If you’re here searching for a quality gaming motherboard for your rig, we’ve got something just for you. Here in our ASUS ROG Strix Z590-I Gaming Motherboard review, we’re discussing all the relevant information about the board. These include its features, design, specifications, and performance to see if it’s as good as its claims.
The ROG Strix Z590-I is generally a mid to high-end mini ITX board model that sports an Intel Z590 chipset. The motherboard is packed with notable features such as Wifi 6 support, AI-based functions, 2.5G LAN, and more.
First up on our ASUS ROG Strix Z590-I Gaming Motherboard review, let’s check the packaging and what’s inside the box.
ASUS ROG Strix Z590-I Gaming Motherboard Packaging
Our ROG Strix Z590-I arrived in a typical-looking ROG package that’s common for their Strix series. It’s a sturdy cardboard box that sports a dark theme with hints of red, giving off a premium aesthetic.
In front, you’ll find an image of the motherboard; to its left, you’ll see its name written in bold fonts. Below the picture, a couple of icons exhibit the ROG Strix Z590-I’s primary features.
The lower right corner has ASUS written, while the upper left corner of the box displays ROG’s logo. Below it, you’ll see “Republic of Gamers” written in bold red fonts. When you turn the box, the rear will give you more images and details about the motherboard.
Of course, we’ll also discuss the package’s inclusions here in our ASUS ROG Strix Z590-I Gaming Motherboard review.
Generally, there aren’t a lot of other accessories in the box. However, all the items present are enough to connect and make the motherboard work.
Generally, there aren’t a lot of other accessories in the box. However, all the items that are present are enough to connect and make the motherboard work.
Inside, the motherboard comes with four SATA 6GB/s cables, a panel cable, and ROG’s USB2.0 splitter cable. There’s also ASUS’ Wifi moving antennas, a cable ties pack, two M.2 SSD screw packages, support DVD, and manual.
Of course, ASUS also included an ROG key chain, Strix stickers, and a thank you card for purchasing their product.
ASUS ROG Strix Z590-I Gaming Motherboard Review – Design and Functionality
This time, our ASUS ROG Strix Z590-I Gaming Motherboard review will discuss the functionality and design of the board.
The ROG Strix Z590-I follows the design and style ethos of ROG products. But of course, the company made sure to make all the necessary updates to the board.
There’s basically nothing out of place here since the board’s measured as your regular mini ITX/SFF dimensions.
The ROG Strix Z590-I is powered by a digital 8+2+1 VRM pulling power. It comes from the reinforced 8-pin CPU power connector. The board’s top-most portion houses the PUMP fan headers, and 4-pin CPU, together with the 4-pin LED header.
Looking at the right portion of the board, it’s a lot busier with the available storage interfaces. You’ll find the SATA ports, USB 3.2 2nd generation & USB 3.2 1st generation headers in this area. Plus, it includes the front panel header with the 24-pin power.
Below, there’s an additional set of headers present. Specifically, these are the front panel audio, LED header, USB 2.0 header, and 4-pin fan. We appreciate the number of headers packed on the board, yet it can affect its audio solution.
For PCIe 4.0 bifurcation, the ROG Strix Z590-I supports it, yet officially and only for storage devices.
On the motherboard’s rear, there aren’t any M. 2’s available. This is all thanks to the company’s triple-decker M.2 on the front.
The back panel options are good for a flagship board. There are USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 type-C ports and the Thunderbolt 4 for fast connectivity options. Aside from these, the BIOS flash function is in this area as well.
For the network, there’s an Intel I225V 2.5GbE LAN, plus the Intel Wi=Fi 6-E AX-210 adapters in place.
Next on our ASUS ROG Strix Z590-I Gaming Motherboard review will be the different key features of the motherboard.
Key Features of the ASUS ROG Strix Z590-I Gaming Motherboard
Comprehensive Performance
The ROG Strix Z590-I gaming motherboard lets you get the most out of your gaming rig. This is with the help of increased power delivery, intelligent controls, and optimised cooling.
