BIOSTAR Announces the Z590 Valkyrie and Z590I Valkyrie Flagship Motherboards

[btarunr]

BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices today announces the launch of their latest Z590 VALKYRIE series motherboard range engineered to run Intel's 11th Gen Rocket Lake-S processors.

Designed based on the latest Z590 chipset from Intel, BIOSTAR's VALKYRIE series motherboards are a brand-new breed of enthusiast grade motherboards in the market. Launched in two versions with two different form factors, the Z590 VALKYRIE (ATX) and the Z590I VALKYRIE (Mini-ITX) both carries a fully armored cover design resonating with BIOSTAR's goal of producing a premium flagship motherboard range that adds form, functionality and the wow factor to their product range.



An all-new armor gear design brings sleek design elements with passive cooling capability to the mix, and the use of gold and pink accents showcases a powerful yet royal outlook making the new VALKYRIE motherboard range fresh and extremely swoon worthy. Features like BIOSTAR's proprietary LED ROCK ZONE and VIVID LED DJ which are fan favorites when it comes to RGB lighting technology adds extra customization to the mix for users.

Engineered by BIOSTAR with the latest and greatest motherboard technology in the planet, the Z590 VALKYRIE series motherboards are ideal for users looking to install the best hardware into their new gaming rig or editing system.

With features like PCIe 4.0 which is 2x times faster than the older PCIe 3.0 and supports a bandwidth of 16GT/s bit rate, the Z590 VALKYRIE stands above its competitors by both style and technology.

Capable of running up to 128 GB of DDR4 Memory on 4 DIMMs with boost clock speeds that can reach up to 5000+(OC), the VALKYRIE series is designed for all purposes, easily capable of handling the best hardware in the toughest use cases.

The VALKYRIE series motherboards are powered by BIOSTAR's 22 phase power design and Digital PWM technology which increases system efficiency and has faster transient performance. Smartly integrated 20K Hours Durable Solid Capacitors adds an extra layer of protection to the system with its durability while providing a stable voltage output with unhindered performance.

Features like Dr. Mos help users to set up smooth overclock performance while BIOSTAR's proprietary Tough Power Connectors ensure the stability and reliability of the power supply.

Furthermore, the VALKYRIE series motherboards are engineered with fins heat sink combined together with active cooling and a full copper base and metal back plate design which can improve power supply efficiency, reduce overall temperature by 29.1% and extend the life and quality of your computer.

Storage wise, the VALKYRIE series utilizes superior PCIe M.2 4.0 technology which provides a bandwidth of 64 Gb/s and is 2x times faster than PCIe M.2 3.0 under lower latency. Additional features like CPU OPT Header, A.I FAN and BIOS EZ Mode provides the VALKYRIE series motherboard, added dexterity and ease of use for quick installations and system management.

When it comes to rear I/O, the Z590 VALKYRIE motherboard has a fully packed Rear I/O panel protected by its Armor Gear shield with ports like 1x PS/2 Keyboard/ Mouse port for older devices.

The motherboard also comes with a single USB 3.2 (Gen2x2) Type-C port which has a max data transfer rate of 20 Gbps and improved data transmission speed, 5x USB 3.2 (Gen2) ports, and 2x USB 3.2 (Gen1) ports are present for fast efficient connectivity.

2x WIFI Antenna ports and the capability to run WiFi 6 is readily available for faster internet connection and a single LAN port powered by Realtek RTL8125B chipset brings up the rest for network connectivity with BIOSTAR's 2.5 Guard technology providing safe stable internet connection with protection against electrical surges and prevents damage from lightning strikes. For display connectivity, the Z590 VALKYRIE motherboard comes with a built-in DP port (DP1.4) capable of supporting up to 5K screen resolution with the power of the latest Intel 11th Gen processors, delivering bright, crystal-clear images.

