Board Layout

The Z490I AORUS Ultra features a black PCB matched with a black and gray I/O cover and heatsinks. There is a large aluminium backplate that adds rigidity to the board and offers an added element of cooling to the back of the VRM.


The CPU socket is open enough for most air coolers. The VRM and chipset heatsinks are connected via a single wrap-around heat pipe, which allows them to share and disperse the heat load.


There are two M.2 slots on the Gigabyte Z490I AORUS Ultra; one on the front of the board with an included heatsink and another low-profile slot on the back of the board.


The Gigabyte Z490I AORUS Ultra offers one steel-reinforced PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot. The board has four SATA 6 Gb/s ports on the side.


The Gigabyte Z490I AORUS Ultra has a decent I/O offering that includes Wi-Fi 6 and a fair amount of USB connectivity.

• 2x Antenna ports
• HDMI port
• DisplayPort
• 4x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A ports
• Q-Flash Plus button
• 2x USB 2.0 ports
• USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A port
• USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C port
• RJ-45 LAN port
• 3x 3.5 mm audio jacks

Networking on the Gigabyte Z490I AORUS Ultra is handled by Intel's new 2.5 Gb/s controller. For wireless connectivity, there is an AX201 Wi-Fi 6 module.