Intel Rocket Lake Core i9-11900K 8 Core Desktop CPU Review Ft. MSI MEG Z590 ACE, ASRock Z590 Steel Legend, AORUS Z590 PRO AX Motherboards

Six years! It's been six years since Intel last introduced a major architectural change on its desktop consumer lineup. It's been even longer since the company has relied on the 14nm process node & which isn't changing till later this year but with the ever-increasing competition from the AMD Ryzen CPU lineup, the company has decided to finally unleash a new architecture in its 11th Gen Rocket Lake Desktop CPU lineup.

The company has largely been stagnant in the consumer desktop space. The main reason for this stagnation has been Intel's reliance on its 14nm process node and Skylake architecture which has served the desktop space since 2015 up till 2020 (10th Generation Comet Lake) while Intel's 10nm process dilemmas and yields couldn't keep up with Skylake in mainstream desktop space.

These only made things worse for Intel along with a re-emerged AMD who went guns blazing in the desktop market with its Ryzen 3000 and Ryzen 5000 CPUs, delivering advanced architectures while utilizing bleeding-edge process nodes.

One of the issue and an ongoing one is the competitive threat from AMD's Ryzen processors which aren't only tackling Intel in terms of pure core count but also in terms of IPC which has exceeded Skylake levels and also pricing in which AMD has simply made Intel's once iconic Core i5 and Core i7 lineups disappear from the game. However, 14nm did turn out to be a savior at the very end of its life cycle with AMD unable to meet the demand for its Zen 3 CPUs while 14nm is more stable than ever and even 10nm supply is getting better as the process matures and enters its 2nd (++) iteration on the desktop segment.

There's another key department where Intel still holds the lead over AMD which is due to the process maturation of the 14nm node over the years. In terms of clock speeds, Intel has taken the battle to AMD which makes sense in a way since while their remerged rival can beat them in terms of price, cores, they can surely flex their muscles in terms of clock speeds however, AMD has been knocking the socks off Intel with its impressive gen-over-gen IPC gains which invalidate the clock speed gains that intel has been so proud of. Those clock speeds also come at a big disadvantage on the existing 14nm node and that's power consumption. Intel Desktop CPUs are no longer the king in terms of efficiency.

Intel 11th Gen vs AMD Ryzen 5000 Desktop CPU Prices:

Intel CPU	Cores / Threads	Clocks (Max)	Price (MSRP)	Prices (Newegg) - 30/03/2021	Prices (Newegg) - 30/03/2021	Price (MSRP)	Clocks (Max)	Cores / Threads	AMD CPU
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	$799.99 US (Out of Stock)	$799 US	4.7 GHz (105W)	16/32	AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
Intel Core i9-11900K	8/16	5.3 GHz (125W)	$539 US (K) $513 US (KF)	$613.99 K (Out of Stock)	$549.99 US (Out of Stock)	$549 US	4.6 GHz (105W)	12/24	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
Intel Core i9-11900	8/16	5.2 GHz (125W)	$439 US $422 US (F)	TBD	TBA	TBA	4.7 GHz (105W)	12/24	AMD Ryzen 9 5900
Intel Core i7-11700K	8/16	5.0 GHz (125W)	$399 US (K) $374 US (F)	$418.99 K	$539.99 US	$449 US	4.7 GHz (105W)	8/16	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
Intel Core i7-11700	8/16	4.9 GHz (65W)	$323 US $298 US (F)	TBD	TBA	TBA	4.6 GHz (65W)	8/16	AMD Ryzen 7 5800
Intel Core i5-11600K	6/12	4.9 GHz (125W)	$262 US (K) $237 US (KF)	$269.99 K	$485.99 US	$299 US	4.6 GHz (65W)	6/12	AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
Intel Core i5-11600	6/12	4.8 GHz (65W)	$213 US	TBD	TBA	TBA	TBA	6/12	AMD Ryzen 5 5600
Intel Core i5-11500	6/12	4.6 GHz (65W)	$192 US	$217.99	N/A	TBA	N/A	N/A	N/A
Intel Core i5-11400	6/12	4.4 GHz (65W)	$182 US $157 US (F)	$183.99	N/A	TBA	N/A	N/A	N/A

This year, Intel has decided to kick things off with its first major architectural change and the last 14nm process family for the desktop platform, codenamed Rocket Lake. The 11th Generation line of processors is aimed at the enthusiast and mainstream segment, consisting of Core i9, Core i7, & Core i5 SKUs.

Main features of Intel's Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs include:

• Increased Performance with new Cypress Cove core architecture
• Up to 8 cores and 16 threads (Double Digit IPC Gains Over Skylake)
• New Xe graphics architecture (Up To 50% higher Performance Than Gen9)
• Increased DDR4 3200 MHz Memory Support
• CPU PCIe 4.0 Lanes (Available on Z490 & Z590 Motherboards)
• Enhanced Display (Integrated HDMI 2.0b, DP1.4a, HBR3)
• Added x4 CPU PCIe Lanes = 20 Total CPU PCIe 4.0 Lanes
• Enhanced Media (12 bit AV1/HVEC, E2E compression)
• CPU Attached Storage or Intel Optane Memory
• New Overclocking Features and Capabilities
• USB Audio offload
• Integrated CNVi & Wireless-AX
• Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20G)
• 2.5Gb Ethernet Discrete LAN
• Discrete Intel Thunderbolt 4 (USB4 Compliant)

Their main competitor is the AMD Ryzen 5000 lineup based on the Zen 3 architecture that was introduced back in Q4 2020 and based on the Zen 3 core architecture. For this review, I'll be putting the Core i9-11900K to test on two Z590 motherboards, the MSI MEG Z590 ACE, AORUS Z590 Pro AX, and the ASRock Z590 Steel Legend.

Intel Z590 Express Chipset - The Top 500-Series PCH

Intel's Rocket Lake-S desktop CPU platform will feature support on LGA 1200 socket which made its original debut with Comet Lake-S CPUs although on 400-series motherboards. The Intel Rocket Lake-S processors will be launching alongside the 500-series motherboards but will be backward compatible with 400-series motherboards. In addition to the flagship Z590 motherboards, B560 motherboards will support memory overclocking which has been highly anticipated by budget PC builders.

Intel Z590 Platform Features:

The 11th gen desktop platform has a range of new features that mainly include:

• Support for LGA 1200 Intel Core / Pentium Gold / Celeron Processors
• TDP Support Up To 125W
• DDR4-3200 Support For Core i9 & Core i7 Desktop Processors
• Support For Intel Wireless-AX (CNVi)
• 24 PCIe Gen 3 Lanes (PCH)
• Six SATA III Ports (6 Gbps)
• 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 20 Gbps
• 10 USB 3.2 Gen 2x1 10 Gbps
• 10 USB 3.2 Gen 1x1 5 Gbps
• 14 USB 2.0
• x8 DMI Gen 3.0 (CPU-PCH Interconnect)
• IRST 17 for PCIe storage RAID on CPU & PCH Support
• Hardware-Level PCIe Gen 4 Integration from various board vendors
• Up To 6 SATA III ports
• Optane Memory Ready
• Thunderbolt 4.0
• Intel WiFi 6E Support

