Intel 11th Gen and Z590 Launch Day Roundup

Wrap Up

There we have it, the final wrap up of our Z590 and 11th Generation coverage for launch.

As we said in our individual reviews, the choice is varied and you get good performance regardless of which model you choose. If you go for the high end models such as the Ace or Maximus then you get the benefits of the PCI Express 4.0, Thunderbolt 4, super speed USB ports and plenty of fast M.2 slots for all your blistering storage needs. If your budget is a little more restrained then you can go with the Strix or the Carbon. In fact the Strix ITX is a serious performance candidate and if you can tolerate the smaller form factor and limited connectivity it’s the surprise packet of our sextet. At the more affordable end both the Carbon and TUF give you the main key highlights of the Z590 package as well as support for all the 11th Generation CPUs.

There are a couple of negative elements that cropped up in our time with the newest Intel range. Firstly, as we said, we were planning to include some Gigabyte models in our launch lineup but their beta BIOS that allows us to test ABT correctly is incredibly buggy and far below what we would hope to find for even something they would release to the press. The voltages were too high and it wasn’t stable enough that any testing would be representative of its real world performance once the BIOS issues are addressed. If you have already brought a Gigabyte model in anticipation of the CPU launch then we’d highly recommend keeping a very close eye on their BIOS update page, and applying them until it’s all fixed. Once it is we’ll review them and see how they are, but right now based upon our experience we’ll recommend exercising extreme caution with a focus on CPU voltages, temperatures and power draw.

The other issue is the temperatures of the Core i9-11900K. We had a Corsair H150i and 3000 RPM Noctua fans and still comfortably hit 100°C. Blimey Charlie. The Core i5-10600K is much more sane and about what we’d expect from an Intel processor. Perhaps the Adaptive Boost Technology built into the top of the line Core i9 isn’t quite smoothed out yet. Only time will tell. All we’d say is that if you want to go with the eight core beast and its 5.3 GHz clock speed perhaps don’t attempt to do so on anything but premium cooling.

We’ll leave you to watch the video. As for us, we need a lie down in a darkened room. Enjoy.

Maximus Hero XIII – https://geni.us/Maximus_Hero_XIII

Strix Z590-E – https://geni.us/Strix_Z590-E

Strix Z590-i – https://geni.us/Strix_ITX

TUF Z590-Plus – https://geni.us/TUF_Z590

MSI Z590 Carbon – https://geni.us/MSI_Z590_Carbon

MSI Z590 Ace – https://geni.us/MSI_Z590_Ace

Discuss the Intel 11th Gen CPUs and Z590 chipset in our OC3D Forums.