GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Elite AC Wifi DDR4 Intel Motherboard

The Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Elite AC Wi-Fi is an ATX form-factor motherboard built on Intel's Z490 Express Chipset, designed to accommodate 10th Generation Intel Core processors — from the Core i9 down to Celeron — in the LGA1200 socket. Its 12+1 phase digital VRM solution, incorporating DrMOS components rated at 50A per phase and fed by both an 8-pin and a 4-pin ATX 12V connector, is engineered to deliver stable, precise power for demanding workloads and overclocking sessions. Memory support spans four DDR4 DIMM slots with a total capacity ceiling of 128 GB (up to 32 GB per module) in a dual-channel configuration. XMP profiles are supported up to DDR4 5000 MHz (O.C.), with a wide range of standard speeds from 2133 MHz natively available. The board also supports Intel Optane Memory acceleration technology. For storage, two M.2 Socket 3 connectors accept both SATA and PCIe x4/x2 NVMe drives in 2242, 2260, 2280, and 22110 form factors, each capped with thermal guards. Six SATA 6Gb/s ports round out board storage, with RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 support across SATA devices. Connectivity is a strong suit: a Realtek 2.5GbE LAN controller provides wired networking, while an onboard Intel Wi-Fi AC 9462 module (CNVi interface) delivers 802.11a/b/g/n/ac dual-band wireless at up to 433 Mbps alongside Bluetooth 5. The rear I/O panel offers two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, four USB 2.0/1.1 ports, an HDMI 1.4 output (up to 4096×2160 @ 30 Hz via integrated graphics), and five audio jacks paired with an optical S/PDIF output. Audio is handled by a Realtek ALC1200 codec supporting up to 7.1-channel HD Audio. The circuit uses WIMA FKP2 capacitors and high-end Chemicon audio capacitors, with PCB-level audio noise isolation separating sensitive analog components from digital noise sources. Expansion slots include one PCIe x16 (running at x16), one PCIe x16 (running at x4), and two PCIe x1 slots — all PCIe 3.0. AMD CrossFire multi-GPU configurations are supported. Internal headers include two addressable LED (ARGB) headers and two RGB LED headers governed by Gigabyte's RGB Fusion 2.0 software. Smart Fan 5 manages five hybrid fan/pump headers, with individual temperature sensor inputs and FAN STOP capability. The Q-Flash Plus feature allows BIOS updates via USB without a CPU, memory, or GPU installed — a practical convenience during initial builds or recovery scenarios. Two Thunderbolt add-in card connectors are present for optional high-speed peripheral expansion. Verified Specifications: - Form Factor: ATX, 30.5 cm × 24.4 cm - Socket / Chipset: LGA1200 / Intel Z490 Express - CPU Support: 10th Gen Intel Core i9 / i7 / i5 / i3 / Pentium / Celeron (LGA1200) - Memory: 4 × DDR4 DIMM, up to 128 GB, DDR4-2133 to DDR4-5000 (O.C.), dual-channel, XMP support - Storage: 2 × M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 / SATA (with thermal guards), 6 × SATA 6Gb/s, RAID 0/1/5/10 - Wireless: Intel Wi-Fi AC 9462, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4/5 GHz, up to 433 Mbps, Bluetooth 5 - LAN: Realtek 2.5GbE (2.5 Gbit / 1 Gbit / 100 Mbit) - Audio: Realtek ALC1200, 7.1-channel HD Audio, S/PDIF optical out - USB (rear): 2 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 4 × USB 3.2 Gen 1, 4 × USB 2.0/1.1 - Video Output: 1 × HDMI 1.4 (4096×2160 @ 30 Hz, 512 MB shared memory) - BIOS: AMI UEFI, 256 Mbit flash, Q-Flash Plus - Warranty: 3 Years