Gigabyte Z590 AORUS Xtreme is an Intel Rocket Lake 500 series motherboard likely to be announced at the 2021 CES (spotted by Videocardz) Although this Gigabyte board is the first to surface

It is likely to be one of the top SKUs available when other similar products are finally released along with the latest Intel CPUs in the coming months.

This ultra-premium motherboard is said to feature a 21+1 phase digital VRM and 100A power stage, far more than its direct predecessor (Z490) which only had 16+1. Thunderbolt 4 connectivity is an added digital power stage to an even greater advantage, providing a very cool experience. It also includes 10GbE and 2.5GbE Ethernet ports, Wi-Fi 6E. [PCIe Gen4 is dedicated to Rocket Lake CPUs on Intel's side, with two of the Z590's three PCIe x16 slots supporting Gen4 and two of its three M.2 slots supporting Gen4. This means more lanes and bandwidth for the setup. Currently, only a few Z490s support PCIe 4 for Rocket Lake, but in the future, more mainstream Rocket Lake motherboards will boast this technology.

Indeed, Komachi_Ensaka's tweet details other motherboards in the 500 series lineup, some of which are more affordable, all of which will likely support PCIe Gen4, but the lineup is expected to offer reduced functionality as they move forward. However, all sockets are configured for LGA 1200, the same as existing 400 series motherboards for Intel's Comet Lake chips. [Not only is the Z590 AORUS Xtreme the world's first Rocket Lake motherboard, it is also confirmed to be the first to feature the as yet unreleased Realtek ALC4080 audio codec, which will replace the ALC1220 codec. There is much to be excited about this.

But despite all these newfangled features, don't expect a bargain. Gigabyte's Z590 AORUS Xtreme motherboard, the flagship of the 500 series, will probably retail for over $600.