EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

User Guide

EVGA Z490 DARKSpecs and Initial Installation-1-

EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Table of Contents
Before You Begin… ................................................................................................. - 4 Parts NOT in the Kit ............................................................................................................. - 5 Intentions of the Kit .............................................................................................................. - 5 Motherboard Specifications .................................................................................................. - 6 Unpacking and Parts Descriptions ........................................................................................ - 8 EVGA Z490 DARK Motherboard LED reference ............................................................. - 10 EVGA Z490 DARK Motherboard Component Legend ..................................................... - 14 PCIe Slot Breakdown ......................................................................................................... - 27 M.2 / U.2 Slot Breakdown .................................................................................................. - 27 Preparing the Motherboard ................................................................................................. - 28 Installing the CPU .............................................................................................................. - 28 Installing the CPU Cooling Device .................................................................................... - 29 Installing System Memory .................................................................................................. - 30 Installing the I/O Shield ...................................................................................................... - 31 Installing the Motherboard...................................................................................... - 31 Securing the Motherboard into a System Case ................................................................... - 32 Installing M.2 devices ............................................................................................. - 34 Installing M.2 Key-M Socket 3 Devices ............................................................................ - 34 Tested CPU and Memory ................................................................................................... - 37 Tested Memory ................................................................................................................... - 37 Tested M.2 Key-M ............................................................................................................. - 38 Tested U.2........................................................................................................................... - 39 Tested M.2 Key-E............................................................................................................... - 39 Connecting Cables .............................................................................................................. - 40 Onboard Buttons ................................................................................................................. - 52 --2-

EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

First Boot ................................................................................................................ - 53 M.2 SSD, PCIe SSD, and NVMe SSD Installation steps ................................................... - 55 Internal RAID Controller ......................................................................................... - 57 Fan Header DC and PWM setup ........................................................................... - 92 Setting Up SLI and PhysX...................................................................................... - 96 Realtek HD Audio Manager ............................................................................................. - 101 EVGA NU Audio ................................................................................................... - 119 The NU Audio Control Panel ........................................................................................... - 122 NU Audio Custom Settings: ............................................................................................. - 130 Installing Drivers and Software ............................................................................ - 141 Windows 10 Driver Installation ........................................................................................ - 141 Warranty and Overclocking .............................................................................................. - 143 Troubleshooting ................................................................................................... - 144 Flashing the BIOS ............................................................................................................ - 144 Flashing the BIOS Without a CPU ................................................................................... - 147 SSD / HDD is not detected ............................................................................................... - 148 System does not POST, and POST code indicator reads “C” ........................................... - 150 System does not POST, and POST code indicator reads “55” ......................................... - 151 System does not POST, and POST code indicator reads “d7” ......................................... - 151 Have a question not covered above, or want some online resources? .............................. - 152 Multifunction LED indicator ............................................................................................ - 153 POST Beep codes ............................................................................................................. - 155 POST Port Debug LED .................................................................................................... - 156 POST Codes ........................................................................................................ - 157 EVGA Glossary of Terms ................................................................................................ - 162 Compliance Information ....................................................................................... - 165 --3-

EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Before You Begin…
The EVGA Z490 DARK sets the standard for motherboards based on theIntel® Z490 chipset. Much like the EVGA Z390 DARK, its predecessor, theZ490 DARK is designed for ultra-enthusiasts looking to pull every last ounce ofperformance from the new 10th Gen Intel® 10-Core CPUs. The Z490 DARK
features an 18-Phase VRM design, along with two right-angle 8pin High
Current connectors to provide maximum power for overclocking. Two SMT
DIMMs enable high-frequency and low latency RAM overclocking. The 10layer PCB is studded with multiple sensors to track a variety of temperaturesand voltages across the board, which can be displayed on the dual-LED
displays.
For its other features, the Z490 DARK contains Realtek Audio with EVGANU Audio, one Intel® 2.5 GbE NIC, one Intel® Gigabit NIC, mini-Display
Port, onboard power/reset/CMOS buttons, PCIe disable switches, triple BIOS
support, 8 smart fan headers, and many more premium features. If you’ve been
holding out for a serious motherboard to upgrade, the time is at hand.
Lastly, a motherboard is only as good as its BIOS, and the EVGA Z490 DARK
features EVGA’s newest UEFI/BIOS GUI with a focus on overclocking andfunctionality in a lean, straightforward package. You won’t need to be an expert
to configure your motherboard, but if you are, you’ll find features unavailable
anywhere else.

