Board Layout

The ASRock Z490 AQUA features a matte black PCB paired with bare silver aluminium heatsinks and accents. The dual-tone appearance is striking, and the silver will match up well with common water-cooling components.


The CPU socket and VRM are completely covered by a monoblock designed to cool both the CPU and VRM.


The ASRock Z490 AQUA comes with the block pre-installed, so you will need to remove it to install your CPU. I actually like this setup; not only are the thermal pads pre-applied (with an extra set included just in case), but taking the block off gives the user hands-on experience with how the assembly works.


There are technically four M.2 slots on the ASRock Z490 AQUA; two above the first PCIe x16 slot, another below the first PCIe x16 slot, and one between the second and third PCIe x16 slot. The top two slots are facing each other; one supports PCIe 4.0 (on future-generation CPUs) and the other only supports PCIe 3.0.


The ASRock Z490 AQUA offers three PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, all of which are encased in steel, as well as two PCI Express 3.0 x1 slots. The top two x16 slots are PCIe 4.0 ready, featuring a clock generator to ensure a clear signal. While this feature is not supported by 10th Gen Intel Core processors, support is expected in future launches. The board has a total of eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports on the side, angled 90 degrees from the board. The SATA ports are in a slim cut-out on the side of the board to offset the extra width of the E-ATX form factor.


While retail units are serialized 1–999, media samples were customized instead, which is a really nice touch.


The ASRock Z490 AQUA has a topnotch I/O offering that includes 10 Gb/s LAN, as well as BIOS flashback, Clear CMOS, dual Thunderbolt Type-C, and dual Mini DisplayPort input ports.

• 2 x Antenna ports
• HDMI port
• Optical SPDIF out port
• 2 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Thunderbolt™ 3 Type-C ports
• 2 x Mini DisplayPort input ports
• 3 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports
• USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C port
• 4 x USB 3.2 Gen1 ports
• 2 x RJ-45 LAN ports
• Clear CMOS button
• BIOS flashback button
• 5x HD audio jacks

Networking on the ASRock Z490 AQUA is handled by an Aquantia AQC-107 10 Gb/s controller as well as a Realtek RTL8125AG for 2.5 Gb/s LAN and an Intel 802.11ax for WiFi support.