Asus and MSI Flagship Z590 Motherboards Will Cost A Small Fortune

Intel's Z590 motherboards haven't officially hit the retail shelves yet; however, Asus and MSI have gone ahead and revealed the pricing for their corresponding offerings. Time (and testing) will tell which of these will land on our list of best motherboards.

For starters, Asus will launch up to 13 different Z590 motherboards that originate from the brand's ROG Maximus, ROG Strix, TUF, and Prime lineups. Asus Germany shared the press release, so the MSRP is only valid for Germany and Austria. The German branch didn't specify whether the pricing already includes VAT (value-added tax) or not, though.

For this generation, Asus is separating the ROG Maximus XIII Extreme into the vanilla version and the Glacial version that comes with an EK monoblock. According to the press release, either motherboard may command a price tag over $1,000, enough money to put together a gaming PC. In retrospect, the ROG Maximus XII Extreme already retails for $749.99.

It's interesting, though, that the press release listed the ROG Maximus XIII Apex, an overclocking-eccentric model that usually launches afterward. Considering that the current Maximus XII Apex already gets the job done, it blows our mind that Asus would refresh the motherboard since Rocket Lake-S is expected to be the last wave of processors on the LGA1200 socket.

Asus Z590 Motherboard Pricing

On the other hand, MSI preferred to reveal its Z590 lineup via the company's MSI Insider stream. The total number of motherboards comes down to 12, spanning from the Pro series all the way up to the exclusive MEG series.

The MEG Z590 Godlike, which probably doesn't need an introduction, will bring all the bells and whistles to the table. The Z590-powered motherboard boasts an MSRP of up to $1,019. At this rate, it's a competition between the MEG Z590 Godlike and ROG Maximus XIII Extreme to see which one costs more than the other. Not that it's a good thing since consumers will have to shell out tons of cash for one or the other.

Enthusiasts will be happy to know that MSI will roll out the MEG Z590 Unify and MEG Z590I Unify once again. What these motherboards lack in bright lights, they make up for in features, especially the MEG Z590I Unify that will probably excel in memory overclocking.

MSI Z490 Motherboard Pricing