MackWage
I mean... the Extreme Glacial looks really nice.. but unsure about $1800 nice 

MackWage

Talon2020
So can EVGA finally comment on whether their Z490 boards will be getting a BIOS update to support PCIE 4.0 with the new CPUs. 

I *could* be wrong but I don't think this is possible as I don't think the physical interfaces on the motherboard are PCIE 4.0

fragility_V1

repo1979
Thinking about picking up the Evga Z490 Dark K|ngp|n for 419.99 on amazon, hoping to step-up to the Z590 DARK

Hrmm..Do they offer the Darks in the step up program?  I know they don't do it for some GPUs, but maybe boards have more supplies.  If you can step up from an FTW to a Dark on Z490 I guess they'd do the same for 590.

Nereus
 
I've put in a query to EVGA to see if the Z490 Dark can step up to the Z590 Dark when it comes out (expected March/April). Not sure they can tell me, but I'll pass it on here if I get a response.
 

GenjoKoan

Nereus
ASUS don't appear to be putting out a mini-ITX Z590. 

Actually, they do.  See ROG STRIX Z590-I Gaming WIFI.  They also list a ROG STRIX Z560-I Gaming WIFI.
I remain pretty meh on ASUS.  I have not read the specs yet, but I have two very barely used Z490-I boards to play with.  I do not see the Z590-I specs being interesting enough to make up for the hit in price I would suffer in selling/trading up.

tommykabat

Solar Trans

BF3PRO

Solar Trans

BF3PRO
As someone who got a Dark out of the first batch on X79, I'm disappointed to see where the Dark has gone. It's no longer Dark. It's no longer big.

I'm also very disappointed in the RGB craze. As well as the manufacturers pushing the enthusiast SFF game hard even Asus making the impact for a bit, then ditching it. They made ITX great. It's like phones. For decades it was performance in a smaller phone. Now its "my screen is bigger than yours".

Honestly man no one is stopping you from turning off the RGB and enjoying a sleek black and white logo?
 
Also, just because high-performance SFF boards aren't everywhere doesn't mean everything is "getting bigger," the very same top-end models that have always been E-ATX are still E-ATX, and 90% of the boards on the market are just ATX.
 
It's also unfair to compare the Z590 dark to the X79 dark because it's desktop vs HEDT and the latter has more RAM channels, PCIE lanes, etc so it physically requires more space. The Z590 dark is a similar size to Maximus/Aorus Extreme, Godlike, etc like the Z390 and Z490 darks before it.
 
I'd love to see a top-end ITX board again but there are still very solid ITX options out there that will realistically do everything you need 9 out of 10 times, even if they aren't top-end ROG or EVGA models.

RGB seems to run the market now over performance, and it's starting to reach into the high end enthusiast market.  I believe its a fair comparison, because the X79 Dark introduced a hardcore no frills enthusiast board without extra stuff that the main audience wouldn't necessarily want.  Everything is staying bigger, and there seems to be a shortage of ITX boards in general.  There are a few for AMD and Intel, but even ASrock has pretty much dropped out of enthusiast grade ITX boards.  And ASrock was making big leaps with theirs.  Not too long ago (2015/6 5 years) there were two segments gaming and enthusiast.  Now theres just gaming with some enthusiast features at a premium price.  There is no real gap between enthusiast anymore.  I get that I can easily turn off the RGB.  But why not offer one with or without the lighting?
 
I'm sure it's a great and quality level board, it just does not scream "buy me and put me under LN2". 

I would disagree, I think the Z590 Dark is a great evolution on previous generations' aesthetics and the RGB has by no means harmed the performance orientation of the board, much like the similarly subtle RGB on the Kingpin. It is the most overclocking-capable motherboard EVGA has ever made and likely will perform the best of any Z590 board on the market for XOC.
 
In this instance, it strikes a great balance of LN2 OC-able and daily drivable that no other dark board has in the past, without any sacrifice to the former. For the first time, I'm inclined to get one for my daily rig because the design looks fantastic IMO with the shiny copper and subtle RGB that closely match the Kingpin 3090. And if it's no worse for XOC, what's wrong with making it more approachable to the 99.999% of the market who don't know what an LN2 pot is?
 
 

 
 
Couldn't agree more. Subtle RGB and evolution of/increase in available features, without a sacrifice in performance, are making it very tempting for me to pick up one when they release...whereas I've passed on the last couple Darks because they were missing a thing or two that appealed to me. Like you said, balance is key. I'm a gamer/enthusiast/performance junkie and it would make sense that mfrs gotta consider trends, supply & demand, etc. - “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time." Not many businesses would survive, especially these days, if they didn't focus most of their attention on where the market is and where sales can be made.

Nereus

repo1979

Nereus
I've put in a query to EVGA to see if the Z490 Dark can step up to the Z590 Dark when it comes out (expected March/April). Not sure they can tell me, but I'll pass it on here if I get a response.

Thanks. Now to decide if im going to pull the trigger on the z490 dark kingpin on amazon

EVGA replied. Basically, don't count on the Z590 being available for step up if you buy a Z490 now, and maybe it never will be. :

Thanks for reaching out. Typically, upon new launches of products there is a gap between when it will be added to Step Up. At the current time being 2 months before release, we do not have any information on when that specific model will be added or even if it is added at all. Previous versions were not immediate but we can only recommend to check the Step Up page around the release date. 
Regards
EVGA