These aspects are essential to let you manage cooling, overclocking, audio settings, and networking.
Leading Connectivity
The motherboard features the latest Thunderbolt 4 for a seamless and smooth online experience. Not only that, but you’ll get to enjoy super-fast file transfers no matter if these are large files.
It also has excellent audio performance to give you a superior advantage. Pick up on the slightest audio cues for an entirely immersive gaming experience.
Game with Style
Pair your ROG Strix Z590-I gaming motherboard with products from ROG’s ecosystem and make your rig reflect your style. ASUS provides applications like the Armoury Crate, where you can fully customise these ROG devices. Plus, the onboard Q-LED indicates power status or issues with the memory, CPU, or graphics card.
The diagonal mesh lines and futuristic cybertext add to the motherboard’s overall aesthetic flair. Aside from that, the ROG Strix X590-I’s excellent engineering allows for exceptional cooling, just like every ROG motherboard.
The ROG Strix X590-I also went through an extensive certification program to ensure that it’s compatible with most devices and components.
Exclusive Software Utilities
ROG allows for a lot of enhancement and customisation through its exclusive range of software utilities. With that, you can achieve the best gaming experience.
These utilities include ROG Sonic Studio for audio tuning, UEFI BIOS for optimisation, and the AIDA64 for performance tuning. The UEFI BIOS comes with EZ Mode for newbies in PC DIY and the Advanced Mode for experienced builders.
Optimal Power Solution
The ROG Strix Z590-I Gaming Wifi motherboard comes with 8+2 power stages and the ProCool II power connector. These work with durable capacitors and high-quality ferrite chokes to support multi-core processors.
5-Way Optimisation
ASUS 5-Way Optimisation allows you to take care of complex tuning with a single click. It’s a system-wide tuning utility that balances cooling and acoustics by adjusting fan speeds and overclocking the processor.
Specifications
This section of our ASUS ROG Strix Z590-I Gaming Motherboard review discusses the specifications of the motherboard.
The ROG Strix Z590-I is a mini ITX board measuring 17 x 17cm. It’s compatible with the Intel Core 10th and 11th Gen processors, Pentium Gold, and Celeron processors.
It runs on Windows 10 64-bit, has 2DDR4 dual memory channels, plus a maximum memory size of 64GB. For its chipset, it makes use of the Intel Z590 chipset.
When it comes to its Bluetooth and wireless connectivity, the ROG Strix Z590-I has the Intel Wifi 6E. There’s also the 2×2 Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a|b|g|n|ac|ax while supporting 2.4|5|6GHz frequency bands. In addition, the board is Bluetooth v5.2 hardware-ready.
Hands-on with the ASUS ROG Strix Z590-I Gaming Motherboard
Is the board as good as what they claim? We’re going to find out as we continue discussing it in our ASUS ROG Strix Z590-I Gaming Motherboard review.
UEFI BIOS
The UEFI is similar to the ones utilised in earlier models. So if you’ve been an ROG user, you’ll feel at home with this interface.
However, ASUS added the ReSize BAR support for the Nvidia RTX GPU’s, as well as the MemTest86. There are a total of eight menus available with the AI Tweaker. You’ll find this in options for overclocking.
There are a plethora of settings that you can fine-tune with sub-sections or menus dedicated to the memory and CPU. By default, the Intel ABT is disabled.
So, if you plan to maximise your CPU’s capability and capacity without tinkering much with the options, simply enable it.
Different Menus Under the UEFI BIOS
If you’re looking for more options for the chipset, you’ll find these in the “advanced” section. Aside from this, it’s also where you can enable the bifurcation option for storage devices.
We do think that things would be even better if they had official support for the GPU bifurcation.
For the “monitor” portion, there’s nothing fancy here. However, it does come with numerous sensors that you can easily access whenever you want.