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Parts NOT in the Kit
This kit contains all the hardware necessary to install and connect your new
EVGA Z490 DARK Motherboard. However, it does NOT contain thefollowing items, which must be purchased separately in order to make thesystem fully functional and install an Operating System:Intel® Socket 1200 Processor

DDR4 System Memory

CPU Cooling Device



PCI Express Graphics CardPower SupplyHard Drive or SSD

Keyboard / Mouse

Monitor(Optional) Optical Drive

EVGA assumes you have purchased all the necessary parts needed to allow for
proper system functionality. For a full list of supported CPUs on thismotherboard, please visit www.evga.com/support/motherboard

Intentions of the Kit
When replacing a different model motherboard in a PC case, you may need toreinstall your operating system, even though the current HDD/SSD may
already have one installed. Keep in mind, however, you may sometimes alsoneed to reinstall your OS after a RMA even if your motherboard remains thesame due to issues that occurred prior to replacing the motherboard.

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EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Motherboard Specifications
 Size:EATX form-factor of 11.99 inches x 10.89 inches (304.5x276.6mm)
 Microprocessor support:
Intel® Socket 1200 Processor
 Operating Systems:
Supports Windows 10 64bit
 System Memory support:
Supports up to 64GB Dual-Channel DDR4 up to 4800MHz+ (OC) USB 2.0 Ports:
6x from Intel® Z490 PCH – 6x internal via 3 FP headers
1x from Update Port for flashing the BIOS without CPU
Supports hot plug/wake-up from S3 mode USB 3.2 Gen1 Ports:
4x from Intel® Z490 PCH – 2x external (Type-A), 2x internal via 1 FP header
Supports transfer speeds up to 5Gbps with full backwards compatibility
Backwards compatible with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 support.
 USB 3.2 Gen2 Ports:
2x from ASMedia ASM3142 – 6x external (1x Type-C, 5x Type-A),
1x Type-C header
Supports transfer speeds up to 10Gbps with full backwards compatibility
 SATA Ports:
6x SATA 6Gbps data transfer rate / Intel® Z490 PCH Controller- Support for RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, AND RAID10- Supports hot plug
2x SATA 6Gbps data transfer rate / ASMedia ASM1061- No RAID or Hot-Plug Support
 Onboard LAN:Intel® i225V 2.5 GbE (10/100/1000/2500) Ethernet PHYIntel® i219V Gigabit (10/100/1000) Ethernet PHY- Ethernet Teaming SupportedIntel® Dual-Band WiFi / BT

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EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

 Display Output:

Mini-DisplayPort Onboard Audio:
Realtek ALC1220 High Definition Audio + EVGA NU Audio- Supports 7.1 Channel audio with Optical S/PDIF Out- EVGA NU Audio via the FP Audio header Power Functions:Supports ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface)
Supports S0 (normal), S3 (suspend to RAM), S4 (Suspend to disk - depends
on OS), and S5 (soft - off)
 PCI Express Expansion Slots:
3x PCIe x16 slot 1x16/8*, 1x8/4*, 1x4*
1x PCIe x4 slot (via PCH)
*LANES PER SLOT CAN VARY BASED ON DEVICES INSTALLED.
PLEASE SEE PAGE 27 FOR LANE BREAKDOWN.
 PCIe 3.0 Support:
Low power consumption and power management features
 SLI and Crossfire Support:
NVIDIA® SLI® Ready, 2-Way Crossfire Additional Expansion Slots:
2x M.2 Key-M 110mm slot PCIe/NVMe and Intel® Optane™
1x M.2 Key-E slot
1x U.2 slot
 Single PS/2 port for keyboard or mouse Fan Headers:
2x 4-pin PWM controlled headers (CPU1/CPU2)
6x 4-pin PWM/DC headers- All fans can be controlled via Smart Fan in the BIOS.
ALL FAN HEADERS HAVE A MAXIMUM POWER LIMIT OF 2 AMP@ 12 VOLTS (24 WATTS) EXCEDING THIS LIMIT WILL CAUSEIRREPARABLE DAMAGE TO THE BOARD.

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EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Unpacking and Parts Descriptions
The following accessories are included with the EVGA Z490 DARK
Motherboard:-8-

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EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

EVGA Z490 DARK Motherboard LED
reference
The EVGA Z490 DARK Motherboard has several LEDs indicating power, connectivity,
and activity. Below is the location of the LEDs and their function.

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LED Legend
1.
2.

