The ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-E Gaming is a great all-around board. It provides a rich feature set that includes WiFi 6, 2.5 Gb/s LAN, and an integrated I/O shield, as well as SLI support. When it comes to looks, the ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-E Gaming is quintessentially ASUS by featuring an excellent RGB implementation as well as a design that is neutral enough to make for easy parts matching—all while looking interesting enough to still catch the eye.

Performance out of the box was excellent for the ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-E Gaming. Memory overclocking was pretty good as well, as I reached 3900 MHz CL16 stable with my Trident Z Neo quad-channel kit. For CPU overclocking, I was able to achieve 5.3 GHz on all cores. The largest limitation to overclocking with Z490 is going to come down to dealing with the heat produced by the incredibly dense Intel Core i9-10900K. VRM thermals were very good as well, staying below 70 °C even during my VRM torture testing.

The ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-E Gaming is a great all-around board with good aesthetics, performance, and overclocking. While on the surface, the ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-E Gaming may not have a feature that makes it stand out, it is very compelling when the whole package is considered. If you are in the market for a US$300 motherboard with some flashy looks and great RGB LEDs, the ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-E Gaming is a good place to start.