MSI, ASUS Z590 Motherboard Lineup Surface; MSI Models up to €999, ASUS up to €1516

Raevenlord · Jan 14, 2021

The Z590 motherboard lineups for both MSI and ASUS have just released and... They are interesting, to say the least. MSI will have as many as 12 different motherboard solutions, with the top one, the über-high-end MEG Z590 GODLIKE, retailing for as much as €999 ($1019). The MEG GODLIKE has faced a deep redesign compared to its predecessor, and there are two new MEG products directly under it - the MEG Z590 ACE and MEG Z590 UNIFY which are priced in a slightly less outrageous way (€479 for the MEG ACE, €379 for the MEG UNIFY). The cheapest MSI option stands as the Z590-A PRO, as €189.

As for ASUS, well... Things are looking pricey as well throughout its 13 models. The company's flagship model Z590 ROG MAXIMUS XIII EXTREME GLACIAL will go for a cool, not-at-all-collected €1516 (but that pricing does include a custom liquid-cooling monoblock designed in collaboration with EK). Descend a couple of steps down the ASUS product line ladder and you'll find the ROG MAXIMUS XIII EXTREME (€960) and the ROG MAXIMUS XIII HERO/APEX motherboards for €505. The cheapest ASUS motherboard mimics MSI's pricing at €189; for those euros, you'll snag yourself a PRIME Z590M-PLUS motherboard (check ASUS' entire lineup after the break). Is it just me, or it's getting pricier to keep DIY desktop construction as a hobby?

ROG MAXIMUS XIII EXTREME GLACIAL - €1516 - Available Q1 / 2021
ROG MAXIMUS XIII EXTREME - €960 - Available Q1 / 2021
ROG MAXIMUS XIII HERO - €505 - Available End of February 2021
ROG MAXIMUS XIII APEX - €505 - Available Q1 / 2021
ROG STRIX Z590-E GAMING WIFI - €378 - Available End of February 2021
ROG STRIX Z590-F GAMING WIFI - €341- Available End of February 2021
ROG STRIX Z590-A GAMING WIFI - €328 - Available End of February 2021
ROG STRIX Z590-I GAMING WIFI - €378 - Available Q1 / 2021
PRIME Z590-A - €277 - Available End of February 2021
TUF GAMING Z590-PLUS WIFI - €252 - Available End of February 2021
TUF GAMING Z590-PLUS - €239 - Available Q1 / 2021
PRIME Z590-P - €201 - Available Q1 / 2021
PRIME Z590M-PLUS - €189 - Available Q1 / 202

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

boulard83 · Jan 14, 2021

The prices are gettting a bit stupid on "high end boards".

Dristun · Jan 14, 2021

All this for a 250W 8-core, lmao. I guess I'm just not an "enthusiast".

bonehead123 · Jan 14, 2021

boulard83 said:
The prices are gettting a bit stupid on "high end boards".

^^THIS^^

"Stupid is as stupid does" hehehe....

Aint no GD friggin way I'm eva,eva, eva gonna pay ANYWHERE near $1k for ANY mobo, waterblocks be damned.....

Well, not unless of course I win that $700Mil+ powerball lottery, like, tomorrow.....

And why the hell are there absolutely ZERO specs/features listed for these boards, wtf ? Yea I know it's just a copy/paste press release, but still....

Bubster · Jan 14, 2021

Who Knew that Covid Virus is gonna be an opportunity for these scumbag OEMs (especially Nvidia) to get rich quick, charge what they want and walk away with it scott free...

ZoneDymo · Jan 14, 2021

boulard83 said:
The prices are gettting a bit stupid on "high end boards".

yeah but again, these are halo products with custom borderline full front waterblocks from EK on them, like the Asrock Aqua before them which cost 1000 bucks.

These are not for you or I to buy, these are products for brand building/recognision, only to be shown off and reviewed by Linus or GN or so.

