Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Master Preview

Introduction

There are motherboards that you'll find everywhere on manufacturers websites. It's not only true of motherboards of course, but any hardware by any company, anywhere. They always demonstrate the flagship models, the ones with the bells and whistles. Tempting you with aspirations that your pocket cannot meet. But you want it badly, so you move a little down the list until you find a product which has the majority of things as the big model, but won't lead to you living on beans on toast for a year, or sleeping on the sofa. We love them all, and it is the dream of owning such products that keep us coming back for more. Yes I want this Custom Shop Fender Stratocaster, but this Squier will have to do. Can't afford the Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G Plus? Try the S20L. The L stands for el cheapo.

So we've all just looked at the Gigabyte Aorus Z490 Aorus Xtreme and felt a little pang of desire. Then we checked our bank balance and had the first of the five stages of grief, denial. Followed swiftly by frustration, bargaining (oh c'mon babe it's only...), depression and acceptance. Thankfully with the Aorus Master you don't need the depression stage and can get straight down to the acceptance that, for a fair bit less, you don't get very much less motherboard. Let's take a look.

Technical Specifications

As always we'll cover all the key bits as we go through our pictures, and if you want to delve more into the nitty gritty then you're welcome to peruse the table below and we'll meet you in the next page where we reveal the Aorus Master in all its glory.

Links to other Z490 Motherboard Previews

- ASUS Z490 Maximus XII Extreme Preview
- Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Xtreme Preview
- ASUS ROG Strix Z490-E Preview
- Gigabyte Z490I Aorus Ultra Preview
- MSI MEG Z490 Godlike Preview
- MSI MPG Z490 Carbon Gaming WiFi Preview
- Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Pro AX Preview
- ASUS Prime Z490-A Preview