ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-G GAMING (WiFi 6) LGA 1200 Intel Z490 Intel Motherboard (12+2 Power Stages, Intel 2.5Gb Ethernet, Bluetooth v5.1 and AURA Sync)

Pros: This motherboard has two m.2 slots. The motherboard boots very quickly. The rgb is subtle . Many USB ports on rear I/o

Cons: Only 2 chassis fan connections . I had to use the installation cd in order to install the necessary drivers to use the Ethernet adapter. This is something I have never encountered building PCs from the seventh generation forward . The top pci slot is extremely close to the ram sticks and the rear I/o heat sink. I had to apply extra force to fit my RTX 2060 super founders . Please keep in mind when considering this board . I wish for a bit easier fan control in the bios settings .

Overall Review: This is a great overall board . I would definitely purchase again . I usually prefer MSI motherboards. This is a great z490 board I’d recommend to any fellow enthusiast.

Pros: -Packaging, contents, and overall build quality of the board is fantastic. -Looks very good, the RGB can be either entirely off, an accent, or the focal point of your build depending on your preferences -I/O is great overall. The only thing I missed at first was the option for PS/2, but I use all USB peripherals anyhow so not an actual issue. -RAM slots are low enough to allow for a 51mm radiator+fan assembly to be used in a mATX case (FD Define Mini C TG) -On board connectors are all placed nicely, cable management is very clean on the front side. -Out of all the RGB software from MoBo manufacturers Ive used, Ive come to prefer Aura Sync over the others for its fairly friendly UI and plenty of pre-defined patterns

Cons: -The M.2 slots are extremely close together. I purchased one drive with a heat spreader and one without, as the board includes a built on heat spreader on the primary M.2 slot. The second slot was so close to the first slot that my WD Black SN750 with heat spreader physically could not fit into the slot. I don't have the right tool to remove the heat spreader from the drive, so Ill be swapping it out for the model without it. -GPU clearance to the IO/RGB block is extremely low. A Gigabyte card with metal back-plate does fit, but I've seen other cards with thicker back-plates that I think would be either a very tight fit or not slide in at all, but can't say for sure as I don't have others to test. -The included Wifi antenna was a bit awkward to assemble. The manual didn't have any sort of instructions, which at first seemed fine. After fiddling with it I found that the connectors that are supposed to fit through the opening in the base do in fact fit, but only on one end of the opening as it is very slightly tapered.

Overall Review: I would certainly recommend this board to someone looking to build a beefy mATX system, but I would make sure to mention the M.2 spacing issue beforehand. Ill give it 4/5, because the M.2 drive issue did set me back a bit when assembling and did cause some brief frustration.

Pros: -Overall love the look of the board, the Asus and Strix RGB logos are perfect and not overpowering as a focal point of the build. -Onboard connectors are all perfectly placed for clean cable management at the front. -The Asus Armoury Crate software is easy to navigate.

Cons: - My 1st Asus ROG Strix Z490-G Mobo gave me nothing but headaches from the start, after weeks of trying to fix the issue, I had to RMA the board due to Memory Slot # not working. -On my 2nd Asus ROG Strix Z490-G Mobo, I upgrade the case and I'm now having issues with the board not detecting my GPU?! - I powered up the system and the screen is Black, - I noticed the Mobo has a White Error LED (VGA) "GPU not being detected" - I'm trying to figure out what is causing the issue? - I tripled checked the connection making sure everything is correct and everything seems great, yet again "GPU not being detected" * I added a vertical PCI-E connection extension and tried it on both PCI-E Slots and I get the same results with the Mobo White Error LED (VGA) "GPU not being detected" * I swapped PSU and it's the same issue?! * I swapped GPUs from the 3080 to a 980Ti - Again, the Mobo White Error LED (VGA) "GPU not being detected" * The Mobo comes with a built-in HDMI connection, so I went that route, and I now have a visual. * The Mobo has no Error LED now, and I can go into BIOS and straight into Windows with no issues. * I go into the Mobo BIO, updated it to the latest BIOS Version. * I'm on Windows surfing the web, doing everything "normal" with no issues via the - (Motherboard onboard HDMI Connection) * So after the BIOS update and Windows up to date, I go and reconnected the 3080, powered up the system, the Mobo White Error LED (VGA) "GPU not being detected" ???? - For 3 Days now, I've been trying to figure out the problem with no luck in sight! - So before I start to RMA the Asus ROG Strix Z490-G Mobo! - I will buy a 3rd and final Asus ROG Strix Z490-G Mobo and go from there...

Overall Review: For decades, I've been an ASUS fan and I believe they still make the best MoBo in the game, but it hasn't been a great experience so far for me going into m-ATX and I've done my research, the ROG Strix Z490-G is considered to be the best m-ATX for the i9 10900K... Again, I just ordered today 1/4/2021 the 3rd and final Asus ROG Strix Z490-G Mobo!... I just want to keep my setup as is and I'm avoiding having to reinstall everything. Here's an image of me now using my system without a GPU installed, I know the image might be a bit dark, but I'm using the system via (Motherboard onboard HDMI Connection)

Pros: - Good size - Looks great

Cons: - Some of the heat spreaders on the motherboard block your options for cooling.

Overall Review: I think that it'll be a good product; I haven't got the chance to use it yet. The unit that I received was dead on arrival and it blew my power supply because of this. I contacted customer support though and everything has been great so far. I just thought that the replacement process would be a bit quicker. I sent out my RMA back in about late to mid November and it looks like I might not get to be able to use my computer till after Christmas. The whole RMA process is taking far too long.

Overall Review: Had a bum board which caused me a bit of grief for a few weeks (one of the memory slots failed). with a replacement works great (memory running at 4000 paired with a 10850K)

Pros: I have always found Asus Motherboards to be reliable and programable for every application.

Overall Review: Definitely my go to for motherboard.

Pros: Seems to function fine, except the RGB and board status lights which never worked out of the box.

Cons: Called ASUS and they were unable to fix problem with LEDs after installing multiple rounds of ASUS Armor Crate, ASUS Aura, updating BIOS, etc, etc. They recommended returning through NewEgg

Overall Review: Kind of unbelievable that their top-tier motherboard would have such a simple issue out of the box. Now my only choice is to tear down the whole system, RMA and wait for a new mobo, or just live without the RGB and more importantly boot/system lights that I paid for.

Pros: -easy to overclock -high quality board

Cons: -LAN didnt work on initial boot. Still didnt work after driver install from utility disk/asus website. Had to fully update windows to the latest version. This literally took all day and some frustration to figure out. Works now though.

Overall Review: -Would recommend with psa: update windows fully right away. You will need to use the WiFi on the board to connect at first until all updates are installed.