Audio Codec ALC1220 is the preferred audio technology used by the Z590 VALKYRIE motherboard with 5x Audio connectors capable of delivering 7.1 Channels, High-Definition Audio for smooth user experience for gaming and watching movies with high quality surround sound. Furthermore, the Z590 VALKYRIE motherboard also comes with a single SPDIF_Out port for that added audio amplification.

The Z590I VALKYRIE motherboard also comes with a highly versatile I/O palette. Providing much more than its small form, the Mini ITX variant of the VALKYRIE series is packed with all the essentials including 1x USB 3.2 (Gen2x2) Type C port, 2x USB 3.2 (Gen2) ports, 3x USB 3.2 (Gen1) ports and 2x USB 2.0 ports to provide ample USB connectivity. Features like a traditional PS/2 Keyboard/ Mouse port provides users with more flexibility when connecting their input devices. A single display type port is available for Video output together with an HDMI 4K2K port that can emulate bright, crystal-clear images at a 4K resolution on a refresh rate of 60Hz, this is achieved by the power of the latest Intel processors.

Much like its bigger sibling, the Z590I VALKYRIE motherboard uses Realtek RTL8125B chipset for its single port LAN connectivity with BIOSTAR's proprietary 2.5 Guard technology to protect the system against any unwanted electrical hazards. Two WIFI Antenna ports provide wireless internet connectivity to the motherboard with support for WiFi 6 also available for users to expand on.

ALC1220 audio technology powers the new Z590I VALKYRIE motherboard's audio functionality with 3x Audio connectors capable of delivering 7.1 Channels, High-Definition Audio for immersive user experience. Even with its small form-factor BIOSTAR has crafted the Z590I VALKYRIE motherboard to be a top shelf high end gaming motherboard that serves as a great choice for users looking for small form yet to have the performance of a full-on flagship ATX motherboard.

To conclude, BIOSTAR's VALKYRIE series motherboards are ready to take on the competition and come out on top. With a bold new design approach mixed with cutting edge technology, these are by far the best high-end motherboards available in the market for PC enthusiasts, capable of delivering unparalleled performance and durability.



For more information, visit the product pages of the Z590 Valkyrie and Z590I Valkyrie.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[btarunr]

The last decent motherboard by BIOSTAR that I used was the TPower I55. Maybe I'll give this brand a go again.

 

[TheLostSwede]

This looks like a massive step up and forward for Biostar.
In fact, I think these are the nicest looking boards they've ever produced.
Was there a change of management?

 

[asdkj1740]

never ever seen 20k caps used on any high end mobos!

 

[DjSunki]

These boards have great specs and looks. Biostar seems to be back in the high end and thats a good thing

 

[Max(IT)]

these are by far the best high-end motherboards available in the market for PC enthusiasts, capable of delivering unparalleled performance and durability.

quite a bold statement for something yet to be thoroughly tested.

 

[ixi]

This looks like a massive step up and forward for Biostar.
In fact, I think these are the nicest looking boards they've ever produced.
Was there a change of management?

Never have used them, but this one looks good, waiting for reviews!

 

[Caring1]

these are by far the best high-end motherboards available in the market for PC enthusiasts, capable of delivering unparalleled performance and durability.

quite a bold statement for something yet to be thoroughly tested.

I interpret that to mean, by Biostar.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Never have used them, but this one looks good, waiting for reviews!

Neither have I, they're made here, yet not available locally

 

[Tatty_Two]

I had a Biostar Z97 board and it was flawless, if they had released much of a line up at the time I went Z490 as an early adopter I would certainly have considered another.

 

[ixi]

Neither have I, they're made here, yet not available locally

Made where, which country?

 

[Valantar]

Never have used them, but this one looks good, waiting for reviews!

