Closer Look
ASRock Z590 Extreme motherboard arrived in a retail package which is well described as all ASRock motherboards. The new Extreme series motherboard has a slightly different design than previous motherboards and we can clearly see it looking at the package. As far as it still has a dark theme, then we can see a mix of blue, and purple colors which are suggesting RGB illumination. This is also the first motherboard that has in its name only Extreme word without numbers 4 or 6.
We will find a well-protected motherboard, user’s manual, graphics card holder, drivers and software DVD, SATA data cables, cable stripes, ASRock logo sticker, and M.2 screws inside the box.
The motherboard looks minimalistic, as ASRock advertises, but also fresh and stylish. Everything is rather simple except the EXTREME sign which is actually a semi-transparent PCB with RGB LEDs under it. Everything gives a feeling of a high-end product, even though it’s one of the least expensive Z590 motherboards on the market.
The motherboard has no additional fans, but because of large heatsinks, there are no problems with cooling. Heatsinks have a new texture and parts with semi-transparent plastic covers which are hiding RGB lighting. On the whole test rig photos, you can see hidden ASRock and Extreme signs which look exceptional.
The motherboard has a 14-power phase design, so the same as previously reviewed motherboards from the Extreme and Velocita series. It’s enough to support top series processors. Since the 11th generation of Intel processors stops at 8 cores then we can be sure it will be enough even for higher overclocking. Looking at our results I can say that the only problem may cause the heat generated by these new processors, and if you won’t be able to overclock your CPU then it will be because of your CPU cooler.
I’m glad to see Realtek Dragon 2.5Gb NIC on the Z590 Extreme. Most higher series motherboards are equipped with Intel 2.5Gb NIC which is still sometimes causing problems or works at lower than expected bandwidth. There is no problem with Realtec NIC. In our tests, we could reach nearly 2.5Gbps bandwidth.
The Z590 Extreme supports up to 128GB RAM in four 32GB memory modules. There are no problems with such high capacity up to at least DDR4-3600 but with high-quality modules, it should work even higher. I’m not sure if anyone will ever use so much RAM on this motherboard as I assume that mainly gamers will be interested in this product and most gamers will stop at 16GB or 32GB RAM.
I like what ASRock did with the RGB illumination. The motherboard isn’t too flashy but still has a nice backlight. RGB illumination is in the chipset cover and I/O cover, but also on the whole right side of the motherboard, just next to the semi-transparent EXTREME sign.
Below are some photos of the working setup. The motherboard supports various cooler and RAM products, so there shouldn’t be any problems with all popular brands. In our case, it’s HyperX Predator RAM and Raijintek EOS cooler. You can also see the ASRock RX6800XT Phantom Gaming graphics card which is perfectly synchronized with the motherboard.
One more great feature is ASRock’s BIOS/UEFI, which I will describe on this review’s next page.