EDIT: im a bit baffled by all these reactions tbh, like...do you guys go over to some Bugatti forum to complain how outrages it is that they ask 3 million dollars for their new car?
Or are you actually aware that car isnt for you (heck its barely for anyone, the company loses money on ever single one sold) and just go buy that Ford or whatever you were going to anyway?

Do we not see these 200 to 400 dollar boards that thus are still normally priced that are in those images and lists and mentioned in the article?

Ruru · Jan 14, 2021

1.5KEUR from a non-HETD board? This is insane.

R00kie · Jan 14, 2021

And I thought Z490 was expensive in comparison with Z390, this is beyond insane

xtreemchaos · Jan 14, 2021

theres something there for everybody including me whos poor as church mice selling crack and those god like people who have more money than gray matter

.

Deleted member 197223 · Jan 14, 2021

As a plebeian I think my Z390-E will keep me company for another 2 years or so. While Z590-E do offer PCIe 4.0 I would have to upgrade everything to fully utilize it. Clearly I upgraded at the right time. Might as well wait for 5.0 and hope prices have calmed down by then ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

RedelZaVedno · Jan 14, 2021

LMAO, €1,519/999 for a Motherboard? Are ppl working at ASUS & MSI out of their F minds? Greedy bastards! As things are progressing now DIY PC building will soon become extinct.

msimax · Jan 14, 2021

godlike with 2 pcie slots hmm

boulard83 · Jan 14, 2021

ZoneDymo said:
yeah but agian, these are halo products will custom borderline full front waterblocks from EK on them, like the Asrock Aqua before them which cost 1000 bucks.

These are not for you or I to buy, these are products for brand building/recognision, only to be shown off and reviewed by Linus or GN or so.

I currently run a Rampage V Extreme X99 wich i bought Day1 at 529$ Canadian dollar in 2014. I'm the kind of guy who buy top tier and keep it for a long time.

These price translate to ~300-400% inflation for top tier MB and keep in mind that Z590 is the "mid range" chipset.

MxPhenom 216 · Jan 14, 2021

Bubster said:
Who Knew that Covid Virus is gonna be an opportunity for these scumbag OEMs (especially Nvidia) to get rich quick, charge what they want and walk away with it scott free...

Don't buy then...

#Capitalism

r9 · Jan 14, 2021

When I build the PC usually with Gaming in mind and then for work I allocate money in this order:
1. GPU
2. CPU
3. RAM
4. MB, PSU, Case etc
Basically the most FPS for $.
So yeah paying $1k+ for motherboard is insane especially almost everything is on the CPUs anyways.

RedelZaVedno · Jan 14, 2021

The problem is that 'high tide raises all boats'. Expect new mainstream B and H motherboards to cost between 130 and 190€ instead of 60 to 120€. DIY PC market segment is all FU atm.

TheoneandonlyMrK · Jan 14, 2021

I'm not arsed by top end ,fools money board's, even the cheapest one isn't cheap enough though.

Tomgang · Jan 14, 2021

1500 EURO for a freaking none INTEL HEDT/AMD THREADRIPPER motherboard and you are max out at 8 cores and properly around 500 USD for 11900K.

So 3 times ass much for a motherboard than the max price for top tier cpu on the socket and here I though X570 boards where ridiculous expensive.

Excuse my French but this is literally the most stupid thing I have ever seen so far and I will just say that.. "Sensorer bad cursing words". That helped coming out with my anger. I am all ready pretty annoyed by the lack of cpu and gpu to overprice and now we habve to deal with overpriced motherboard as well. I hate being holding back by miners, Scalpers, the virus and greddy companies.

Solid State Soul ( SSS ) · Jan 14, 2021

Remember when HERO boards, the perfect "end all be all" for a gaming build use to cost 200$, now its 550$ and even the cheapest Z590 from ASSUS is 200$.
This is getting out of hand, if this continues for a few more years PC gaming will drop to a step decline.

ZoneDymo · Jan 14, 2021

boulard83 said:
I currently run a Rampage V Extreme X99 wich i bought Day1 at 529$ Canadian dollar in 2014. I'm the kind of guy who buy top tier and keep it for a long time.

