The Biostar Racing Z490GTN Review: $200 for Comet Lake mini-ITX
by Dr. Ian Cutress & Gavin Bonshor on June 5, 2020 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Intel
- Biostar
- Z490
- 10th Gen Core
- Comet Lake
- Z490GTN
Board Features
The Biostar Racing Z490GTN is a mini-ITX model designed to offer users an entry point to Z490 on a small form factor. Firmly set as one of the most budget models overall for Z490, the Z490GTN has a single PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slot with support for both NVMe and SATA drives, as well as four SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10. Due to the small size of the mini-ITX form factor, there is a single full-length PCIe 3.0 x16 slot, with just two memory slots with support for up to DDR4-4400 with a maximum capacity of up to 64 GB.
Biostar Racing Z490GTN ITX Motherboard | |||
Warranty Period | 3 Years | ||
Product Page | Link | ||
Price | $200 | ||
Size | ITX | ||
CPU Interface | LGA1200 | ||
Chipset | Intel Z490 | ||
Memory Slots (DDR4) | Two DDR4 Supporting 64 GB Dual-Channel Up to DDR4-4400 |
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Video Outputs | 1 x HDMI 1 x D-Sub |
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Network Connectivity | Intel I129-V GbE | ||
Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC892 | ||
PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU) | 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 | ||
PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH) | N/A | ||
Onboard SATA | Four, RAID 0/1/5/10 (Z490) | ||
Onboard M.2 | 1 x PCIe 3.0 x4/SATA | ||
USB 3.1 (20 Gbps) | N/A | ||
USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) | N/A | ||
USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) | 4 x USB Type-A (Rear panel) 2 x USB Type-A (One header) |
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USB 2.0 | 2 x USB Type-A (Rear panel) 2 x USB Type-A (One header) |
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Power Connectors | 1 x 24-pin Motherboard 1 x 8-pin CPU |
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Fan Headers | 1 x 4-pin CPU 1 x 4-pin Water pump 1 x 4-pin Chassis |
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IO Panel | 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard 1 x HDMI output 1 x D-Sub output 4 x USB 3.2 G1 Type-A 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A 1 x RJ45 (Intel) 3 x 3.5 mm audio jacks (Realtek) |
There's a Realtek ALC892 HD audio codec with three 3.5 mm audio jacks on the rear panel, with a front panel audio header also present. For networking, there is a solitary Intel I219-V Gigabit Ethernet controller, with space for users to install their own wireless interface, with a Key-E M.2 slot and holes on the rear IO shield. The Biostar Racing Z490GTN doesn't set the world alight in terms of USB support, with no USB 3.2 Gen2 support whatsoever. The board does have four USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A and two USB 2.0 ports on the rear panel, with a single USB 3.2 G1 Type-A header offering two ports, and a single USB 2.0 ports which also offers two ports. Also on the rear panel is an HDMI and D-Sub pair of video outputs, as well as a PS/2 keyboard and mouse combo port.
Test Bed
As per our testing policy, we take a high-end CPU suitable for the motherboard that was released during the socket’s initial launch and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the processor maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.
Test Setup | |||
Processor | Intel Core i7-10700K, 125 W, $374 8 Cores, 16 Threads 3.8 GHz (5.1 GHz Turbo) |
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Motherboard | Biostar Racing Z490GTN (BIOS Z49AI522) | ||
Cooling | NZXT Kraken Z63 280 mm AIO | ||
Power Supply | Corsair HX850 850 W 80 PLUS Platinum | ||
Memory | G.Skill TridentZ DDR4-2933 CL 14-14-14-34 2T (2 x 8 GB) | ||
Video Card | MSI GTX 1080 (1178/1279 Boost) | ||
Hard Drive | Crucial MX300 1TB | ||
Case | Corsair Crystal 680X | ||
Operating System | Windows 10 1909 inc. Spectre/Meltdown Patches |
Readers of our motherboard review section will have noted the trend in modern motherboards to implement a form of MultiCore Enhancement / Acceleration / Turbo (read our report here) on their motherboards. This does several things, including better benchmark results at stock settings (not entirely needed if overclocking is an end-user goal) at the expense of heat and temperature. It also gives, in essence, an automatic overclock which may be against what the user wants. Our testing methodology is ‘out-of-the-box’, with the latest public BIOS installed and XMP enabled, and thus subject to the whims of this feature. It is ultimately up to the motherboard manufacturer to take this risk – and manufacturers taking risks in the setup is something they do on every product (think C-state settings, USB priority, DPC Latency / monitoring priority, overriding memory sub-timings at JEDEC). Processor speed change is part of that risk, and ultimately if no overclocking is planned, some motherboards will affect how fast that shiny new processor goes and can be an important factor in the system build.
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DanNeely - Friday, June 5, 2020 - link
The only chipset on the market that needs active cooling is the AMD 570, because PCIe 4.0 is a power hog.PeachNCream - Sunday, June 7, 2020 - link
Absolutely it will be fine. The vast majority of reasonably designed motherboards need no active cooling anywhere. The few that add them do so because of PCIe 4.0 (currently only an AMD side thing) or fans are slapped onto VRMs to hide poor design decision under the guise of "overclocker friendly voltage regulator cooling enhancements" so people throw more money at supposedly higher margin parts while feeling like they are somehow obtaining greater value that justifies the expenditure. Classic marketing is still alive and well because, despite generations of exposure to it, we haven't gotten much smarter about identifying and coping with it.eastcoast_pete - Friday, June 5, 2020 - link
Thanks Gavin and Ian! Fully agree - way overpriced for what it has and can do.One suggestion, especially for boards that are likely to be used in an HTPC: please include the exact HDMI version supported (with specs) as well as any information on display port and Thunderbolt
capabilities, including, of course, complete absence of such features. Thanks!
As for the current state of affairs with Intel in the HTPC space: they are lucky that AMD has not made Renoir chips available for socketed mini-desktops, or they could kiss that market goodbye.
Slash3 - Friday, June 5, 2020 - link
Socketed Renoir is on the way.lmcd - Friday, June 5, 2020 - link
AM4 seems pretty big for ITX based on the ASRock board I have. This board might be bad but Intel should still have an upper hand, unless Comet Lake is bigger than past socket + chipset pairings?Deicidium369 - Friday, June 5, 2020 - link
has the same HSF hole spacing - so about the same size - it's only 49 additional pinslmcd - Saturday, June 6, 2020 - link
I meant the chipset.eastcoast_pete - Friday, June 5, 2020 - link
Unless I overlooked it, a review of AM4 mini ITX Boards would be interesting, if just for comparison. There are even a couple of x570 boards with PCIe 4.0 for about the price of this board here available, and they include Thunderbolt and WiFi connectivity, and a much better audio. However, my own preference would be for a cheaper B450 or 550 board for about half the price; that's enough for an HTPC setup.Spunjji - Monday, June 8, 2020 - link
How would a smaller socket+chipset give them the upper hand for HTPCs when Renoir offers better CPU performance for a given TDP and markedly superior graphics?AM4 might be "big for ITX", but that's irrelevant if you can still build an ITX system around it.
Operandi - Friday, June 5, 2020 - link
Looks like a pretty weak / inefficient VRM.Speaking of which if you are going to cover the VRM section of a board you need to go into more detail than simply stating the VRM configuration. 6+2 is almost meaningless when the quality of MOSFETS and drivers is what really determines how much power a board is capable of delivering and how efficient it will be. With the specs of the components involved and the layout along with some simple math is pretty easy to ballpark what a board is capable of.