There are two things we come to expect from an ASUS motherboard these days, it’ll be packed with more features than any consumer could use, and it’ll likely be pretty darn expensive. However, it’ll also likely be one of the best motherboards hitting the market, and that certainly looks true glancing over the six boards they’re launching. The ROG Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial and the ROG Maximus XIII Extreme certainly tick all the enthusiast market boxes.
The ROG Maximus XIII Extreme (and the Glacial) come with an E-ATX design, 18+2 power stages, five M.2 slots, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 front-panel connector, USB 3.2 Gen 2 front-panel connector, dual Thunderbolt 4, Marvell AQtion 10 Gb Ethernet, Intel® 2.5 Gb Ethernet, PCIe® 4.0, onboard WiFi 6E (802.11ax) and Aura Sync RGB lighting. Of course, one comes with an integrated full-coverage EK water block, and the other has to make do with an enormous heatsink array and armoured design.
Further down the range, we have the ROG MAXIMUS XIII HERO, and while it may not be the flagship, it’s still going to be one of the most advanced boards for the Z590 launch. It still offers up a huge range of features such as quad M.2 and Dual 2.5Gb Ethernet. Furthermore, it’s certainly one of the most attractive ATX boards in the ASUS range, not that the others aren’t!
Next up, what’s likely to be one of their biggest sellers, the ROG STRIX Z590-E GAMING WIFI, another ATX, feature-packed beast that’s highly tuned towards high-performance gaming builds. It comes with many overclocking features, dual LAN, quad M.2, RGB, AI noise-cancellation, and so much more. It’ll still be an expensive board but gives you most of the flagship boards’ thrills at a much lower price.
Finally, we have both the TUF GAMING Z590-PLUS WIFI and the PRIME Z590-A. Again, not exactly trimming many of the more high-end boards’ features, but still ticking all the right boxes even for enthusiast-grade workstation and gaming builds. Both have fast networking, lots of storage options and even Thunderbolt 4.
What’s strange is that there isn’t a single mATX or mini-ITX board in the line up… something we hope to see change in the coming months.
Check out the ASUS Z590 official product page here.
ROG Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial
The rear I/O keeps that silver and white theme too, with exceptional high-end connectivity from top to bottom.
Features
Intel® Socket LGA 1200 for 11th Gen Intel® Core™ processors and 10th Gen Intel Core, Pentium® Gold and Celeron® processors
Optimized Thermal Design: Integrated EK water block that cools VRM, CPU and PCH; high-conductivity thermal pads, five M.2 heatsinks with embedded backplates and ROG Water-Cooling Zone
Intelligent Control: ASUS-exclusive software and firmware utilities that simplify setup and improve performance: AI Overclocking, AI Cooling, AI Networking and Two-Way AI Noise-Cancelation
Robust Power Solution: 18+2 teamed power stages – each rated at 100 Amps, ProCool II power connectors, MicroFine alloy chokes and 10K Japanese-made black metallic capacitors
High-Performance Networking: Onboard WiFi 6E (802.11ax), Marvell® AQtion 10 Gb Ethernet, Intel® 2.5 Gb Ethernet, and ASUS LANGuard
Fastest Gaming Connectivity: PCIe® 4.0, five M.2 slots, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 front-panel connector, dual Thunderbolt™ 4 USB-C®
Industry-Leading Gaming Audio: ROG SupremeFX ALC4082 with ESS® ES9018Q2C DAC for high-fidelity sound
Unmatched Personalization: 2” LiveDash colour OLED, ASUS-exclusive Aura Sync RGB lighting, including one RGB header and three addressable Gen 2 RGB headers
Renowned Software: Bundled 1-year AIDA64 Extreme subscription and intuitive UEFI BIOS dashboard with integrated MemTest86
ROG Maximus XIII Extreme
Features
Intel® Socket LGA 1200 for 11th Gen Intel® Core™ processors and 10th Gen Intel Core, Pentium® Gold and Celeron® processors
Intelligent Control: ASUS-exclusive software and firmware utilities that simplify setup and improve performance: AI Overclocking, AI Cooling, AI Networking and Two-Way AI Noise-Cancelation
Robust Power Solution: 18+2 teamed power stages – each rated at 100 Amps, ProCool II power connectors, MicroFine alloy chokes and 10K Japanese-made black metallic capacitors
Optimized Thermal Design: Enlarged VRM heatsinks plus integrated aluminum I/O cover, high-conductivity thermal pad, five M.2 heatsinks with embedded backplates and ROG Water-Cooling Zone
High-Performance Networking: Onboard WiFi 6E (802.11ax), Marvell® AQtion 10 Gb Ethernet, Intel® 2.5 Gb Ethernet, and ASUS LANGuard
Fastest Gaming Connectivity: PCIe® 4.0, five M.2 slots, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 front-panel connector, dual Thunderbolt™ 4 USB-C®
Industry-leading Gaming Audio: ROG SupremeFX ALC4082 with ESS® ES9018Q2C DAC for high-fidelity sound
Unmatched Personalization: 1.77” LiveDash OLED, ASUS-exclusive Aura Sync RGB lighting, including one RGB header and three addressable Gen 2 RGB headers
Renowned Software: Bundled 1-year AIDA64 Extreme subscription and intuitive UEFI BIOS dashboard with integrated MemTest86
ROG MAXIMUS XIII HERO
Features
Intel® Socket LGA 1200 for 11th Gen Intel® Core™ processors and 10th Gen Intel Core, Pentium® Gold and Celeron® Processors
Intelligent Control: ASUS-exclusive software and firmware utilities that simplify setup and improve performance: AI Overclocking, AI Cooling, AI Networking and Two-Way AI Noise-Cancelation
Robust Power Solution: 14+2 teamed power stages rated for 90 Amps, ProCool II power connectors, MicroFine alloy chokes and 10K Japanese-made black metallic capacitors
Optimized Thermal Design: Enlarged VRM heatsinks plus integrated aluminium I/O cover, high-conductivity thermal pad, quad M.2 heatsinks with embedded backplates and ROG Water-Cooling Zone
High-performance Networking: Onboard WiFi 6E (802.11ax), dual Intel® 2.5 Gb Ethernet and ASUS LANGaurd.
