Gigabyte Z590I Aorus Ultra ITX Review

Conclusion

Our first batch of reviews of the Z590 on launch day showed us that the 11th Gen Intel CPUs were, if anything, split between models that were fabulous and everything you’d expect from a new Intel product – the i5-11600K – and a disappointing hot mess that was the Core i9. Naturally though the big Core i9-11900K is going to be the processor that tests the motherboards to their limit, and once we’d committed to testing with that we have to see it through. We want to always put the product under the “worst case scenario” of usage and the biggest CPU will always do that, even if we now know that the newest Core i9 doesn’t get the job done with the panache of the earlier ones.

The other thing we came away from our first batch of Z590 reviews with was the ASUS Strix ITX being the best of the bunch in the price/performance category. Sure the MSI MEG Ace was a blinder, but because the Core i9 runs so hot then actually being able to push it less in voltage terms means it runs cooler and thus, paradoxically, faster. The Gigabyte Z590I Aorus Ultra ITX continues to demonstrate the truth of this assessment. With a 10+1 90A power phase there is more than enough heft in it to keep things running along smoothly, but without the ability to truly torture the Core i9-11900K it ends up running at the coolest temperature we’ve seen. The visual of an ITX motherboard running with a 360mm radiator is certainly one that sticks in the mind, given that this is a tiny PCB with a gigantic cooler, but you can’t argue with the results.

By now you’ll be aware that the Gigabyte Z590 range is still running incredibly hot in the VRM department, and whilst the Aorus Ultra ITX is the coolest of them, it’s still much warmer than most of the others we’ve looked at. Then again it has got a 10 phase ISL69269 controlling 10 90Amp ISL99390 power stages for you to play with. Thankfully though, the ITX isn’t really designed to run with a Core i9 in it, but instead is aimed squarely at the Core i5 people who want a compact but powerful gaming platfor, and running the 11600K will dramatically reduce both the CPU and VRM temperatures.

Despite the extra time spent by Gigabyte’s engineers in fine tuning the BIOS there are clearly some areas where it needs further refinement. However, when compared to the Master and Pro AX the Aorus Ultra ITX is a capable setup and the BIOS feels more complete than the other Gigabyte offerings, with none of the insane voltages we’ve seen on the bigger boards.

If you’ve been holding off your Z590 purchase to see what the Gigabyte motherboards have in store then the Z590I Aorus Ultra ITX is easily the best of the bunch and the one that we’d recommend spending your money on if you absolutely must have a Gigabyte product at the heart of your system, and wins our OC3D Gamers Choice Award.

The Gigabyte Z590I Aorus Ultra ITX retails at £248.

  

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