ASUS PRIME Z490-A LGA 1200 Z490 Chipset ATX Motherboard

ASUS PRIME Z490-A LGA 1200 Z490 Chipset ATX Motherboard overview

Prime Z490-A

ASUS Prime series is expertly engineered to unleash the full potential of 10th Gen Intel^® Core™ processors. Boasting a robust power design, comprehensive cooling solutions and intelligent tuning options, Prime Z490 series motherboards provide daily users and DIY PC builders a range of performance tuning options via intuitive software and firmware features.

Intel^® LGA 1200 socket: Ready for 10th Gen Intel^® Core™ processors
Enhanced power solution: 12+2 DrMOS power stages, 6-layer PCB, ProCool sockets, alloy chokes and durable capacitors for stable power delivery
AI Overclocking: Quickly optimizes CPU performance based on the CPU and cooler, achieving results that are extremely close to manual tuning by experts
AI Cooling: Manages and controls all motherboard fans, automatically optimizing settings based on current system load and temperature
5-Way Optimization: One-click, system-wide tuning delivers optimized overclocking and intelligent cooling for CPU or GPU-intensive tasks
Comprehensive cooling: VRM heatsink, M.2 heatsink, hybrid fan headers and Fan Xpert 4
Next-gen connectivity: Intel^® 2.5 Gb Ethernet, front USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C^® and Thunderbolt™ 3 header support

Tune It Your Way

Comprehensive controls form the foundation of the ASUS Prime series. The Prime Z490 motherboard packs flexible tools to tune every aspect of your system, enabling you to tweak performance settings to perfectly match the way you work – maximizing your productivity.

ASUS AI Overclocking

ASUS AI Overclocking is an intelligent utility that helps you get the most out of your build by automatically profiling your CPU and cooling system to predict optimal voltage and frequency settings.
Accessible via the AI Suite software in Windows or directly through the UEFI, the intuitive AI Overclocking user interface enables users of all levels. A range of customizable settings are available for seasoned overclockers, and an auto-tuning option is available for beginners.

AI OVERCLOCKING AT A GLANCE

At the heart of AI Overclocking is a proprietary algorithm developed by ROG R&D engineers who worked with world-renowned overclockers to create a tool for users of all levels.

Predictive Edge

The algorithm analyzes your CPU and cooling system, and based on what it finds, predicts optimal settings. The software then uses these settings to automatically guide the clocking process, balancing frequency and voltage.

Real-time Adjustments

The software monitors workload, system temperature, fan speed and power draw every minute and it makes real-time adjustments to ensure ongoing optimal performance.

AI COOLING

ASUS AI Cooling function will automatically manage and control motherboard-connected fans to ensure optimal settings based on current system load and temperature.

Self-Adaptive Fan Tuning

CPU Temperature Detection

AI Cooling detects CPU temperatures and uses a proprietary algorithm to calculate the lowest fan speed required to effectively cool the system and keep fan noise down.

Automated Optimization

Under stable system loads, the software then automatically lowers fan* speed to the optimal setting, decreasing fan noise without compromising performance.

*Fans need to be connected to the following headers for AI Cooling control: CPU_FAN / CPU_OPT / CHA_FAN / M.2_FAN / H_AMP / RAD_FAN

Ongoing Monitoring

AI Cooling continues to monitor the system and adjust fan speed based on current load.

Cool to the Core

Prime Z490 series is engineered with multiple onboard heatsinks and an array of hybrid fan headers to ensure your rig stays cool and stable under intense workloads.

M.2 Heatsink

An M.2 drive sits under a passive heatsink to ward off the throttling that can occur with sustained transfers. The heatsink is held in place by easily-removable captive screws, giving you the flexibility to move it to another M.2 slot.

1	Removable captive screws reduce risk of drops or loss during heatsink removal.

VRM Heatsink and Thermal Pads

Two massive VRM heatsinks with underneath thermal pads improve heat transfer from the MOSFETs and chokes for better cooling performance. A bundled fan holder provides additional cooling options.

Build on a Solid Foundation

Prime Z490 series is built to handle the additional cores and increased bandwidth of 10th Generation Intel® Core™ processors. A Z490 motherboard provides all the fundamentals to boost daily productivity, so your system will be ready for action with stable power, intuitive cooling and flexible transfer options.

Robust Power Design

Stable power is essential to extract every last bit of performance out of 10th Generation Intel Core processors, Prime Z490 motherboard is geared to cater to the demands of these high-core count CPUs.

