Storage Interfaces

Storage Performance

Note:

M2_1, SATA3_0 and SATA3_1 share lanes.
M2_2, SATA3_4 and SATA3_5 share lanes.
PCIE5, M2_3, and SATA3_3 share lanes.

The ASRock Z490 AQUA has a great complement of storage options, including eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, three M.2 slots, and additional internal USB headers. While there are technically four M.2 slots, one is wired for PCIe 4.0 and cannot be used in conjunction with the top PCIe 3.0 slot.


ASRock utilizes two ASMedia controllers as well as an Intel Thunderbolt controller to achieve the connectivity the ASRock Z490 AQUA offers.


In order to include Thunderbolt connectivity, the controller and ports are housed on a pair of parallel vertical add-in cards on the rear I/O. To help cool the Thunderbolt controller, ASRock added a thermal pad to interface it with the aluminium on the rear I/O cover, leveraging an otherwise cosmetic component to improve thermal performance.

HDTune Pro (SATA 6 Gb/s)

HDTune Pro (USB3.0 Front Panel)

HDTune Pro (USB 3.1 Type-C)

HDTune Pro (NVMe M.2)