Famous overclocker Hicookie has achieved the highest frequency overclock so far on Intel’s new flagship Core i9-11900K. With 5 of the processor’s 8 cores deactivated, he was able to use that extra headroom to hit a whopping 7.314-GHz on the first core with help from liquid nitrogen cooling and a high-end Aorus motherboard.
Hicookie is sponsored by Gigabyte, which issued a press release a few hours after the record posted to HWBot, stating that he used the Z590 Aorus Tachyon motherboard to reach this clock speed. Intended to compete with the best motherboards, the Tachyon launched last month but it doesn’t appear to be for sale yet in the U.S., with B&H Photo listing it as a pre-order for $529.
Gigabyte’s motherboard carries a premium price because it’s designed with and for extreme overclocking. The Tachyon has features such as a 12+1 phase power delivery system and Vishay Sic840 power stages that are rated for 100 amps, allowing for a full 1,300 amps of juice in total.
The Core i9-11900K is Intel’s new flagship CPU sporting the Rocket Lake architecture with 8 Cores, 16 threads, and a maximum boost frequency of 5.3GHz. (Check out our Core i9-11900K review for more details.)
(Image credit: HWBot)
It didn’t take long for someone to break the 7-GHz barrier on Rocket Lake. A few days ago we covered two overclockers who achieved some impressive results with the 11900K as one overclocker hit 6.5 GHz, another managed a flat 7 GHz.
What’s even more unique about Hicookie’s overclock is the configuration he used to achieve 7.3 GHz. First, five cores were disabled, allowing the remaining cores to soak up the extra power and cooling capabilities of the system. As a result of the disabled cores; 11900K’s core voltage was also vastly reduced to just 1.305v, a voltage that is very safe to run on Intel’s 14nm parts.
Hicookie also used a combination of CPU multiplier and BCLK overclocking to reach the 7.3 GHz core speed. This is something you rarely see, but in some cases boosting your BCLK (base clock) can result in higher core frequencies, depending on the CPU architecture.
However, Intel’s older Comet Lake architecture still beats out Rocket Lake on the CPU-Z validation list when it comes to world record overclocks. Maybe soon, we’ll see a Rocket Lake chip break the 7.5 GHz barrier like many of Intel’s older CPUs are capable of doing.
XMG today announced its first laptop equipped with Intel’s new Rocket Lake processors, interchangeable RTX 30 Series graphics, and a bevy of other features that are supposed to ease the pain enthusiasts have suffered because of the ongoing chip shortage. It’s called the Ultra 17, and the first units could reach consumers as early as May.
Let’s start with the CPU. The XMG Ultra 17 can be configured with 10th Gen Core processors for people willing to sacrifice performance for affordability, but the focus is on the 11th Gen CPUs that debuted today. XMG offers seven models: the i5-11500, 11600, and 11600K; the i7-11700 and 11700K; and the i9-11900 and 11900K. Check out our review of the i9-11900K and the i5-11600K for details on their performance.
The company offers fewer graphics options—just the GeForce RTX 3060 (6GB), 3070 (8GB), and 3080 (16GB). But there’s a lot of flexibility here, too, with XMG claiming that “this GPU takes the form of an interchangeable card, opposed to being soldered into the mainboard,” and that it’s “the first graphics card in the mobile sector that is already connected via a full 16 PCI Express 4.0 lanes” and capable of a TGP of 165W.
XMG also offers a bunch of M.2 SSD storage options between 200GB and 2TB from a variety of manufacturers, two different Wi-Fi modules, and support for up to 128GB (4 x 32GB) of DDR4-3200 memory from Samsung. (As well as smaller kits from Crucial.) The keyboard features per-key RGB back-lighting and is available in many languages, too, in case you worried the company had forgotten to add pretty lights.
But the main arguments for the Ultra 17 being a desktop replacement—aside from the CPU and GPU of course—are the laptop’s display and connectivity options. There are two 17.3-inch display options: a 1080p version with a 300Hz refresh rate and a 4K version with a 60Hz refresh rate that also covers 100% of the Adobe RGB spectrum. Both versions of the display offer Nvidia G-Sync support as well.
XMG Ultra 17-E21
Processor
Up to Intel Core i9-11900K
Graphics
RTX 3080, RTX 3070, RTX 3060
Memory
4 x SO-DIMM, 128GB Max
Storage
4 x M.2 2280
Display
17.3-inch IPS: 1920 x 1080 @ 300 Hz or 3840 x 2160 @ 60 Hz
Networking
Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, 2.5Gb Ethernet
Ports
2 x Thunderbolt 4, 1 x HDMI 2.1, 2 x Mini DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, 3 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, SD card slot
Battery
97 Wh
Power Adapter
2 x 280W
Dimensions
399 x 319 x 43.5mm (W x D x H)
Weight
ca. 4.6kg
XMG equipped the Ultra 17 with a lot of ports as well. There are two Thunderbolt 4, one HDMI 2.1, and two Mini DisplayPort 1.4 ports for external monitor support; one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 and three USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports as well as an SD card slot for accessories; and separate audio ports for headphones and a microphone. Oh, and there’s also a 2.5Gb Ethernet port to complement the built-in Wi-Fi 6 connectivity.
There are some caveats. XMG said that utilizing the Ultra 17 to its full potential requires it to be connected to a pair of 280W power supplies in addition to the battery. The system is limited to 110W on a single power supply and restricts the CPU to just 30W. Performance would be further limited on the internal battery, of course, so we suspect most people will actually treat it as a desktop.
That could be enough in today’s market. The ongoing chip shortage has made it harder than ever to find CPUs, graphics cards, and other components, and even when they’re available, there’s a good chance they’re going to be exorbitantly priced. (Assuming one can even find them before cryptocurrency miners buy ’em up.) This might actually be one of the easiest ways to build a system with the latest parts.
The Ultra 17’s price will of course vary based on the configuration. XMG’s default configuration features an Intel Core i7-11700K, GeForce RTX 3060, 16GB of DDR4-3200 memory, 500GB of storage via the Samsung 980 PRO, and the 1080p display; it costs roughly $3,300 (€2,799) before shipping via Bestware. The retailer estimates that configuration will be available in mid-April with a shipping time of 3-5 weeks.
The ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E is an inexpensive yet capable Rocket Lake board that should handle any ambiently cooled CPU you can throw at it. It packs integrated Wi-Fi 6E, three M.2 sockets and six SATA ports. This roughly $210 board looks to be a well-rounded option to jump into Intel’s latest platform.
For
+ Wi-Fi 6E
+ Three M.2 sockets
+ Capable 14-Phase, 50A Power Delivery
+ Reasonable price for Z590
Against
– Only six rear USB ports
– Mediocre audio codec
– Appearance may not be for everyone
Features and Specifications
Editor’s Note: A version of this article appeared as a preview before we had a Rocket Lake CPU to test with Z590 motherboards. Now that we do (and Intel’s performance embargo has passed), we have completed testing (presented on page 3) with a Core i9-11900K and have added a score and other elements (as well as removing some now-redundant sentences and paragraphs) to make this a full review.
In our first close look at Z590 motherboards, ASRock’s Z590 Steel Legend leads the way. The Steel Legend SKUs have been around for a couple of generations now and are typically a lower-priced option in ASRock’s product stack. But just because the price is lower doesn’t mean the features are sparse. The new Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E brings the latest in Intel Wi-Fi, solid power delivery, 2.5 Gb Ethernet and more, all for around $210. If you’re after a reasonably affordable Z590 option, it may just be one of the best motherboards for your next build.