M.2 Key-E Enabled
Multi-function POST indicator

13. VCCST Status
14. VCCSTG Status

25. M.2 Key-M PM1 Enabled
26. U.2 PU1 Status

3.

Memory DIMM 2 Status

15. VCCIO_1_2 Status

27. U.2 PU1 Enabled

16. Power Button
17. Reset Button
18. BIOS 1 Active
19. BIOS 2 Active
20. BIOS 3 Active
21. SW Slow Mode ON
22. PE1 Status
23. PE1 Enabled
24. M.2 Key-M PM1 Status

28. PE2 Status
29. PE2 Enabled
30. M.2 Key-M PM2 Status
31. M.2 Key-M PM2 Enabled
32. PE3 Status
33. PE3 Enabled
34 PE4 Status
35 PE4 Enabled

4. Memory DIMM 1 Status
5. +5V Standby Power
6. CATERR
7. VCORE Status
8. VDIMM Status
9. VSA Status
10. VCCIO Status
11. VCCPLL Status
12. VPLL_OC Status

1. M.2 Key-E Socket1 32mm
a. WHITE: M.2 can be used.
2. Multifunction POST Indicatora. During boot it will cycle many different hexadecimal post codes with arange of 00-FF and this indicates what aspect of the Power On Self Test
(POST) is currently running.
i. For a list of POST Codes, please see Page 157.
b. This indicator can be configured in BIOS to display hardware monitoring
information, such as voltage or temperature. After boot, these LEDs willshow either temperature or voltage, depending on user configuration in
the BIOS.
3. Memory DIMM 2 Statusa. OFF: DIMM detected and present
b. RED: DIMM/Memory has failed POST
4. Memory DIMM 1 Statusa. OFF: DIMM detected and present
b. RED: DIMM/Memory has failed POST
5. +5V Standby Powera. WHITE: Voltage present (Does not mean PSU is outputting in-spec,
only that this specific voltage is detected)
6. CATERR - Catastrophic Error on the processor
a. RED: Processor error has occurred.
b. OFF: No error state detected in the CPU.
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7. VCORE statusa. WHITE: Voltage present (Does not mean PSU is outputting in-spec,
only that this specific voltage is detected)
8. VDIMM statusa. WHITE: Voltage present (Does not mean PSU is outputting in-spec,
only that this specific voltage is detected)
9. VSA Statusa. WHITE: Voltage present (Does not mean PSU is outputting in-spec,
only that this specific voltage is detected)
10. VCCIO Statusa. WHITE: Voltage present (Does not mean PSU is outputting in-spec,
only that this specific voltage is detected)
11. VCCPLL Statusa. WHITE: Voltage present (Does not mean PSU is outputting in-spec,
only that this specific voltage is detected)
12. VPLL_OC Statusa. WHITE: Voltage present (Does not mean PSU is outputting in-spec,
only that this specific voltage is detected)
13. VCCST Statusa. WHITE: Voltage present (Does not mean PSU is outputting in-spec,
only that this specific voltage is detected)
14. VCCSTG Statusa. WHITE: Voltage present (Does not mean PSU is outputting in-spec,
only that this specific voltage is detected)
15. VCCIO_1_2 Statusa. WHITE: Voltage present (Does not mean PSU is outputting in-spec,
only that this specific voltage is detected)
b. Inactive with Comet Lake-S processors.
16. Power Button
a. RED: Motherboard is turned on and running.
17. Reset Button
a. WHITE: Reset button will typically flash in conjunction with HDD/SSD
LED. Depending on load, the button may flash or appear solid at times.
b. NVMe SSDs cannot be read for the purposes of the Reset LED.
18. BIOS1 Active LED
a. WHITE: Active BIOS Chip (only 1 will be lit at a time)
19. BIOS2 Active LED
a. WHITE: Active BIOS Chip (only 1 will be lit at a time)- 12 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

