ASRock Z490 Steel Legend Motherboard Review

Features and Specifications

Features

• Supports 10th Gen and future generation Intel^® Core™ Processors (Socket 1200)
• 10 Phase Dr.MOS Power Design
• Supports DDR4 4266MHz+ (OC)
• 2 PCIe 3.0 x16, 3 PCIe 3.0 x1, 1 M.2(Key E) For WiFi
• AMD CrossFireX™
• Graphics Output Options: HDMI, DisplayPort
• 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC1200 Audio Codec), Nahimic Audio
• 6 SATA3, 2 Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA3)
• 2 USB 3.2 Gen2 (Rear Type-A+C),
• 7 USB 3.2 Gen1 (4Front, 2 Rear, 1 Front Type-C)
• Dragon 2.5 Gigabit LAN
• ASRock Polychrome SYNC

Specifications

• • Unique Feature
    ASRock USB 3.2 Gen2
    – ASRock USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s)
    – ASRock USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s)
    ASRock Super Alloy
    – XXL Aluminum Alloy Heatsink
    – Premium 60A Power Choke
    – 50A Dr.MOS
    – Nichicon 12K Black Caps (100% Japan made high quality conductive polymer capacitors)
    – I/O Armor
    – Shaped PCB Design
    – Matte Black PCB
    – High Density Glass Fabric PCB
    – 2oz Copper PCB 2.5G LAN
    ASRock Steel Slot
    ASRock Full Coverage M.2 Heatsink
    ASRock Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA3)
    ASRock Ultra USB Power
    ASRock POST Status Checker (PSC)
    ASRock Full Spike Protection (for all USB, Audio, LAN Ports)
    ASRock Live Update & APP Shop
  • CPU
    – Supports 10th Gen and future generation Intel^® Core™ Processors (Socket 1200)
    – Digi Power design
    – 11 Power Phase design
    – Supports Intel^® Turbo Boost Max 3.0 Technology
    – Supports Intel^® K-Series unlocked CPUs
    – Supports ASRock BCLK Full-range Overclocking
    – Supports ASRock Hyper BCLK Engine III
  • Chipset
    – Intel^® Z490
  • Memory
    – Dual Channel DDR4 Memory Technology
    – 4 x DDR4 DIMM Slots
    – Supports DDR4 4266+(OC)* / 4133(OC) / 4000(OC) / 3866(OC) / 3800(OC) / 3733(OC) / 3600(OC) / 3200(OC) / 2933 / 2800 / 2666 / 2400 / 2133 non-ECC, un-buffered memory
    – Supports ECC UDIMM memory modules (operate in non-ECC mode)
    – Max. capacity of system memory: 128GB**
    – Supports Intel^® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 2.0
    – 15μ Gold Contact in DIMM Slots

    *Please refer to Memory Support List on ASRock’s website for more information.
    Core™ (i9/i7) support DDR4 up to 2933; Core™ (i5/i3), Pentium^® and Celeron^® support DDR4 up to 2666.**Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage under Windows^® 32-bit OS. For Windows^® 64-bit OS with 64-bit CPU, there is no such limitation.
  • BIOS
    – 128Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with multilingual GUI support
    – ACPI 6.0 Compliant wake up events
    – SMBIOS 2.7 Support
    – CPU Core/Cache, GT, DRAM, VPPM, PCH 1.05V, VCCIO, VCCST, VCCSA Voltage Multi-adjustment
  • Graphics
    – Hardware Accelerated Codecs: AVC/H.264, HEVC/H.265 8bit, HEVC/H.265 10bit, VP8, VP9 8bit, VP9 10bit, MPEG 2, MJPEG, VC-1**
    – Graphics, Media & Compute: Microsoft^® DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.5, Intel^® Built In Visuals, Intel^® Quick Sync Video, Hybrid / Switchable Graphics, OpenCL 2.1
    – Display & Content Security: Rec. 2020 (Wide Color Gamut), Microsoft^® PlayReady 3.0, Intel^® SGX Content Protection, UHD/HDR Blu-ray Disc
    – Dual graphics output: support HDMI and DisplayPort 1.4 ports by independent display controllers
    – Supports HDMI 1.4 with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096×2160) @ 30Hz
    – Supports DisplayPort 1.4 with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096×2304) @ 60Hz
    – Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC and HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI 1.4 Port (Compliant HDMI monitor is required)
    – Supports HDCP 2.3 with HDMI 1.4 and DisplayPort 1.4 Ports
    – Supports 4K Ultra HD (UHD) playback with HDMI 1.4 and DisplayPort 1.4 Ports

    *Intel^® UHD Graphics Built-in Visuals and the VGA outputs can be supported only with processors which are GPU integrated.