ASRock’s Z590 lineup is similar to the previous-generation Z490 stack. At the time we wrote this article, the ASRock site has 12 Z590 motherboards listed. At the top is Z590 Taichi, followed by the PG Velocita and three Phantom Gaming boards, including a Micro-ATX option. Additionally, there are two professional boards in the Z590 Pro4 and Z590M Pro4, two Steel Legend boards, two Extreme boards (also more on the budget end), and a Mini-ITX board round out the product stack. Between price, size, looks, and features, ASRock should have a board that works for everyone looking to dive into Rocket Lake.
Now that we can talk about performance using Rocket Lake-based CPUs (in this case, i9-11900K, the Steel Legend held its own in most of our tests. Where it lagged behind is in the long-running tests. By default, the Steel Legend follows Intel specifications, so you’ll see the board throttle back clock speeds as the PL1 and PL2 time limits expire. Simply raising the power limits allows it to compete with other boards that go above the Intel specifications out of the box.
On the overclocking front, after disabling AVX-512 (as we do with all other boards for overclocked testing) and raising all the power limits, the Z590 Steel Legend was able to run our i9-11900K at 5.1 GHz without issue. VRM temperatures were the hottest we’ve seen so far. However, they run well within the MOSFETs operating parameters.
The budget-friendly Steel Legend comes in two flavors: the base Steel Legend and the Steel Legend WiFi 6E that includes the latest Wi-Fi. The 6E version includes WiFi that uses the new 6 GHz band (as well as the existing 2.4 and 5 GHz bands) for faster performance on an uncluttered wavelength. Note you’ll need a 6E-capable router to utilize the additional bandwidth. The board also comes with 2.5 GbE, a 14-phase VRM, a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C port, reinforced slots, the ASRock graphics card holder and more. We’ll cover those features in detail below.
Opening up the retail packaging, we find the typical array of SATA cables, support DVD, screws and more. ASRock also includes an adjustable graphics card holder that connects to the motherboard and chassis. This is a sight for sore eyes as some of the latest generation video cards are bigger and heavier than previous versions and could use a little support. Below is a complete list of all extras inside the box.
Quick Installation Guide
Support CD
(2) SATA cables
(4) Screws for M.2 sockets
(2) Standoffs for M.2 sockets
Graphics card holder
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When removing the ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E for the box, we’re greeted by a black PCB with grey and white patterns stenciled on its entirety. The heatsinks and shrouds are all grey/silver, providing a stark contrast against the dark board. I’m personally not a fan of all the patterns, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That said, the Steel Legend will fit into most build themes without issue.
No board is complete these days without RGB lighting and the Steel Legend continues this trend. You’ll find an “S” lit up on the IO shroud, while the chipset heatsink lights up the words “Steel Legend.” From below, the right-hand edge (along with “Steel Legend” again on that same edge) is lit up by several RGB LEDs, which gives it a nice glow from underneath. The integrated RGB lighting was saturated and bright, with control handled through ASRock’s Polychrome RGB software.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Focusing on the top half of the board, you get a better look at the large silver heatsinks, along with a shroud that covers the rear I/O bits. In the upper-left corner are two 8-pin EPS connectors (one required) that send power to the CPU. The socket area is relatively busy, with many caps dotting the space around the socket. To the right are four DRAM slots capable of supporting up to 128GB of DDR4 RAM at speeds listed up to DDR4 4800+(OC).
The first of seven 4-pin fan/pump headers is located just above the DRAM slots. You can find the rest scattered around the bottom half of the board. As far as power goes, The CPU fan connector supports up to 1A/12W, while the CPU/Water Pump and Chassis/Water Pump support a maximum of 2A/24W. All headers except for the CPU header auto-detect if a 3-pin or 4-pin spinner is connected.
We find the first two (of four) RGB headers in the same area. On top in grey is the 3-pin ARGB, and the 4-pin in white below it is for RGB. The 4-pin headers support 12V/3A, 36W strips, while the ARGB is 5V/3A and 15W. Both values are standard. Also located in this area is an RGB feature where the LEDs below shine through the 6-layer PCB, showing off the Steel Legend branding. Continuing down the right edge is the 24-pin ATX feeding power to the motherboard, a front panel USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (20 Gbps) Type-C header, and finally a front panel USB 3.2 Gen1 front panel header.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
ASRock lists the Steel Legend as a 14-phase Dr.MOS VRM, which breaks down to a 12+2 configuration for the Vcore and SOC. A Richtek RT3609BE 6-channel controller handles the CPU while a Renesas RAA229001 controls the SOC. The six-channel controller feeds 12 Vishay Sic654 50A MOSFETs for CPU Vcore in a teamed/parallel configuration. In other words, ASRock does not use phase doublers on this board. This configuration is plenty for both 10th and 11th generation CPUs intended for this platform.
(Image credit: ASRock)
Moving down to the bottom half of the motherboard, we’ll start on the left side with the audio. Here we see a fully exposed Realtek ALC897 codec and four Nichicon audio caps. The ALC897 codec is from the budget side of things, though most should still find it sufficient.
In the middle of the board are five PCIe slots and three M.2 sockets. On the PCIe front, we welcome native support for PCIe 4.0 when using a Rocket Lake processor. The primary PCIe slot and an M.2 socket receive the extra bandwidth. The Z590 Steel Legend includes two full-length slots, with the top one reinforced to prevent shearing and reduce EMI (ASRock calls this Steel Slot). The top full-length slot is PCIe 4.0 x16, sourcing its lanes from the CPU, while the other is PCIe 3.0 x4 and from the chipset. This configuration supports AMD CrossfireX, but not Nvidia SLI (which requires an x8 slot). The three small x1 slots support PCIe 3.0 x1 and are fed from the chipset.
Around and between the PCIe slots are three M.2 sockets, the top and bottom with heatsinks. There is technically a fourth M.2 socket, but it’s Key-E and already populated with the Intel Wi-Fi 6E adapter. The 6E portion brings users up to 14 additional 80 MHz channels or seven 160 MHz channels in the 6 GHz space and increased bandwidth. In essence, you can maintain faster high-speed connections, and more of them, without having to scan for the least-congested channels.
On the storage side, the top socket, M2_1, is dubbed Hyper M.2 and runs at PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) speeds. It supports PCIe-based modules only, up to 80mm in length. The second slot down, M2_2, is PCIe 3.0 x4 (32 Gbps) and supports both PCIe and SATA modules up to 80mm. This slot shares lanes with SATA port 1. When using a SATA-based module, SATA 1 is disabled. The bottom socket, M2_3, is also PCIe 3.0 x4 and supports both PCIe and SATA drives, but this one holds up to 110mm modules. With M2_3. SATA port 5 will be disabled when using a SATA drive in this socket.
To the right of the PCIe area, we see the large chipset heatsink, and to the right of that are four of the six SATA ports. This board supports RAID0, 1, 5 and 10. Below is the POST status checker. The four LEDs, labeled CPU, Boot, RAM, and VGA, correspond to POST activities. If something goes wrong at any of those points, the LED where the POST stopped stays lit, showing you where the problem is.
Across the board’s bottom are several headers and even a few SATA ports. You won’t find any buttons here. Below is the full list, from left to right:
Front panel audio
ARGB header
RGB header
USB 3.2 Gen1 header
Clear CMOS jumper
(2) USB 2.0 headers
(2) Chassis/Water Pump fan header
System panel header
(2) SATA ports
Chassis/Water Pump fan header
TPM header
(Image credit: ASRock)
The Z590 Steel Legend’s rear ports use a preinstalled and adjustable IO plate that matches the board’s white/grey pattern. There are a total of six USB ports out back: two USB 3.2 Gen2 ports (one Type-A and Type-C), two USB 3.2 Gen1 ports and two USB 2.0 ports, all of which support ESD protection. I would like to see more than six USB ports here as they can all get used up quickly. Video outputs consist of an HDMI (v2.0) port and a DisplayPort (v1.4). The Realtek Dragon 2.5 GbE port sits above the USB 3.2 Gen1 ports, just to the right is the 5-plug plus SPDIF audio stack. Outside of that is a legacy PS/2 port for a keyboard/mouse, and the Wi-Fi antenna.