20. BIOS3 Active LED
a. WHITE: Active BIOS Chip (only 1 will be lit at a time)
21. SW Slow Mode ON
a. RED: Slow Mode switch has been set to enabled
22. PCIe Status for PE1. The LED stays off when PE1 is disabled or unpopulated.
a. WHITE: PE1 slot can be used with installed CPU.
23. PCIe Enabled for PE1. The LED stays off when PE1 is disabled or unpopulated.
a. GREEN: PE1 device present and detected.
24. M.2 Key-M Socket3 110mm (PM1) Status LED. The LED stays off when PM1
is disabled or unpopulated.
a. WHITE: PM1 slot can be used with installed CPU.
25. M.2 Key-M Socket3 110mm (PM1) Enabled LED. The LED stays off when PM1
is disabled or unpopulated.
a. GREEN: PM1 device present and detected.
26. U.2 PU1 Statusa. WHITE: Port is enabled.
b. OFF: No device is attached/Port is disabled.
27. U.2 PU1 Enable
a. GREEN: Port is connected to a working device.
b. OFF: No device is attached/Port is disabled.
28. PCIe Status for PE2. The LED stays off when PE2 is disabled or unpopulated.
a. WHITE: PE2 slot can be used with installed CPU.
29. PCIe Enabled for PE2. The LED stays off when PE2 is disabled or unpopulated.
a. GREEN: PE2 device present and detected.
30. M.2 Key-M Socket3 110mm (PM2) Status LED. The LED stays off when PM2
is disabled or unpopulated.
a. WHITE: PM2 slot can be used with installed CPU.
31. M.2 Key-M Socket3 110mm (PM2) Enabled LED. The LED stays off whenPM2 is disabled or unpopulated.
a. GREEN: PM2 device present and detected.
32. PCIe Status for PE3. The LED stays off when PE3 is disabled or unpopulated.
a. WHITE: PE3 slot can be used with installed CPU.
33. PCIe Enabled for PE3. The LED stays off when PE3 is disabled or unpopulated.
a. GREEN: PE3 device present and detected.
34. PCIe Status for PE4. The LED stays off when PE4 is disabled or unpopulated.
a. WHITE: PE4 slot can be used with installed CPU.
35. PCIe Enabled for PE4. The LED stays off when PE4 is disabled or unpopulated.
a. GREEN: PE4 device present and detected.

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EVGA Z490 DARK Motherboard Component
LegendThe EVGA Z490 DARK Motherboard with the Intel® Z490 and PCH Chipset.
Figure 1 shows the motherboard and Figure 2 shows the back panel connectors

FIGURE 1. Z490 DARK Motherboard Layout- 14 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Component Legend
1. CPU Socket LGA1200
14. PCIe Slot x16/x8
Intel
Z490
PCH
2.
15. PCIe Slot x8/x4
3. PWM Fan Headers (2 amp)
16. PCIe Slot x4
4. PWM/DC Fan Headers (2 amp)
17. PCIe Slot x4 (x16 Mechanical)
5. DDR4 Memory DIMM Slots 1, 2
18. Power Button
6. 24-pin ATX Power Connector
19. Reset Button
8
pin
EPS
Power
Connector
7.
20. CMOS Reset Button
8. Supplemental PCIe 6 pin power 21. Multi-function POST Indicator
9. Intel Sata 6G RAID Ports
22. USB 3.2 Gen1 Header
10. ASMedia Sata 6G Ports
23. USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Header
11. U.2 (SFF-8643) Port
24. USB 2.0 Headers
12. M.2 Socket 3 Key-M 110mm (PM1) 25. Front Panel Audio Connector
13. M.2 Socket 3 Key-M 110mm (PM2) 26. Front Panel Connectors

27. BIOS Selector Switch
28. CMOS Battery
29. PCIe Disable Switches
30. ProbeIt Header J3
31. ProbeIt Header J5
32. PC Speaker
33. BIOS Safeboot Button
34. USB to SPI for BIOS Flash35. SW Slow Switch
36. RGB LED Controller Header
37. ARGB LED Controller Header
38. Rear Panel I/O (Figure 2)**For a FULL description of the above legend, please see Page 17.

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Figure 2. Chassis Rear Panel Connectors

I/O Hub
1. PS/2 (Keyboard+Mouse)
2. USB 3.2 Gen1
3. Intel® WiFi/BT
4. BIOS/CMOS Reset

5. Intel i219V GbE NIC
6. Intel i225V 2.5GbE NIC
7. USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A
8. Mini-DisplayPort

9. USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C
10. Optical Out
11. Analog Audio Jacks

Intel i225V
Activity LED Status
Off
Blinking (Green)

Description
Speed/Link LED Status
Description
No Data Transmission
Orange2.5Gbps data rate
Data Transmission
Green
1 Gbps data rate
Off
10/100 Mbps data rate or No Link

Activity LED Status
Off
Blinking (Green)

Description
Speed/Link LED Status
No Data Transmission
OrangeData Transmission
Green
Off

Intel i219V
Description
1000Mbps data rate
100 Mbps data rate
10 Mbps data rate or No Link

