Flagship motherboards are always fascinating specimens to review: Once the cuffs of, ahem, have been removed, you never know quite what mix of features you are going to see. With its leading-edge Intel Z590 board, the Aorus Xtreme ($849.99), Gigabyte has opted to go in a different direction than some of its competitors by offering a board with less flair but a rock-solid set of features. You won’t find a dancing OLED display panel on this Extended-ATX (EATX) board, or integrated liquid-cooling hardware. Nor is there an obnoxious abundance of blinking or fading lights. But if you want a tip-top-high-end board for serious tweaking that doesn’t also glow like the sun, the Z590 Aorus Xtreme may be your best and only option. Just know: "Rocket Lake" 11th Generation CPUs were going to be a dead end, even from the moment they were released, and this is a lot of dosh to sink into a one-time board, especially one with some initial installation hiccups on our end. You Can Trust Our ...
Gigabyte’s sleek Z590 Aorus Xtreme defines the state-of-the-art luxury motherboard, well-built with lots of overclocking options and nifty audio and storage accessories. Just know you're buying into a dead-end socket for more money than a whole top-end next-generation CPU.
Pleasantly minimal design, without too many LEDs; Solidly built, with superior PCB protection above and below; Excellent power-delivery system for hardcore overclockers; 10Gbps Ethernet controller; Useful extras, including external audio box and M.2 SSD PCI Express card
Wildly expensive; Initial startup hurdles; E-ATX design will cramp some cases