My X370GTN is a mixed bag - though that is three years old now and was the first ITX AM4 motherboard by any OEM, so I guess that stands somewhat to reason. BIOS features are messy and rather lacking (fan control is downright atrocious), overclocking features are ... meh. Messy and poorly presented. It's rather weak in terms of stability, not managing faster RAM than 2933 no matter what I do (though the Zen IMC is obviously also not helping there), and I've had periodic black-screen shutdown crashes. But with some tweaking and some workarounds for its weaker features (such as using an external fan controller) it's perfectly decent. I still sincerely doubt I'll be picking Biostar for my next motherboard though - but then they seem to have abandoned AM4 ITX after the 4xx generation of chipsets, so it's not like they're really an option anyhow.

This does look like a much more polished product than the GTN though, and hopefully the launch of a new flagship series is meant to indicate a wholesale step up in terms of features, polish and finish.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Made where, which country?

Their HQ is 15 minutes drive from where I live. Then again, so is Gigabyte and HTC.

 

[Fouquin]

My X370GTN is a mixed bag - though that is three years old now and was the first ITX AM4 motherboard by any OEM, so I guess that stands somewhat to reason. BIOS features are messy and rather lacking (fan control is downright atrocious), overclocking features are ... meh. Messy and poorly presented. It's rather weak in terms of stability, not managing faster RAM than 2933 no matter what I do (though the Zen IMC is obviously also not helping there), and I've had periodic black-screen shutdown crashes. But with some tweaking and some workarounds for its weaker features (such as using an external fan controller) it's perfectly decent. I still sincerely doubt I'll be picking Biostar for my next motherboard though - but then they seem to have abandoned AM4 ITX after the 4xx generation of chipsets, so it's not like they're really an option anyhow.

This does look like a much more polished product than the GTN though, and hopefully the launch of a new flagship series is meant to indicate a wholesale step up in terms of features, polish and finish.

Hmmm, strange. I've also been using the X370GTN since launch and have no problems with fan control. (It's a linear scale 1-255, for PWM) BIOS is messy, yes, but it has all the ECC feature support unlocked out of the box in case you wanted to run very specific DIMMs. I've run 3300 and 3400 CL14 on here no problem with a few different chips, the latest being the 3600X. The only issue I have is the boot times on NVMe are not great.

 

[Valantar]

Hmmm, strange. I've also been using the X370GTN since launch and have no problems with fan control. (It's a linear scale 1-255, for PWM) BIOS is messy, yes, but it has all the ECC feature support unlocked out of the box in case you wanted to run very specific DIMMs. I've run 3300 and 3400 CL14 on here no problem with a few different chips, the latest being the 3600X. The only issue I have is the boot times on NVMe are not great.

Hm? The fan control has two seemingly arbitrary numbers with nonsensical labels, one seeming to indicate a baseline PWM level and one indicating how quickly it rises with temperature increases, but ... how on earth is a user supposed to get anything useful out of that without a very tedious cycle of trying, booting up and running thermal tests to see how it actually responds, rebooting, trying new settings, etc.? How are you supposed to know at what temperature it, for example, maxes out fan speeds? It's ridiculous, weird, unintuitive, lacks feedback, and is completely non-standard. As for RAM, my TridentZ sticks aren't great by any means, but they ran their stock 3200 in a friend's Gigabyte B450+2600 system with no problem, so there's definitely something off with my mobo+CPU combo. But as always with RAM, YMMV. Luckily current Ryzen IMCs are dramatically improved, and we have wonderful, cheap RAM like Micron E-die to get us where we want - the Ballistix Sport LT 3200C16 in my 4650G HTPC hit 3800c16 @1.38V with numbers straight out of Dram calc. No complaints there!