Priced at $499, the MEG Z590 Ace is a premium option for Intel’s new platform. But with four M.2 sockets, Wi-Fi 6E, robust power delivery, plus premium audio and styling, it delivers on the feature front. Just be aware when running AVX-512 loads with the power limits unlocked temperatures skyrocket.
For
+ Robust 16-phase 90A VRM
+ Four M.2 sockets
+ Premium Audio Solution
+ 2.5 GbE / Wi-Fi 6E
Against
– Premium price
– Can’t run AVX-512 at stock
Features and Specifications
Editor’s Note: A version of this article appeared as a preview, before we had a Rocket Lake CPU to test with Z590 motherboards. Now that we do (and Intel’s performance embargo has passed), we have completed testing (presented on page 3) with a Core i9-11900K and have added a score and other elements, as well as removing some now-redundant sentences and paragraphs, to make this a full review.
The latest version of the Ace board features robust power delivery, four M.2 sockets, a premium audio codec and more. The new Ace also has updated styling on the heatsink and shrouds while still keeping the black with gold highlights theme from the previous generation. Emblazoned on the rear IO is the MSI Dragon (with RGB LEDs) and the Ace name (no lighting). Pricing on the board comes in at a hefty $499, a significant markup over the previous generation. MSI states that includes the 25% tariffs and the reason for the increase.
MSI’s current Z590 product stack consists of 11 models, with most falling into the MEG (high-end) MPG (mid-range) and MAG (budget) lineups. We’re greeted by several familiar SKUs and a couple of new ones. Starting at the top is the flagship MEG Z590 Godlike, the Ace we’re looking at now, and a Mini ITX MEG Z590I Unify. The mid-range MPG line consists of four boards (Carbon EK X, Gaming Edge WiFi, Gaming Carbon WiFi and Gaming Force), while the less expensive MAG lineup consists of two boards (Z590 Tomahawk WiFi, and Torpedo). Wrapping up the current product stack are two ‘Pro’ boards in the Z590 Pro WiFi and Z590-A Pro. The only thing missing out of the gate is a Micro ATX board, but it’s likely we see one or two down the line.
On the performance front, we’re finally allowed to share information on these Z590 based motherboards using the Rocket Lake-based i9-11900K. In our tests, we saw the 8c/16t CPU hold its own against the previous generation 10c/20t CPU, especially in single-threaded tests. On the multi-core front, the IPC increase just isn’t enough to overcome the core/thread difference due to the IPC performance uptick. During our testing, the MSI MEG Z590 Ace performed well, showing solid results in our timed tests, PCMark 10 suite, and more. With the latest BIOS, the slight memory latency increase we observed (on this and other boards) was all but eliminated.
The problem with this board, and any board with power limits removed/raised significantly, is using AVX-512 instructions and stress testing. When using the ‘water cooling’ option in the BIOS (that removes all power limits) and running AIDA64, the temperature peaks at 100C in a matter of seconds, rendering it unusable. Other boards follow more closely to the Intel specification and throttle the AVX-512 clock speeds back to something more reasonable, while the Ace tries to run it at 4.8 GHz. In order to run AVX-512 on this board and complete some stress tests to verify stability, we had to run it with limits in place, setting Boxed cooler or Tower Air Cooler, or a significant offset.
To that end, we were able to push the new Rocket Lake CPU up to 5.1 GHz with all cores and threads enabled while keeping temperatures around 90 degrees Celsius. The overclocking process on the MEG Ace was painless as we simply set the voltage, multiplier and enabled LLC.
MSI’s MEG Z590 Ace includes all the bits you expect from a premium motherboard. The board has a stylish appearance, very capable power delivery (16-phase 90A Vcore) and the flagship Realtek ALC4082 audio codec with included DAC. We’ll cover these features and much more in detail below. First, here are the full specs from MSI.
(1) Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210 (MU-MIMO, 2.4/5/6GHz, BT 5.2)
USB Controllers
??
HD Audio Codec
Realtek ALC4082
DDL/DTS Connect
✗ / DTS:X Ultra
Warranty
3 Years
The accessories included with the board are reasonably comprehensive, including most of what you need to get started. Below is a full list.
Manual
Quick Installation Guide
USB drive (Drivers)
Cleaning brush
Screwdrivers
Stickers (MEG/Cable)
(4) SATA cables
(4) Screws/standoff sets for M.2 sockets
Thermistor cable
1 to 2 RGB LED Y cable, Corsair RGB LED cable, Rainbow RGB LED cable
DP to mini DP cable
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Looking at the Z590 Ace for the first time, we see the black PCB along with black heatsinks and shrouds covering most of the board. MSI stenciled on identifying language such as the MEG Ace name and the MSI Gaming Dragon in gold, setting this SKU apart from the rest. The VRM heatsinks are both made from a solid block of aluminum with lines cut out. Additionally, the shroud is made of metal and connected to the heat pipes, increasing surface area significantly. Also worth noting is the VRM heatsinks share the load connected via heatpipe. RGB LED lighting is minimal here, with a symbol on the chipset shining through a mesh cover on the chipset heatsink and the MSI dragon above the rear IO. While tastefully done, some may want more. With its mostly black appearance, the board won’t have trouble fitting in most build themes.
(Image credit: MSI)
Focusing on the top half of the board, we’ll get a better look at what’s going with the VRM heatsinks and other board features in this area. In the upper-left corner, we spot two 8-pin EPS connectors, one of which is required for operation. Just below this is the shroud covering the rear IO bits and part of the VRM heatsink. On it is a carbon-fiber pattern along with the MSI Gaming Dragon illuminated by RGB LEDs. The socket area is relatively clean, with only a few caps visible.
Just above the VRM heatsink is the first of eight fan headers. All fan headers on the board are the 4-pin type and support PWM- and DC-controlled fans and pumps. The CPU_FAN1 header supports up to 2A/24W and auto-detects the attached device type. The PUMP_FAN1 supports up to 3A/36W. The rest of the system fan headers support up to 1A/12W. This configuration offers plenty of support for most cooling systems. That said, I would like to have seen all pump headers auto-detect PWM/DC modes instead of only CPU_FAN1.
To the right of the socket are four reinforced DRAM slots. The Z590 Ace supports up to 128GB of RAM with speeds listed up to DDR4 5600 (for one stick with one rank). The highest supported speed with two DIMMs is DDR4 4400+, which is plenty fast enough for an overwhelming majority of users.
Moving down the right edge of the board, we see the 2-character debug LED up top, a system fan header, five voltage read points (Vcore/DRAM/SA/IO/IO2), 4-LED debug, 24-pin ATX connector, and finally, a USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C front panel header. Between both debug tools and the voltage read points, you’ll have an accurate idea of what’s going on with your PC.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
With the MEG Z590 Ace towards the top of the product stack, you’d expect well-built power delivery and you wouldn’t be wrong. MSI lists the board as 16+2+1 (Vcore/GT/SA) and it uses a Renesas ISL69269 (X+Y+Z = 8+2+1) PWM controller that feeds power to eight-phase doublers (Renesas ISL617A), then onto 16 90A Renesas ISL99390B MOSFETs for the Vcore. This configuration yields 1440A of power for the CPU, which is plenty for ambient and sub-ambient/extreme overclocking. It won’t be this board holding you back in any overclocking adventures, that’s for sure.