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Component Legend Descriptions
1. CPU Socket 1200
This is the interface for the Central Processing Unit (CPU), and supports 10th
Gen. Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and i9 models compatible with the Intel® LGA1200
Socket, based on Comet Lake-S architecture.
2. Intel® Z490 PCH
The Platform Controller Hub (PCH) handles the role that was previously heldby the South Bridge. The PCH has 4 PCIe Gen 3 lanes and allocates bandwidth
to smaller PCIe slots, M.2, USB, audio, etc. In simplified terms, the PCH works
as a hub for peripherals that are less bandwidth-intensive.
3. PWM Fan Headers
4-pin fan headers that control the fan speed based on a configurable curve or
static percentage. PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation) works by pulsing power tothe fan at a constant rate and sending the RPM signal to the fan’s controller via
a Sense cable, rather than adjusting fan speed by increasing and decreasing
voltage. This method is preferable because it eliminates voltage-based fan stallpoints. Please see Page 92 for more in-depth PWM breakdown and PWM
controls within BIOS/UEFI.
These headers also support 12v. DC fans. However, DC fan speed is based on
decreasing voltage to the fan, starting at a default of 100%/12V. When using a12v. fan, the minimum speed will vary depending on the motor because mostfan motors require a set amount of voltage before stalling.
4. PWM/DC Fan Headers
These ports may be used with both DC and PWM fans, and may be controlled
via Smart Fan or manually within the BIOS.
5. DDR4 Memory Slots
The memory slots support up to two 288-pin DDR4 DIMMs in Dual-Channel
mode. Dual-Channel mode will be enabled only upon using two sticks ofsupported memory; using one stick of memory will lower the board to SingleChannel mode, which may significantly lower performance. 64GB of RAM is
supported in a 2x32GB configuration. At the time of this manual’s release, thismotherboard officially supports up to 4800MHz+ speeds. These speeds cannot
be guaranteed, however, because Intel® only certifies the speed of the memory
controller up to 2933MHz for Comet Lake-S processors.

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6. 24-pin ATX power connector
The main power for the motherboard is located on the right side of the board
and parallel to the PCB; this is also described as a “90 degree / right-angle”
connector (See Page 41 for more specifics to the connector itself, and associatedwiring/pinouts). The 24-pin connector IS directional and the connector needs
the tab on the socket to line up with the release clip located on the 24-pin
connector from the power supply. This connector pulls the bulk of the power
for all components; other connectors, such as EPS and PCIe, have been added
to reduce the load and increase longevity due to wiring and trace limitations.
7. Dual 8-pin EPS Connectors
The +12V EPS are comprised of 90 degree right-angle dual-dedicated power
inputs for the CPU (See Page 42 for more specifics to the connector itself, andassociated wiring/pinouts). Carefully choose the correct power cable byconsulting with the installation manual for your power supply. This connector
is designed only to work with an EPS or CPU cable. System builders may makethe mistake of plugging in a PCIe 8-pin or 6+2-pin connector, which will
prevent the board from POSTing and possibly short or damage the board.
Although the cables appear similar, they are wired differently and attaching a
PCIe cable to an EPS connector may cause damage to the motherboard.
Alternatively, if no power cable is connected or detected, the system will not
POST and will hang at POST code “C.”
8. Supplemental PCIe 6-pin Power Connector
There is a 6-pin PCIe connector at the bottom of the motherboard (See Page 41
for more specifics to the connector itself, and associated wiring/pinouts). Thisconnector provides dedicated power to the PCIe x16 slots, augmenting the+12V power provided by the 24-pin and the GPU directly.
This is optional for a single card solution, but is recommended for SLI, CFX,
and dual-processor video cards.
9. Intel® SATA 6Gbit/s Ports
The Intel® Z490 PCH has a 6-port SATA 3/6 Gbit/s controller (See Page 51
for specifics on the connectors). This controller is backwards compatible with
SATA and SATA II devices, and supports SSDs, HDDs and various types of
optical devices (CDROM, DVDROM, BD-ROM, etc). The controller also
supports NCQ, TRIM, hot swap capability, and RAID levels 0/1/5/10.

