Taiwanese PC component maker ASRock launches the Z490 Aqua, a limited edition flagship motherboard featuring a built-in water cooling monoblock within a 16-power phase design promising up to 95% VRM efficiency.
Built out of aluminium-plated copper, the monoblock should keep VRMs and CPUs cool even during heavy loads or overclocking. The package even includes a set of appropriate accessories in the shape of a pack of hardline water cooling fittings, all set nicely in a presentation box. An OLED display allows customers to easily check system stats, such as CPU voltages, temperatures system and POST statuses.
As for the rest of the motherboard, it offers three full-length PCIe 3.0 slots running at x16, x8/x8 and x8/x8/+4, as well as two PCIe 30 x1 slots. A pair of 8-pin 12V ATX CPU inputs provide power to the CPU, with an Intersil ISL69269 PWM controller operating in 14+2 configuration. The motherboard supports DDR4-4700 memory, with a total capacity reaching 128GB across four slots. It also supports ECC DDR4 UDIMMS, but only in non-ECC mode.
In terms of connectivity, Z490 Aqua offers x2 Thunderbolt 3 Type-C and x2 Mini DisplayPort input ports, plus x3 USB-A G2, x1 USB-C and X4 USB-A G1 ports. An ethernet port is included, together with wireless connectivity via Wifi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0, and a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec powers five 3.5mm colour-coded audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output.
ASRock does not say when the Z490 Aqua ships, but just 999 will be available.