ASRock Z490 Aqua Motherboard Review: The $1100 LC Monoblock Flagship
by Gavin Bonshor on October 2, 2020 10:00 AM ESTSystem Performance
Not all motherboards are created equal. On the face of it, they should all perform the same and differ only in the functionality they provide - however, this is not the case. The obvious pointers are power consumption, POST time and latency. This can come down to the manufacturing process and prowess, so these are tested.
For Z490 we are running using Windows 10 64-bit with the 1909 update.
Power Consumption
Power consumption was tested on the system while in a single MSI GTX 1080 Gaming configuration with a wall meter connected to the power supply. This power supply has ~75% efficiency > 50W, and 90%+ efficiency at 250W, suitable for both idle and multi-GPU loading. This method of power reading allows us to compare the power management of the UEFI and the board to supply components with power under load, and includes typical PSU losses due to efficiency. These are the real-world values that consumers may expect from a typical system (minus the monitor) using this motherboard.
While this method for power measurement may not be ideal, and you feel these numbers are not representative due to the high wattage power supply being used (we use the same PSU to remain consistent over a series of reviews, and the fact that some boards on our testbed get tested with three or four high powered GPUs), the important point to take away is the relationship between the numbers. These boards are all under the same conditions, and thus the differences between them should be easy to spot.
The ASRock uses slightly more power in both the idle and long idle power states, but this could be due to all of the boards RGB, the OLED screen, and the sheer number of controllers. At full load, the Aqua performs very competitively with a maximum power figure of 212.8 W.
Non-UEFI POST Time
Different motherboards have different POST sequences before an operating system is initialized. A lot of this is dependent on the board itself, and POST boot time is determined by the controllers on board (and the sequence of how those extras are organized). As part of our testing, we look at the POST Boot Time using a stopwatch. This is the time from pressing the ON button on the computer to when Windows starts loading. (We discount Windows loading as it is highly variable given Windows specific features.)
In our POST time testing, the Aqua sits middle of the road, although, with all of the nonessential controllers disabled, we got the time down to 13.3 seconds which is quicker than some boards boot at with them enabled.
DPC Latency
Deferred Procedure Call latency is a way in which Windows handles interrupt servicing. In order to wait for a processor to acknowledge the request, the system will queue all interrupt requests by priority. Critical interrupts will be handled as soon as possible, whereas lesser priority requests such as audio will be further down the line. If the audio device requires data, it will have to wait until the request is processed before the buffer is filled.
If the device drivers of higher priority components in a system are poorly implemented, this can cause delays in request scheduling and process time. This can lead to an empty audio buffer and characteristic audible pauses, pops and clicks. The DPC latency checker measures how much time is taken processing DPCs from driver invocation. The lower the value will result in better audio transfer at smaller buffer sizes. Results are measured in microseconds.
We test DPC latency out of the box with default settings, and the Aqua performs very well, even better than the Velocita PG, and knocks it off the top spot with relative ease.
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If I was a water cooling guy this would be great.spkay31 - Thursday, October 8, 2020 - link
From what I've seen these waterblocks are actually not very high quality (despite the high price) and people have complained about leakage in the acrylic at the threading for the hose connectors. I like that a manufacturer has gone further to create a high end product for enthusiasts but the execution should be highly reliable at this price point. To make matters worse I read about a leaking waterblock that a customer contacted Asrock support about replacing (at his expense) and Asrock support was not helpful and provided no ability to buy replacement parts.SlitheryDee - Thursday, October 22, 2020 - link
I thought it was worth a review. I mean, I'm not buying it, but I love seeing these limited edition monstrosities every now and again.JustinWitt - Thursday, December 17, 2020 - link
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