Probably a silly question but......own a Nu Audio Pro 7.1 and am considering upgrading to Z490 platform. Checked out several boards - MSI Z490 Godlike, Aorus Z490 Xtreme (possibly Waterforce), and Asus ROG Maximus XII Extreme. I really like my Aorus Z390 Master and would ideally stick with Gigabyte. However, after researching Z490 boards, Aorus Xtreme/Xtreme Waterforce lack PCIE x1 slots. Instead they offer three full-length slots running at x16, x8, and x4 from top to bottom. The first two are fed from the CPU (x8/x8) and the third by the chipset. It was a struggle trying to squeeze the Nu Audio Pro unit(s) between an RTX 2080 ti xc hybrid on my Z390 Master, even with three x16 slots and three x1 slots.
My concern is that with an Aorus Z490, GPU bandwidth would drop to x8 if all three PCIE slots are populated (GPU + both Nu Audio cards). The ROG Z490 has a x1 slot, but location would make things difficult. MSI Godlike has three x16 slots, one x1, and slot arrangement looks better for my setup. I've heard good things about Godlike boards, but try to avoid MSI when possible. If Z390 Dark had four DIMM slots and was readily available, might have also been an option. Secondary consideration: will probably custom loop a Z490 build, and am already familiar with Gigabyte boards. Would appreciate clarification as far as whether PCIE slot worries are unfounded. Recommendations, suggestions, etc. are always welcome too...