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10. ASMedia SATA 6Gbit/s Ports
This is a secondary SATA controller, the ASM1061 is a 2-port SATA3/6
Gbit/s controller with legacy support for older operating systems. This isincluded largely for benchmarking and overclocking with very specificprograms, such as Super Pi, 3DMark, PCMark, etc. This board is notguaranteed to fully support any OS prior to Windows 10 x64, as we offer nodrivers for legacy OS (See Page 51 for specifics on the connectors).
11. U.2 Port (SFF-8643)
U.2, originally known as SFF-8643, is a high bandwidth connection specificallyengineered for next generation SSDs. U.2 brings PCIe x4 (Gen3) NVMe
performance to a 2.5” SSD form factor and provides a solution to potential
heating problems that may be present in some M.2 solutions. Port function
depends upon BIOS Configuration. Note: SFF-8643 ports are located on themotherboard side; SFF-8639 ports are located on the storage side.
12. M.2 Socket 3 Key-M 110mm (PM1)
M.2 is an SSD form factor standard, which uses up to four PCIe lanes andutilizes Gen3 speeds. Most popularly paired with NVMe SSDs, this standard
offers substantially faster transfer speeds and seek time than SATA interface
standards. All M.2 devices are designed to connect via a card-bus styleconnector and be bolted into place and powered by the connector, rather thanby a dedicated data cable and power cable.
This socket will support Key-M devices of 110mm, 80mm, 60mm, and 42mm
length.
This connector can utilize only PCIe/NVMe-based M.2 SSDs, or Intel®
Optane™ NVMe devices.
13. M.2 Socket 3 Key-M 110mm (PM2)M.2 is an SSD form factor standard, which uses up to four PCIe lanes andutilizes Gen3 speeds. Most popularly paired with NVMe SSDs, this standard
offers substantially faster transfer speeds and seek time than SATA interface
standards. All M.2 devices are designed to connect via a card-bus styleconnector and be bolted into place and powered by the connector, rather thanby a dedicated data cable and power cable.
This socket will support Key-M devices of 110mm, 80mm, 60mm, and 42mm
length.
This connector can utilize only PCIe/NVMe-based M.2 SSDs, SATA M.2, orIntel® Optane™ NVMe devices.
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14. PCIe Slot x16/x8*
PCIe x16/x8 slots are primarily used for video cards. These full-length slots
will provide 8 or 16 lanes of bandwidth to a full-size card, and are backwardscompatible with x8, x4, and x1-length cards.
Comet Lake-S has 16 PCIe lanes available for routing.
15. PCIe Slot x8/4*
PCIe x8/4 slot can be used for video cards or other devices. PE2, the only
x8/x4 slot on the board, receives either x8 lanes or x4 from the CPU (Page27), depending upon the peripheral configuration. These full-length slots will
provide up to 8 lanes of bandwidth to a full-size card, and are backwardscompatible with x8, x4, and x1-length cards.
Comet Lake-S has 16 PCIe lanes available for routing.
16. PCIe Slot x4*
PCIe x4 slot PE3 uses up to 4 Gen 3 lanes from the PCH. This slot is typicallyused for sound cards, WiFi, USB, LAN or other peripheral cards. Using this slot
will have no effect on the bandwidth or throughput of the x16 slots used for
SLI because this slot uses only PCH bandwidth.
17. PCIe Slot x4* (x16 Mechanical)
PCIe x4 slot can be used for video cards or other devices. PE4, the only fullx16 mechanical slot that runs at x4 electrically, receives either x4 lanes or x0
from the CPU (Page 27), depending upon the peripheral configuration. Thesefull-length slots will provide up to 4 lanes of bandwidth to a full-size card, andare backwards-compatible with x1-length cards.
PCIe x4 slot PE4 uses up to 4 Gen 3 lanes from the CPU. This slot shares 4
lanes with PE2, and will change both PE2 and PE4 to x4 lanes. Using this slot
will disable SLI because SLI requires at least 2 slots capable of x8 bandwidth.
Comet Lake-S has 16 PCIe lanes available for routing.
18. Power Button
This is an onboard power button, and may be used in place of, or in
conjunction with, a front panel power button wired to the board.
Benching systems, or test benches before final assembly, are best served byusing the onboard power because it removes the need to wire a Power/Resetbutton or cross posts with a screwdriver, which is a semi-common practice.
This button provides a safer and easier option than jumpering the Power posts.

