Gigabyte Z490I AORUS Ultra

[Black Haru]

The Gigabyte Z490I AORUS Ultra comes with a lot of hardware packed into a small form factor. Among the features are 2.5 Gb/s Ethernet, WiFi 6, dual M.2 slots, and top-tier 90 A power stages. Let's see just how good this SFF Z490 entry from Gigabyte really is!

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[Altair]

On first page in "Specification" (Form Factor) there is a mistake it should be ITX, not ATX.
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edit. Thank You

 

[chodaboy19]

I personally prefer passive cooling of the VRMs, those small fans are so noisy and prone to failure.

 

[Tom Sunday]

With the Z590 Intel boards are breaking out in a few days time and then later this year Intel is pushing Alder Lake out of the door, why would anyone now buy a Z490 mobo? I would think that many must have the best and the latest? And later this year it's tauted to be the awakening of LGA 1700, DDR5, PCIE 5.0 and more. Will people hold their breath and wallets tight until Alder Lake arrives? And having the choice this year of (2) brand new mobo generations? Let's see what Intel has to say on Thursday, January 28, 2021 in their next "Earnings Call." Buy or not buy will be the question. Remember not all of the new "Rocket Lake CPU's" will be PCIE4 capable. Many will be refreshes.

 

[bonehead123]

I'm not buying any more intel boards until somebody releases one equipped with all the latest tech, like DDR5, PCIE 5, USB-C/TB, and at least 3-4 heatsinked nvme slots onboard, as well as 40+ lanes to feed all of the above

If this doesn't happen this year (actual, not paper launch), then I will either stick with Z390 for now or move over to big red's next series ....

 

[Tom Sunday]

I'm not buying any more intel boards until somebody releases one equipped with all the latest tech, like DDR5, PCIE 5, USB-C/TB, and at least 3-4 heatsinked nvme slots onboard, as well as 40+ lanes...

Good call! Many people will now be requiring 4-5 NVME slots (or expansion capability) on their new boards. Goodbye 7200RPM HDD'S. Meaning that most people now want to fly exclusively with an all NVME system and as SSD's get cheaper by the day. Dedicated SSD gaming drives are now a standard. I am still running a 2009 XPS 730x. If I had a Z390 board it would be easy for me to hold off another 10-months or so and to at least taste or feel out the goodies of Alder Lake. I believe that an Alder Lake upgrade at this point makes the most sense and will hit all of the sweet-spots on your hit list. Remember Intel has its "Earnings Call" coming soon which may be interest. With Rocket Lake and Alder Lake happening all in one years time means there is a lot to talk about. 40-plus lanes abounding.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

I'm not buying any more intel boards until somebody releases one equipped with all the latest tech, like DDR5, PCIE 5, USB-C/TB, and at least 3-4 heatsinked nvme slots onboard, as well as 40+ lanes to feed all of the above

If this doesn't happen this year (actual, not paper launch), then I will either stick with Z390 for now or move over to big red's next series ....

DDR5 is still a few years out for mass adoption, as is PCIe 5. We JUST got PCIe 4 last year.

As for the lanes, well you know what they say, crap in one hand dreams in the other, which one fills up first? You'll never get that many lanes on the consumer platform. Your use case is what HDET is for, and it carries the price point to match.

 

[bonehead123]

DDR5 is still a few years out for mass adoption, as is PCIe 5. We JUST got PCIe 4 last year.

As for the lanes, well you know what they say, crap in one hand dreams in the other, which one fills up first? You'll never get that many lanes on the consumer platform. Your use case is what HDET is for, and it carries the price point to match.

Yea I know, I was mainly being sarcastic, and expressing my cynicism at the slow progression of the next round of technical advancements

 

[mouacyk]

This has exactly the same VRM as the Z490I Unify, except it has +1 on memory phase. Is the extra phase doing anything for memory overclocking?