Fastest Gaming Connectivity: PCIe® 4.0, quad M.2, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 front-panel connector, dual USB Type-C® ports with Thunderbolt™ 4 USB-C®
Industry-leading Gaming Audio: ROG SupremeFX ALC4082 with ESS® ES9018Q2C DAC for high-fidelity audio
Unmatched Personalization: ASUS-exclusive Aura Sync RGB lighting, including one RGB header and three addressable Gen 2 RGB headers
Renowned Software: Bundled 1-year AIDA64 Extreme subscription and intuitive UEFI BIOS dashboard with integrated MemTest86
ROG STRIX Z590-E GAMING WIFI
Features
Intel® Socket LGA 1200 for 11th Gen Intel® Core™ processors and 10th Gen Intel Core, Pentium® Gold and Celeron® processors
Optimal Power Solution: 14+2 power stages with ProCool II power connector, high-quality alloy chokes and durable capacitors to support multi-core processors
Optimized Thermal Design: VRM and aluminum I/O heatsink, L-shaped heatpipe, Trio onboard M.2 heatsinks, including an M.2 backplate for improved cooling for PCIe 4.0 M.2 slot
High-performance Networking: On-board Intel® WiFi 6E AX210 (802.11ax) and dual Intel® 2.5 Gb Ethernet with ASUS LANGuard
Best Gaming Connectivity: Supports HDMI® 2.0 and DisplayPort™ 1.4 output, and featuring quad M.2 and USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A and Type-C® connectors
Intelligent Control: ASUS-exclusive software and firmware utilities that simplify setup and improve performance: AI Overclocking, AI Cooling, AI Networking and Two-Way AI Noise-Cancelation
Unmatched Personalization: ASUS-exclusive Aura Sync RGB lighting, including RGB headers and Gen 2 addressable headers
Industry-leading Gaming Audio: High fidelity audio with ALC4080 with Savitech SV3H712 amplifier, along with DTS® Sound Unbound and Sonic Studio III
Renowned Software: Bundled 60 days AIDA64 Extreme subscription and intuitive UEFI BIOS dashboard with integrated MemTest86
TUF Gaming Z590-PLUS WIFI
Features
Intel® LGA 1200 socket: Ready for 11th and 10th Gen Intel® Core™ processors
Enhanced power solution: 14+2 DrMOS power stages, six-layer PCB, ProCool sockets, military-grade TUF components and Digi+ VRM for maximum durability
Comprehensive cooling: Enlarged VRM heatsink, PCH fanless heatsink, M.2 heatsink, hybrid fan headers and Fan Xpert 4 utility
Next-gen connectivity: PCIe® 4.0, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C®, front panel header for USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C® and Thunderbolt 4™ support
Made for online gaming: Intel® WiFi 6, Intel® 2.5 Gb Ethernet, TUF LANGuard and TurboLAN technology
Two-way AI Noise Cancelation: Reduces background noise from the microphone and audio output for crystal-clear communication in games or video conferences
Realtek S1200A codec: Pristine audio quality with unprecedented 108 dB signal-to-noise ratio for stereo line out and 103 dB SNR for line in
PRIME Z590-A
Features
Intel® LGA 1200 socket: Ready for 10th and 11th gen Intel® Core™ processors
Enhanced power solution: 14+2 DrMOS power stages, six-layer PCB, ProCool sockets, alloy chokes and durable capacitors for stable power delivery
AI Overclocking: 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
Two-way AI Noise Cancelation: Reduces background noise from the microphone and audio output for crystal-clear communication in games or video conferences
Comprehensive cooling: Large VRM heatsink, M.2 heatsink, hybrid fan headers and Fan Xpert 4
Next-gen connectivity: PCIe® 4.0, Intel® 2.5 Gb Ethernet, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C®, front panel USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C®, Thunderbolt™ 4 header support
As a child still in my 30's (but not for long), I spend my day combining my love of music and movies with a life-long passion for gaming, from arcade classics and retro consoles to the latest high-end PC and console games. So it's no wonder I write about tech and test the latest hardware while I enjoy my hobbies!