(Image credit: MSI)
As we focus on the bottom half, we’ll take a closer look at the integrated audio, PCIe slot configuration and storage. Starting with the audio bits on the left side, under the shroud, is the Realtek latest premium codec, the ALC4082. Additionally, the Z590 Ace includes an ESS Sabre 9018Q2C combo DAC, a dedicated headphone amplifier (up to 600 Ohm) and high-quality Chemicon audio capacitors. This audio solution should be more than adequate for most users.
In the middle of the board are four M.2 sockets and five PCIe slots. With the PCIe connectivity, all three full-length slots are reinforced to prevent shearing and EMI, while the two PCIe x1 slots don’t have any reinforcement. The top slot supports PCIe 4.0 x16 speeds, with the second and third slots PCIe 3.0. The slots break down as follows, x16/x0/x4 x8/x8/x4 or x8/x4+x4/x4. This configuration supports 2-Way Nvidia SLI and 2-Way AMD Crossfire technologies. All x1 slots and the full-length bottom slot are fed from the chipset, while the top two full-length slots source their lanes from the CPU.
M.2 storage on the Z590 Ace consists of four onboard sockets supporting various speeds and module lengths. The top slot, M2_1, supports PCIe 4.0 x4 modules up to 110mm. Worth noting on this socket is that it only works with an 11th Gen Intel CPU installed. M2_2, M2_3, M2_4 are fed from the chipset, with M2_2 and M2_3 supporting SATA- and PCIe-based modules up to 80mm, while M2_4 supports PCIe only. M2_2/3/4 are all PCIe 3.0 x4.
The way this is wired, you will lose some SATA ports and PCIe bandwidth depending on the configuration. For example, SATA2 is unavailable when using a SATA-based SSD in the M2_2 socket. SATA 5/6 are unavailable when using the M2_3 socket with any type of device. Finally, the bandwidth on M2_4 switches from x4 to x2 when PCI_E5 (bottom x1 slot) is used. The M.2 sockets support RAID 0/1 for those who would like additional speed or redundancy.
Finally, along the right edge of the board are six horizontally oriented SATA ports. The Z590 Ace supports RAID 0, 1 and 10 on the SATA ports. Just be aware you lose a couple of ports on this board if you’re using some of the M.2 sockets. Above these ports is a USB 3.2 Gen1 front panel header along with another 4-pin system fan header.
Across the board’s bottom edge are several headers, including more USB ports, fan headers, and more. Below is the full list, from left to right:
Front Panel Audio
aRGB and RGB headers
(3) System Fan headers
Supplemental PCIe power
Tuning controller connector
Temperature sensor
(2) USB 2.0 headers
LED switch
BIOS selector switch
OC Retry jumper
TPM header
Power and Reset buttons
Slow mode jumpers
Front panel connectors
(Image credit: MSI)
Moving to the rear IO area, we see the integrated IO plate sporting a black background with gold writing matching the board theme. There are eight USB Type-A ports (two USB 3.2 Gen2, four USB 3.2 Gen1 and two USB 2.0 ports). On the Type-C front, the Z590 Ace includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports capable of speeds up to 40 Gbps. Just to the right of those are Mini-DisplayPort inputs for running video through the Thunderbolt connection(s). Handling the video output for the CPU’s integrated graphics is a single HDMI (2.0b) port. We also spy here the Wi-Fi antenna connections, 5-plug plus SPDIF audio stack, Intel 2.5 GbE and finally, a Clear CMOS button and BIOS Flashback button that can be used without a CPU.
The MSI Aegis RS 11th is a powerful gaming desktop with the latest parts from Intel and Nvidia and off-the-shelf components that allow for easy upgrades.
For
+ Off the shelf parts
+ Powerful gaming performance
+ Decent pack-in peripherals
Against
– MSI Center software is clunky
– Middling file transfer speeds
It’s hard to build a computer right now, because many of the key parts are sold out everywhere you look . If you can get a quality desktop prebuilt, it may be worth springing for it just to get the components you want. The MSI Aegis RS11th ($1,999 to start, $2,499) as tested, delivers the latest with Intel’s 11th Gen Rocket Lake and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080. If those are the parts you’re looking for, this PC should be in your consideration.
MSI isn’t using a weird, proprietary
chassis
that’s hard to open; This is made of standardized parts, just mostly MSI-branded ones. That does mean that when parts are easier to buy, this is a PC you’ll be able to upgrade and grow with.
The MSI Aegis RS 11th’s gaming performance is strong, which makes one of the
best gaming PCs
, but Rocket Lake’s modest core count holds it back in productivity workloads.
Design of the MSI Aegis RS 11th
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How much you like the design of the Aegis RS will rely heavily on how much you like one of MSI’s existing PC cases, the MPG Gungnir 110R, s a mid-tower chassis with both tempered glass and black aluminum.The front is split between the two, making it look like the
Two-Face
of computer cases. Considering our review unit had three RGB fans up front, I didn’t love that they were half covered up. It’s a weird design choice.
The rest of it, however, is far more conservatve. The left side panel is tempered glass, which lets you see your components, while the right side is opaque and covers up the cable management. There are two dust filters: a magnetic one on top of the case, and a second one in front of the intake fans.
There are three 120mm intake fans on the front. There’s another on the rear, as exhaust, but it also cools the radiator on the MSI Coreliquid 120 liquid cooler for the CPU. I would like to see the radiator mounted up top, where there is room for one up to the 240mm in size, and have a regular exhaust fan in the back, since there is no obstacle to that with this case. (In fact, I wouldn’t mind a beefier cooler for this processor, too.) Still, unlike many custom chassis we’ve seen lately, this one doesn’t seem to have particular issues with where to put fans.
The front three fans and CPU cooler have RGB lighting, which can be controlled with a button labeled “LED” on the top of the case, or with a module in the MSI Center software.
At 17.72 x 16.93 x 8.46 inches, the Aegis RS is smaller than the Alienware Aurora R11 (18.9 x 17 x 8.8) and iBuypower Gaming RDY IWBG207 (18.9 x 19.2 x 8.5 inches). The HP Omen 30L, however, is slightly smaller at 17.7 x 16.8 x 6.6 inches.
2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 3.5 mm headphone and microphone jacks
Rear Ports (Motherboard)
4x USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C, PS/2, DisplayPort, HDMI, audio connectors
Video Output (GPU)
3x Displayport 1.4a, HDMI 2.1
Power Supply
MSI MPG A750GF – 750W
Cooling
MSI Coreliquid 120R liquid cooler, 3x 120mm case fans
Operating System
Windows 10 Home
Dimensions
17.72 x 16.93 x 8.46 inches
Price as Configured
$2,499
Ports and Upgradeability on the MSI Aegis RS 11th
There are five ports on the top of the Aegis RS chassis: a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, a pair of USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, and separate 3.5 mm headphone and microphone jacks.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The rear ports are from the MSI Z590 Pro Wi-Fi motherboard, and include four USB 2.0 Type-A ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C, as well as audio connectors and PS/2 for legacy peripherals. There’s also DisplayPort and HDMI, though you’ll likely use the options on the graphics card.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Internally, the Aegis is easy to update or repair, because it’s built just like a PC you might put together yourself. There aren’t any weird custom chassis tricks or hidden parts. MSI makes the case, power supply, graphics card, motherboard and liquid cooler as separate components. There’s nothing proprietary about this that you couldn’t change or update later.
