The Comet Lake-S as its construction began from a very low point of view with little enthusiasm for the average user. It was gradually found to be a successful substitute for Cofi Lake-S until, it could, in turn, turn the tables on Zen 2.
As always, the price / performance ratio will be the key that users have to decide, but based on what we will see, Intel may not have everything that it likes.
The first data comes from Ukraine and GIGABYTE
Original pricing from Ukrainian retailer ITbox, which has already published on its website prices where we can see more models GIGABYTE (among others). This trend is repeated for all potential producers, with very similar GAP values between the same ranges.
Since the plates have not yet been sold, it is difficult to give full credibility to this data, so take them with a pinch of salt in the middle, but they seem to be indications that they can expect it. It should be mentioned that the prices include 20% VAT and that it is transferred in dollars for the MSRP calculation.
Of the 17 models that GIGABYTE introduced on the Z390, the brand will only launch 15 on the Z490, where the brand will also offer models from ITX to the E-ATX format.
The price increased from 27.6% to 61%
| Motherboard | Price | Price for Z390 | The difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Xtreme WaterForce | $ 1,072 | N / A | N / A |
| Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Xtreme | $ 757 | N / A | N / A |
| Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Master | $ 537 | $ 369 | 45,5% |
| Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Ultra | $ 409 | $ 306 | 33.6% |
| Gigabyte Z490 Vision D | $ 393 | N / A | N / A |
| Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Pro AX | $ 358 | $ 234 | 53% |
| Gigabyte Z490I Aorus Ultra | $ 318 | $ 197 | 61.4% |
| Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Elite AC | $ 288 | N / A | N / A |
| Gigabyte Z490 G view | $ 277 | N / A | N / A |
| Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Elite | $ 267 | $ 208 | 28.4% |
| Gigabyte Z490 Gaming X | $ 217 | $ 160 | 35.6% |
| Gigabyte Z490 UD AC | $ 202 | N / A | N / A |
| Gigabyte Z490M Gaming X | $ 207 | $ 153 | 35.3% |
| Gigabyte Z490 UD | $ 187 | $ 131 | 42.7% |
| Gigabyte Z490M | $ 171 | $ 134 | 27.6% |
The prices of the Z390 motherboards are selected from the seller itself to make the right comparisons and although the Z390 motherboards are priced somehow, the difference we can see is not perfect.
We're from GIGABYTE Z490M with + 27.6% at its price to GIGABYTE Z490I Aorus Ultra in ITX format with price increase + 61.4%. The average among all motherboards is closer to 40.34% of the price compared to the Z390, so what difference does it make between users?
It's difficult to verify without manual models, but from what we've seen since January, it looks like Intel may allow some models to support PCIe 4.0 with the advent of Rocket Lake-S in the Z490s.
This means that the chipset is compatible and the power disconnect with the PCB supports the new level requirements. In addition, the number of stages, VRMs and voltage regulators will be significantly increased by the use of processors, so computer requirements will also be coupled to hardware requirements.
The same thing happens with RAMs, when we already see support DDR4-5000 officials, which means more precise control and redefinition of slots so they can reach these waves without much trouble.
But in keeping with this, we do not see any significant reasons for price increases, as new network cards are not a sufficient reason for such cost increases. We will have to wait more than a month to confirm that the Ukrainian supplier is right, because if so, Intel is getting into serious trouble, because AMD is doing the opposite.