These price translate to ~300-400% inflation for top tier MB and keep in mind that Z590 is the "mid range" chipset.

and I buy meh tier and keep it for a long time XD

Makaveli · Jan 14, 2021

boulard83 said:
The prices are gettting a bit stupid on "high end boards".

lol for real.

What are these board makers smoking.

There is no upgrade path on these boards past Rocket Lake S you gotta be a real genius to spend this kinda cash on one of these just to do it again for alderlake.

SamuelL · Jan 14, 2021

$1000 for a motherboard is absurd and $1500 is flat out stupid.

$600-700 is extreme and IMO is only justifiable on HEDT workstation builds or similar. Double that or more for a consumer board is nuts. A full custom block setup could justify a (slightly) higher price but $1500+ for that ASUS board is shameful.

BArms · Jan 14, 2021

Where is a price fixing investigation when you need one? Kidding, but I find it hard to believe their profit margin on the $1500 board won't be at least 500%.

zlobby · Jan 14, 2021

boulard83 said:
The prices are gettting a bit stupid on "high end boards".

Only because people are buying them for stupid prices.

Nothing drives prices down quite like zero sales.

sepheronx · Jan 14, 2021

Now I don't feel bad about spending $200 cad on a MSI z490 gaming plus Mobo.

Not like PCIe 4.0 will add any benefit to gaming or real world performance.

System Name	The Ryzening
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
Motherboard	MSI X570 MAG TOMAHAWK
Cooling	Lian Li Galahad 360mm AIO
Memory	32 GB G.Skill Trident Z F4-3733 (4x 8 GB)
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte RTX 3070 Ti
Storage	Boot: Transcend MTE220S 2TB, Kintson A2000 1TB, Seagate Firewolf Pro 14 TB
Display(s)	Acer Nitro VG270UP (1440p 144 Hz IPS)
Case	Lian Li O11DX Dynamic White
Audio Device(s)	iFi Audio Zen DAC
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus+ 750 W
Mouse	Cooler Master Masterkeys Lite L
Keyboard	Cooler Master Masterkeys Lite L
Software	Windows 10 x64

Processor	Intel 12600K
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z690 Gaming X
Cooling	CPU: Noctua NH-D15S; Case: 2xNoctua NF-A14, 1xNF-S12A.
Memory	Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 @3600CL16 2*16GB
Video Card(s)	Palit RTX 4080
Storage	Samsung 970 Pro 512GB + Crucial MX500 500gb + WD Red 6TB
Display(s)	Dell S2721qs
Case	Phanteks P300A Mesh
Audio Device(s)	Behringer UMC204HD
Power Supply	Fractal Design Ion+ 560W
Mouse	Glorious Model D-

System Name	The Little One
Processor	i5-11320H @4.4GHZ
Motherboard	AZW SEI
Cooling	Fan w/heat pipes + side & rear vents
Memory	64GB Crucial DDR4-3200 (2x 32GB)
Video Card(s)	Iris XE
Storage	WD Black SN850X 4TB m.2, Seagate 2TB SSD + SN850 4TB x2 in an external enclosure
Display(s)	2x Samsung 43" & 2x 32"
Case	Practically identical to a mac mini, just purrtier in slate blue, & with 3x usb ports on the front !
Audio Device(s)	Yamaha ATS-1060 Bluetooth Soundbar & Subwoofer
Power Supply	65w brick
Mouse	Logitech MX Master 2
Keyboard	Logitech G613 mechanical wireless
Software	Windows 10 pro 64 bit, with all the unnecessary background shitzu turned OFF !
Benchmark Scores	PDQ