You can get to most of the parts by removing the tempered glass side panel. It’s held into the back of the chassis with two thumb screws, so no tools are needed. There’s a handle to pull it straight back from the case. One highlight here is a sled for a 2.5-inch drive for easy extra storage. The RAM and M.2 SSD are easy enough to access without moving anything.
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The right side panel comes off the same way as the glass door, and it’s the easiest (only, really) way to access the HDD and the PSU, which are hidden beneath a shroud. The case’s RGB controller is also back here, and there’s another 2.5-inch drive sled.
I’m not going to say the cable management is beautiful compared to some other prebuilts, but it’s functional enough (I honestly probably don’t have the patience to do any better) and, unlike some cases, you can easily access it.
Gaming and Graphics on the MSI Aegis RS 11th
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 and Intel Core i7-11700K proved potent for gaming.
I played a bit of Control on the Aegis RS, which I like to try because of how well it integrates ray tracing and stresses even the most powerful components. I ran it at 4K with the high preset and medium ray tracing.
In the beginning of the game, which features exploration sequences, combat with hiss guards in the Oldest House and fights on the Astral Plane, the game typically ran at around 57 frames per second. During fights inside the house, the rate dropped as low as 37 fps when I used lots of Jesse’s melee attacks, which bring about large telekinetic explosions with lots of objects moving. In the Astral Plane, which is rendered on a largely white background, it often stayed in the low 70’s, even during combat. With a slightly lower resolution or a few tweaks, you could be at a steady 60 fps fairly easily.
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On the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark (highest settings), the game ran at 147 fps in 1080p and 57 fps at 4K. It was beat in both only by the Alienware Aurora R11 (149 fps at 1080p, 64 fps at 4K) with an RTX 3090.
In Grand Theft Auto V (very high settings), the Aegis RS had superior 1080p performance at 163 fps and ran in 4K at 54 fps. The Aurora won out in 4K, while the Omen and iBuypower both had identical 4K performance to the Aegis.
On the Far Cry New Dawn benchmark, The Aegis dominated again at FHD, running at 134 fps. In 4K, it ran at 94 fps, behind the iBuypower and the Aurora by a few frames but tied with the Omen.
The Aegis came just behind the Alienware in Red Dead Redemption 2 (medium settings) at 113 fps, but had the highest 4K score at 40 fps. It beat the Omen by 10 frames, though the iBuypower was closer.
On Borderlands 3 (badass settings), the Aegis RS hit 136 fps at FHD and 58 fps in 4K. That’s the worst of the 4K showings, but on par with the HP Omen 30L for 1080p. The Aurora, with its RTX 3090, did the heavy lifting, winning at both resolutions.
Productivity Performance of the MSI Aegis RS 11th
This is the first pre-built desktop we’ve reviewed with the Intel Core i7-11700K. MSI has paired it with 16GB of RAM, a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD and a 2TB HDD. The CPU has 8 cores and 16 threads. Its competitors, though, pose a threat, as many high-end PCs come with Core i9 processors that have more cores. It should be noted that even the Core i9 Rocket Lake has just 8 cores, so this isn’t a limitation of testing the Core i7.
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On Geekbench 5, an overall performance benchmark, the Aegis RS 11th notched a single-core score of 1,676 and a multi-core score of 10,102. While that was the highest single-core score, the other three desktops had higher multi-core scores. All of those used Intel Core i9-10900K chips, which have 10 cores rather than the 8 cores in the 11700K.
The PCIe Gen 4 SSD in the Aegis didn’t show off. It transferred 25GB of files at a rate of 635.3 MBps, just edging past the iBuypower and falling far short of the Omen (978 MBps) and Aurora (1,201.87 MBps).
On our Handbrake video editing test, the MSI Aegis RS 11th transcoded a 4K video to 1080p in 5 minutes and 19 seconds. That’s faster than the iBuypower, but the Aurora and Omen both beat the Aegis’ time by five seconds.
MSI Vigor GK30 Keyboard and Clutch GM08 Mouse
MSI includes a keyboard and mouse in the box, which are good enough to use if you don’t have a lot else lying around, but that you may want to replace if you already have favorite peripherals.
The mouse, the Clutch GM08, has rubberized grips on the side, though it felt a bit narrow for my wide claw grip. Still, there are some higher-end features here, including adjustable weights (two 3-gram weights and one 5-gram weight) to make the mouse lighter or heavier. It has a PixArt PAW351 sensor that goes up to 4,200 DPI. The mouse has a DPI switch button that lets you adjust sensitivity, and has two buttons on the left side of the mouse, but they aren’t programmable in MSI Center. It typically
sells separately for around $20
, so don’t get your hopes up too much, but it gets the job done in a pinch. The red LED light can’t be changed in MSI’s software, either.
The keyboard, the Vigor GK30, is the same one that came with the MSI Aegis Ti5 I recently reviewed. It’s just OK. The keyboard, which MSI suggests is “mechanical-like” has keys that are stiff and not quite clicky. There’s perhaps too much RGB lighting in a sea around the keys. They can’t be controlled in MSI’s software, either, but can be customized with buttons on the keyboard.
MSI Center, Software and Warranty on the MSI Aegis RS 11th
This is the first MSI PC that’s crossed my desk with MSI Center, the company’s replacement for its two previous swiss army-knife applications, Dragon Center (for gaming) and Creator Center (for, well, creating).
MSI Center, though, seems barebones. Sure, it has an optional light/dark mode switcher, which is nice, and you can still see CPU and GPU temperatures and usage, and there are still different usage scenarios to choose from, though they’re buried behind menus. But some features from Dragon Center are nowhere to be found, including one-click optimization for games, Mystic Light and the LAN manager are optional modules to add on. This feels like it’s in beta; there’s an area to “downlaod, update or uninstall” (MSI’s typo, not mine).
But MSI still includes its share of bloat, including MSI App Player, its version of BlueStacks, which runs Android apps, as well as LinkedIn. It notably doesn’t have the Cyberlink suite that I’ve complained about on previous systems, though no one can escape the bloat that comes with
Windows 10
, like Facebook Messenger, Hulu and Roblox.
MSI sells the Aegis RS 11th with a one-year warranty.
MSI Aegis RS 11th Configurations
We reviewed the Aegis RS with a new Intel Core i7-11700K “Rocket Lake” processor, 16GB of RAM, and MSI RTX 3080 Ventus 3X OC GPU, a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD and a 2TB, 7,200-rpm HDD. When the system becomes widely available in mid-April, it will run for $2,499.
When we were reviewing this model, MSI told us that the RS 11th series would start at $1,999. It didn’t have completely finalized specs, but suggested the base model would have an RTX 3070 and 650W GPU and ditch the HDD. Several configurations may continue to utilize a Z490 motherboard and then transition to Z590 as supply levels out. The Aegis RS series is expected to top out at a Core i9-11900K, RTX 3090, 32GB of RAM, an 850W power supply and a 240mm CPU cooler, going possibly as high as $3,899.
Bottom Line
If you’re looking for the latest and greatest, the MSI Aegis RS 11th delivers you the most recent parts from Intel and Nvidia (at least, as long as it’s in stock).
Unlike some other prebuilts, there’s nothing proprietary here. It’s all standardized parts, mostly from MSI, that you can easily upgrade down the line.
Intel’s Core i7 Rocket Lake and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 in our review configuration worked potently together. In productivity, though, Rocket Lake’s limited core count didn’t stand up to some competition, which affects some workloads.
MSI needs to add polish to its MSI Center utility.. If you use the app to monitor CPU usage, check temperatures or change RGB colors, it will feel a bit like beta. If you prefer other applications, you may not notice.
As a whole package, the Aegis RS 11th is a powerful gaming rig with few frills. If you need a PC to play games, this will stand up, even in 4K with the right settings.