1	ProCool Connectors
	Proprietary connectors augment the motherboard's link to the PSU with 8+4 pin connectors that pass 12 volts of power directly to the processors. Each jack features solid pins that can handle more current than hollow-pin connectors.

2	12+2 Power Stages
	A VRM with 12+2 power stages delivers the power and efficiency that the latest Intel processors demand.

Dual M.2 (up to 32 Gbps)

Dual M.2 slots support data-transfer speeds of up to 32 Gbps via x4 PCI Express® 3.0 bandwidth, enabling quicker boot-up and app load times with OS or application drives.

* Actual transmission speeds will be lower than the theoretical maximum speed.

USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A & Type-C

Numerous USB ports support high-end rigs loaded with peripherals, including a front-panel USB Type-C® connectors with fast USB 3.2 Gen 2 connectivity for compatible cases.

Thunderbolt™ 3 Support

Prime Z490-A supports ThunderboltEX 3-TR, an Intel certified Thunderbolt™ 3 add-on card that enables bi-directional speeds of up to 40 Gbps via a single cable. Additionally, an integrated Thunderbolt 3 header can support up to six devices in a daisy-chain and provide up to 100 watts of power to fast-charge devices.

Intel® 2.5 Gb Ethernet

Intel Ethernet Connection I225-V reduces CPU overhead and offers exceptionally high TCP and UDP throughput for faster, smoother data transfer.