The “boot” menu is self-explanatory, and it comes with the standard options too. To disable/enable fast boot together with the logo, enter the “boot configuration” sub-menu.
When it comes to the “tool” menu, ASUS expanded it with the MemTest86, Flexkey, and BIOS Image Rollback support. The Q-Fan is the same as the earlier one, except for the added VRM’s fan support.
Overall, UEFI is outstanding, and we have nothing to complain about.
Software and Applications
ASUS and the ROG Strix Z590-I gaming motherboard bundled with a couple of applications to help maximise your board’s potential. These are the following:
The Armoury Crate
Armoury Crate is a software utility that provides centralised control of supported gaming products, including the ROG Strix Z590-I. This intuitive interface makes it easy to customise your system’s overall look.
Here, you can customise your compatible devices’ RGB lighting and effects and synchronise them with Aura Sync. Plus, you can download drivers, the user manual, and additional software.
Armoury Crate features a dedicated page for product registration. Plus, there’s a news feed where you can stay in touch with the gaming community.
ROG Sonic Studio III
The Sonic Studio III is ROG’s exclusive utility for audio tuning. It supports head-related transfer function or HRTF-based virtual surround sound for VR headsets. With that, you can enjoy realistic audio that will keep you immersed in your game.
This audio interface comes with various EQ options, and single-click presets, allowing you to customise acoustics based on your preferences. You can also adjust its settings to suit your headset’s features and achieve the best audio quality.
AIDA64 Extreme
All ROG Strix Z590 motherboards come with a 60-day free subscription for AIDA64 Extreme. It’s the top system information tool that provides comprehensive details about installed software and hardware.
Aside from that, it also offers benchmarks for measuring the entire system or each component’s performance.
This software includes monitoring and diagnostics features to help you identify and prevent hardware issues. Through the interface, you can track all vital system sensors in real-time.
It can display fan speeds, voltage readings, and temperature information on the desktop. These data can also be sent to the LCD panels of ROG AIO liquid coolers.
There were no issues with this board when we speak of its performance. We left BIOS on default then loaded the XMP profile for the RAM. We did this so the ROG Strix Z590-I could keep up with the other boards we tried.
It performed excellently, and everything went smoothly, plus there were no overheating issues that occurred. The board’s a top-notch product that’s packed in a mini ITX form-factor.
For network performance, it’s pretty good too. When averaged, we consider the board as one of the best, and that’s with a great 5GHz performance to boot.
Temperatures and Power Consumption
We did some stress tests to see how this board’s VRM would perform. We tried doing regular tasks, and the temperature reached 38-degrees Celsius. On full and heavy loads, it reached 48-degrees Celsius.
We received excellent results, and the VRM displayed adequate capacity even when decreasing the CPU phases to 8. The result was all thanks to the fans beneath the EMI shield. Speaking of the fans, they were silent throughout our tests which made everything even better.
Of course, we didn’t miss out on overclocking the ROG Strix Z590-I. Here, we noticed that the board automatically puts on high voltages, though it can be reduced to enhance CPU temperatures.
For automatic OCs with more advanced intelligent adjustments, it’s best to go for AI optimised functions. This is worth trying, especially for beginners or those who want to enhance performance without compromising the CPU.
ASUS ROG Strix Z590-I Gaming Motherboard Review Summary
The ROG Strix Z590-I from ASUS is a feature-rich gaming motherboard that offers excellent performance. Its highlights include network performance and audio interface that can match the sound quality of hundred-dollar DAC and amp combos. Plus, it’s a versatile motherboard that can outmatch larger motherboards.
To conclude our ASUS ROG Strix Z590-I gaming motherboard review, we highly recommend this product. It’s a mini ITX board with well-balanced features, making it a great addition to your build.
If you want to have this gaming motherboard, check out ASUS’ store locator to search for dealers in your area.