Intel Desktop Platform Chipset Comparison

Chipset Name	Arrow Lake-S (ARL-S) PCH / 800 Series (Z890)	Raptor Lake-S (RPL-S) PCH / 700 Series (Z790)	Alder Lake-S (ADL-S) PCH / 600 Series (Z690)	Rocket Lake-S (RKL-S) PCH / 500 Series (Z590)	Comet Lake-S (CML-S) PCH / 400 Series (Z490)	Coffee Lake S (CFL-S) PCH / 300 Series (Z390/H370, B360, Q370, H310)	Coffee Lake S (KBL-R) PCH / Z370 Platform
Process Node	7nm	14nm	14nm	14nm	14nm	14nm	22nm
Processor	24C, 20C, 14C, 12C, TBD)	24,16C,12C,10C,6C,4C	16C,12C,10C,6C,4C (Full corporate/consumer SKU stack at launch)	8C, 6C (Full corporate/consumer SKU stack at launch)	10C, 8C, 6C, 4C, 2C (Full corporate/consumer SKU stack at launch)	8C, 6C, 4C, 2C (Full corporate/consumer SKU stack at launch)	8C, 6C, 4C (6 Consumer SKUs at Launch)
Memory	Up To DDR5-6400 (Native)	Up To DDR5-5600 (Native) Up To DDR4-3200 (Native)	Up To DDR5-4800 (Native) Up To DDR4-3200 (Native)	Up To DDR4-3200 (Native)	Up To DDR4-2933 (Native)	Up To DDR4-2666 (Native)	Up To DDR4-2666 (Native)
Media, Display & Audio	eDP / 4DDI (DP, HDMI) Display Capabilities	eDP / 4DDI (DP, HDMI) Display Capabilities	eDP / 4DDI (DP, HDMI) Display Capabilities	DP 1.2 & HDMI 2.0, HBR3 HDCP 2.2 (HDMI 2.0a w/LSPCON) 12-bit AV1/HEVC & VP9 10-bit Enc/Dec, HDR, Rec.2020, DX12 Integrated Dual-Core Audio DSP With USB Audio offload SoundWire Digital Audio Interface	DP 1.2 & HDMI 1.4 HDCP 2.2 (HDMI 2.0a w/LSPCON) HEVC & VP9 10-bit Enc/Dec, HDR, Rec.2020, DX12 Integrated Dual-Core Audio DSP SoundWire Digital Audio Interface	DP 1.2 & HDMI 1.4 HDCP 2.2 (HDMI 2.0a w/LSPCON) HEVC & VP9 10-bit Enc/Dec, HDR, Rec.2020, DX12 Integrated Dual-Core Audio DSP SoundWire Digital Audio Interface	DP 1.2 & HDMI 1.4 HDCP 2.2 (HDMI 2.0a w/LSPCON) HEVC & VP9 10-bit Enc/Dec, HDR, Rec.2020, DX12 Integrated Dual-Core Audio DSP
I/O & Connectivity	Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20G) Integrated Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi6E/ 7 BT CNVio) with Gig+ Integrated SDXC 4.0 Controller Thunderbolt 4.0	Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20G) Integrated Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi6E/ 7 BT CNVio) with Gig+ Integrated SDXC 4.0 Controller Thunderbolt 4.0	Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20G) Integrated Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi6E/ 7 BT CNVio) with Gig+ Integrated SDXC 4.0 Controller Thunderbolt 4.0	Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20G) Integrated Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi6E/ BT CNVi) Integrated SDXC 3.0 Controller Thunderbolt 4.0 (Maple Ridge)	Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2 Integrated Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi / BT CNVi) Integrated SDXC 3.0 Controller Thunderbolt 3.0 (Titan Ridge) w/ DP 1.4	Integrated USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Integrated Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi / BT CNVi) Integrated SDXC 3.0 Controller Thunderbolt 3.0 (Titan Ridge) w/ DP 1.4	Integrated USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Thunderbolt 3.0 (Alpine Ridge)
Storage	PCIe 5.0 (CPU Lanes), 8x SATA 3.0	Next-Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 5.0 (CPU Lanes), 6x SATA 3.0	Next-Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 5.0, 6x SATA 3.0	Next-Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 4.0, 6x SATA 3.0	Next-Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 3.0, 6x SATA 3.0	Next Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 3.0, 6x SATA 3.0	Next Gen Intel Optane memory PCIe 3.0, 6x SATA 3.0
Max PCH PCIe Lanes	Up To 24 (Gen 4)	Up To 20 (Gen 4) Up To 8 (Gen 3)	Up To 12 (Gen 4) Up To 16 (Gen 3)	Up To 24 (Gen 3)	Up To 24 (Gen 3)	Up To 24 (Gen 3)	Up To 24 (Gen 3)
Max CPU PCIe Lanes	Up To 20 (Gen 5) Up To 4 (Gen 4)	Up To 16 (Gen 5) Up To 4 (Gen 4)	Up To 16 (Gen 5) Up To 4 (Gen 4)	Up To 20 (Gen 4)	Up To 16 (Gen 3)	Up To 16 (Gen 3)	Up To 16 (Gen 3)
Max USB Ports	Up To 5 (USB 3.2 Gen 2z2) Up To 10 (USB 3.2 Gen 2x1) Up To 10 (USB 3.2 Gen 1x1) Up To 14 (USB 2.0)	Up To 5 (USB 3.2 Gen 2x2) Up To 10 (USB 3.2 Gen 2x1) Up To 10 (USB 3.2 Gen 1x1) Up To 14 (USB 2.0)	Up To 4 (USB 3.2 Gen 2x2) Up To 10 (USB 3.2 Gen 2x1) Up To 10 (USB 3.2 Gen 1x1) Up To 14 (USB 2.0)	Up To 3 (USB 3.2 Gen 2x2) Up To 10 (USB 3.2 Gen 2x1) Up To 10 (USB 3.2 Gen 1x1) Up To 14 (USB 2.0)	Up To 10 (USB 3.2) Up To 14 (USB 2.0)	Up To 10 (USB 3.1) Up To 14 (USB 2.0)	Up To 10 (USB 3.0) Up To 14 (USB 2.0)
Security	Intel TET Intel Boot Guard	N/A	N/A	N/A	Intel SGX 1.0	Intel SGX 1.0	Intel SGX 1.0
Power Management	C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby	C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby	C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby	C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby	C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby	C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby	C8 Support
Launch	2024	2022	2021	2021	2019	2018	2017

Meet The LGA 1200 Socket - 11th & 10th Generation CPU Support

As mentioned earlier, LGA 1151's reign is finally over and the LGA 1200 socket is here now. The new socket definitely adds more pins to the socket but the dimensions and most of the physical looks of the socket remain unchanged. The new LGA 1200 socket does offer more pin connections to the CPU, allowing for more communication channels with the board itself and accommodate electrical pin configurations that are required to support 10th Gen CPUs.

While the LGA 1200 socket has the same dimensions as the LGA 1151 socket (37.5mm x 37.5mm), the socket keying has shifted to the left side, and Comet Lake/Rocket Lake CPUs are no longer electrically or mechanically compatible with Coffee Lake motherboards. So this is some bad news for those who may try to put an LGA 1151 CPU on the LGA 1200 socket for science! Some details of the new LGA 1200 package and socket for Comet Lake:

• Comet Lake / Rocket Lake will transition to a higher pin-count package
• Comet Lake / Rocket Lake  LGA will not have backward compatibility with legacy platforms
• No changes to ILM dimensions or thermal solution retention
• Comet Lake / Rocket Lake LGA improves power delivery and support for future incremental I/O features
• Pin 1 orientation remains the same, but socket keying has shifted left

Cooler Compatibility With LGA 1200 Socket

Keeping the same dimensions has some advantages in the form of cooler compatibility. All users who are running the LGA 1151 socket or even LGA 1150 boards can use the same cooler on the Z590 boards without any hassle. The socket has the same dimensions and no changes are made aside from the ones I just mentioned above which don't affect cooler compatibility. The socket assembly and mounting remain the same.

Intel does offer a separate boxed cooler but it will be a much better choice to get an AIB cooling solution since those offer better cooling performance. It is recommended for the unlocked SKUs that users run them on a high-end air cooler or liquid cooling solution. Custom loop cooling will deliver even better results.

The Intel Rocket Lake-S or the 11th Generation Core Family is going to be the last 14nm, desktop family. The Cypress Cove architecture replaces 2015's Skylake architecture. The architecture has seen several optimizations and key refinements that have led to an increase from 4 cores and 8 threads to 8 cores and 16 threads. The same 14nm process has also been improved to the point that the flagship CPU speeds have seen a massive jump from 4.20 GHz boosts to 5.30 GHz boosts.

There are a couple of topics to talk about but they are all related to Intel's 11th Gen Desktop CPU lineup. Do remember that while Intel brands its Rocket Lake and Tiger Lake CPUs as 11th Gen, they are both based on different architectures, optimizations, and process nodes (14nm vs 10nm SF).

Intel 11th Gen Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs Get Adaptive Boost Technology

So first up, we have the Adaptive Boost Technology for Intel's 11th Gen Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs. The technology will only be available for Rocket Lake Core i9 'Unlocked' Desktop CPUs. So only two parts will support the technology, namely the Core i9 11900K and the Core i9-11900KF. Adaptive Boost will opportunistically allow higher multi-core clock speeds on the said processor.

Adaptive boost for Intel Core i9 'K' series processors would deliver higher multi-core clock speeds for systems that have adequate power delivery and cooling configurations while remaining within the spec's current and temperature limit. Adaptive boost, like TVB (Thermal Velocity Boost), will not be considered as overclocking so you won't be losing your warranty while running this feature.

In the chart, it is shown that with Adaptive Boost technology, Intel Rocket Lake Core i9 CPUs can get up to 5.1 GHz across 3 to 8 cores with a temperature limit of 100C. This is a marked boost over the 4.8 GHz all-core boost that Thermal Velocity Boost will have to offer & that's only till a working CPU temperature of 70C.

Intel 11th Gen Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs PL1 /PL2 Power Limits Detailed Too

In addition to that, the Power Limits for Intel's entire Rocket Lake stack of 11th Gen CPUs have been detailed too by Intel. The chart compares the Intel 11th Gen PL (Power Limits) with the 10th Gen Comet Lake family. Starting with the top of the stack, we get to see Intel sticking with the PL1 ratings of 125W but raising the PL2 limit to 203W base (vs 177) & 251W Perf (vs 250) on its flagship part. Do remember that Intel's flagship 11th Gen CPU features eight cores compared to ten cores on the Comet Lake flagship.

