EVGA Z590 Dark Motherboard Review

The I/O panel is rather self-explanatory and quite sparse for any motherboard.  Starting at the left you will find the combo PS/2 port and two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports next to that is on the board WiFi and a CMOS reset button.  Dual Intel Ethernet consisting of a i225V 2.5GbE sitting atop four USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, you’ll find another USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C after passing over a DisplayPort socket with a HTMI 2.0 power below.  Analog audio jacks complete the 8-channel audio offering with digital connections over optical.

For once the I/O cover is integrated with the I/O connections giving the Z590 Dark a fully polished feel and, unless you decide to take the motherboard apart you won’t be forgetting to install it before installing the motherboard. 

The audio solution found on the Z590 Dark is a new design based on the Realtek ALC1220 system supporting 7.1 channel audio and is matched with the EVGA NU Audio application.  Like most of the high-end gaming motherboards you’ll find some specialized audio capacitors near the controller to help keep things clean.

Sadly, gone are the days of separated audio sections on the motherboard however EVGA is keeping it real by including a gold band where the separation would normally be located.

One of the benefits to buying high-end computer hardware is that you often get some pretty amazing goodies.  Some of these are required while others are nice to have.  The EVGA Z590 Dark comes with a number of accessories including what you see below.

In keeping with the current NVIDIA trends the board only supports 2-Way SLI + PhysX (using the last 4x PCI Express slot.  You won’t get a SLI connector so if you want to run the unsupported SLI you’ll need to bring the hardware with you.  The other items include WiFi antennas, Probe-lt test leads, four SATA cables and some replacement thermal pads for your M.2 drives.  Drivers can be found on an included EVGA branded flash drive along with a digital copy of the user’s manual. 

One of the coolest features of the EVGA Dark series of motherboards is the PCB bench table.  This wafer doubles as a visual aid for all of the components on the motherboard with the added benefit of holding your motherboard during a benchmark session.  Your expansion cards will be flopping in the wind but your board will be lifted while you overclock like a Kingpin.

EVGA has included longer standoffs to convert the blank PCB into a table.  It goes without saying that some assembly is required and, in my opinion, you shouldn’t bother using it.

While there should be a quick start guide included with the motherboard the full users manual is found on the included USB drive.  The quick start guide should cover everything you will need to get the system setup and running.  For more detailed troubleshooting you'll want to look at the full users manual which is on the incuded USB drive which also has a full set of drivers.