Lower CPU workload High TCP & UDP throughput

CPU	Intel® Socket LGA 1200 for 10th Gen Intel® Core™, Pentium® Gold and Celeron® processors* Supports Intel® 14 nm CPU Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 and Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0** * Refer to www.asus.com for CPU support list **Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 support depends on the CPU types.
Chipset	Intel® Z490 Chipset
Memory	"4 x DIMM, Max. 128GB, DDR4 4600(O.C)/4500(O.C)/4400(O.C)/4266(O.C.)/4133(O.C.)/4000(O.C.)/3866(O.C.)/3733(O.C.)/3600(O.C.)/3466(O.C.)/3400(O.C.)/3333(O.C.)/3200(O.C.)/3000(O.C.)/ 2933(O.C.)/2800(O.C.)/2666/2400/2133 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory* Dual Channel Memory Architecture Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) OptiMem II * 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i9/i7 CPUs support 2933/2800/2666/2400/2133 natively, Refer to www.asus.com for the Memory QVL (Qualified Vendors Lists).
Graphics	1 x DisplayPort 1.4* 1 x HDMITM 1.4b Support DisplayPort 1.4 with max. resolution of 4096 x 2304 @60Hz. Please refer to www.intel.com for any update. *Graphics specifications may vary between CPU types.
Expansion slots	Intel® 10th Gen Processors* 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (support x16, x8/x8 modes) Intel® Z490 Chipset 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (supports x4 mode) 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots* The PCIe x1_2 slot shares bandwidth with M.2 slot (Key E). *Support PCIe bifurcation for RAID on CPU function.
Multi-GPU Support	Supports NVIDIA 2-Way SLI® Technology Supports AMD 3-Way CrossFireX™ Technology
Storage	Total supports 2 x M.2 slots and 6 x SATA 6Gb/s ports Intel® Z490 Chipset M.2_1 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280/22110 (supports PCIe 3.0 x4 & SATA modes)* M.2_2 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280/22110 (supports PCIe 3.0 x2, x4 mode)** 6 x SATA 6Gb/s ports Intel® Rapid Storage Technology supports Raid 0,1,5,10 Intel® Optane™ Memory Ready The M.2_1 socket shares bandwidth with SATA_2. *M.2_2 slot shares bandwidth with SATA_56. When M.2_2 slot is operating in PCIe x4 mode, SATA_56 will be disabled.
Ethernet	1 x Intel® I225V 2.5Gb Ethernet ASUS LANGuard
Wireless & Bluetooth	M.2 slot (Key E) (Wi-Fi module is sold separately)
USB	Rear USB (Total 8 ports) 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 port(s) (3 x Type-A + 1 x USB Type-C®) 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 port(s) (2 x Type-A) 2 x USB 2.0 port(s) (2 x Type-A) Front USB (Total 7 ports) 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 front panel connector(s) (support(s) USB Type-C®) 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 header(s) support(s) additional 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports 2 x USB 2.0 header(s) support(s) additional 4 USB 2.0 ports
Audio	Realtek® S1220A 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC - Impedance sense for front and rear headphone outputs - Internal audio Amplifier to enhance the highest quality sound for headphone and speakers - Supports : Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-retasking - High quality 120 dB SNR stereo playback output and 113 dB SNR recording input (Line-in) - Supports up to 32-Bit/192kHz playback* Audio Features - Power pre-regulator reduces power input noise to ensure consistent performance - Rear optical S/PDIF out port - Premium Japanese audio capacitors - Audio Shielding - Dedicated audio PCB layers - Audio cover - Unique de-pop circuit * Due to limitations in HDA bandwidth, 32-Bit/192kHz is not supported for 8-Channel audio.
Back Panel I/O Ports	4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 port(s) (3 x Type-A + 1 x USB Type-C®) 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 port(s) (2 x Type-A) 2 x USB 2.0 port(s) (2 x Type-A) 1 x DisplayPort 1 x HDMI™ port 1 x Intel® I225-V Ethernet port 5 x Audio jacks 1 x Optical S/PDIF out port
Internal I/O Connectors	Fan and cooling related 1 x 4-pin CPU Fan header(s) 1 x 4-pin CPU OPT Fan header(s) 1 x 4-pin AIO Pump header(s) 2 x 4-pin Chassis Fan header(s) 1 x 4-pin M.2 Fan header(s) 1 x W_PUMP+ header(s) Power related 1 x 24-pin Main Power connector 1 x 8-pin +12V Power connector 1 x 4-pin +12V Power connector Storage related 2 x M.2 slots (Key M ) 6 x SATA 6Gb/s ports USB 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 front panel connector(s) (support(s) USB Type-C®) 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 header(s) support(s) additional 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports 2 x USB 2.0 header(s) support(s) additional 4 USB 2.0 ports Miscellaneous 2 x AURA Addressable Gen 2 header(s) 2 x AURA RGB header(s) 1 x Clear CMOS header 1 x COM Port header 1 x CPU Over Voltage jumper 1 x Front Panel Audio header (AAFP) 1 x M.2 slot (Key E) 1 x Power button 1 x 20-3 System Panel header with Chassis intrude function 1 x Thermal Sensor header 1 x Thunderbolt header
Special Features	ASUS 5X PROTECTION III - ASUS DIGI+ VRM (- Digital power design with Dr. MOS) - ASUS Enhanced DRAM Overcurrent Protection - ASUS ESD Guards - ASUS LANGuard - ASUS Overvoltage Protection - ASUS Stainless-Steel Back I/O ASUS Q-Design : - ASUS Q-Connector - ASUS Q-DIMM - ASUS Q-LED (CPU [red], DRAM [yellow], VGA [white], Boot Device [yellow-green]) - ASUS Q-Slot ASUS Thermal Solution - Aluminum M.2 Heatsink - Aluminum heatsink design ASUS EZ DIY - Procool - Pre-mounted I/O shield - ASUS SafeSlot
Software Features	ASUS Exclusive Software Features Armoury Crate: - Aura Creator - Aura Sync AI Suite 3 - 5-way Optimization with AI Overclocking TPU EPU Digi+ VRM Fan Xpert 4 Turbo app - EZ update AI Charger ASUS Turbo LAN DTS:X® Ultra UEFI BIOS AI Overclocking Guide ASUS EZ DIY - ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 - ASUS EZ Flash 3 - ASUS UEFI BIOS EZ Mode - EZ Tuning Wizard FlexKey
BIOS	192 (128+64) Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS
Manageability	WOL by PME, PXE
Accessories	Cables 3 x SATA 6Gb/s cables Miscellaneous 1 x M.2 Rubber Package(s) 1 x M.2 SSD screw package(s) 1 x M.2 Key E screw package 1 x Q-connector 1 x Fan bracket Installation Media 1 x Support DVD Documentation 1 x User manual
Operating System	Windows® 10 - 64 bit
Form Factor	ATX Form Factor 12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )

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Get your order delivered the next working day for £5.99, available when ordering Monday - Thursday and before 17:00 on that day if the product is in stock and your payment has cleared.

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Get your order delivered the next working day before 12:00pm for £10.98, available when ordering Monday - Thursday and before 17:00 on that day if the product is in stock and your payment has cleared. Some orders if via PayPal and the first customer order may not clear in time.

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If you need your order at the weekend, for £12.58, you can specify the day you wish to have it delivered to you, Saturday or Sunday providing your order has been placed by 17:00 on the Friday before.