GIGABYTE Z490 AORUS PRO-AX Review

General Impressions

This was literally the first Z490 motherboard I received and as such it’s the one I am most comfortable with. It’s a no-nonsense board that’s surprisingly light on fluff, but high on value. You get Bluetooth 5.1 support, Wi-Fi 6 support, 2.5Gbps LAN, better than average audio and some amazing DRAM clocking abilities. There are few packaged items, but it’s not an issue at as all the magic that makes this board special is how it goes.

Finally, I’d like to address the aesthetic qualities, which I believe are among the key selling points for the X570-Plus. This board is to me, more appealing than some more expensive boards from ASUS and from ROG. As is, nothing about the styling of the X570-Plus shouts ‘budget offering’ and it’s precisely because its colour scheme and subtle RGB lighting that I actually prefer it. Where the board aesthetic is concerned, I’m quite partial to the TUF-Gaming X570-Plus – it looks great.

Usually I’d not be moved at all by the number of USB ports on the Rear IO, but many of the Z490 boards are offering pitiful amounts of USB ports (some as little as four). To its credit, the PRO-AX offers a total of 10.

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