System Name	BUBSTER
Processor	I7 13700K (6.1 GHZ XTU OC)
Motherboard	Z690 Gigabyte Aorus Elite Pro
Cooling	Arctic Freezer II 360 RGB
Memory	32GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB DDR4 4800MHz 2x16GB
Video Card(s)	Asus GeForce RTX 3070 Super Dual OC
Storage	Kingston KC 3000 PCIE4 1Tb + 2 Kingston KC 3000 1TB PCIE4 RAID 0 + 4 TB Crucial gen 4 +12 TB HDD
Display(s)	Sony Bravia A85 j OLED
Case	Corsair Carbide Air 540
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar Essence STX II
Power Supply	Corsair AX 850 Titanium
Mouse	Corsair Gaming M65 Pro RGB + Razr Taipan
Keyboard	Asus ROG Strix Flare Cherry MX Red + Corsair Gaming K65 lux RGB
Software	Windows 11 Pro x64

System Name	Cyberline
Processor	Intel Core i7 2600k -> 12600k
Motherboard	Asus P8P67 LE Rev 3.0 -> Gigabyte Z690 Auros Elite DDR4
Cooling	Tuniq Tower 120 -> Custom Watercoolingloop
Memory	Corsair (4x2) 8gb 1600mhz -> Crucial (8x2) 16gb 3600mhz
Video Card(s)	AMD RX480 -> RX7800XT
Storage	Samsung 750 Evo 250gb SSD + WD 1tb x 2 + WD 2tb -> 2tb MVMe SSD
Display(s)	Philips 32inch LPF5605H (television) -> Dell S3220DGF
Case	antec 600 -> Thermaltake Tenor HTCP case
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite 2i4 (USB)
Power Supply	Seasonic 620watt 80+ Platinum
Mouse	Elecom EX-G
Keyboard	Rapoo V700
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64bit

MSI, ASUS Z590 Motherboard Lineup Surface; MSI Models up to €999, ASUS up to €1516

Raevenlord

News Editor

boulard83

Dristun

bonehead123

Bubster

ZoneDymo

Ruru

S.T.A.R.S.

R00kie

xtreemchaos

Deleted member 197223

Guest

RedelZaVedno

msimax

boulard83

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer

r9

RedelZaVedno

TheoneandonlyMrK

Tomgang

Solid State Soul ( SSS )

ZoneDymo

Makaveli

SamuelL

BArms

zlobby

sepheronx

System Name	4K-gaming
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X w/Eisblock XPX
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550M Aorus Elite
Cooling	Custom loop with 240x45 rad
Memory	32GB Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4-3466
Video Card(s)	Asus GeForce RTX 3080 TUF w/Vector TUF
Storage	~4TB SSDs + 6TB external HDDs
Display(s)	Acer 27" 4K120 + Lenovo 32" 4K60
Case	Corsair 4000D Airflow White
Audio Device(s)	Asus TUF H3 Wireless
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse	MX518 og
Keyboard	Roccat Vulcan 121 AIMO
VR HMD	Oculus Rift CV1
Software	Windows 11 Pro
Benchmark Scores	It runs Crysis remastered at 4K

System Name	Main / HTPC
Processor	Ryzen 7 7800X3D / Ryzen 7 2700
Motherboard	Aorus B650M Elite Wifi / B450i Aorus Pro
Cooling	Lian-Li Galahad 360 / Wraith Spire
Memory	Corsair Vengeance 2x16 6000MHz CL30 / HyperX Predator 2x8GB 3200MHz
Video Card(s)	RTX 3080 FE / ARC A380
Storage	WD Black SN770 1TB / Sabrent Rocket 256GB
Display(s)	Aorus FO32U2P / 39" Panasonic HDTV
Case	Fractal Arc XL / Cougar QBX
Audio Device(s)	Denon AVR-X2800H / Realtek ALC1220
Power Supply	Corsair RM850 / BeQuiet SFX Power 2 450W
Mouse	Logitech G903
Keyboard	Drop Sense75 with WQ Studio Morandi's
VR HMD	Rift S
Software	Win 11 Pro 64Bit