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19. Reset Button
This is an onboard system reset button, and may be used in place of, or in
conjunction with, a front panel system reset button wired to the board.
Benching systems, or test benches before final assembly, are best served byusing the onboard power because it removes the need to wire a Power/Resetbutton or cross posts with a screwdriver, which is a semi-common practice.
This button provides a safer and easier option than jumpering the Power posts.
20. CMOS Reset Button
This button has two main uses: the first is standard practice to clear BIOS andpower on before updating the BIOS, and the second is standard practice whentroubleshooting instances when the motherboard fails to POST, such as after
upgrading RAM or CPU, installing new hardware, a failed overclock, etc. Thisbutton provides a much faster means of resetting than the previous method of
removing power from the board, removing the CMOS battery, and discharging
power to the board. In rare occasions the older method can help; pressing theclear CMOS button will normally allow you and your system back into thedefault BIOS.
21. Multi-function POST Indicator
This is a four-digit POST code reader, which displays in sets of 7-digit LED.
The display can be configured to show data in regular decimal format, or
hexadecimal, which means the characters available (when working as intended)
are 0-9, A-F and has a cap of 255 characters.
During POST, the left set of LEDs will display the various POST codes as theycycle through the Power On Self-Test. The POST codes are listed in thetroubleshooting section on Page 157.
After the system boots, these same set of LEDs can be set to display a hardware
monitoring sensor, such as the CPU temperature in Celsius. This temperatureis specifically for the CPU socket, which will typically read slightly higher than agiven CPU core. To read this temp in Fahrenheit, take the value in Celsius,
multiply by 9/5 (or 1.8) and add 32.
The display can be used to show additional temperatures, or can be configured
in tandem with all 4 digits to provide live readings for voltages or temperatures.
For example, the LEDs can be configured to read voltages, such as 1.258 or 55C for CPU temp for when you are using LN2 extreme cooling. Detailed
configuration instructions for the Debug Indicator are provided on Page 153.

- 21 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

22. USB 3.2 Gen1 Header
The USB 3.2 Gen1 header is used to connect additional USB interface plugs to
the motherboard; these headers are most often used to connect themotherboard to the chassis to enable the USB 3.2 Gen1 ports on the chassis.
These will function similarly to the USB 3.2 Gen1 ports found on themotherboard’s rear I/O hub, but can also be used for the chassis’ front panel
USB, auxiliary ports that mount in the card slots, and certain devices that
directly connect to the header.
USB 3.2 Gen1 standard is 900ma @ 5V for unpowered devices. If your USB
device requires more power, it is recommended to attach a powered USB Hub.
USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A (found on the I/O Hub) shares the power limit of USB
3.2 Gen1 at 900ma @ 5V.
Note: USB 3.2 Gen1 is more commonly referred to as USB 3.0.
23. USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Header
The USB 3.2 Gen2 header is used to connect additional USB interface plugs to
the motherboard; these headers are most often used to connect themotherboard to the chassis to enable the USB 3.2 Gen2 ports on the chassis.
These will function similarly to the USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C port sometimes
found on a motherboard’s rear I/O hub, but can also be used for the chassis’
front panel USB, auxiliary ports that mount in the card slots, and certain
devices that directly connect to the header. The USB 3.2 Gen2 Header on theZ490 DARK is a shielded USB 3.2 Gen2 Header and supports up to 10Gb/s
with USB 3.2 Gen2.
This USB 3.2 Gen2 Header has a power limit of 3000ma (3A) @ 5V.
24. USB 2.0 Headers
The USB2.0 header is used to connect additional USB interface plugs to themotherboard; these headers are most often used to connect the motherboard to
the chassis to enable the USB2.0 ports on the chassis. These will function thesame as the USB2 ports found on the motherboard’s hardwired I/O hub, butthese can be used to attach to front panel USB, auxiliary ports that mount in thecard slots, and also some devices that directly connect to the header.
USB 2.0 standard is 500mA @ 5V per port (header total is 1000mA) for
unpowered devices. If your USB device requires more power than this, it isrecommended to attach a powered USB Hub.

