AORUS Releases Z490 XTREME WATERFORCE Motherboard with 16 Phases Digital VRM + AIO Monoblock

[Peter_Brosdahl]

Image Credit: GIGABYTE



With the recent launch of the Z490 platform, we are once again seeing the latest offerings from motherboard manufacturers. GIGABYTE’s AORUS line has a rather unique board directly aimed at overclocking Intel’s newest processors. The AORUS Z490 XTREME WATERFORCE comes loaded with features for even the most demanding enthusiast.

Image Credit: GIGABYTE



Specifications



Processor: Supports 10th Gen Intel® Core™, i9/i7/i5/i3 Series ProcessorsForm Factor: EATXMemory: Dual Channel Non-ECC Unbuffered DDR4, up to 128 GB 4 DIMMs, for i9/i7 processors up to DDR4 3200/3000/2933/2666/2400/2133 MHz, for i5/3 processors up to DDR4 2666/2400/2133...

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[Grimlakin]

Interesting. Definitely a everything under the sun type board. (sadly wifi too a 10gb on board nic... and wifi... Sigh.)

What really kind of caught my eye is the PCIE 4.0 implementation on the M.2 ports... PCIE 4, x2. I thought all of the PCIE 4 NVME drives were looking for PCIE 4 x4? Like they do the PCIE 3 channel right?

I'm also confused and finding mixed reports of Intel's PCIE 4.0 support. Do they support it or not on the 10th gen CPU's?

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

I'm also confused and finding mixed reports of Intel's PCIE 4.0 support. Do they support it or not on the 10th gen CPU's?

It is confusing. I'm hoping @Dan_D chimes in on this as he's much more knowledgeable. My understanding is that Z490 does not provide PCIe 4.0 through the chipset but instead will get support via the 10th gen CPU's.

For this particular motherboard it was kind of insane just trying extrapolate and post the specs. Specifically when it came to storage or PCIe items there was a pethora of "*" items for each. That is unfortunately the mixed blessing of a board with so many options that's also sort of in between 3.0 and 4.0 standards.

 

[Dogsofjune]

That price tag..... Wow. Impressive, but not stimulus check impressive

 

[David_Schroth]

It's like GIGABYTE saw ASUS's X299 Prime Edition 30 board and said "Hold my beer"

 

[Dan_D]

Interesting. Definitely a everything under the sun type board. (sadly wifi too a 10gb on board nic... and wifi... Sigh.)

What really kind of caught my eye is the PCIE 4.0 implementation on the M.2 ports... PCIE 4, x2. I thought all of the PCIE 4 NVME drives were looking for PCIE 4 x4? Like they do the PCIE 3 channel right?

I'm also confused and finding mixed reports of Intel's PCIE 4.0 support. Do they support it or not on the 10th gen CPU's?

According to Intel's ARK page on the 10900K, the 10th generation CPU's do not support PCI-Express 4.0 and are instead limited to PCI-Express 3.0. The Z490 chipset does not support PCI-Express 4.0 either. It has generally been believed that Intel was skipping PCI-Express 4.0 entirely, or for the very least this next generation of CPU's. The Z490 chipset itself was regarded as being another incremental upgrade which has been Intel's MO for quite some time. The specifications for the Z490 Xtreme Waterforce motherboard do not state anything to the contrary either.

Keep in mind that the so called "10th" generation Intel CPU's are still descendants of Skylake CPU's. They are still 14nm and I wouldn't expect too much out of them beyond being capable of 5.3GHz via brute force. Expect a lot of power consumption and heat. Expect great performance, but understand that Intel's core deficit will likely put them behind the curve compared to many AMD CPU's. Intel would have to price things just right to make them attractive.

When I see a motherboard like this, I immediately want to review it and drop it into my rig when done, but for the average person, $800+ for a motherboard (even with waterblocks) is a tough pill to swallow. It's even more difficult to justify given Intel's relatively short CPU upgrade paths for these chipsets.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

According to Intel's ARK page on the 10900K, the 10th generation CPU's do not support PCI-Express 4.0 and are instead limited to PCI-Express 3.0. The Z490 chipset does not support PCI-Express 4.0 either. It has generally been believed that Intel was skipping PCI-Express 4.0 entirely, or for the very least this next generation of CPU's. The Z490 chipset itself was regarded as being another incremental upgrade which has been Intel's MO for quite some time. The specifications for the Z490 Xtreme Waterforce motherboard do not state anything to the contrary either.

Keep in mind that the so called "10th" generation Intel CPU's are still descendants of Skylake CPU's. They are still 14nm and I wouldn't expect too much out of them beyond being capable of 5.3GHz via brute force. Expect a lot of power consumption and heat. Expect great performance, but understand that Intel's core deficit will likely put them behind the curve compared to many AMD CPU's. Intel would have to price things just right to make them attractive.

When I see a motherboard like this, I immediately want to review it and drop it into my rig when done, but for the average person, $800+ for a motherboard (even with waterblocks) is a tough pill to swallow. It's even more difficult to justify given Intel's relatively short CPU upgrade paths for these chipsets.

Thanks!

 

[Grimlakin]

Just as I thought. The board has the traces to support PCIE 4 x 2... but not the actual ability. And I didn't see mention of PCIE 3.0 x4. Which leads me to believe that either the traces for the 4.0 implementation can double as PCIE 3 x 4, or 4 x 2 but I really don't know.

That might be a performance problem on that board?

 

[Dan_D]

The PCB might be capable of PCIe 4.0 for forward compatibility assuming Intel ever releases a CPU with a PCIe 4.0 capable controller in it. However, its a moot point because neither the PCH or the 10th generation Comet Lake CPU's support PCIe 4.0 today.