INTRODUCTION

   It’s been many years since I’ve seen AMD and Intel compete so fiercely in the consumer CPU market but this is exactly what’s been happening for roughly 2-3 years now. The latest example is no other than the 11^th generation Core CPUs by Intel and the Ryzen 5 series by AMD. AMD currently holds the multi-core performance crown (5900X/5950X) but Intel still holds single-core performance crown (11900K) so consumers are basically asked to decide based on usage (and motherboard features). Because of that I decided to start testing as many Intel Z590 and AMD B550/X570 motherboards possible to showcase exactly what you can expect in terms of not only performance but also motherboard features. Well today marks the beginning of those reviews/tests with one of the most popular motherboards for overclockers currently in the market, the Z590 DARK by EVGA.

   EVGA is the #1 NVIDIA authorised partner in channel sales throughout North America and UK. Based on the philosophy of intelligent innovation, market knowledge, and the real time operation, EVGA continues to identify the need in the market place and providing the solution to that need. By offering product differentiation, a 90 day Step-Up programme, and other customer focused programmes, EVGA is a clear leader in all categories: etail, retail, distribution, and system integration. With headquarters in Brea, CA, EVGA's global coverage includes EVGA GmbH in Munich, EVGA LATAM in Miami, and EVGA Hong Kong.

   Unlike both the Z390 and Z490 DARK models EVGA used a different design for their newest Z590 DARK motherboard, a more aggressive and industrial look design. Now as many of you already know the socket type (LGA 1200) remains the same (meaning it’s still compatible with LGA 115x coolers) as with the Z490 and you can still use both 10^th and 11^th generation Intel CPUs but the Z590 brings something we all wanted from the Z490, PCIe Gen 4.0 for both the PCIe slots (graphics cards) and for at least one of the M.2 slots (SSDs). On the other hand, supported JEDEC RAM speeds have not increased (still the Z590 does support higher RAM OC speeds) but with the arrival of DDR5 this means it will not be long before we see motherboards with such compatibility. The Z590 DARK also sports an impressive 21-phase digital VRM, dual DIMM slots (dual-channel configuration – 64GB total supported with speeds exceeding 5333MHz), 100% copper heatsink with twin fans, two full-length EMI shielded (and reinforced) PCIe 4.0 slots (x16/x8-8), onboard ARGB LEDs, single PCIe 3.0 x4 slot, three M.2 SSD slots (1 Gen4x4 & 2 Gen 3x4 - these share bandwidth with the U.2 port and the PCIe 3.0 x4 slot), six native Intel SATA 6Gb/s ports (support RAID 0/1/5/10), two ASMedia (ASM1061) SATA 6.0Gb/s ports, single U.2 NVMe port, dual probelt connectors, two ARGB and two RGB connectors and right angled ports for both power and SATA. Needless to say, EVGA has once again equipped their DARK motherboard with a large number of innovative features aimed towards overclockers including PCIe disable switches (allow the end user to disable PCIe slots for troubleshooting), CPU slow-mode switch (can be used to change the CPU ratio on-the-fly to minimum), safeboot button (boots directly into the BIOS without changing your settings - handy if your system will not boot with those settings), , multi-function indicators, and the triple-bios selection switch. Rear connectivity has actually changed quite a bit between models so here we see a full sized DisplayPort v1.4 port, HDMI v2.0 port, six USB 2.0 ports (via 3 internal headers), 4 intel USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A ports (2 external & 2 internal), 6 USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (4 Type-A, 1 Type-C, 1 Type-C internal header), two Intel i225V 2.5 GbE (10/100/1000/2500) Ethernet ports, AX201 Dual-Band WiFi 6/BT 5.1 (2x2 antenna based), NU Audio amplifier (for stereo speakers and headphones/headsets) and the Realtek ALC1220 High Definition Audio onboard audio card. So, let’s see what the flagship motherboard in the current EVGA lineup is capable off.