Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Master

[Black Haru]

Intel's 11th Generation Core Processors are right around the corner, and with them a whole host of new motherboards. The Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Master boasts a massive VRM with 90 A power stages, dual BIOS, and even 10 Gb/s LAN. Let's see how the new Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Master performs!

Show full review

 

[Nater]

Page 3 - Board Layout:
"There are three M.2 slots on the Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Master. All three slots feature double-sided full-coverage heatsinks. Note that the top M.2 slot is PCIe 4.0 compliant and will only function when an 11th Gen CPU is installed."

By that you mean it will only function in PCIe 4.0 mode with an 11th gen CPU? It still works in Gen3 mode with a 10th gen CPU right? Just the way it reads, it's as if the slot is just dead to the world unless a rocket-lake CPU is installed.

 

[dj-electric]

Some top slots will be inactive when ran with CML-S and Core i3 RKL-S CPUs, much like many 400 series boards simply have top disabled slots "for future use" especially for the same reason.

I think this is a fat enough hint regarding the future of budget oriented upcoming 11th gen.

 

[skizzo]

$410?! Jesus christ!!!!!

I got my Z390 version of this board for $250 when 9th gen CPUs were still new, and that's with shipping and tax. apparently not just GPUs are going up to insane costs! I would HATE myself if having to pay these prices today!

And totally agree a negative is removing the PCI-E x1 slots....which they actually did on the Z490 too. I wouldn't care about not have dual LAN ports though....

Page 3 - Board Layout:
"There are three M.2 slots on the Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Master. All three slots feature double-sided full-coverage heatsinks. Note that the top M.2 slot is PCIe 4.0 compliant and will only function when an 11th Gen CPU is installed."

By that you mean it will only function in PCIe 4.0 mode with an 11th gen CPU? It still works in Gen3 mode with a 10th gen CPU right? Just the way it reads, it's as if the slot is just dead to the world unless a rocket-lake CPU is installed.

I have to think it was the latter. I know what you mean by how it reads, but that seems awfully silly to outright disable a M.2 port based on CPU PCI-E gen capability, when it is perfectly capable of running at one gen slower (3 vs 4) when dependant on the CPU gen installed. Their older gen boards of this model have three M.2 slots for example that can all be used simultaneously. I wouldn't expect anything different here.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Is that heatsink/fan near the VRM just for the Aquantia 10Gbit chip? Doesn't look like it would help much for airflow over the VRMs.

Anyway, fine board.

 

[Steyfo]

Did they fixed the issue with the fan header on the Z490/Z590 where they couldn't drive Noctua fans?

 

[Searing]

Too bad the CPUs are terrible. Go check out the Anandtech review of the 11700k posted today. Buy a Ryzen 5600x or 5800x instead. Bad integer IPC improvements (FP is ok), bad L3 cache latency, bad gaming performance, bad power consumption. Basically lost in every benchmark vs the Ryzen.

 

[Space Lynx]

Too bad the CPUs are terrible. Go check out the Anandtech review of the 11700k posted today. Buy a Ryzen 5600x or 5800x instead. Bad integer IPC improvements (FP is ok), bad L3 cache latency, bad gaming performance, bad power consumption. Basically lost in every benchmark vs the Ryzen.

Just had a look at that review, it's a shame they didnt include a 5600x, i get 70 watts usage in most games and I probably match rocket lake toe to toe with not as much CPU power package. would have been nice to know for sure though. looks like they only tested the 5800x

they can say goodbye to Intel ever working with them in the future though, lol even though they are doing it legit... that is a bit... well forward lol

edit: just noticed how much power rocket lake needs holy crap... lmao. im literally using half of the 5800x in watts and i prob get same scores in games as 5800x, and the rocket lake is using almost double what the 5800x wow... i really didn't think it would be that bad. not sure what Intel is thinking. we are trying to save the Earth, not hurry it along. its a good thing Intel didn't try to win over next gen consoles, my goodness.

 

[Searing]

well it is peak power, not average power that is double, but still...

 

[TheLostSwede]

Page 3 - Board Layout:
"There are three M.2 slots on the Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Master. All three slots feature double-sided full-coverage heatsinks. Note that the top M.2 slot is PCIe 4.0 compliant and will only function when an 11th Gen CPU is installed."