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

Biostar went all out on Z590, interested to see how they perform

 

[Fouquin]

Hm? The fan control has two seemingly arbitrary numbers with nonsensical labels, one seeming to indicate a baseline PWM level and one indicating how quickly it rises with temperature increases, but ... how on earth is a user supposed to get anything useful out of that without a very tedious cycle of trying, booting up and running thermal tests to see how it actually responds, rebooting, trying new settings, etc.? How are you supposed to know at what temperature it, for example, maxes out fan speeds? It's ridiculous, weird, unintuitive, lacks feedback, and is completely non-standard. As for RAM, my TridentZ sticks aren't great by any means, but they ran their stock 3200 in a friend's Gigabyte B450+2600 system with no problem, so there's definitely something off with my mobo+CPU combo. But as always with RAM, YMMV. Luckily current Ryzen IMCs are dramatically improved, and we have wonderful, cheap RAM like Micron E-die to get us where we want - the Ballistix Sport LT 3200C16 in my 4650G HTPC hit 3800c16 @1.38V with numbers straight out of Dram calc. No complaints there!

Use 'Fan Calibrate' at the top of the page and watch/listen to what the values apply to. You can use that info to set the fans accordingly. If you don't want the fans to cycle up and down with temps and want a constant value set the "fan sensitive" value to 1 and the fans on that header will stick to whatever you set them to. Knowing what your fans are capable of helps a lot, too. I use 12v 0.35A fans and ~120 on the fan start value gives me a nice constant 1440RPM. The board also has a thermal limit setting that kicks everything up to max if you surpass it.

I'm not going to defend it as a good system, but a little observation of the automatic calibration and some deductive reasoning combined with knowledge of your hardware goes a long way.

 

[Valantar]

Use 'Fan Calibrate' at the top of the page and watch/listen to what the values apply to. You can use that info to set the fans accordingly. If you don't want the fans to cycle up and down with temps and want a constant value set the "fan sensitive" value to 1 and the fans on that header will stick to whatever you set them to. Knowing what your fans are capable of helps a lot, too. I use 12v 0.35A fans and ~120 on the fan start value gives me a nice constant 1440RPM. The board also has a thermal limit setting that kicks everything up to max if you surpass it.

I'm not going to defend it as a good system, but a little observation of the automatic calibration and some deductive reasoning combined with knowledge of your hardware goes a long way.

I've used the calibration system, and it still makes no sense - all it does is give recommended numbers with zero useful information. I mean, how can you make a fan calibration system with zero information on how it relates to temperatures? The only thing it lets you know is a which temperature the fan adjustments start working, which ... well, okay, that still doesn't say how it works. How is that even remotely useful? It still requires several cycles of reboots and testing to actually figure out how the settings reflect thermal changes, which is after all the entire point of a fan setting. That a higher number for "sensitive" makes the fan speed increase more quickly makes sense, but how much? When does it reach 100%? Even lacking the ability to add a multi-point fan curve could be forgiven, but not being able to even set a linear progression with known start and end points? Sorry, that's not even remotely acceptable. I did at some point manage to find a somewhat passable setup, but given that my RAM issues has necessitated several BIOS resets, those settings were lost and going through the same process again was just too much of a hassle. So unless you have fans that are decently silent even at 100% (definitely doesn't apply to my Gentle Typhoon) and thus don't need an even remotely fine-tuned fan curve, this system is utter garbage.

 

[Fouquin]

I've used the calibration system, and it still makes no sense - all it does is give recommended numbers with zero useful information. I mean, how can you make a fan calibration system with zero information on how it relates to temperatures? The only thing it lets you know is a which temperature the fan adjustments start working, which ... well, okay, that still doesn't say how it works. How is that even remotely useful? It still requires several cycles of reboots and testing to actually figure out how the settings reflect thermal changes, which is after all the entire point of a fan setting. That a higher number for "sensitive" makes the fan speed increase more quickly makes sense, but how much? When does it reach 100%? Even lacking the ability to add a multi-point fan curve could be forgiven, but not being able to even set a linear progression with known start and end points? Sorry, that's not even remotely acceptable. I did at some point manage to find a somewhat passable setup, but given that my RAM issues has necessitated several BIOS resets, those settings were lost and going through the same process again was just too much of a hassle. So unless you have fans that are decently silent even at 100% (definitely doesn't apply to my Gentle Typhoon) and thus don't need an even remotely fine-tuned fan curve, this system is utter garbage.