Next up, we have the 65W parts and here, the slide compares the 10C CPU vs the 8C CPU. While the base power limits stay at 65W, the PL2 profiles are actually lower than 10th Gen with 11th Gen at 154W (vs 176W) at the base profile and 224W (vs 224W) at the performance profile. The 65W 6 Core parts are the opposite which sticks with the 65W PL1 rating but sees the PL2 base profile getting lower at 119W (vs 134W) while the performance profile goes up to 154W (vs 134W).

Going down the stack, we have the 35W 'T' series SKUs which are once again featuring lower power limits than the 10th Gen stack. The base PL1 profile sticks at 35W while the base PL2 profile sticks to 84W (vs 92W) while the PL2 performance profile sticks to 115W (vs 123W). Last but not least, we have the 35W six-core SKUs which stick to the base PL1 profile of 35W while featuring a lower PL2 limit of 84W (vs 92W). As of right now, we only know that Intel is using the Thermal Velocity Boost numbers for its PL2 performance profile so Adaptive Boost Technology would further raise the PL ratings for 11th Gen SKUs.

Intel Core i9-11900K 8 Core & 16 Thread Rocket Lake Desktop CPU

The Intel Core i9-11900K will be the flagship 11th Gen Rocket Lake Desktop CPU. The chip is going to feature 8 cores and 16 threads. This will result in 16 MB of L3 cache (2 MB per core) and 4 MB of L2 cache (512 KB per core). In terms of boost clocks, we have already seen the CPU running at base frequencies of 3.5 GHz but as for boost, the CPU will feature a maximum boost clock of 5.2 GHz (1-core) while the all-core boost frequency will be maintained at 4.8 GHz.

The chip will also feature Thermal Velocity Boost which should deliver a 100 MHz jump in the max clock frequency. This should lead to a single-core boost clock of 5.3 GHz making it the first CPU to ever hit such a high frequency out of the box. However, do remember that regardless of using the Cypress Cove cores, the Core i9-11900K will feature lower cores and threads than the Intel Core i9-10900K. This is partially due to the backporting of Cypress Cove on the refined 14nm process node.

The CPU is said to feature a 1st stage power limit of 125W which is standard for a flagship Intel SKU and the 2nd stage power limit or PL2 is rated at 250W. This means that when hitting its maximum advertised clock speeds, the CPU could indeed be pulling the said amount of wattage from the PSU making it one of the most power-hungry 8-core chips ever produced. This might also explain why Intel didn't go 10 cores and 20 threads on its 11th Gen lineup since it would've turned out to be a power-hungry monster of a chip breaking even past the 250W power limit.

Intel Core i7-11700K 8 Core & 16 Thread Rocket Lake Desktop CPU

Moving over to the Core i7, we see that Intel won't be segmenting the core/thread count on a tier below Core i9. The Core i7-11700K features the same core configuration as the Core i9-11900K but comes with reduced clock speeds. The chip is said to feature a boost clock of 5.0 GHz on a single & 4.6 GHz across all of its 8 cores. The CPU will even carry the same amount of cache so nothing has changed but the main difference should come from the clocks and power limits. This lower-binned chip will sit at around 225-250W (PL2) limit while the PL1 limit will be standard at 125W.

It will be interesting to see how Rocket Lake CPUs overclock since the minute difference between the Core i9 and Core i7 chips can be overcome by a small overclock. As for pricing, the Core i7 will also be cheaper than the Core i9 variant but we don't know yet how Intel will price its 8 core Rocket Lake-S Desktop CPUs yet. There are reports that Intel could aggressively price the chips at around $400 US for the Core i9 and $300 US for the Core i7 which could prove to be a great decision if they really want to go against AMD's Zen 3 based parts in the sub-$500 US segment.

Intel Core i5-11600K 6 Core & 12 Thread Rocket Lake Desktop CPU

The Core i5-11600K is a 6 core chip with 12 threads. The Core i5-11600K should be going up against the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X which is a phenomenal CPU in its own right. The Core i5-11600K is said to feature a clock speed of 4.9 GHz on a single and 4.6 GHz across all cores.  Do note that TVB won't be available on SKUs below the Core i9 models so we shouldn't expect an extended frequency limit on Core i7 and Core i5 SKUs. The chip will feature 12 MB of L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache.

Now the main proving ground for this chip against the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X will be its performance to price value. The Ryzen 5 5600X with a $299 US MSRP is slightly higher in terms of pricing when we compare it to its predecessor. The Core i5-11600K on the other hand will be replacing the Core i5-10600K which has a retail price of around $260 US.

If Intel sticks to its existing price strategy, then the Core i5-11600K could indeed become a hot selling chip in the mainstream gaming market. With that said, we also have to take into account the availability of the Core i5-11600K. Technically, mainstream SKUs aren't affected a lot by supply issues as is the case with the Ryzen 5 5600X but a small delay in stock could result in Intel missing an opportunity to create a dent in AMD's Ryzen 5 segment. Consumers have already seen what AMD delivered as a successor to its Ryzen 5 3600X so now it's time to see what the Core i5-10600K's successor can do.

Intel 11th Gen Rocket Lake Desktop CPU Lineup Specs (Preliminary):

CPU Name	Cores / Threads	Base Clock	Boost Clock (1-Core)	Boost Clock (All-Core)	Cache	Graphics	TDP (PL1)	TDP (PL2)	Price
Core i9-11900K(F)	8 / 16	3.50 GHz	5.30 GHz	4.80 GHz	16 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	125W	251W	$539 US (K) $513 US (KF)
Core i9-11900(F)	8 / 16	2.50 GHz	5.20 GHz	4.70 GHz	16 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	65W	224W	$439 US $422 US (F)
Core i9-11900T	8 / 16	1.50 GHz	4.90 GHz	3.70 GHz	16 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	35W	115W	$439 US
Core i7-11700K(F)	8 / 16	3.60 GHz	5.00 GHz	4.60 GHz	16 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	125W	251W	$399 US (K) $374 US (F)
Core i7-11700(F)	8 / 16	2.50 GHz	4.90 GHz	4.40 GHz	16 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	65W	224W	$323 US $298 US (F)
Core i7-11700T	8 / 16	1.40 GHz	4.60 GHz	3.60 GHz	16 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	35W	115W	$323 US
Core i5-11600K(F)	6 /12	3.90 GHz	4.90 GHz	4.60 GHz	12 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	125W	224W?	$262 US (K) $237 US (KF)
Core i5-11600	6 /12	2.80 GHz	4.80 GHz	4.30 GHz	12 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	65W	154W	$213 US
Core i5-11600T	6 /12	1.70 GHz	4.10 GHz	3.50 GHz	12 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	35W	92W	$213 US
Core i5-11500	6 /12	2.70 GHz	4.60 GHz	4.20 GHz	12 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	65W	154W	$192 US
Core i5-11500T	6 /12	1.50 GHz	3.90 GHz	3.40 GHz	12 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	35W	92W	$192 US
Core i5-11400(F)	6 /12	2.60 GHz	4.40 GHz	4.20 GHz	12 MB	Intel Xe 24 EU (192 Cores)	65W	154W	$182 US $157 US (F)
Core i5-11400T	6 /12	1.30 GHz	3.70 GHz	3.30 GHz	12 MB	Intel Xe 24 EU (192 Cores)	35W	92W	$182 US

Moving over to the MSI 500 series lineup, the board manufacturer is preparing 15 Z590, 12 B560 & 3 H510 motherboards. The MSI lineup will feature a range of families. These include the MEG or Massive Enthusiast Gaming lineup which focuses on the enthusiast gaming segment, MPG which stands for Massive Performance Gaming and carters the high-end market, MAG, or the Massive Arsenal Gaming which focuses on the mainstream and budget segment while the PRO series is designed with content creators in mind.

MSI is back with its MEG ACE, this time featuring the Z590 chipset and design that is much powerful than ever. The MSI MEG Z590 ACE features an insane amount of technical expertise that has gone into its design and development.

Featured right below MSI's flagship Z590 product, the MEG Z590 GODLIKE, the MSI MEG Z590 ACE comes with an insane power delivery setup. You get a Direct 19 Phase All-Digital VRM with 90 Amp Smart Power Stages. Power to the VRM and CPU socket is provided through a dual 8-pin connector configuration.