By that you mean it will only function in PCIe 4.0 mode with an 11th gen CPU? It still works in Gen3 mode with a 10th gen CPU right? Just the way it reads, it's as if the slot is just dead to the world unless a rocket-lake CPU is installed.

No, it means exactly what the reviewer wrote.
10th gen CPUs don't have the extra four PCIe lanes from the CPU, so there would be no physical interface between the CPU and the slot.
This is why you need an 11th gen CPU for it to be usable. It doesn't even have anything to do with PCIe 3.0 vs. 4.0.

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

sure the 5800X is better in every department but how to get one when they're so limited let alone their prices are terrible? Another problem is AM4 is becoming a dead-end platform once AM5 comes into play. Intel doesn't have supply issues or have a dead end platform when both 10th and 11th gen are interchangeable between Intel 400 and 500 Series boards since they share the same LGA1200 socket.

 

[Tom Sunday]

I wonder for the many here who cannot afford right now both, a new 11th generation CPU and a new Z590 board, and how a 10th generation CPU will play on a Z590 board? There most likely will be BIOS and driver issues (operating & performance differences) with most of the existing Z490 board architectures? The deal here would essentially be to buying a Z590 board first and then when more cash becomes available upgrading to a new 11th generation CPU.

My own opinion is for most current upgraders to better stick with all Z590 hardware and to be sure. I most certainly do not want to be at the mercy of motherboard manufacturers and if they will ever release a actual mature version of BIOS for Z490 CPU's running on a Z590 board. Then of course in about 6-8 months time Alder Lake appears and changing the upgrader landscape again in its entirety. We live in interesting times.

 

[altermere]

sure the 5800X is better in every department but how to get one when they're so limited let alone their prices are terrible? Another problem is AM4 is becoming a dead-end platform once AM5 comes into play. Intel doesn't have supply issues or have a dead end platform when both 10th and 11th gen are interchangeable between Intel 400 and 500 Series boards since they share the same LGA1200 socket.

yeah, and AMD only recently began investigating x570/b550 usb issues with PCIE4. a true fix could very well be released when AM5 hits. so we have Prescott 2.0 on one hand and a buggy chipset on the other with CPUs rarer than diamonds...

 

[Nater]

I have to think it was the latter. I know what you mean by how it reads, but that seems awfully silly to outright disable a M.2 port based on CPU PCI-E gen capability, when it is perfectly capable of running at one gen slower (3 vs 4) when dependant on the CPU gen installed. Their older gen boards of this model have three M.2 slots for example that can all be used simultaneously. I wouldn't expect anything different here.

No, it means exactly what the reviewer wrote.
10th gen CPUs don't have the extra four PCIe lanes from the CPU, so there would be no physical interface between the CPU and the slot.
This is why you need an 11th gen CPU for it to be usable. It doesn't even have anything to do with PCIe 3.0 vs. 4.0.

@skizzo Nope, we can't assume. @TheLostSwede is right, it literally is dead to the world without an 11th Gen CPU installed. I checked their specs page, and even the manual confirms it as well, with another note saying "Be sure to use Intel® SSDs if you want to set up a RAID configuration on the M2A_CPU connector"; implying RAID won't work including that slot unless you're using genuine Intel SSD drives.

 

[TheLostSwede]

sure the 5800X is better in every department but how to get one when they're so limited let alone their prices are terrible? Another problem is AM4 is becoming a dead-end platform once AM5 comes into play. Intel doesn't have supply issues or have a dead end platform when both 10th and 11th gen are interchangeable between Intel 400 and 500 Series boards since they share the same LGA1200 socket.

How many do you want? Come to Taiwan, plenty in stock here for MSRP.
This shop has at least five in stock.

AMD R7 5800X 8核16緒/3.8G(↑4.7G)/36M/7nm/105W/PCIE4.0_Ryzen R7_AMD AM4 - Ryzen 5000系列_處理器 CPU_所有產品 | PCKING 京樺電腦商城

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yeah, and AMD only recently began investigating x570/b550 usb issues with PCIE4. a true fix could very well be released when AM5 hits. so we have Prescott 2.0 on one hand and a buggy chipset on the other with CPUs rarer than diamonds...