Okay, great. We've been over how much you hate it. I'm just trying to relay information to help with using it.

1 = lowest setting
255 = highest setting

You have a linear scale to follow. If your fan has a minimal setting of 600RPM, 1 = 600RPM. Work from there.

When you run the calibration, watch the RPM readout to the left. Now you know as it goes through the values from 1 to 255 where the fan speed is along that scale. If you are using the sensitive setting at all and not setting a flat RPM than also set the on and off temps to your desired limits. The sensitive setting creates a steeper ramp between temp A and temp B, and is the same as dragging the first and last point on a multi-point.

 

[Valantar]

Okay, great. We've been over how much you hate it. I'm just trying to relay information to help with using it.

1 = lowest setting
255 = highest setting

You have a linear scale to follow. If your fan has a minimal setting of 600RPM, 1 = 600RPM. Work from there.

When you run the calibration, watch the RPM readout to the left. Now you know as it goes through the values from 1 to 255 where the fan speed is along that scale. If you are using the sensitive setting at all and not setting a flat RPM than also set the on and off temps to your desired limits. The sensitive setting creates a steeper ramp between temp A and temp B, and is the same as dragging the first and last point on a multi-point.

None of what you are saying is new. I've spent more than enough time trying to figure this out to know that the problem is not down to my lack of understanding, it's down to the entirely arbitrary and unexplained nature of the settings provided. Oh, and thanks for explaining how numerical scales in BIOS settings tend to go from 0 (not 1, btw) to 255. It's not like 20 years of building PCs would have taught me that ...

However, you're missing the point: what good does moving the first and last point of a multi-point curve do if you don't know the temperatures these correspond to? Also, you're misrepresenting the two temperatures provided; they're not min and max temps, they're fan control on/off temps, i.e. below X℃ the fan runs at the minimum set RPM, while above Y℃ the fan starts ramping up - similar to how fan-off modes on GPUs tend to work, where the fan shuts off below, say, 50℃ but only turns on if it exceeds, say, 65℃. The default settings for these are 10℃ and 20℃ respectively, so if they were min and max temps they would literally leave every PC in the world with this motherboard at constant 100% fan speeds. I.e. the fans run at minimum speed if at or below 10℃ and start ramping up if they exceed 20℃. How rapidly does it ramp up? No clue, other than that the higher the "sensitive" number, the faster it ramps. Does that mean it goes to 100% PWM in ... 10 degrees? 20? 50? 70? There is no way to know this. So how is it useful? There are literally two options after running calibration: accepting the recommended settings, whatever they mean, or making a random guess at some higher/lower number to achieve a gentler/steeper rise. Any adjustments require booting into an OS, loading the system to gauge fan response, then rebooting into BIOS to make a new guess at what might be a better number.

As for the scale being linear, you yourself demonstrate how this is false: fans don't respond linearly to PWM signals, after all. At best this gives ballpark numbers - but again, unless you're setting fixed RPMs, it's not like that is actually useful, is it? You don't get access to setting PWM values for anything but fixed speeds, so that point is moot. As for setting a fixed RPM - if that's your concept of adequate fan control, we're speaking different languages. That was barely adequate 10 years ago.

I mean, if it let me set minimum and maximum PWM values and temperatures, that would be acceptable. At least that would result in a predictable outcome. But it doesn't even do that.

 

[AusWolf]

If they changed that pink accent to any different colour, I would say I love the design.

 

[ThatPhatFatHat]

Why are there 5 internal USB 2 headers?

It's definitely a step in the right direction for biostar, but the goldy/yellow colour scheme looks a bit dated and hard to colour coordinate to me. Maybe to appeal to a larger market they could release the same board with a more modern aesthetic such as white/grey/chrome highlights, I think I'd give it some serious consideration for a build if they did.

 

[Ghostline91]

Good to see they are back in the high-end market again, maybe i'll give this a try