Z490 motherboard roundup: 50+ models

The difference betweens Intel Z490 and Z390 are minimal; not much has changed since both CPU and chipset main specifications are more or less the same. For example, both chipsets continue to use the outperformed PCI Express 3.0 interface for connecting peripherals, cards and storage devices. Although a few OEM vendors have made the Z490 models compatible with the upcoming PCI Express 4.0 interface, a functionality available on AMD X570 and TRX40 motherboards, Intel hasn’t officially reported this support. Furthermore, Intel has improved the wired and not-wired network interface, introducing a new Intel 2.5G Gigabit chip (rev b2, without any bugs) and sixth-generation Wi-Fi like its mobile namesake. 

One of the major differences of these new motherboards is the integration of a beefier power design that can handle the upcoming flagship CPUs with a thermal design power (TDP) up to 125 Watts. As you might know, the TDP listed from Intel guarantees the power consumption of a specific model at standard clocks. In other words, a powerful Core i9-10900K with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a max frequency of 5.30 GHz can easily burn more than 125 Watts. Although this isn’t a rule for each model around, most of them come with a solid power design.

Like the previous chipset, the Intel Z490 supports overclocking with Intel’s unlocked CPUs (-K and -KS) and this isn’t a big surprise. Although Intel has not recommended overclocking the BLCK since it is linked to the other main areas that could be unstable, the company has enabled support for PEG and DMI buses overclocking that won’t affect SATA ports and peripherals anymore. Last but not least, you can have a better control of the voltage-frequency curve and change frequency of the Hyper-Threading per core.

Alongside the high-end Z390 chipset, Intel has also introduced mainstream and budget-oriented chipsets like the H470, B460 and H410 variants. While the mainstream chipset appears to be very close to the previous one (Intel H370), there are several differences between the B460 and B360 chips. The new generation features up to 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes, which is 30% more over the previous model (12). This improvement was obtained by changing the lanes route and reducing the amount of USB 3.2 Gen2 ports available. Intel H410 is the successor of H310 and at the moment there is no datasheet about this chipset; we’ll update the article once Intel releases more information.

At the time of writing, you can choose from motherboards based on the Intel Z390 chipset only and you can find a wide list of models ranging from the tiny mini-ITX size up to the large E-ATX.

The E-ATX (Extended ATX) form factor is the largest format available for PC gamers, measuring at 305 x 330 mm. The only thing you have to worry about is if your case is large enough to fit one of these motherboards. While the ATX is usually the most used, the E-ATX might be supported but at the same time it might cover some rubber grommets for cable management. We suggest checking the datasheet of your case before buying anything. 

mATX

The micro-ATX form factor has been around for a long time, and it was developed by Intel in the mid to late 90s. This form factor (which measures 244 x 244 mm) is a small step-down from ATX. As you might notice from the pictures, one of the first differences between ATX and mATX motherboards is the amount of memory and PCIe slots available. While the amount of PCIe slots might not affect your final decision, the DDR4 slots are much more important since this could limit your future upgrade decisions and make you spend more money in quite expensive high-density memory kits. At the moment there are mATX motherboards with four or two DIMM slots and we recommend choosing a motherboard with four memory slots in order to save money in case of future upgrades.  

mini-ITX

Last but not least, there's the mini-ITX form factor, which is the smallest type on the list, and it measures 170 x 170 millimeters. This form factor is another step-down and can currently accommodate just a pair of memory modules (max 2x 32 GB) and up to one PCI-Express card. These kinds of motherboards are stuck with only a single PCIe slot and a fewer amount of storage options and internal connectors. Furthermore, in regard to aftermarket CPU coolers, you’ll have to check the size of the heat sink since it could block the memory slots and make future upgrades quite annoying to carry out. Since the components are very close to each other, any kind of task or even building the PC itself might need a bit more time than a more standard ATX system.