Despite the lack of PCI Express 4.0, processors Intel the tenth generation boasts increased performance and the return of multithreading. The latter is an indispensable requirement for working in professional software.
Solutions on the market for assembly PC there is already enough on these chips, and this review will focus on the product GIGABYTE – motherboard Z490 AORUS PRO AX (rev. 1.x)…
In Russia, this model can be bought for 23 650 rubles… The price tag has increased relative to the variant for the previous generation processors.
The device comes in a cardboard box with brand symbols on one side and a description of the functionality on the other. The kit includes: the motherboard itself, two SATA cables, two temperature sensors, an external WI-FI antenna, a G-connector, a cable for connecting RGB lights, a driver disc, a user manual and a sticker with the AORUS logo.
Form Factor – ATX (305 x 244 mm). Manufacturer’s warranty – 3 years.
The board is made in a strict futuristic design in dark gray tones – without motley “gaming” bells and whistles. The combination of metal and plastic parts with brand insignia looks stylish.
One of the main advantages of this motherboard is the presence of a processor power system. Direct Power Design based on power components DrMOS… The new processors have become more demanding in terms of power consumption, for the most powerful Intel 10th generation CPUs to fully operate, they will have to use 8- and 4-pin ATX power connectors.
GIGABYTE engineers took great care in designing the cooling system for the VRM area. Power components are equipped with massive radiators Direct Touch 2 with oversized copper heat pipes and company thermal pads Laird…
The board also houses metal heat-dissipating plates, which are used to cool solid-state drives and the south bridge. Despite the fact that it is customary to install a small cooler near the south bridge on modern motherboards of the Z490 chipset, it is not in PRO AX. However, it cannot be said that the temperatures are high. On the contrary – the cooling system does its job perfectly.
Plates that cover solid-state drives are immediately supplied with thermal pads. They actually stick to the M.2 SSD for better heat dissipation. There are two slots for drives on the case M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4…
Up to six system fans can be connected to the Z490 AORUS PRO AX (rev. 1.x) motherboard, the operating mode of which can be controlled automatically using the technology Smart Fan 5… The fan speed will change depending on the temperature in the case. The computer checks the indicators in key areas of the motherboard and, depending on this, increases or decreases the force of the air flow. This can be configured in BIOS, and using the proprietary AORUS application directly in the environment Windows…
The original feature of the Z490 AORUS PRO AX is two temperature sensors that will read the values of the part of the case to which they touch. This allows you to have finer control over your build temperatures.
The board supports RAM format DDR4 up to 128 GB (in particular, 4 modules of 32 GB each). All four DIMM– connectors are shielded. With good RAM, the Z490 AORUS PRO AX guarantees its overclocking to 5000 MHz using XMP-profiles. This is very convenient, as it saves several hours of memory tuning, timing selection, and so on.
Sound Chip Realtek ALC1220-VB, which is installed in the board, was also used on High-end systems of the three hundredth series of AORUS boards and meets all modern standards, including support Hi-Res Audio and automatic determination of the impedance of the connected headsets and headphones with subsequent adaptation.
The board has an optical output, four analog audio connectors and a microphone port.
The Z490 AORUS PRO AX has five PCIe-slots: three PCI Express 3.0 x16, two of which are shielded, as well as two PCI Express 3.0 x1. When using multiple PCIe 3.0 x16, they work in x8 mode, individually in x16 mode.
The manufacturer claims that PCI Express 3.0 x16 can work according to PCI Express 4.0 instructions, but it is not clear how exactly and what speed gain this will give users, because new Intel processors with PCIe 4.0 support will most likely be released only in 2023.
From the connectors on the motherboard, we observe:
- four USB 2.0;
- three USB 3.2 Gen 1;
- two USB 3.2 Gen 2;
- one USB Type-C;
- HDMI 1.4 (resolution up to 4096 * 2160 30Hz);
- 2.5Gb Ethernet;
- connectors for WI-FI antenna.
One of the USB ports can be used to update the BIOS microcode. A very useful proprietary feature is called Q-Flash Plus… by connecting only a power supply to the motherboard and not installing a processor, discrete graphics and even memory modules into the system, within 5 minutes you can perform the BIOS flashing procedure, having only the motherboard and ATX power supply at hand. First, you need to prepare a USB drive by copying the current BIOS version to it.
Z490 AORUS PRO AX is equipped with a powerful network card that supports up to 2.5GbE LAN and standard WI-FI 6… Its main advantage is full-fledged work of up to 8 users in a wireless network without any collisions, increased speed by 35%, reduced load and latency. With the right router with PRO AX, you can enjoy the new technology.
The motherboard BIOS interface is familiar. It has all the necessary options for overclocking the processor, memory, various settings profiles and other additional functions.
We tested the overclocking capability and heat dissipation performance. CPU Intel Core i5 10600k Stably overclocked to 4.97 GHz, which means that the Z490 AORUS PRO AX delivers enough power for stable overclocking and supports it correctly.
The processor was successfully cooled by a cooler AORUS ATC 700… In stress test AIDA64 under overclocking, the CPU only warmed up to 67 ° C.
With the help of built-in temperature sensors, we also measured the temperature under the metal cover of the south bridge. Under load (during stress tests and games), its temperature did not rise above 35 ° C.
The cooling of the SSD is also good. At the peak of the 64GB file test by the program Crystal disk mark without a cooling plate we got 69 ° C, with it – 49 ° C.
In heavy games, the temperature of the SSD with the metal die was even lower and kept at 35 ° C in “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt”And Watch dogs 2… This is a great result.
We also measured the temperature of the power supply circuits near the processor, which are cooled by the Direct Touch 2. The motherboard has a VRM MOS sensor that detects the peak temperature of the power components under the heatsinks. Under the stress test, the CPUs were overclocked to 44 ° C, which is a good result. Under such a load, the important parts of the board do not get very hot.
Since the Z490 AORUS PRO AX can be connected RGB– backlighting of the case through special connectors, then they can be controlled from Windows itself through a proprietary application RGB Fusion…
The motherboard itself also has an RGB-backlit strip at the AORUS logo and a lettering at the block with sound. It is laconic and does not stand out from the design.
Despite all the advantages of the device, we still missed some things. For example, a screen with error codes, the ability to connect water cooling and buttons for starting / restarting the system right on the board. However, the Z490 AORUS PRO AX has its own unique features. In addition, there is a balance between technological innovations and optional, but pleasant functionality.
Motherboard Z490 AORUS PRO AX pleases with its capabilities. Particularly impressive is the modern Wi-FI 6.0 network card and very high-quality sound, while the thoughtful cooling system and good power subsystem help to unleash the full potential of Intel 10th generation processors. Additional temperature sensors, RGB controllers and the ability to connect a maximum of system fans will satisfy even the most demanding user, including overclocking enthusiasts.
Author: Alexey Sarafanov (ASarafanov),
Editing: Mikhail Shaginyan (ACE), Denis Korolev (SkyerIst).
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