Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Master Preview

Features

Good quality power components can make the difference between a reliable, smooth running, high overclocking system, and one that is a constant thorn in your side. Whilst PCs are way more reliable than they were when we first started using them, they still can fall over too often for our liking. Gigabyte have learned their lessons from their past mistakes and committed to a seriously high end power section with 90A phases, which should be more than enough for anyone's needs.

Multi layer PCBs, particularly those with extra copper such as the Aorus Master, are the type of thing that can make a difference to delivering all the power we've seen above in a smooth style, whilst also reducing any problems at high voltage levels. The thing we love the most about them is how they help keep your temperatures down. Blistering overclocks are one thing, reliable long term use is more our jam.

If you were able to take the backplate off you'd see the effort that Gigabyte have gone to in the quality of their component mounting to the PCB. Once again the watchword appears to be smooth delivery and response. We can get on board with that.

Speaking of the backplate, the Gigabyte NanoCarbon backplate returns on the Aorus Master with all the heat dissipation we've enjoyed before when it was implemented.

Onboard sound is now so good it's been a surprising number of generations since we've run a dedicated sound card in our systems. However, if you still doubt the abilities of a non-discrete audio solution then Gigabyte have festooned the Aorus Master with all the high end components one could hope to find. Hopefully it works better than their typing of the word "Realtek Hi-Fi Auido Chip" [sic] on this slide.

The headline feature of the newest Intel chipsets is unquestionably the implementation of PCI Express 4.0, something we've been enjoying on the AMD AM4 platform for a while. The Z490 motherboards looked like they were designed for PCIe 4.0, and now it's here. No you're checking the pricing on Gen4 M.2s.