MSI MEG Z590 ACE Motherboard Features:

• Supports 11th and 10th Gen Intel Core / Pentium Celeron processors for LGA 1200 socket
• Supports DDR4 Memory, up to 5600(OC) MHz
• Dual Thunderbolt 4 ports: Thunderbolt USB-C at true 40 Gb/s speeds, 8K display support, Daisy-Chaining, and Multi-Port Accessory Architecture provide reliable connectivity and a better user experience.
• Quadruple M.2 Connectors: Onboard 4x M.2 connectors for the maximum storage performance with one Lightning Gen 4 solution. Shield Frozr design keeps M.2 SSDs safe while preventing throttling, making them run faster.
• Extreme Power Design: INTERSIL digital PWM, 16+2+1 phases with 90A Smart Power Stage, dual CPU power connectors, and exclusive Mirrored Power Arrangement to unleash the true power of your processors.
• Outstanding Cooling Solution: Aluminum Cover, VRM Heat-pipe, 7W/mK thermal pads, M.2 Shield Frozr and Aluminum Backplate ensure the extreme performance with low temp.
• 2.5G LAN with latest Wi-Fi 6E: Onboard 2.5G LAN with LAN manager and latest Wi-Fi 6E solution which supports 6GHz spectrum delivering the best online gaming experience.
• Smart Button: One button with multiple hardware control. Reset Computer, Safe Boot, Turbo Fan, and EZ LED control functions with just one click.
• 8 Layer PCB with 2oz Thickened Copper: Provides higher performance and long-lasting system stability without any compromise.
• Audio Boost 5 HD: Ultimate audio solution with the latest premium ALC4082 audio processor combining ESS audio DAC and amplifier delivers a breathtaking experience.

The rampage doesn't end here, the MEG Z590 ACE also features support for four DDR4 Rams with speeds of up to 5600+ MHz (OC) and a capacity of up to 128 GB. The board features 6 SATA III ports and a single USB 3.0/3.2 Gen 2 front-panel header. Before we talk about I/O and expansion on this motherboard, let's look at the design itself.

MSI's MEG Z590 ACE is simply put, brilliant in its design and features. The ATX motherboard features several heatsinks and a futuristic design theme on it with brushed metallic accents in grey and black colors. The heatsink includes a heat pipe and makes use of 7W/MK to dissipate heat effectively.

Now coming to the expansion slots, the MSI MEG Z590 ACE motherboard features three PCIe 4.0 x16 slots, two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots, and quad M.2 slots (1x Gen4x4, 3x Gen 3x4), all of which are cooled by the M.2 Shield Frozr heatsinks. There's an additional 6-pin connector on the bottom of the board to help it support the additional power stress of the PCIe lanes when loaded up with several devices at once. But here's the thing, MSI has added extra PCB layers to the PCBs on all Z590 boards, 8 in total on the ACE.

For I/O, you get 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports, 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2 (2 Type-A) ports, 4 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, 2 USB 2.0 ports, 2 MiniDP port, 2.5G (RTL8125B) Ethernet LAN ports, Intel WiFi 6E (BT 5.2) functionality, Audio Boost HD and to top it all off, buttons for Clearing CMOS & flashing the BIOS. The Z590 ACE won't be coming in cheap as reflected by its specifications and design. It is currently listed on Newegg for $541 US.

The MSI MEG Z590 ACE comes in the standard cardboard package. The front is themed in black and gold. The front side also lists down support for Intel's 11th generation Core processors. There's also support for Intel Optane memory along with Thunderbolt and Lightning Gen 4 marketing on the packaging.

The backside of the package lists down the specifications and special features of the motherboard such as Dual Thunderbolt 4 Ports, Extreme Power Design, Quadruple M.2 connectors, outstanding cooling solution, latest network solution, and Mystic light RGB support.

The top of the box opens up to reveal a cool "MEG" branding within the package itself. This is a very premium motherboard and little things like this do make up for the extra cash you will be spending on a board like this.

Inside the package is another box that contains the accessories and is located right below the box holder for the board itself. It is very easy to access although the accessories are a bit scattered and things could get messy sorting out the various additions.

There are several accessories included in the package such as a Wi-Fi antenna module, four SATA III cables, screws for the M.2 storage devices, a cleaning brush, a USB stick with drivers and software, a driver disk, a manual for the board, and even a few stickers. Following is the full list of accessories in the package.

• Quick Installation Guide
• User Manual
• USB Drive (With Drivers/Softwares)
• Cascade Badge
• WiFi Antenna
• Cleaning Brush
• Screwdrivers
• MEG Stickers
• Reward Program / Shout Out Flyer
• Cable Stickers
• Product Catalog
• Registration Card
• M.2 Screw / Standoff Set
• DP to Mini DP Cable
• Thermistor Cable
• 1 to 2 RGB LED Extension Y Cable
• Corsair RGB LED Extension Cable
• Rainbow RGB LED Extension Cable
• 4 x SATA Cables

The motherboard is housed within the cardboard package and has anti-static wrapping to protect it from any built-up electrical resistance that can affect the board.

Once again, the MEG Z590 ACE from MSI is the most expensive Z590 motherboard that we will be testing today out of the three Z590 boards we received. It looks really well-built out of the box but let's take a more detailed look.

The MSI MEG Z590 ACE is themed in black and silver colors with slight gold accents on the labels. This is a top-tier product that retails at over $500 US, making it the second most expensive Z590 motherboard in MSI's lineup. The motherboard comes in the standard ATX form factor and is jam-packed with features.

The board uses the LGA 1200 socket to support Intel Core processors. The socket is compatible only with Intel's 10th & 11th Generation core family. The socket has a protective cover on top of it that points out the exclusivity with Comet Lake 10th Gen & Rocket Lake 11th Gen CPUs & refrains users from running an older 8th or 9th generation CPUs as they won't fit in the socket at all and forcing them in the socket is only going to cause permanent damage to your motherboard.

Next to the socket are four DDR4 DIMM slots that can support up to 128 GB dual-channel memory. These slots are rated to support XMP profiles up to 5600 MHz (OC Plus). The DIMM slots feature metallic shielding around them for extra durability. Each slot is labeled, making it easier to install DIMMs in the proper orientation.

The MSI MEG Z590 ACE packs a 16+2+1 phase power delivery configuration that makes use of the Renesas ISL99390B (90A) MOSFET, an 8+2+1 phase Renesas ISL69269 PWM controller with Renesas ISL6617A doublers. The motherboard also makes use of an 8 layer PCB with a 2oz copper design.

As you can see, the VRMs are getting ample cooling from two massive aluminum-based heatsinks that are interconnected via a heat pipe. This motherboard is designed for overclocking so expect a smooth & stable operation of the electrical circuitry when this board is running.

The CPU is supplied power through dual 8 pin power connectors. This will feed the CPU with up to 300 Watts of power. The Intel 11th Gen Unlocked CPUs are very power-hungry, consuming 125W at the base and up to 250W at boost frequencies while overclocking them would require even more power so the extra power input is a necessity rather than a feature on the high-end Z590 boards.

Getting a closer look at the VRM heatsinks reveals an aluminum fin design underneath the baseplate for the topmost heatsink. Each heatsink has 7w/Mk thermal pads located underneath for efficient transfer of heat. The motherboard also comes with a backplate that features thermal pads for extra cooling performance.

The MEG and ACE labels are laser-etched on both heatsinks and provide a nice aesthetic for the motherboard.

Expansion slots include three PCI Express 4.0 x16, two PCI Express 3.0 x1, and four M.2 slots. The board can technically support three-way multi-GPU (CrossFireX / SLI) however we know that no existing gaming GPU offers 3-Way connectivity anymore. The M.2 slots are rated to support NVMe PCIe gen4 x4 and Intel Optane series memory. The motherboard features an additional 6-pin port at the bottom to power up the PCIe lanes when running multiple Add-In-Cards.

MSI is using a metallic cover on the sides of the expansion slots which provides protection to some extent. It adds more retention and shearing resistance by reinforcing the slots with metal plates. Aside from adding more protection, they do look really sweet.

The quadruple M.2 slots are cooled off by the thermal pad and aluminum baseplate cooling. This is part of MSI's M.2 Shield Frozr cooling technology and ensures stable operation for M.2 storage devices. The thermal adhesive has a plastic cover over them which needs to be removed before using them with the storage devices.

The Z590 PCH is housed beneath a large heatsink that has exhaust vents over it but don't worry as it doesn't feature a hidden fan beneath it. The perforated design on the heatsink cover is just for aesthetic since it has several RGB LEDs running on MSI's Mystic Light technology underneath it.

The PCH heat sink has RGB LEDs and provides a good light show for those that are interested in RGBs trend. You can also turn off the LEDs entirely through MSI's bundled software if you are not a fan of such LEDs.

Storage options include six SATA III ports rated to operate at 6 GB/s. These can support six different storage devices at once. There are also dual USB 3.2 front panel connectors of which one is right-angled. Many fan headers and jumpers can be found beneath the storage ports.

MSI is using its Audio Boost 5 GD system for audio which is a combination of hardware, software audio solutions. 7.1 CH HD audio with the latest Realtek ALC4082 audio codec plus an ESS SABRE 9018Q2C Combo DAC/HPA, individual PCB layers for R/L audio channel.

MSI has placed two buttons at the bottom right-hand corner of the board. The purpose of these switches is to allow users to easily Power or Reset the board in overclocking and system tuning cases. A bunch of other connectors for chassis power, RGB, and fan headers can be spotted next to them while the DEBUG LED and voltage measuring points are located at the top right corner of the board.