    **VP9 10bit and VC-1 are for decode only.
    VP8 and VP9 encode are not supported by Windows^® OS.

  • Audio
    – 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1200 Audio Codec)
    – Premium Blu-ray Audio support
    – Supports Surge Protection
    – 110dB SNR DAC with Differential Amplifier
    – PCB Isolate Shielding
    – Individual PCB Layers for R/L Audio Channel
    – Gold Audio Jacks
    – Nahimic Audio
  • LAN
    – 2.5 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000/2500 Mb/s
    – Dragon RTL8125BG
    – Supports Dragon 2.5G LAN Software
    – Smart Auto Adjust Bandwidth Control
    – Visual User Friendly UI
    – Visual Network Usage Statistics
    – Optimized Default Setting for Game, Browser, and Streaming Modes
    – User Customized Priority Control
    – Supports Wake-On-LAN
    – Supports Lightning/ESD Protection
    – Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
    – Supports PXE

• Slots
  – 2 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots (PCIE1/PCIE3: single at x16 (PCIE1); dual at x16 (PCIE1) / x4 (PCIE3)*
  – 3 x PCI Express 3.0 x1 Slots
  – Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX™ and CrossFireX™
  – 1 x M.2 Socket (Key E), supports type 2230 WiFi/BT module and Intel^® CNVi (Integrated WiFi/BT)

  *Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
• Storage
  – 6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, Intel^® Rapid Storage Technology 17), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug*
  – 1 x Ultra M.2 Socket (M2_2), supports M Key type 2260/2280 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s)**
  – 1 x Ultra M.2 Socket (M2_3), supports M Key type 2260/2280/22110 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s)**

  *If M2_2 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA3_1 will be disabled.
  If M2_3 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA3_5 will be disabled.**Supports Intel^® Optane™ Technology
  Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
  Supports ASRock U.2 Kit
• Connector
  – 1 x SPI TPM Header
  – 1 x Power LED and Speaker Header
  – 2 x RGB LED Headers*
  – 2 x Addressable LED Headers**
  – 1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin)***
  – 1 x CPU/Water Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)****
  – 5 x Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)*****
  – 1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector)
  – 1 x 8 pin 12V Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector)
  – 1 x 4 pin 12V Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector)
  – 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector
  – 1 x Thunderbolt™ AIC Connector (5-pin) (Supports ASRock Thunderbolt™ 3 AIC R2.0 Card only)
  – 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (Intel^® Z490) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Headers (Support 4 USB 3.2 Gen1 ports) (ASMedia ASM1074 hub) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 1 x Front Panel Type C USB 3.2 Gen1 Header (Intel^® Z490) (Supports ESD Protection)

  *Support in total up to 12V/3A, 36W LED Strip

  **Support in total up to 5V/3A, 15W LED Strip

  ***The CPU Fan Connector supports the CPU fan of maximum 1A (12W) fan power.

  ****CPU_FAN2/WP_3A supports the water cooler fan of maximum 3A (36W) fan power.

  *****The Chassis/Water Pump Fan supports the water cooler fan of maximum 2A (24W) fan power.
  CPU_FAN2/WP_3A, CHA_FAN1/WP, CHA_FAN2/WP, CHA_FAN3/WP, CHA_FAN4/WP and CHA_FAN5/WP can auto detect if 3-pin or 4-pin fan is in use.

• Rear Panel I/O
  – 2 x Antenna Ports
  – 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port
  – 1 x HDMI Port
  – 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
  – 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
  – 2 x USB 2.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s) (ReDriver) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) (ReDriver) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Ports (Intel^® Z490) (Supports ESD Protection)*
  – 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
  – HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone (Gold Audio Jacks)

  *Ultra USB Power is supported on USB3_12 ports.
  ACPI wake-up function is not supported on USB3_12 ports.
• Software and UEFI
  Software
  – ASRock Motherboard Utility (A-Tuning)
  – ASRock Dragon 2.5G LAN Software
  – ASRock Polychrome SYNC*
  UEFI
  – ASRock EZ Mode
  – ASRock Full HD UEFI
  – ASRock My Favorites in UEFI
  – ASRock Instant Flash
  – ASRock Internet Flash
  – ASRock Easy RAID Installer

  *These utilities can be downloaded from ASRock Live Update & APP Shop.
• Support CD
  – Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version), Google Chrome Browser and Toolbar
• Accessories
  – Quick Installation Guide, Support CD
  – 2 x SATA Data Cables
  – 4 x Screws for M.2 Sockets
  – 2 x Standoffs for M.2 Sockets
• Hardware Monitor
  – Temperature Sensing: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
  – Fan Tachometer: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
  – Quiet Fan (Auto adjust chassis fan speed by CPU temperature): CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
  – Fan Multi-Speed Control: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
  – Voltage monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore, DRAM, VPPM, PCH 1.05V, VCCSA, VCCST, VCCIO
• Form Factor
  – ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 9.6-in, 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm
  – 2oz Copper PCB

For more information, please visit ASRock’s website.