Intel today launched its 11th Generation Core “Rocket Lake” desktop processor family led by the Core i9-11900K—this is its long-awaited review. With the Core i9-11900K, Intel wants to respond to the AMD Ryzen 5000 series, which snatched overall performance leadership away from the company. Rocket Lake is Intel’s first attempt at improving per-core (single-threaded) performance in several years, through the introduction of the new “Cypress Cove” CPU core. Intel claims IPC gain over the previous generation of up to 19%. The i9-11900K is an 8-core/16-thread processor, which is a step backward from its 10-core/20-thread predecessor, the i9-10900K, but Intel believes that the IPC gain and enhancements to the multi-core boosting algorithm should help recover some of the multi-threaded performance despite the two-core deficit. This is also their attempted hint at the market and software developers that eight cores should be plenty for cutting-edge gaming and client desktop tasks.
The reason Intel had to stop at eight cores for Rocket Lake has more to do with the fact that the processor is still manufactured on the 14 nm silicon fabrication node Intel has been lugging along for six years now. The Core i9-11900K is built on the same Socket LGA1200 package as its predecessor, and the package is physically of the same size as the i7-860 from 2009. The new Cypress Cove CPU cores are significantly larger than the “Skylake” cores on “Comet Lake,” and the new Gen12 Xe LP iGPU is larger than the Gen 9.5 unit, too. As a result, elongating the die to cram in more cores wasn’t an option. Add to this that the 14 nm node limits the power budget, and the 10-core Comet Lake was already flirting with 250 W package power draw. Physically removing the iGPU to make room for the extra two cores wasn’t an option either, as Intel emphasizes the iGPU to sell these chips to the vast majority of desktop users that don’t need discrete graphics. Intel plans to significantly change its mainstream desktop socket with the future generation “Alder Lake,” however.
Why Intel stuck with 14 nm is another mystery. Intel’s position is that to accomplish the performance target of Rocket Lake on the desktop platform, 14 nm was sufficient. Intel already has a more advanced silicon fabrication node, the 10 nm SuperFin, which it’s using to make 11th Gen “Tiger Lake-U” mobile processors with plans to launch a new 8-core “Tiger Lake-H” mobile chip later this year. Mobile processors make up a major share of Intel’s client CPU sales, and with the recent surge in notebook sales, the company wants to maximize its 10 nm foundry utilization for mobile chips. The desktop platform has a relatively “unlimited” power budget compared to mobile, and with 10th Gen “Comet Lake-S,” Intel seems to have decided that it’s willing to take the heat for selling a hot and inefficient desktop chip as long as it’s competitive.
We’ll go into the nuts and bolts of Rocket Lake on the following pages, but put briefly, the chip combines eight new Cypress Cove CPU cores with a Gen12 Xe LP integrated graphics core and an updated platform I/O that includes PCI-Express Gen 4. The chip also puts out eight more PCIe lanes than the previous generation. These contribute to a CPU-attached NVMe interface, much like those of AMD Ryzen chips, and a double-width DMI x8 chipset-bus. The general purpose PCIe connectivity put out by the new Intel 500-series chipsets continues to be PCIe Gen 3.
With this generation, Intel has an ace up its sleeve—DLBoost, or hardware acceleration of AI deep-learning neural net building and training. Intel claims DLBoost accelerates DNN training performance by up to six times compared to normal x86 execution. DLBoost made its debut with the company’s 10th Gen “Ice Lake” mobile processors, and Intel sees huge potential for AI in several client-relevant media tasks, such as quick image and video manipulation—just like on the latest smartphones. The company also put out plenty of developer documentation and is working with ISVs to promote DLBoost. Another feature making its desktop debut is the new AVX-512 instruction set, or at least a truncated version of it, with only client-relevant instructions.
The Core i9-11900K 8-core processor is clocked at 3.50 GHz, with a maximum Turbo frequency of 5.30 GHz using Thermal Velocity Boost and an all-core boost frequency of 4.70 GHz. Each of the eight Cypress Cove cores comes with 512 KB of dedicated L2 cache, and the chip has 16 MB of shared L3 cache. The i9-11900K is unlocked and ready for overclocking. Intel has introduced several new features for overclockers, which we’ll detail on the following pages. The i9-11900K is priced at US$539 in 1,000-unit tray quantities, which should put its retail starting price at around $550, the same pricing territory as AMD’s 12-core Ryzen 9 5900X. In this review, we put the Core i9-11900K through an exhaustive new set of CPU and gaming tests to show you if Intel has managed to take back the crown from AMD.
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. 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 Maximus family serves as ASUS’s flagship line for Intel motherboards, with premium looks, premium features, blazing performance, and broad overclocking support. The Maximus lineup typically comprises four models: the Hero, Apex, Formula, and Extreme. Intel’s Z590 chipset is no exception. The ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Hero serves as the mainstream entry for the Maximus family, providing many of the extreme features and benefits of the lineup while maintaining an attainable price tag.
The ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Hero features a robust VRM cooling solution, all paired with no less than 16 power stages from Infineon. BIOS flashback has also been included, as well as ASUS’s excellent BIOS designed to provide an optimal, stress-free overclocking experience. The ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Hero also offers great connectivity with not only WiFi 6, but also dual 2.5 Gb/s Ethernet, Thunderbolt 4 and four M.2 slots. All of this performance is bundled into a sleek, modern package with excellent RGB options for those who want more flare in their final build.
Let’s take a closer look at what the ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Hero has to offer.
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 retake 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 AMD rival Ryzen 9 5900X 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 AORUS line from Gigabyte spans a broad range of products—laptops, peripherals, and core components. Across the enthusiast spectrum, the AORUS name denotes Gigabyte’s gaming-focused products. The AORUS motherboard range features a consistent naming scheme that includes the Pro, Elite, Ultra, Master, and Extreme motherboards.
The Gigabyte Z590I AORUS Ultra features a robust VRM utilizing 90 A power stages, along with Q-Flash for a redundant safety net for ambitious overclocking. Along with the standard Z590 updates, the Gigabyte Z590I AORUS Ultra has also added two additional Vcore power stages, which takes the total from 8 to 10. The Gigabyte Z590I AORUS Ultra also offers a full-coverage aluminium backplate for added rigidity and additional VRM cooling. Let’s see how the Gigabyte Z590I AORUS Ultra stacks up against its predecessor!
Specifications
Specifications
CPU Support:
Intel 10th Gen or later processors
Power Design:
CPU Power: 11-phase* Memory Power: 2-phase
Chipset:
Intel Z590
Integrated Graphics:
Dependent on installed CPU
Memory:
2x DIMM, supports dual-channel DDR4-4600 (OC) MHz
BIOS:
AMI UEFI BIOS
Expansion Slots:
1x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot
Storage:
4x SATA 6 Gb/s ports 2x M.2 ports (SATA3/PCIe x4)
Networking:
1x Intel 2.5 Gb/s LAN 1x Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200
Rear Ports:
1x DisplayPort 1x HDMI port 1x USB Type-C® port, with USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 support 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports (red) 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports 2x USB 2.0/1.1 ports 1x Q-Flash Plus button 1x RJ-45 port 2x SMA antenna connectors 3x audio jacks
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 retake some of that lost ground with the new 11th Gen 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 AMD rival Ryzen 9 5900X 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 Core Processors, but Z590 brings 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 AORUS line from Gigabyte spans a broad range of products: laptops, peripherals, and core components. Across the enthusiast spectrum, the AORUS name denotes Gigabyte’s gaming-focused products, with the AORUS motherboard range featuring a consistent naming scheme that includes the Pro, Elite, Ultra, Master, and Extreme motherboards. Within this lineup, the Master serves as the high-end mainstream option offering prime features at a high but attainable price point.
The Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Master features a massive 19-phase VRM utilizing 90 A power stages and Gigabyte’s signature finned cooling solution. Both Q-Flash and a dual BIOS have been included, providing a redundant safety net for ambitious overclocking. The Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Master also offers a full-coverage aluminium backplate for added rigidity and additional VRM cooling. Additionally, Gigabyte has included a 10 Gb/s LAN controller from Aquantia. All of the features are in order, so let’s see how the Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Master stacks up against the competition.
1x Q-Flash Plus button 1x Clear CMOS button 2x SMA antenna connectors 1x DisplayPort 1x USB Type-C® port, with USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 5x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports (red) 4x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports 1x RJ-45 port 1x optical S/PDIF Out connector 5x audio jacks
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 to see is how the ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E stacks up against the competition!
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
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 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 AMD rival Ryzen 9 5900X 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 MSI Enthusiast Gaming, or MEG for short, line of motherboards represents the best of the best MSI has to offer. Last year’s Z490 MEG line offered some of the best overclocking available on an Intel platform. Memory overclocking was particularly noteworthy due to such innovations as MSI’s tabbed memory trace layout. Those same innovations return on MSI’s new Z590 lineup with even more refinement. The MSI MEG Z590 ACE features a massive 19-phase VRM with top of the line 90 A power stages and a robust VRM cooling solution, four M.2 slots, Thunderbolt 4, and a plethora of overclocking features. The MSI MEG Z590 ACE has a premium spec sheet—let’s see if there is premium performance to match!
1x BIOS Flashback button 1x Clear CMOS button 2x SMA antenna connectors 1x HDMI port 2x USB Type-C® Thunderbolt ports 2x Mini DisplayPort input 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports (red) 4x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports 2x USB 2.0 ports 1x RJ-45 port 1x optical S/PDIF Out connector 5x audio jacks
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 with 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 MSI Performance Gaming line, or “MPG” for short, from MSI is generally pitched as the middle ground between the no-holds-barred MEG line and more value-oriented MAG line. The MSI MPG Z590 Carbon EK X is an exception. Developed in partnership with and distributed by EKWB, the MSI MPG Z590 Carbon EK X features a monoblock for CPU and VRM cooling as well as all the tools you need to integrate it into your custom water-cooling build.
The MSI MPG Z590 Carbon EK X features a 16-phase Vcore VRM on a 6-layer PCB. There is also 2.5 Gb/s LAN and built-in WiFi 6E, as well as three M.2 slot heatsinks and even a physical RGB LED off switch. EK is including a leak test kit with the MSI MPG Z590 Carbon EK X, so you can build with confidence.
Let’s take a closer look at what the MSI MPG Z590 Carbon EK X has to offer.
1x Intel 1225V 2.5G LAN 1x Intel WiFi 6E AX210 module
Rear Ports:
4x USB 2.0 ports 1x DisplayPort 2x USB 3.2 Gen1 5 Gbps Type-A 1x 2.5G LAN 5x Audio Connectors 1x Flash BIOS Button 1x HDMI port 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps Type-A 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 20Gbps Type-C 2x SMA WiFi connectors 1x Optical S/PDIF Out
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I built a new gaming PC in September to play new games like Microsoft Flight Simulator, Cyberpunk 2077, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. I figured that picking Intel’s Core i9-10900K and Nvidia’s RTX 3090 would make this machine last for years and offer top tier performance in demanding titles like Microsoft Flight Simulator. I was wrong. Microsoft Flight Simulator is a notorious beast of a game and is quickly becoming the new Crysis test for PCs.
It has struggled to run smoothly above 30fps with all settings maxed out at 1440p on my PC, and even AMD’s Intel-beating Ryzen 9 5950X only improved the situation slightly for some.
Intel’s latest 11th Gen processor arrives with a big promise of up to 19 percent IPC (instructions per cycle) improvements over the existing i9-10900K, and more specifically the lure of 14 percent more performance at 1080p in Microsoft Flight Simulator with high settings. This piqued my curiosity, so I’ve been testing the i9-11900K over the past few days to see what it can offer for Microsoft Flight Simulator specifically.
It’s less than a year after the i9-10900K release, and I’m already considering upgrading to Intel’s new i9-11900K because I’ve found it boosts Microsoft Flight Simulator by 20 percent.
Intel’s Core i9-11900K processor.
The Verge doesn’t typically review processors, so we don’t own dedicated hardware testing rigs or multiple CPUs and systems to offer all of the benchmarks and comparisons you’d typically find in CPU reviews. For those, we’re going to recommend you visit the excellent folks at Tom’s Hardware, KitGuru, or Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry.
Intel’s new Core i9-11900K ships with eight cores, 16 threads, and boosted clock speeds up to 5.3GHz. On paper, that sounds like it would be less powerful than the 10900K with its 10 cores, 20 threads, and boosted clock speeds up to 5.3GHz, but the reality is far more complicated thanks to how games and apps are designed. Most of Flight Simulator currently runs in a main thread that’s often limited by how well your CPU can run single-threaded applications and games.
So in recent years Intel has managed to stay on top with its single-threaded performance, despite AMD offering more cores. That was until AMD’s Ryzen 9 5950X managed to beat the final Intel performance advantage late last year. Intel’s new 11th Gen chips are trying to reclaim its traditional advantage.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is a good example of where Intel typically has an advantage. It’s also an increasingly rare example of a game that’s very sensitive to your entire system components and not just how good your GPU is at rendering games.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is a demanding title on PC.
Intel’s Core i9-11900K does its job well enough here to boost performance by around 20 percent depending on resolution. I’ve tested a variety of flights taking off from different airports and flying over some of the world’s most beautiful locations and the most demanding cities the game has to offer. Everything feels smoother with Intel’s latest chips, but the results aren’t dramatic enough to get me beyond 60fps without stepping some settings down. A flight over Seattle with all the settings maxed out shows a 24-percent performance improvement with the new 11th Gen Core i9 at 1080p and an 18-percent increase at 1440p.
On my i9-10900K PC, I saw average frame rates of 38fps at 1440p and 33fps at 1080p. The Core i9-11900K managed to bump these to 45fps average at 1440p and 41fps average at 1080p. Averages during a particular benchmark don’t always tell the whole story, though. Over the hours I’ve been playing Microsoft Flight Simulator, I’ve noticed the game dip and stutter less than before. It’s still not perfect, but it’s certainly smoother overall.
If I dial the game back to high settings, it immediately jumps to a 66fps average at 1440p — demonstrating just how much the ultra settings hit frame rates. I can personally barely notice the difference between high and ultra settings in Microsoft Flight Simulator,so the boost here is noticeable thanks to the smoother gameplay.
I also tested Shadow of the Tomb Raider and the Cinebench R23 and Geekbench 5 benchmarks. Shadow of the Tomb Raider saw a tiny bump of around 3 percent at both 1080p and 1440p, while the i9-11900K managed some impressive single core performance gains in both Cinebench and Geekbench.
