Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Elite Gaming Motherboard

Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Elite Gaming Motherboard:

The Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Elite (rev. 1.0) Motherboard is an ATX motherboard built on the Intel® Z490 Chipset. It’s engineered to support 10th and 11th Gen Intel® Core™ Processors (with a BIOS update for 11th Gen). This motherboard is designed for enthusiasts and gamers who demand high performance, robust power delivery, advanced cooling, and extensive connectivity for a premium gaming experience.

Key Features for Elite Gaming Performance:

The Z490 Aorus Elite features a Direct 12+1 Phases Digital VRM Solution with 50A DrMOS, providing incredibly precise and stable power delivery to the CPU, which is essential for pushing performance limits through overclocking. It supports Dual Channel Non-ECC Unbuffered DDR4 RAM across four DIMM sockets, allowing for up to 128GB of system RAM and impressive overclocked speeds up to 5000MHz (O.C.) for Intel® Core™ i9/i7 processors. It also features shielded memory routing for better RAM overclocking stability.

For storage, the motherboard includes Dual Ultra-Fast NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 Connectors with Thermal Guards. These M.2 slots support high-speed SSDs, ensuring quick boot times and rapid game/application loading. The thermal guards help prevent throttling due to overheating. Additionally, it provides six SATA 6Gb/s connectors with support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10 configurations. The motherboard is also Intel® Optane™ Memory Ready.

Connectivity is a highlight, with a Fast 2.5GbE LAN with Bandwidth Management, providing a high-speed wired network connection. Some versions of this motherboard (e.g., “AC” models) also include Intel® Dual Band 802.11ac WIFI & BT 5.0 for robust wireless connectivity. It features a variety of USB ports, including USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A for fast data transfers. For display output (when using compatible Intel® Core™ processors with integrated graphics), it offers an HDMI port.

The Z490 Aorus Elite boasts an Advanced Thermal Design with Enlarged Surface Heatsinks and a 5 W/mK LAIRD Thermal Conductivity Pad, ensuring efficient heat dissipation from critical components. Smart Fan 5 provides comprehensive cooling control with multiple temperature sensors and hybrid fan headers that support both PWM and Voltage mode fans, including a Fan Stop function for quieter operation.

Aesthetics are enhanced by RGB FUSION 2.0 with Multi-Zone Addressable LED Light Show Design, supporting both addressable and RGB LED strips for customizable lighting effects. The motherboard also features AMP-UP Audio with ALC1200 and WIMA Audio Capacitors, along with an Audio Noise Guard, to deliver a high-fidelity audio experience.

The “Ultra Durable” design includes a pre-installed I/O Shield for easy installation, a PCIe 4.0 Ready PCB (actual support varies by hardware configuration), and solid pin power connectors for increased durability. It also supports Q-Flash Plus for BIOS updates without CPU, RAM, or graphics card.

For more details, you can refer to the official Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Elite (rev. 1.0) product page.

Specifications:

• CPU Socket: LGA1200 (Supports 10th Gen Intel® Core™ Processors and 11th Gen Intel® Core™ Processors*)
• Chipset: Intel® Z490 Express Chipset
• RAM Slots: 4 x DDR4 DIMM sockets
• Max. System RAM: Up to 128 GB
• RAM Support: DDR4 5000(O.C.) / … / 2133 MHz (speeds vary by CPU and RAM configuration)
• RAM Architecture: Dual Channel
• Onboard Graphics: Integrated in Intel® HD Graphics (HDMI port)
• Audio: Realtek® ALC1200 codec, High-End Audio Capacitors, Audio Noise Guard, 7.1-channel
• LAN: Realtek® 2.5GbE LAN chip (2.5 Gbit/1 Gbit/100 Mbit)
• Wireless Communication Module (on AC models): Intel® Wi-Fi 802.11ac, BLUETOOTH 5.0
• Expansion Slots:
  • 1 x PCI Express x16 slot (PCIe 3.0, running at x16)
  • 2 x PCI Express x1 slots (PCIe 3.0)
• Storage Interface:
  • 2 x M.2 connectors (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 SATA and PCIe x4/x2 SSD support)
  • 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10)
• USB Ports:
  • 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports (rear panel)
  • 1 x USB Type-C™ port with USB 3.2 Gen 1 support (internal header)
  • 6 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (4 on back panel, 2 internal headers)
  • 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (back panel)
• Form Factor: ATX (30.5cm x 24.4cm)
• BIOS: 2 x 128 Mbit flash, AMI UEFI BIOS, DualBIOS™ support
• Part Number/SKU: Z490 Aorus Elite (rev. 1.0) or Z490 Aorus Elite AC (rev. 1.0) for models with Wi-Fi
• UPC: NA (Please check with local retailers for specific UPCs)