System Name	1.FortySe7en VR rig 2. intel teliscope rig 3.MSI GP72MVR Leopard Pro .E-52699, Xeon play thing
Processor	1.3900x @stock 2. i7 7700k @5. 3. i7 7700hq
Motherboard	1.aorus x570 ultra 2. z270 Maximus IX Hero,4 MR9A PRO ATX X99
Cooling	1.Hard tube loop, cpu and gpu 2. Hard loop cpu and gpu 4 360 AIO
Memory	1.Gskill neo @3600 32gb 2.hyperxfury 32gb @3000 3. 16gb hyperx @2400 4 64GB 2133 in quad channel
Video Card(s)	1.GIGABYTE RTX 3080 WaterForce WB 2. Aorus RTX2080 3. 1060 3gb. 4 Arc 770LE 16 gb
Storage	1 M.2 500gb , 2 3tb HDs 2. 256gb ssd, 3tbHD 3. 256 m.2. 1tb ssd 4. 2gb ssd
Display(s)	1.LG 50" UHD , 2 MSI Optix MAG342C UWHD. 3.17" 120 hz display 4. Acer Preditor 144hz 32inch.z
Case	1. Thermaltake P5 2. Thermaltake P3 4. some cheapo case that should not be named.
Audio Device(s)	1 Onboard 2 Onboard 3 Onboard 4. onboard.
Power Supply	1.seasonic gx 850w 2. seasonic gx 750w. 4 RM850w
Mouse	1 ROG Gladius 2 Corsair m65 pro
Keyboard	1. ROG Strix Flare 2. Corsair F75 RBG 3. steelseries RBG
VR HMD	rift and rift S and Quest 2.
Software	1. win11 pro 2. win11 pro 3, win11 home 4 win11 pro
Benchmark Scores	1.7821 cb20 ,cb15 3442 1c 204 cpu-z 1c 539 12c 8847 2. 1106 cb 3.cb 970

System Name	Ryzen Reflection
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5900x
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master
Cooling	2x EK PE360 \| TechN AM4 AMD Block Black \| EK Quantum Vector Trinity GPU Nickel + Plexi
Memory	Teamgroup T-Force Xtreem 2x16GB B-Die 3600 @ 14-14-14-28-42-288-2T 1.45v
Video Card(s)	Zotac AMP HoloBlack RTX 3080Ti 12G \| 950mV 1950Mhz
Storage	WD SN850 500GB (OS) \| Samsung 980 Pro 1TB (Games_1) \| Samsung 970 Evo 1TB (Games_2)
Display(s)	Asus XG27AQM 240Hz G-Sync Fast-IPS \| Gigabyte M27Q-P 165Hz 1440P IPS \| Asus 24" IPS (portrait mode)
Case	Lian Li PC-011D XL \| Custom cables by Cablemodz
Audio Device(s)	FiiO K7 \| Sennheiser HD650 + Beyerdynamic FOX Mic
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum 850
Mouse	Razer Viper v2 Pro
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition
Software	Windows 11 Pro 64-Bit

System Name	Primary\|Secondary\|Poweredge r410\|Dell XPS\|SteamDeck
Processor	i7 11700k\|i7 9700k\|2 x E5620 \|i5 5500U\|Zen 2 4c/8t
Memory	32GB DDR4\|16GB DDR4\|16GB DDR4\|32GB ECC DDR3\|8GB DDR4\|16GB LPDDR5
Video Card(s)	RX 7800xt\|RX 6700xt \|On-Board\|On-Board\|8 RDNA 2 CUs
Storage	2TB m.2\|512GB SSD+1TB SSD\|2x256GBSSD 2x2TBGB\|256GB sata\|512GB nvme
Display(s)	50" 4k TV \| Dell 27" \|22" \|3.3"\|7"
VR HMD	Samsung Odyssey+ \| Oculus Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 Pro\|Windows 10 Pro\|Windows 10 Home\| Server 2012 r2\|Windows 10 Pro