What issue? I haven't had a single problem. Don't make a big deal out of something that isn't affecting most people.

 

[lightning70]

The first tests on CPUs are embarrassing. Power consumption up to 300W, higher latency L3 cache, and slightly faster or the same than 10700k in games. No big increase Also lower than 5800x.

 

[altermere]

What issue? I haven't had a single problem. Don't make a big deal out of something that isn't affecting most people.

it clearly affects enough people for AMD to make it a priority. similar issue was present on 300 and 400 chipsets but wasn't that widespread.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/lnmet0

x570 usb issue site:reddit.com - Google Search

 

[TheLostSwede]

it clearly affects enough people for AMD to make it a priority. similar issue was present on 300 and 400 chipsets but wasn't that widespread.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/lnmet0

x570 usb issue site:reddit.com - Google Search

Do we know this for sure, or is there just a small group of people making a lot of noise on reddit?
I have a few friends with X570 boards and PCIe 4.0 graphics cards and not a single one of them have this issue.
Not saying there isn't a problem, but it's clearly affecting far from everyone.

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

@TheLostSwede you guys are fortunate to have Ryzen processors at MSRP. Over here in Malaysia, stocks are limited and are at higher than usual MSRP, even for an old R5 3600. Any news that there's a price reduction for Intel 10th gen processors over there? Kinda curious since over here, an i5-10600K is selling around $240.

 

[1d10t]

It's quite feature-packed for $ 400, although I'm not sure what the incentive is over the $ 200 X570 beside fanless chipset.

sure the 5800X is better in every department but how to get one when they're so limited let alone their prices are terrible? Another problem is AM4 is becoming a dead-end platform once AM5 comes into play. Intel doesn't have supply issues or have a dead end platform when both 10th and 11th gen are interchangeable between Intel 400 and 500 Series boards since they share the same LGA1200 socket.

Don't you think Rocket Lake will be Dead on Arrival? Seriously ,both platform are near its end of life cycle, what kind of liquid would you have to take in order to draw such conclusions?
B450 work well with all series (1000 series up to 5000 series), and where is that "interchangeable" in B460?

 

[TheLostSwede]

@TheLostSwede you guys are fortunate to have Ryzen processors at MSRP. Over here in Malaysia, stocks are limited and are at higher than usual MSRP, even for an old R5 3600. Any news that there's a price reduction for Intel 10th gen processors over there? Kinda curious since over here, an i5-10600K is selling around $240.

Well, it's local MSRP, which is about $40 more than in the US, although that is including 5% VAT.
There are rarely any discounts for anything here, although I snagged my 2080 when the Super cards launched at less than a 2070 Super was retailing for. Rare deal here.
Never really seen CPUs on sale, unless it's something really old.

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

I see.

 

[mechtech]

Did you test the 10Gb network out on that motherboard?

Well, it's local MSRP, which is about $40 more than in the US, although that is including 5% VAT.
There are rarely any discounts for anything here, although I snagged my 2080 when the Super cards launched at less than a 2070 Super was retailing for. Rare deal here.
Never really seen CPUs on sale, unless it's something really old.

My newphew just got an AMD 5600x, from I don't know who/where, was about $530, and after 13% taxes and shipping was about $600 CAD!! No CPUs or GPU's in Canada (well some intel cpus are available, but they have their own fabs, which is paying off good for them now!!)

 

[TheLostSwede]

Did you test the 10Gb network out on that motherboard?


My newphew just got an AMD 5600x, from I don't know who/where, was about $530, and after 13% taxes and shipping was about $600 CAD!! No CPUs or GPU's in Canada (well some intel cpus are available, but they have their own fabs, which is paying off good for them now!!)

He was ripped off.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0815XFSGK

 

[LocutusH]

Only a single Aquantia 10GBE LAN?

Oh, good luck with that.

After the amount of problems i have with my integrated 10GBE Aquantia on my X470 Taichi Ultimate, i will never buy anything with Aquantia Chip again.
It would be already in the trash, it would not have another intel gigabit ethernet integrated wich i can use without problems.