The full list of connectors on the motherboard is listed as follows.

• 1x 24-pin ATX main power connector
• 2x 8-pin ATX 12V power connectors
• 1x 6-pin PCI-E power connector
• 6x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
• 4x M.2 slots (M-Key)
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps Type-C connector
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 5Gbps connector (supports additional 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 5Gbps ports)
• 2x USB 2.0 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 2.0 ports)
• 1x 4-pin CPU fan connector
• 1x 4-pin water-pump fan connector
• 6x 4-pin system fan connectors
• 1x Front panel audio connector
• 2x System panel connectors
• 1x Chassis Intrusion connector
• 1x TPM module connector
• 1x Tuning Controller connector

MSI is using Intel's Wi-Fi 6E AX210 to power wireless connectivity such as 802.11ax WiFi (2.4G WiFi) and Bluetooth 5.2. In terms of Ethernet, there is single Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports which include an I225V 2.5G Networking chip.

The I/O plate comes with an I/O cover with MSI's iconic dragon logo imprinted over it. Following is the full list of I/O ports on the MSI MEG Z590 ACE motherboard:

• Clear CMOS Button
• USB 3.2 Gen1 5Gbps (Type-A)
• USB 2.0
• 2.5G LAN
• Thunderbolt 4 40Gbps (Type-C)
• Wi-Fi / Bluetooth
• HD Audio Connectors
• Flash BIOS Button
• HDMI
• USB 3.2 Gen2 10Gbps (Type-A)
• Mini DisplayPort Input (for Thunderbolt passthrough)
• Optical S/PDIF-Out

The Gigabyte / AORUS motherboard lineup will be featuring a total of 13 motherboards. The Z590 AORUS lineup comes with more enthusiast and gaming-specific features than the Gigabyte lineup while the Vision series is more so focused on the content creation segment.

Select AORUS boards would be featuring Tantalum Polymer Capacitors which offer 50% faster recovery from a transient situation, reducing voltage spikes and offering a more stable and efficient power delivery to the CPU. AORUS's new Xtreme Memory technology includes Shielded Memory Routing which enables more stability and less interference when running high-frequency DDR4 DIMMs on AORUS motherboards. And lastly, we have the updated Direct Touch II & Fins Array II design that adds thicker heat pipes and finned heatsink blocks for higher thermal performance.

The motherboard we got for testing is the AORUS Z590 PRO AX which comes in as a mainstream offering with a price tag of $289.99 US (Newegg). Talking about specs, the motherboard features the LGA 1200 socket which is powered by a 12+1 phase power delivery that makes use of Renesas ISL99390 90A MOSFETs. The motherboard features four DDR4 DIMM slots which can support up to 128 GB capacities with speeds of up to 5400 MHz (OC+). The motherboard has a very futuristic look to it and also features a decent cooling setup on the VRMs which includes heatsinks that are made of proper aluminum fins and connected together through a heat pipe.

AORUS Z590 PRO AX Motherboard Features:

• Supports 11th and 10th Gen Intel Core Series Processors
• Dual Channel Non-ECC Unbuffered DDR4, 4 DIMMs
• Intel Optane Memory Ready
• Direct 12+1 Phases Digital VRM Solution with 90A Smart Power Stage
• Shielded Memory Routing to Avoid Interference
• Advanced Thermal Solution with Fins-Array II Heatsink, Direct Touch Heatpipe II, and Thermal Guard II
• Intel WiFi 6 802.11ax 2T2R & BT5 with AORUS Antenna
• AMP-UP Audio with ALC4080 and WIMA for Rear 120dB SNR
• Blazing Fast Intel 2.5GbE LAN with cFosSpeed
• Triple Ultra-Fast NVMe PCIe 4.0*/3.0 x4 M.2 with Thermal Guards II for extreme RAID Performance
• RGB FUSION 2.0 with Multi-Zone Addressable LED Light Show Design, Support Addressable LED & RGB LED Strips
• Smart Fan 6 Features Multiple Temperature Sensors, Hybrid Fan Headers with FAN STOP and Noise Detection
• Q-Flash Plus Update BIOS without Installing the CPU, Memory, and Graphics Card

Storage options include 6 SATA III ports while expansion includes three PCIe 4.0 x16, and four M.2 ports. There are three M.2 slots that run on the PCIe Gen 4.0 protocol while one runs on the PCIe Gen 3.0 protocol via the PCH. All four M.2 slots feature Thermal Guard heatsinks with thermal pad cooling featured underneath them. The PCH heatsink is made up of a metallic grey finish while the IO cover has a matte black finish but does come with RGB LEDs that can be configured through the Gigabyte RGB Fusion software.

For I/O, AORUS features 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (Type-C), 4 USB 3.2 Gen 2 (2 Type-A Rear + 1 Type-C Front), 4 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, 4 USB 2.0 ports, Intel I225V 2.5 Gb LAN Port, WiFi 6 (2x antenna ports), 1 RJ-45 port, 1 Display Port 1.4, 1 SPDIF port, and an HD audio jack that is powered by the Realtek ALC4080 codec.

The AORUS Z590 PRO AX motherboard comes in the standard cardboard package. The front is themed in black and orange which has been part of the AORUS lineup for a while now. You can also note the AORUS Eagle logo on the front which looks great. The front side also lists down support for Intel's 11th generation Core processors while the motherboard is clearly labeled as a gaming product.

The backside of the package lists down the specifications and special features of the motherboard such as the Direct 12+1 Phase Digital VRM Solution, Advanced Thermal Design, Full PCIe 4.0 design, triple PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 connectors and WiFi 6.

Inside the package is another box that contains the accessories at the bottom. It is very easy to access although the accessories and each of them are nicely packed in three compartments.

Following is the full list of accessories in the package.

• Quick Installation Guide, User's Manual
• 4 x SATA Cables
• 2 x Thermistors
• 3 x Screws for M.2 Sockets
• 3 x Standoffs for M.2 Sockets
• 1 x Gigabyte G-Connector
• 1 x Antenna (WiFi)

The motherboard is housed above the accessories and has anti-static wrapping to protect it from any built-up electrical resistance that can affect the board.

The AORUS Z590 PRO AX is a really cool motherboard with a unique and aesthetically pleasing design that should go well with almost any PC build. The motherboard carries a nice set of I/O features for a sub $300 US pricing.

The AORUS Z590 PRO AX motherboard features matte black and silver/grey colors. Although aimed at the mainstream segment, the pricing and quality of this product make it feel more premium than the previous generation Pro offerings from AORUS. The motherboard comes in the standard ATX form factor and once again, has a very futuristic look to it.

The board uses the LGA 1200 socket to support Intel Core processors. The socket is compatible only with Intel's 10th & 11th Generation core family. The socket has a protective cover on top of it that points out the exclusivity with Comet Lake 10th Gen & Rocket Lake 11th Gen CPUs & refrains users from running an older 8th or 9th generation CPUs as they won't fit in the socket at all and forcing them in the socket is only going to cause permanent damage to your motherboard.

Next to the socket are four DDR4 DIMM slots that can support up to 128 GB dual-channel memory. These slots are rated to support XMP profiles up to 5400 MHz (OC Plus). The DIMM slots feature metallic shielding around them for extra durability. Each slot is labeled, making it easier to install DIMMs in the proper orientation.

The AORUS Z590 PRO AX packs a 12+1 phase Dr.MOS power design. The power delivery consists of Renesas ISL99390 90A MOSFETS and the PWM controller is a mix of Renesas ISL69269 (12 phases) & Renesas RAA229001 (1 phase).

As you can see, the VRMs are getting ample cooling from the Fin-Array II heatsinks that are both beefy in terms of size and also feature actual cooling fins. This motherboard is designed for overclocking so expect a smooth & stable operation of the electrical circuitry when this board is running.

The CPU is supplied power through an 8+4 pin power connector configuration. This will feed the CPU with up to 225 Watts of power. The Intel 10th Gen Unlocked CPUs are very power-hungry, consuming 125W at the base and up to 250W at boost frequencies while overclocking them would require even more power so the extra power input is a necessity rather than a feature on the high-end Z590 boards.

Getting a closer look at the VRM heatsinks reveals an aluminum fin design underneath the baseplate for the topmost heatsink. Each heatsink has thermal pads located underneath for efficient transfer of heat. The thermal pads on the AORUS Z590 PRO AX are rated at 7.5w/mK.

Expansion slots include three PCI Express 4.0 x16 and four M.2 slots. The board can technically support three-way multi-GPU (CrossFireX / SLI) however we know that no existing gaming GPU offers 3-Way connectivity anymore. The M.2 slots are rated to support NVMe PCIe gen4 x4 and Intel Optane series memory.

AORUS is using a metallic cover on the sides of the expansion slots which provides protection to some extent. It adds more retention and shearing resistance by reinforcing the slots with metal plates. Aside from adding more protection, they do look really sweet.