System Name	RyzenGtEvo/ Asus strix scar II
Processor	Amd R5 5900X/ Intel 8750H
Motherboard	Crosshair hero8 impact/Asus
Cooling	360EK extreme rad+ 360$EK slim all push, cpu ek suprim Gpu full cover all EK
Memory	Corsair Vengeance Rgb pro 3600cas14 16Gb in four sticks./16Gb/16GB
Video Card(s)	Powercolour RX7900XT Reference/Rtx 2060
Storage	Silicon power 2TB nvme/8Tb external/1Tb samsung Evo nvme 2Tb sata ssd/1Tb nvme
Display(s)	Samsung UAE28"850R 4k freesync.dell shiter
Case	Lianli 011 dynamic/strix scar2
Audio Device(s)	Xfi creative 7.1 on board ,Yamaha dts av setup, corsair void pro headset
Power Supply	corsair 1200Hxi/Asus stock
Mouse	Roccat Kova/ Logitech G wireless
Keyboard	Roccat Aimo 120
VR HMD	Oculus rift
Software	Win 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	8726 vega 3dmark timespy/ laptop Timespy 6506

System Name	The beast and the little runt.
Processor	Ryzen 5 5600X - Ryzen 9 5950X
Motherboard	ASUS ROG STRIX B550-I GAMING - ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero X570
Cooling	Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4a - NH-D15 chromax.black with IPPC Industrial 3000 RPM 120/140 MM fans.
Memory	G.SKILL TRIDENT Z ROYAL GOLD/SILVER 32 GB (2 x 16 GB and 4 x 8 GB) 3600 MHz CL14-15-15-35 1.45 volts
Video Card(s)	GIGABYTE RTX 4060 OC LOW PROFILE - GIGABYTE RTX 4090 GAMING OC
Storage	Samsung 980 PRO 1 TB + 2 TB - Samsung 870 EVO 4 TB - 2 x WD RED PRO 16 GB + WD ULTRASTAR 22 TB
Display(s)	Asus 27" TUF VG27AQL1A and a Dell 24" for dual setup
Case	Phanteks Enthoo 719/LUXE 2 BLACK
Audio Device(s)	Onboard on both boards
Power Supply	Phanteks Revolt X 1200W
Mouse	Logitech G903 Lightspeed Wireless Gaming Mouse
Keyboard	Logitech G910 Orion Spectrum
Software	WINDOWS 10 PRO 64 BITS on both systems
Benchmark Scores	Se more about my 2 in 1 system here: kortlink.dk/2ca4x

System Name	The Expanse
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard	Asus Prime X570-Pro BIOS 5013 AM4 AGESA V2 PI 1.2.0.Ca.
Cooling	Corsair H150i Pro
Memory	32GB GSkill Trident RGB DDR4-3200 14-14-14-34-1T (B-Die)
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX 24GB (24.6.1)
Storage	WD SN850X 2TB / Corsair MP600 1TB / Samsung 860Evo 1TB x2 Raid 0 / Asus NAS AS1004T V2 14TB
Display(s)	LG 34GP83A-B 34 Inch 21: 9 UltraGear Curved QHD (3440 x 1440) 1ms Nano IPS 160Hz
Case	Fractal Design Meshify S2
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi + Logitech Z-5500 + HS80 Wireless
Power Supply	Corsair AX850 Titanium
Mouse	Corsair Dark Core RGB SE
Keyboard	Corsair K100
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64 22H2
Benchmark Scores	3800X https://valid.x86.fr/1zr4a5 5800X https://valid.x86.fr/2dey9c

System Name	Main
Processor	8700K
Motherboard	Maximus Hero X
Cooling	EVGA 280 CLC w/ Noctua silent fans
Memory	2x8GB 3600/16
Video Card(s)	EVGA 2080TI Hybrid

System Name	PCGR
Processor	12400f
Motherboard	Asus ROG STRIX B660-I
Cooling	Stock Intel Cooler
Memory	2x16GB DDR5 5600 Corsair
Video Card(s)	Dell RTX 3080
Storage	1x 512GB Mmoment PCIe 3 NVME 1x 2TB Corsair S70
Display(s)	LG 32" 1440p
Case	Phanteks Evolve itx
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	750W Cooler Master sfx
Software	Windows 11