ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E Review

Source: Tech Power Up added 10th Mar 2021

Introduction

After almost a decade of total market dominance, Intel has spent the past few years on the defensive. AMD’s Ryzen processors continue to show improvement year over year, with the most recent Ryzen 5000 series taking the crown of best gaming processor: Intel’s last bastion of superiority.

Now, with a booming hardware market, Intel is preparing to make up some of that lost ground with the new 11th Gen Intel Core Processors. Intel is claiming these new 11th Gen CPUs offer double-digit IPC improvements despite remaining on a 14 nm process. The top-end 8-core Intel Core i9-11900K may not be able to compete against its Ryzen 9 5900X AMD rival in heavily multi-threaded scenarios, but the higher clock speeds and alleged IPC improvements could be enough to take back the gaming crown. Along with the new CPUs, there is a new chipset to match, the Intel Z590. Last year’s Z490 chipset motherboards are also compatible with the new 11th Gen Intel Core Processors, but Z590 introduces some key advantages.

First, Z590 offers native PCIe 4.0 support from the CPU, which means the PCIe and M.2 slots powered off the CPU will offer PCIe 4.0 connectivity when an 11th Gen CPU is installed. The PCIe and M.2 slots controlled by the Z590 chipset are still PCI 3.0. While many high-end Z490 motherboards advertised this capability, it was not a standard feature for the platform. In addition to PCIe 4.0 support, Z590 offers USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 from the chipset. The USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 standard offers speeds of up to 20 Gb/s. Finally, Z590 boasts native support for 3200 MHz DDR4 memory. With these upgrades, Intel’s Z series platform has feature parity with AMD’s B550. On paper, Intel is catching up to AMD, but only testing will tell if these new Z590 motherboards are up to the challenge.

The ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E aims to be a durable, dependable platform for the mainstream market. The ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E features a respectable 14-phase VRM that takes advantage of 50 A power stages from Vishay. Additionally, ASRock has included a 2.5 Gb/s LAN controller from Realtek as well as the latest WiFi 6 connectivity. The ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E has all the mainstream features most users need packaged in at a reasonable price. All that is left is to see how the ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E stacks up against the competition!

Specifications

Specifications
CPU Support: 10th / 11th Gen Intel Core Processors
Power Design: CPU Power: 14-phase

Memory Power: 2-phase
Chipset: Intel Z590
Integrated Graphics: Dependent on installed CPU
Memory: 4x DIMM, supports dual-channel DDR4-4800+ (OC) MHz
BIOS: AMI UEFI BIOS
Expansion Slots: 2x PCIe x16 slots (x16/x4)

3x PCIe 3.0 x1 Slots
Storage: 6x SATA 6 Gb/s ports

3x M.2 ports* (SATA3/PCIe 3.0 x4)
Networking: 1x Realtek RTL8125BG 2.5 Gb/s LAN

1x Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX210
Rear Ports: 2x Antenna Ports

1x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port

1x HDMI Port

1x DisplayPort 1.4

1x Optical SPDIF Out Port

1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A Port

1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Port

2x USB 3.2 Gen1 Ports

2x USB 2.0 Ports

1x RJ-45 LAN Port

5x HD Audio Jacks
Audio: 1x Realtek ALC897 Codec
Fan Headers: 7x 4-pin
Form Factor: ATX Form Factor: 12.0 x 9.6 in.; 30.5 x 24.4 cm
Exclusive Features:
  • ASRock Super Alloy
  • XXL Aluminium Alloy Heatsink
  • Premium Power Choke
  • 50A Dr.MOS
  • Nichicon 12K Black Caps
  • I/O Armor
  • Shaped PCB Design
  • Matte Black PCB
  • High Density Glass Fabric PCB
  • 2oz copper PCB
  • 2.5G LAN
  • Intel® 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6E
  • ASRock steel Slot
  • ASRock Full Coverage M.2 Heatsink
  • ASRock Hyper M.2 (PCIe Gen4x4)
  • ASRock Ultra USB Power
  • ASRock Full Spike Protection
  • ASRock Live Update & APP Shop

Testing for this review was conducted using a 10th Gen Intel Core i9-10900K. Stay tuned for an 11th Gen update when the new processors launch!

Read the full article at Tech Power Up

brands: AMD  ASRock  Best  Core  Crown  Dual  Durable  First  Glass  HD  HDMI  Hyper  Intel  It  Key  Keyboard  Legend  New  Recent  WAS  
media: Tech Power Up  
keywords: 5G  App  ATX  Audio  Core i9  Gaming  LAN  Memory  Review  Ryzen  

Related posts


Notice: Undefined variable: all_related in /var/www/vhosts/rondea.com/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/rondea-2-0/single-article.php on line 88

Notice: Undefined variable: all_related in /var/www/vhosts/rondea.com/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/rondea-2-0/single-article.php on line 88

Related Products



Notice: Undefined variable: all_related in /var/www/vhosts/rondea.com/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/rondea-2-0/single-article.php on line 91

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/vhosts/rondea.com/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/rondea-2-0/single-article.php on line 91