The four M.2 slots is cooled off by the thermal pad and aluminum baseplate cooling. This will ensure stable operation for M.2 storage devices. The thermal adhesive has a plastic cover over them which needs to be removed before using them with the storage devices.

The Z590 PCH is housed beneath a large heatsink with the AORUS eagle logo etched over it that looks great.

The PCH heat sink doesn't have any RGB LEDs embedded within it but there are a wide range of RGB connectors on the motherboard if you want to set up your own lighting.

Storage options include six SATA III ports rated to operate at 6 GB/s. These can support 6 different storage devices at once. There are also two USB 3.2 front panel connectors (Gen 2 + Gen 1).

AORUS is using its AMP-UP Audio system for audio which is a combination of hardware, software audio solutions. 7.1 CH HD audio with the latest Realtek ALC4080 audio codec.

There's just one button on the motherboard which serves as Q-Flash. The DEBUG LED is part of a stream of LEDs on the motherboard and there are no power or reset switches on the board either.

The full list of connectors on the motherboard is listed as follows.

• 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
• 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
• 1 x 4-pin ATX 12V power connector
• 1 x CPU fan header
• 1 x water cooling CPU fan header
• 4 x system fan headers
• 2 x system fan/water cooling pump headers
• 2 x addressable LED strip headers
• 2 x RGB LED strip headers
• 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
• 4 x M.2 Socket 3 connectors
• 1 x front panel header
• 1 x front panel audio header
• 1 x USB Type-C header, with USB 3.2 Gen2 support
• 1 x USB 3.2 Gen1 header
• 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
• 2 x Thunderbolt add-in card connectors
• 1 x Trusted Platform Module header (For the GC-TPM2.0 SPI/GC-TPM2.0 SPI 2.0 module only)
• 1 x Clear CMOS jumper
• 2 x temperature sensor headers
• 1 x Q-Flash Plus button

AORUS is using Intel's WiFi 6 802.11AX200 WiFi Module to power wireless connectivity such as 802.11ax WiFi (2.4G WiFi) and Bluetooth 5.1. In terms of Ethernet, there is also a single 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet LAN port which is powered by Intel's I225-V network controller chip.

The motherboard comes with the following I/O connectors:

• 1 x USB Type-C port, with USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 support
• 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports (red)
• 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports
• 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
• 2 x SMA antenna connectors (2T2R)
• 1 x DisplayPort
• 1 x RJ-45 port
• 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector
• 5 x audio jacks

The ASRock Z590 lineup has 5 key segments, there's a single flagship motherboard while the high-end lineup comprises the Taichi and the Velocita. To be precise, there three boards in the Phantom Gaming lineup, two boards in the Steel/Extreme series, and 3 boards in the Pro/mainstream lineup.

The ASRock Z590 Steel Legend aims to be another $200-$220 US option with features similar to the Extreme 4. The motherboard has an arctic camo design scheme all over and makes use of ASRock's Polychrome Sync RGB LEDs on the PCH Heatsink, Front Panel I/O Cover, and the side of the board.

ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E Motherboard Features:

• Supports 10th Gen Intel Core Processors and 11th Gen Intel Core Processors
• 14 Phase Dr.MOS Power Design
• Supports DDR4 4800MHz (OC)
• 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16, 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16, 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1
• Graphics Output Options: HDMI, DisplayPort
• 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC897 Audio Codec), Nahimic Audio
• 6 SATA3, 1 x Hyper M.2 (PCIe Gen4 x4)
  2 x Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA3)
• 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Front Type-C (20Gb/s)
  Rear USB 3.2 Gen2 Type A+C (10Gb/s)
  6 x USB 3.2 Gen1 (2 x Rear, 4 x Front)
  6 x USB 2.0 (2 x Rear, 4 x Front)
• Dragon 2.5 Gigabit LAN
• Intel WiFi 6E (802.11ax) + BT 5.2
• ASRock Graphics Card Holder (Patent Pending)

The CPU is powered by a 14 Phase Dr.MOS VRM (50A) which is run by an 8+8 pin connector configuration and there are four DDR4 DIMM slots offering support of up to 128 GB capacities with speeds of up to 4800 MHz (OC+). Storage options include 6 SATA III ports. The VRMs do come with aluminum heatsink blocks but don't feature any active cooling or heat pipe solution.

Expansion slots include two PCIe 4.0/3.0 x16 slots, three PCIe 3.0 x1 slots, and triple M.2 slots (1 Hyper Gen 4x2, 2 Ultra Gen 3x4). Only 1 Hyper and Ultra M.2 slots are cooled by M.2 Armor heatsinks while the rest don't feature any cooling. I/O includes a 2.5G Realtek LAN port, 3 USB 3.2 Gen 2 (2 Type-A + 1 Type-C) ports, 6 USB 3.2 Gen 1 & 6 USB 2.0 ports, HDMI / DP outputs, PS/2 port, and a 7.1 channel HD Audio jack powered by the ALC 897 Codec & 2x Antennas for WiFi 6E + BT 5.2. The WiFi 6E variant that we received has a listed price on Newegg of $211.99 US.

Moving over to our most budget Z590 motherboard, the ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E, we see a return of the Arctic camo design. The front side also lists down support for Intel's 11th generation Core processors, HDMI, and Polychrome Sync technologies.

The backside of the package lists down the specifications and special features of the motherboard such as Hyper M.2 for SSD, Reinforced Steel Slots, WiFi 6E, Dragon 2.5G LAN, Graphics card holder, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 and a 14 Phase power delivy.

The plastic package contains a cardboard box which houses the motherboard and the various accessories included with it.

There are several accessories included in the package. Following is the full list of accessories in the package.

• Quick Installation Guide, Support CD
• 2 x SATA Data Cables
• 2 x ASRock WiFi 2.4/5/6 GHz Antennas
• 3 x Screws for M.2 Sockets
• 2 x Standoffs for M.2 Sockets
• 1 x Graphics Card Holder

The motherboard is housed on the top section, over the accessories, and has a plastic cover to protect it.

The ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E is a nicely designed motherboard that doesn't have the flashy look of a $250 US+ motherboard but has the most essential features that gamers would need when running a Comet Lake or Rocket Lake CPU.

The ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E is styled in white and silvery. It also carries a black and grey colored PCB. The motherboard comes in the standard ATX form factor. The motherboard could be a great option for white PC builds considering it has white-colored heatsinks.

The board uses the LGA 1200 socket to support Intel Core processors. The socket is compatible only with Intel's 10th & 11th Generation core family. The socket has a protective cover on top of it that points out the exclusivity with Comet Lake 10th Gen & Rocket Lake 11th Gen CPUs & refrains users from running an older 8th or 9th generation CPUs as they won't fit in the socket at all and forcing them in the socket is only going to cause permanent damage to your motherboard.

Next to the socket are four DDR4 DIMM slots that can support up to 128 GB dual-channel memory. These slots are rated to support XMP profiles up to 4800 MHz (OC Plus).  Each slot is also labeled, making it easier to install DIMMs in the proper orientation.

The motherboard packs a 12+2+3 (50A) Dr.MOS VRM delivery. The power delivery is composed of Vishay SiC654 50A MOSFETs while the Richtek RT3609BE (6+1) serves as the primary controller for the PWM, offering a dual output. The board also makes use of premium Nichicon 12K black caps & a high-density glass fabric PCB with a 2oz copper design.

As you can see, the VRMs are getting ample cooling from the XXL Aluminum alloy heatsinks that are going to serve their job well. You can expect some decent overclocking capabilities out of this Z590 motherboard.

There are two sets of aluminum heatsinks covering the VRMs which are colored in silver. There is no heat pipe connection between them.

The CPU is supplied power through an 8+8 pin power connector configuration. This will feed the CPU with over 300Wof power. The Intel 11th Gen Unlocked CPUs are very power-hungry, consuming 125W at the base and up to 250W at boost frequencies while overclocking them would require even more power so the extra power input is a necessity rather than a feature on the high-end Z490 boards.

Expansion slots include two PCI Express 4.0 x16 (x16/x4 (Gen4/Gen3) electrical), three PCI Express 3.0 x1, and triple M.2 slots. The M.2 slots are rated to support NVMe PCIe gen4 x4 and Intel Optane series memory.

ASRock is using their Steel Slot technology on the sides of the expansion slots which provides protection to some extent. It adds more retention and shearing resistance by reinforcing the slots with metal plates. Aside from adding more protection, they do look really sweet. You can also note that the top two PCIe slots have CPU labels underneath them which shows that they are directly accessing PCIe lanes through the CPU rather than the PCH, making them the most ideal choice for your new GPU.

Two of the three M.2 slots feature the Hyper M.2 heatsink that comes with a large metallic plate, acting as a heatsink, and further includes a thermal pad that can sustain higher temperatures when storage devices (M.2 SSDs) are stressed for long durations. Once again, one of the M.2 slots is full-length while the other two are half-length slots.

