and lots of armor, among other things.
It's just one of a dozen Z590 models that will be ready from the get-go. Here's a look at the lineup...
- Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Xtreme (E-ATX)
- Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Master (ATX)
- Gigabyte Z590 Vision G (ATX)
- Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Pro AX (ATX)
- Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Ultra (mini-ITX)
- Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Elite AX (ATX)
- Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Elite (ATX)
- Gigabyte Z590 Vision D (ATX)
- Gigabyte Z590I Vision D (mini-ITX)
- Gigabyte Z590 Gaming X ()
- Gigabyte Z590 UD AC (ATX)
- Gigabyte Z590 UD (ATX)
As with the others, Gigabyte has not yet announced pricing or said when these models will be released.
MSI
MSI MEG Z590 Godlike
MSI will have a fleshed out lineup of Z590 motherboards in the near future as well. Sitting at the top of the stack is the MEG Z590 Godlike, as shown above. This board is focused on "delivering an extreme overclocking experience," in part by way of serving up direct 20 phases and 90A smart power stages, for reliable power delivery. Ample cooling abounds, too.
While power delivery is critical, managing thermals is just as important. To this end, we carefully designed the Godlike to stave off heat from key components and ensure efficient cooling using top-tier components. In addition to wavy fins on the heatsinks for more surface area, 7W/mK thermal pads, a Frozr heatsink, and an aluminum backplate, the Z590 Godlike also comes with M.2 Shield Frozr for all 4 high-speed Lightning PCI-E Gen 4 M.2 slots," MSI says.
Here are the Z590 boards we know about so far...
- MSI MEG Z590 Godlike: $1,019
- MSI MEG Z590 Ace: $489
- MSI MEG Z590 Unify: $389
- MSI MEG Z590I Unify: $329
- MSI MPG Z590 Gaming Carbon WiFi: $324
- MSI MPG Z590 Gaming Edge WiFi: $284
- MSI MPG Z590 Gaming Plus: $264
- MSI MAG Z590 Tomahawk WiFi: $239
- MSI MAG Z590 Torpedo: $229
- MSI Z590 Pro WiFi: $209
- MSI Z590-A Pro: $180
Note that the above prices were revealed in a recent MSI Insider broadcast. According to the hosts, final pricing could change in either direction when these motherboards actually release.
EVGA
EVGA Z590 Dark (Left) And Z590 FTW WiFi (Right)
Finally, we have two more motherboards to highlight, EVGA's Z590 Dark and Z590 FTW WiFi. The Z590 Dark features a 10-layer PCB and is powered by a 22-phase VRM. It also serves up a pair of 2.5GbE LAN ports, over a dozen USB options, three M.2 slots, and a bunch of other goodies.
"We’ve even included a nightlight with the Dark's first-ever ARGB cover for those times when you might need to see what you’re doing," EVGA says.
As for the Z590 FTW WiFi, it will undoubtedly be the more affordable of the two, with an 8-layer PCB and 17-phase VRM. EVGA is a bit short on details for both boards, but did say this one will have an "excessive number of USB options." Whether that amounts to over or under a dozen remains to be seen.
Pricing and availability have not yet been announced.
