EVGA Launches Z490 Dark K|NGP|N Edition: Built for Overclockers
by Gavin Bonshor on September 8, 2020 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Intel
- EVGA
- Overclocking
- K|NGP|N
- Z490
- LGA1200
- Vince Lucido
- Z490 Dark
One of the biggest names on the extreme overclocking scene is Vince 'K|NGP|N' Lucido, who is highly regarded as one of the best sub-zero overclockers. He is a longtime employee of EVGA, and collaborates exclusively with its hardware team to develop unique overclocking-centric hardware. The latest collaboration is the EVGA Z490 Dark K|NGP|N - a limited edition motherboard with an 18-phase power delivery designed for overclocking. There is also more conventional features such as two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, eight SATA ports, U.2 port, with a 2.5 G Ethernet controller and Wi-Fi 6.
One of the most interesting elements on the EVGA Z490 Dark is its unconventional desktop design, with just two memory slots mounted horizontally across the top, just above the transposed LGA1200 socket. The 90-degree angle is usually done for airflow reasons with specific chassis in mind, and only two memory slots assists in memory-latency driven workloads.
The memory slots are qualified up to 64 GB of DDR4-5000, although for this board it wouldn't be a surprise to see overclockers push speeds further. The socket is also better angled for easier mounting of the large copper pots that sub-zero overclockers use with liquid nitrogen. Overclocking features for this sort of board usually extend to driving extra power, sometimes even external voltage control, as well as monitoring tools for accurate thermal and voltage measurements.
Vince 'K|NGP|N' Lucido personally signs the packaging of each limited edition Z490 Dark
For storage there is a pair of PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, with a single U.2 port and eight SATA ports with six of these supporting RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays, while an ASMedia SATA controller powers the other two ports. Three full-length PCIe 3.0 slots operate at x16, x8/x8, and x8/x8/+4, with a secondary half-length PCIe 3.0 x4 slot.
The top right-hand corner features two 2-digit LED panels that monitor CPU voltage and temperature, with a power and reset button also added. Focusing on networking, the Z490 Dark is using a pair of Intel-based Ethernet controllers, one I225-V 2.5 GbE and one I219-V Gigabit, with an Intel AX201 providing both Wi-Fi 6 and BT 5.1 device support. The audio codec looks 'amped' as well.
The limited-edition EVGA Z490 Dark K|NGP|N model is currently available for $600 direct from EVGA, with a limit of two per household. This is $100 more expensive than the standard EVGA Z490 Dark model ($500), although the K|NGP|N variant is likely to use perhaps better binned components to ensure extreme overclocking consistency. Both models come with a 3-year manufacturer warranty.
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Source: EVGA
55 Comments
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PeachNCream - Wednesday, September 9, 2020 - link
You have no one but yourself to blame for allowing adulthood to slip through your fingers. Inward reflection as opposed to redirected aggression will be your best past forward.Cullinaire - Tuesday, September 8, 2020 - link
waaah here's a product marketed at another demographic other than mine which is all that matters, waaahOxford Guy - Wednesday, September 9, 2020 - link
Yes, like the pink and green polka dot My Little Pony visits the Cabbage Patch Kids’ patch motherboard with Intel’s skull SSD logo on it and extra Rainbow Brite LEDs. With a side of Smell-O-Vision and Pet Rock.Spunjji - Friday, September 11, 2020 - link
I don't feel like this is any more or less dumb than the old DFI LanParty stuff, Gainward's "Golden Sample", or the Fatal1ty kit from the early 2000s.Operandi - Tuesday, September 8, 2020 - link
Nice looking board; no gamer brah marketing or BS or RGB. Also real heatsinks that probably actually work as heatsinks rather then metal fashion statements. From a ID perspective pretty much everyone else in the industry needs to take a page from EVGA.Hxx - Tuesday, September 8, 2020 - link
its price for the feature set caters to a very tiny crowd of PC owners. nothing wrong with that but i just EVGA would release some other more sensible variants for the rest of the market.alumine - Tuesday, September 8, 2020 - link
So does EVGA ship a bunch of these boards to Vince and he sits down and personally signs the box of every single one?Lord of the Bored - Wednesday, September 9, 2020 - link
I would assume they ship him the flattened boxes to sign, then assemble and fill them when he's through.Spunjji - Friday, September 11, 2020 - link
Perhaps they ship him to the boxes 🤔Oxford Guy - Wednesday, September 9, 2020 - link
Overclocking is as dead as Intel’s 14nn