The PCH is cooled off by a metallic heatsink that runs next to the SATA ports. The PCH heatsink has embedded Digital LEDs and provides a good light show for those that are interested in RGBs trend. You can also turn off the LEDs entirely through ASRock's Polychrome software if you are not a fan of such LEDs.

The PCH heatsink features the Steel Legend logo which offers a nice touch on the motherboard. It is also the part of the PCB which lights up with the RGB LEDs.

Storage options include six SATA III ports rated to operate at 6 GB/s. These can support a total of six different storage devices at once. Many fan headers and jumpers can be found beneath the storage ports.

ASRock is still relying on the ALC897 codec which makes use of Nichamic audio, Impedance sense for front and rear channels, 120dB SNR stereo playback output, 113dB SNR recording input and is offered through a 7.1 channel HD audio jack on the back.

The full list of internal connectors on the motherboard is listed as follows.

• - 1 x SPI TPM Header
• - 1 x Power LED and Speaker Header
• - 2 x RGB LED Headers
• - 2 x Addressable LED Headers
• - 1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin)
• - 1 x CPU/Water Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
• - 5 x Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
• - 1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector)
• - 2 x 8 pin 12V Power Connectors (Hi-Density Power Connector)
• - 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector (15μ Gold Audio Connector)
• - 1 x Thunderbolt AIC Connector (5-pin) (Supports ASRock Thunderbolt 4 AIC Card)
• - 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports ESD Protection)
• - 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Headers (Support 4 USB 3.2 Gen1 ports) (ASMedia ASM1074 hub)
• - 1 x Front Panel Type C USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Header (20 Gb/s) (Supports ESD Protection)

ASRock is using the Intel WiFI 6E AX200 controller that offers wireless capabilities along with Bluetooth 5.2. In terms of I/O, you get a single Dragon RTL8125BG 2.5G Networking LAN port.

Following is the full list of I/O on the ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E motherboard:

• - 2 x Antenna Ports
• - 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port
• - 1 x HDMI Port
• - 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
• - 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
• - 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s) (ReDriver) (Supports ESD Protection)
• - 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) (ReDriver) (Supports ESD Protection)
• - 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)*
• - 2 x USB 2.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)
• - 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
• - HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone (Gold Audio Jacks)

As you can see, the rear panel comes with a pre-mounted I/O shield that additionally uses ASRock's ESD Guard technology for protection against electrostatic charges, minimizing the risk of power fluctuations.

For testing, I used the Intel Core i9-11900K CPU. The Intel 11th Gen Rocket Lake family comes with brand new core architecture but features a maximum of 8 cores vs 10 cores of the previous 10th Gen flagship and also retailing at a similar price point. We were also sent three Z590 motherboards from MSI, ASRock, and Gigabyte which will be featured in this review.

Processors	Intel Core i9-11900K (Retail Chip) Intel Core i9-10900K (Retail Chip) Intel Core i7-10700K (ES Chip) Intel Core i5-10600K (Retail Chip) Intel Core i9-10980XE Intel Core i9-9900KS Intel Core i9-9900K Intel Core i7-8700K Intel Core i5-8600K AMD Ryzen 9 5900X AMD Ryzen 7 5800X AMD Ryzen 9 3950X AMD Ryzen 9 3900X AMD Ryzen 7 3700X AMD Ryzen 5 3600X AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
Motherboard	MSI MEG Z590 ACE (Intel 11th Gen) AORUS Z590 PRO AX (11th Gen) ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E (Intel 11th Gen) ASUS ROG Maximus XII HERO WIFI (Intel 10th Gen) MSI X299 Creator (Intel 10th Gen X Series) Z390 AORUS Master (Intel 8th/9th Gen) MSI MEG X570 Unify (AMD Ryzen 3000 / Ryzen 5000) ASRock X470 Taichi Ultimate (AMD Ryzen 2000)
Power Supply	ASUS ROG THOR 1200W
Solid State Drive	Samsung SSD 960 EVO M.2 (512 GB)
Memory	G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16 GB (2 x 8GB) CL17 4000 MHz
Video Cards	MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio
Cooling Solutions	ASUS ROG Ryujin 240
OS	Windows 10 64-bit

Our test rig includes the Samsung 960 EVO 512 GB SSD that boots up our main OS while a 2 TB Seagate HDD is used for demonstration purposes for the Intel Optane memory. In addition to these, we are running an MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio graphics card, an ASUS ROG Thor 1200W power supply and 16 GB of G.Skill provided Trident Z Royal series memory which runs with a clock speed of DDR4-4000 MHz. For cooling, we used the ASUS Ryujin 240 AIO cooler.

For overclocking, I made the following tweaks to the CPU on the respective boards:

Intel Core i9-11900K 8 Core CPU:

• MSI MEG Z590 ACE: 52 x 100 at 1.325V
• AORUS Z590 PRO AX: 52 x 100 at 1.3285V
• ASRock Z590 Steel Legend: 52 x 100 at 1.33V

3DMark Time Spy CPU Performance

3DMark Firestrike is the widely popular video card benchmark test for Windows that is designed to measure your PC’s gaming performance. While the overall benchmark is great, the utility also provides a good indication of the CPU performance.

Blender

Blender is the free and open-source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, even video editing and game creation.

Cinebench R15

CINEBENCH is a real-world cross-platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Iron Man 3, Oblivion, Life of Pi or Prometheus, and many more.

Cinebench R20

Cinebench is a real-world cross-platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s hardware capabilities. Improvements to Cinebench Release 20 reflect the overall advancements to CPU and rendering technology in recent years, providing a more accurate measurement of Cinema 4D’s ability to take advantage of multiple CPU cores and modern processor features available to the average user.

CPU-Z

Geekbench 5

Geekbench 5, the latest major upgrade to Primate Labs’ easy-to-use cross-platform benchmark, is now available for download. Geekbench 5 allows you to measure your system’s power more accurately than ever before.

HandBrake

HandBrake is a tool for converting video from nearly any format to a selection of modern, widely supported codecs.

PCMark 10

PCMark 10 is a complete PC benchmarking solution for Windows 10. It includes several tests that combine individual workloads covering storage, computation, image and video manipulation, web browsing, and gaming. Specifically designed for the full range of PC hardware from netbooks and tablets to notebooks and desktops, PCMark 10 offers complete Windows PC performance testing for home and business use.

POV-Ray

The POV-Ray package includes detailed instructions on using the ray-tracer and creating scenes. Many stunning scenes are included with POV-Ray so you can start creating images immediately when you get the package.

SuperPI

Super PI is used by many overclockers to test the performance and stability of their computers. In the overclocking community, the standard program provides a benchmark for enthusiasts to compare “world record” pi calculation times and demonstrate their overclocking abilities. The program can also be used to test the stability of a certain overclock speed.

WinRAR

WinRAR is a powerful archive manager. It can backup your data and reduce the size of email attachments, decompresses RAR, ZIP, and other files downloaded from the Internet, and creates new archives in RAR and ZIP file format.

X264 HD Encode Benchmark

This benchmark measures the encoding performance of the processor. It offers a standardized benchmark for the clip as well as the encoder used is uniform.

y-Cruncher Compute Benchmark

y-cruncher is a program that can compute Pi and other constants to trillions of digits. It is the first of its kind that is multi-threaded and scalable to multi-core systems. Ever since its launch in 2009, it has become a common benchmarking and stress-testing application for overclockers and hardware enthusiasts. Do note that the single-thread test makes uses of AVX-512 instructions while the multi-htread test relies on memory & SMT performance as well.

Battlefield V

Battlefield V brings back the action of the World War 2 shooter genre. Using the latest Frostbite tech, the game does a good job of looking gorgeous in all ways possible. From the open-world environments to the intense and gun-blazing action, this multiplayer and single-player FPS title is one of the best-looking Battlefields to date. The game was tested at max settings at 1440p.

DOOM Eternal

DOOM Eternal brings hell to earth with the Vulkan powered idTech 7.  We test this game using the Ultra Nightmare Preset and follow our in-game benchmarking to stay as consistent as possible.

GTA V

GTA V is one handsomely optimized title for the PC audience. It's scalable across various PC configurations and delivers an impressive frame rate. Rockstar did an amazing job with the PC build of GTA V and it comes with a large array of settings that can be configured by PC gamers. We tested the title at 1440P with everything set to Ultra and 4x MSAA.

Metro Exodus

Metro Exodus continues the journey of Artyom through the nuclear wasteland of Russia and its surroundings. This time, you are set over the Metro, going through various regions and different environments. The game is one of the premier titles to feature NVIDIA’s RTX technology and does well in showcasing the ray-tracing effects in all corners. The game was tested at Ultra setting with RTX settings turned off at 1440p.