Intel Core i9-11900K benchmarks
Benchmark
Intel Core i9-10900K
Intel Core i9-11900K
% change
Benchmark
Intel Core i9-10900K
Intel Core i9-11900K
% change
Microsoft Flight Simulator (1080p)
33fps
41fps
up 24.2%
Microsoft Flight Simulator (1440p)
38fps
45fps
up 18.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1080p)
176fps
181fps
up 2.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1440p)
154fps
159fps
up 3.2%
Cinebench R23 single-thread
1281
1623
up 26.6%
Cinebench R23 multi-thread
14,968
14,826
down 0.94%
Geekbench 5 single-thread
1336
1766
up 32.1%
Geekbench 5 multi-thread
10,709
11,148
up 4%
I should note I was also hoping to do most of my testing with my existing Z490 motherboard, but that didn’t go to plan. I swapped the chip in with the latest BIOS update for 11th Gen processors and found that the system rebooted a few minutes into games without even a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). I wasn’t able to troubleshoot it fully in time for review, but the Asus Maximus XIII Hero (Z590) board supplied by Intel worked just fine.
You should be able to easily use 11th Gen processors with Z490 motherboards, as most manufacturers have already issued BIOS updates to support Intel’s latest processors. Some will even support M.2 NVMe storage using PCIe 4.0 with these latest chips, while others like Asus only support PCIe 4.0 on the Primary PCIe x16 slot with 11th Gen processors.
Intel’s 11th Gen processors finally deliver PCIe 4.0 support, and that’s good news for storage. Manufacturers have started to fully support PCIe 4.0 drives in recent months, with Western Digital, Samsung, GigaByte, and MSI all launching high-speed drives. If you have a compatible PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive, the upgrade to 11th Gen processors will certainly be worth it. I’ve managed read speeds of 6729MB/s and write speeds of 5206MB/s using Western Digital’s new SN850 1TB drive. Corsair’s MP600 also manages 4987MB/s read and 4259MB/s write speeds. Using Intel’s older 10th Gen chip, the Corsair drive managed 3484MB/s reads and 3235MB/s writes, so an 11th Gen upgrade improved speeds by more than 40 percent. If you work with a lot of files every day, the upgrade to 11th Gen processors will be worth it for PCIe 4.0 alone.
Western Digital’s SN850 has super fast PCIe 4.0 speeds with Intel’s 11th Gen processors.
I don’t think the Core i9-11900K does enough for me personally to upgrade from a 10900K, but the PCIe 4.0 support would tempt me more if I needed the speeds there. At $550 (if you can find it at this retail price), the Core i9-11900K sits in between AMD’s offerings, being less expensive than the top 5950X and 5900X Ryzen 9 chips and $90 more than the 5800X.
There’s some solid single-thread performance here, and the 11900K and AMD’s 5900X and 5950X all trade blows depending on the games. Intel’s performance improvement will come at a cost of energy efficiency, though. Tom’s Hardware found that the 11900K “sets the new high power mark” in several of its power tests, drawing over 200 watts in the same test that AMD’s Ryzen 9 5900X drew 116 watts. If you even need a new CPU, it’s worth considering just how much Intel’s latest chips will influence your energy bills and the games you play.
Whether you decide to upgrade to Intel’s 11th Gen or one of AMD’s chips will probably depend on the games you play and stock availability. A lot of games do a bad job of utilizing multiple cores on CPUs, mostly because console gaming hardware hasn’t offered solid CPU performance and spreading multiple rendering and physics threads across different cores can complicate game design. Intel’s new chips do a better job of handling these single threads to improve performance, but it’s very game-dependent.
For Microsoft Flight Simulator, the general consensus is that the game desperately needs to be moved to DirectX 12 for improvements to multi-core CPU performance. But Intel’s IPC improvements have managed to help until the Direct X 12 update arrives with the Xbox Series X release this summer.
Where Intel might have an advantage over AMD here is availability of chips. It has been increasingly difficult to find AMD’s latest Ryzen processors in recent months, thanks to a global chip shortage. Intel partners have already been accidentally selling some 11th Gen desktop CPUs, which may indicate it will have a steadier supply in the coming weeks.
The winner between Intel and AMD will be the company that can get these chips into the hands of PC gamers eager to upgrade. Much like the GPU market right now, benchmarks don’t matter when the best chip is often the only one you can actually buy.
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 retake 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 AMD rival Ryzen 9 5900X 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 AORUS line from Gigabyte spans a broad range of products—laptops, peripherals, and core components. Across the enthusiast spectrum, the AORUS name denotes Gigabyte’s gaming-focused products. The AORUS motherboard range features a consistent naming scheme that includes the Pro, Elite, Ultra, Master, and Extreme motherboards.
The Gigabyte Z590I AORUS Ultra features a robust VRM utilizing 90 A power stages, along with Q-Flash for a redundant safety net for ambitious overclocking. Along with the standard Z590 updates, the Gigabyte Z590I AORUS Ultra has also added two additional Vcore power stages, which takes the total from 8 to 10. The Gigabyte Z590I AORUS Ultra also offers a full-coverage aluminium backplate for added rigidity and additional VRM cooling. Let’s see how the Gigabyte Z590I AORUS Ultra stacks up against its predecessor!
Specifications
Specifications
CPU Support:
Intel 10th Gen or later processors
Power Design:
CPU Power: 11-phase* Memory Power: 2-phase
Chipset:
Intel Z590
Integrated Graphics:
Dependent on installed CPU
Memory:
2x DIMM, supports dual-channel DDR4-4600 (OC) MHz
BIOS:
AMI UEFI BIOS
Expansion Slots:
1x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot
Storage:
4x SATA 6 Gb/s ports 2x M.2 ports (SATA3/PCIe x4)
Networking:
1x Intel 2.5 Gb/s LAN 1x Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200
Rear Ports:
1x DisplayPort 1x HDMI port 1x USB Type-C® port, with USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 support 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports (red) 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports 2x USB 2.0/1.1 ports 1x Q-Flash Plus button 1x RJ-45 port 2x SMA antenna connectors 3x audio jacks
Audio:
1x Realtek ALC1220 Codec
Fan Headers:
4x 4-pin
Form Factor:
ITX Form Factor: 6.7 x 6.7 in.; 17.0 x 17.0 cm
Exclusive Features:
APP Center
@BIOS
EasyTune
Fast Boot
Game Boost
RGB Fusion
Smart Backup
System Information Viewer
USB TurboCharger
Support for Q-Flash Plus
Support for Q-Flash
Support for Xpress Install
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!
The official Rocket Lake launch isn’t even here yet, but professional overclockers are already pushing the Core i9 11900K past 7GHz. As Tweeted by APISAK, one overclocker called ‘ROG-Fisher’ so far has achieved this overclock on a ROG Maximus XIII Apex motherboard with a crazy-high voltage of 1.873v. That makes this score the highest frequency overclock on Rocket Lake–at least for right now.
(Image credit: Twitter)
Another overclocker in India has already begun work overclocking a 11900K. But for now, they have ‘only’ achieved 6.5Ghz, at a much lower vcore of 1.678v.
This is just the beginning for Rocket Lake. It will take time for overclockers to feel out these new chips to see where they can be pushed.
At least, for now, 7GHz seems to be the clock speed barrier to beat with liquid nitrogen cooling. Compare that to Intel’s Comet Lake-S chips, which could hit well in excess of 7GHz. In-fact, with one CPU-Z validation, one overclocker almost hit the 8GHz mark.
However, with Rocket Lake being the first-brand new architecture from Intel in over 5 years (and one of the only backported architectures), it makes us wonder if Rocket Lake will have any extra frequency headroom from the changes Intel has made to the architecture (compared to Comet Lake). Only time will tell.
For more details on Rocket Lake, check out our coverage here. The official Rocket Lake launch is tomorrow so stay tuned for our review. Perhaps we’ll see chips like the 11900K join the ranks as some of the best CPUs you can buy in 2021. And ‘can buy’ might be a key consideration. Given that Intel fabs its own CPUs, it seems unlikely the chip giant will suffer the same stock issues that have plagued AMD since the Ryzen 5000 launch last year.
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