EVGA Z590 Dark Motherboard Review

The EVGA Z590 Dark is an extended ATX motherboard featuring a matte black PCB with copper and gold accents scattered around the PCB and along the edges.  There are two things you will notice right away.  The first is a full coverage shroud that starts with the I/O connections and extends over the Z590 chipset.  The second is the absence of expansion slots.  I kid you not this board only comes with three PCI Express slots and yet the board is completely packed with parts and components.

Looking at the back of the motherboard we can usually get an indication as to how the motherboard is constructed, most notability, how the PCI Express slots are wired.  From this we can determine which slots are primary and secondary in terms of bandwidth and better understand optimal performance. 

You will notice two things on the back of this PCB.  The first is that between the primary 16x PCI Express slots are the tell-tale signs of M.2 drive slots with the mounting holes extending through the PCB.  The second is the subtle and yet almost unreadable “DARK” silk screened across the width of the PCB.  It has been years since I have seen a company put graphics on the back of a motherboard with the last being the DFI LanParty UT 915P-T12.  Ironically enough DFI LanParty motherboards were also available in a Dark editions.

The EVGA Z590 Dark features the same rotated socket design from the Z390 and Z490 that places the memory modules across the top of the motherboard while pushing the VRM towards the I/O section and exposing the Main 24-Pin and two CPU 8-pin power connectors to the same edge.   

EVGA claims the Z590 Dark to have a 21 phase VRM.  Counting the chokes you will find 17 around the CPU socket and three more near the memory and power sockets leaving one phase to be a mystery.

Rotating the CPU socket affords a number of benefits in a modern enthusiast build.  Incoming air can pass unobstructed over the CPU and VRM heatsinks.  It also places all of the CPU and motherboard power connectors to the same location.  Per the EVGA standard these are rotated 90 degrees thus helping with cable management and airflow. Of the many motherboards I have tested this design is by far the best for keeping cables organized until you have to route them in a case.

Given the overclocking nature of the Z590 Dark you only get a single bank of dual channel memory and supports standard speed DDR4 modules with overclocking support beyond 5333Mhz.  A maximum of 64GB is addressable with the proper module density.