ASUS TUF Gaming Z490-PLUS (Wi-Fi) Motherboard Review

How Much Does it Cost?

The ASUS TUF Gaming Z490-PLUS (Wi-Fi) Motherboard is available now and should end up being one of the more affordable options for gaming PC builds. It’s not “budget” but it’s at least mid-range in terms of price and features. You can expect prices of around £215 here in the US and $200-220 in the US. It’s certainly one of the most affordable we’ve reviewed for this launch, so it’s going to appeal to those who don’t want to drop around £800 on those monster-sized flagship boards.

Overview

I’ve long been a fan of the ASUS TUF series, although it’s much bigger than just a series of motherboards these days. Firstly, it’s TUF and in TOUGH, and ASUS equipped with with improved components and power design to ensure long-term stability. However, it’s also part of the TUF Gaming Alliance, which spans a lot of ASUS products, but also coolers, cases, PSUs, peripherals and more from brands around the world. They all carry a similar aesthetic and are proven to be broadly compatible, so you can stay TUF but not have to only own ASUS hardware, which is interesting.

Build Quality & Design

The build quality is spot on, and while it may be a more affordable board compared to the stuff we’ve tested this week, it’s still ticking all the right boxes. Big heatsinks cooling the VRMs, M.2 heatsinks, a large chipset heatsink, plentiful onboard fan headers, temperatures sensors etc, it’s pretty great. However, I do like the design, some may be put off by the TUF and its use of yellow, a common theme in TUF Alliance products. Then again, once it’s in a PC case with all your hardware on it, perhaps you don’t really care about the look of the motherboard.

Performance

I’ve said this time and time again in these reviews, but all of these motherboards really did perform very similarly to each other. There’s really not much in it and I bet they’d even change places if we retested them all. The ASUS TUF Gaming Z490-Plus (WiFi) is equipped with a very competent 12+2 Dr MOS Power Stage, Digi+ VRM and 8+4 EPS connectors with Solid Pin designs. It’s a big step up from the 8+2 on the Z390 version. That means it’ll be able to max out the latest chips from Intel with little concern.

Added Value

The board is well equipped, as are pretty much all of the new Z490 boards. However, at this price, you’re getting great value with that robust VRM and power setup, and a got amount of the cost has gone into decent heatsinks on the motherboard too. Other nice features like Optimem II, dual M.2 slots, and plenty of USB ports, including, rather impressively, a Thunderbolt 3 header on the motherboard. You get great networking too, thanks to WiFi 6 and Intel I219-V Gigabit Ethernet.

Should I Buy One?

If you’re looking for a good entry point to the Z490 market, this isn’t just a good place to start, it’s a good place to be all together. The VRM configuration is excellent and a big step up from the Z390 model. connectivity is a little trimmed back, but there’s more than enough to satisfy the needs of your typical high-end PC build without going overboard. Either way, it’s a great choice for PC gamers and fans of other TUF Gaming Alliance hardware.