Shadow of The Tomb Raider

Sequel to The Rise of the Tomb Raider, Shadow of The Tomb Raider is visually enhanced with an updated Foundation Engine that delivers realistic facial animations and the most gorgeous environments ever seen in a Tomb Raider Game. The game is a technical marvel and really shows the power of its graphics engine in the latest title.

Sid Meir's Civilization VI

Civilization VI is the pinnacle of the series. It's featured huge, sweeping changes, and nothing was left out. Everything has found a purpose, they all work together in tandem but also have a reason to stand alone. It uses a more fleshed-out engine that now supports DirectX 12 capabilities. We tested the game with every setting maxed out (4x MSAA, 4096x4096 shadow textures) at 1440P in DirectX 12.

Watch Dogs Legion

Watch Dogs: Legion is a 2020 action-adventure game published by Ubisoft and developed by its Toronto studio. It is the third installment in the Watch Dogs series and the sequel to 2016's Watch Dogs 2. Set within a fictionalized representation of a futuristic, dystopian London, the game's story follows the hacker syndicate DedSec as they seek to clear their names after being framed for series of terrorist bombings

Ashes of The Singularity (4K)

Stardock's Ashes of the Singularity RTS title is a new take on the historical genre. The game incorporates several things that many pc gamers have been curious about and anxious to try for themselves such as Explicit Multi-Adapter Support and full Asynchronous Compute under DirectX 12 API. We tested the game at 4K with 4x MSAA on Crazy Settings under DirectX 12.

The Intel Rocket Lake CPUs feature the brand new Cypress Cove architecture but still rely on the old 14nm process node. The higher clock speeds and increased core counts on the existing process node would result in a drastic level of increase in overall power consumption as can be seen in the charts below.

 

 

The Intel Rocket Lake processors feature higher clock speeds and new architecture, this means that the temperatures can directly be affected by the updated design. In terms of packaging, the CPUs ship with the same STIM or Soldered Thermal Interface Material as the 9th Gen Unlocked chips.

In short, Intel has gone back to the soldered design with higher quality thermal interface material between the die and IHS so that should technically lead to better temperatures under overclocking and stress situations. The results were carried out with the ASUS Ryujin 240 AIO liquid cooler:

 

 

Intel's 11th Generation Desktop CPUs are finally here and their main competitor, the AMD Ryzen 5000 series has been out for several months now. The AMD Ryzen 5000 family however has been facing severe shortages due to immense pressure on TSMC's 7nm process node, allowing some breathing room for Intel whose 14nm process node is more mature and available than ever before.

Looking at the overall package that Intel is offering with its 11th Gen lineup, desktop users will be getting a brand new core architecture which Intel claims to deliver a 19% IPC uplift, the same clock speeds as before, and slightly improved power management. There's also a brand new Adaptive Boost technology on board of these processors which allows Intel to squeeze in more performance without overclocking the chip.

Not all is great with Rocket Lake though, the chip architecture maxes out at 8 cores and 16 threads which is a slight regression over the Comet Lake 10 core and 20 thread chips. The Core i9-11900K might have a higher branding name than the Core i9-10900K but it ultimately offers fewer cores and threads and even the double-digit IPC gains cannot balance out the difference, resulting in a similar performance in gaming and lower performance in multi-threading tasks where a higher thread count is an absolute necessity. AMD on the other hand offers much higher core counts so the Core i9-11900K falls in between the Ryzen 7 5800X and the Ryzen 9 5900X.

Last year, I called the Core i9-10900K the fastest processor for gaming but that has since been displaced by the Ryzen 9 5900X and the Ryzen 7 5800X, both of which offer absolutely fantastic performance in games, even when using the fastest graphics card from NVIDIA, the GeForce RTX 3090. The Intel Core i9-11900K tries to gain some ground in the gaming segment, offering a few wins for the blue team in select titles but that comes at the cost of a much higher power draw and higher temperatures. It is surprising to see that the 8 core Core i9-11900K breaks the 400W power limit with Adaptive boost technology while the 10 core Core i9-10900K was sitting just slightly under 400W.

Intel has stated that they are working with board partners to deliver microcode updates for its Rocket Lake lineup which would increase general and gaming performance as a whole but we don't expect these numbers to see a major uplift. One can only expect marginal gains of 3-5% with those updates. The fact is that Intel is lagging severely behind AMD's insane efficiency and multi-threaded performance and totally getting destroyed in the IPC department.

What makes the Core i9-11900K even worse is the fact that the Core i9-10850K which offers similar performance in games & higher multi-threaded performance can be bought for around $300-$350 US, making it a far better value for gamers who prefer Intel CPUs. Even when the Ryzen 5000 series processors are not available in stock, the 10850K makes for a great choice for PC builders.

Overall, Intel's Rocket Lake Core i9-11900K could've been better if it was priced right but at over $500 US, it makes zero sense to get the chip over the Ryzen 5000 CPUs (if available) or the i9-10850K. The blue team would've been better if they'd just skipped the Rocket Lake lineup as a whole and put more effort in its Alder Lake lineup which is also confirmed for launch in Q3 2021. By the time Alder Lake starts showing up in news, the Rocket Lake lineup would hardly be missed.

We had three Z590 motherboards to test, the MSI MEG Z590 ACE, ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E, and the AORUS Z590 PRO AX. Each motherboard comes in at different price categories with the MSI model retailing at over $500 US, the AORUS model retailing at around $300 US, & the ASRock model retailing at around $200 US. The Z590 family is the last to feature the LGA 1200 socket and use DDR4/PCIe 4.0 solutions with the Z690 family coming out later this year moving forward with a new socket (LGA 1700) and also supporting new technologies such as DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0 protocol.

Following is the rundown of the motherboards we tested:

Z590 Motherboards Conclusion

Motherboard Name	MSI MEG Z590 ACE	AORUS Z590 PRO AX	ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E
Motherboard Price	$541.50 US	$289.99 US	$211.99 US
Motherboard Category	Enthusiast	Mainstream	Budget
Pros	Powerful VRM Design With 19 Phases & 90A MOSFETs Great For Extreme Overclocking Great BIOS With Several Tuning Options Good VRM Cooling Performance Impressive Storage Performance With Gen 4 NVMe Quad M.2 Slots With Shield Frozr Heatsinks Great VRM cooling with heat pipe implementation Triple PCIe Gen 4 x16 Slots Metal Shielded DDR4 Slots Up To 5600 MHz DDR4 Memory Support MSI Mystic Light RGB LEDs Look Great Dual Thunderbolt 4 Ports (+ 2 Mini DP Ports) Intel WiFi 6E + 2.5G LAN Audio Boost 5 With Realtek ALC4082 Codec Total of 9 USB 3.2 Gen 2/1 Ports (Internal/External) Easy Access Clear CMOS & BIOS Flash Buttons on I/O plate Pre-Installed I/O Plate Very Well-Designed & Comes With backplate, Pre-installed I/O plate with I/O Cover	Impressive Features For Its Price ($289.99 US) Packs 13 Phase VRM with 90A MOSFETS Great For Extreme Overclocking Great BIOS With Several Tuning Options Great VRM Cooling Performance Fins-Array II Cooling Solution with Aluminum-fin heatsink Futuristic Looks & Less Flashy Design Quad M.2 Slots With Thermal Guards II heatsinks Metal Shielded DDR4 Slots Up To 5400 MHz DDR4 Memory Support Intel WiFi 6E + 2.5G LAN AMP-UP Audio with ALC4080 Codec Q-Flash support (update BIOS without CPU) Total of 12 USB 3.2 Gen 2/1 Ports (Internal/External) Pre-Installed I/O Plate with I/O cover	Powerful VRM for its price 14 Phase Dr.MOS with 50A MOSFETs Good overclocking capabilities Good BIOS with all the necessary tuning options Triple M.2 slots with 2 Hyper M.2 heatsinks Nice Arctic Camo touch Up To DDR4-4800 MHz Memory Support WiFi 6E + Killer 2.5G LAN XXL Aluminum heatsinks covering the VRMs 13 USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (Internal/External) Comes with ASRock's Graphics Card holder
Cons	Very High Price (Aimed at Enthusiasts) Only Six SATA III Ports CMOS Battery is hard to access Only Single LAN Port	Only Six SATA III Ports No Debug LED Only Single LAN Port	Only Single LAN Port Only two PCIe x16 slots BIOS could use a redesign
Conclusion	The MSI MEG Z590 ACE is an insanely well-built & premium motherboard that is targeted towards enthusiasts. If you want the best overclocking performance and feature set in terms of I/O, then look no further as this is the board to get if you're willing to pay the high price.	AORUS retains a well-balanced motherboard with great overclocking capabilities, a handful of features, IO, and an impressive design on its AORUS PRO motherboards while retailing at under $300 US.	The ASRock Z590 Steel Legend has all the necessary features of a high-end Z590 board & comes with a sleek arctic camo theme which would go great with white PC builds. For budget Z590 builders, the Steel Legend from ASRock at $211 US is a great option!
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