- 22 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

25. Front Panel Audio Connector
This is a motherboard header, which is used to plug in the audio cableoriginating from most PC chassis to allow audio to be recorded from or played
through the audio connectors on the chassis. This header has a connector thatlooks similar to the USB2.0 header and uses the standard “HD Audio” jack.
Some chassis may have two cables: HD Audio, and one labeled AC’97 – an
AC’97 cable is not compatible with this header on the Z490 DARK.
26. Front Panel Connectors
The Front panel connectors are the four main chassis connections. These
include the Power Switch, Power LED, Reset Switch, and HDD LED. The
Power and Reset switches are both designed to use “Momentary Switches,”rather than “Latching Switches,” which means the connection between the two
posts needs to be made just briefly for it to work, as opposed to being held inplace. This is why the Power and Reset switches can be triggered with a screw
driver by simultaneously touching the + and - posts.
Power LED will power on with the system, indicating the system is on and canblink with CPU activity.
HDD LED will blink during access to the SATA ports; this is not activated for
M.2 SSDs.
27. BIOS Selector Switch
This switch toggles between physical BIOS chips. This board has 3 BIOS chips
as a permanent fixture. Each chip holds only the settings and profiles that havebeen saved to the BIOS chip while active. This allows you to swap between
three physically different BIOS chips. Similarly, you can update each BIOS via
the USB Update Port, even if you cannot POST into BIOS. If instructions areneeded for updating the BIOS via the Update Port, please go to Page 147.
28. CMOS Battery
The +3V CMOS battery backup provides uninterruptable power to the
BIOS/UEFI to keep all of the settings; otherwise, each boot would behave likeyou just reset the BIOS. These batteries typically last several years and rarely
need to be replaced.
29. PCIe Disable Switches
These are DIP switches to physically disable power to a specific PCIe slot. By
default, all switches are in the “On” position to the left. Move the switch to theright to disable a specific slot. From top to bottom, the switches correspond to
PE1, PE2, and PE4. PE3 is always on. Switches 4 and 5 are disabled.
- 23 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

30. ProbeIt Header J3
The ProbeIt header is a means of live monitoring several different system
voltages in real-time with a multimeter. One terminal needs to connect to aground wire and the other to the specific voltage you want to monitor.
From left to right the function for the J3 connector: VCORE/Ground,
VDIMM/Ground, VGT/Ground, VSA/Ground, and VCCIO/Ground.
31. ProbeIt Header J5
The ProbeIt header is a means of live monitoring several different system
voltages in real-time with a multimeter. One terminal needs to connect to aground wire and the other to the specific voltage you want to monitor.
From left to right the function for the J5 connector: VCCPLL/Ground,
VCCPLL_OC/VCCSTG, VCCST/VCCIO12, PCH/Ground, and
DMI/Ground.
32. PC Speaker
This is a small mono low-fidelity speaker permanently attached to themotherboard used mainly for debugging purposes. A POST beep may indicate
a successful POST, various tones for USB initialization, and other beeps toindicate an issue during the post process. Please see Page 155 for more details.
33. BIOS SafeBoot Button
Pressing this button while the system is running will reboot the motherboard
directly into the BIOS without clearing CMOS. This feature is very useful forsituations where the motherboard is unable to complete boot due to a failed
overclock and the user does not want to erase the previous settings used.
34. USB to SPI for BIOS Flash
This USB port is designed to connect directly to the motherboard to allow themotherboard BIOS to be flashed, even if no CPU is installed. For more
information on how to flash your BIOS using this method, please see Page 147.
35. SW Slow Mode Switch
This switch forces the CPU clock ratio to the lowest possible value (8.0 for
Comet Lake-S CPU) in real-time. This can be helpful for benchmarking andperformance tuning, especially with extreme overclocking. Active Slow Mode isindicated by a red LED near the switch. This is a hardware-based function anddoes not need any BIOS settings or software to operate.

- 24 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

36. RGB LED Controller Header
The RGB header is a 12V. 4 pin header with a current limit of 2A; anything
above 2A will trigger overcurrent protection and lock at 2A. This header allows
for software-based control within Windows for RGB devices via EVGAELEET X1. Please see Page 46 for header specifics, and Page 139 for control
options in ELEET X1.
37. ARGB LED Controller Header
The ARGB header is a 5V. 3 pin header with a current limit of 2A; anything
above 2A will trigger overcurrent protection and lock at 2A. This header allows
for far more flexible options to configure your RGB lighting via software-based
control within Windows via EVGA ELEET X1, and supports up to 125 LEDs.
Please see Page 45 for header specifics, and Page 139 for control options in
ELEET X1.
38. Rear Panel IO (Figure 2)
This is the section referred to as the I/O Hub. This panel contains the
hardwired USB, Sound, and Ethernet connections. Please see Page 16 for acomponent level breakdown.
* There are two numeric references for PCI Express: one is mechanical, which is theactual slot-length footprint, and the second is electrical, which is a reference of how
many PCIe lanes are routed to the slot.
Because PCI-Express was designed to be a universal architecture, you can install x1
cards, such as sound cards or USB controllers into an x16 slot. Many types of cards canuse different amounts of PCIe lanes, while some applications use only certain parts of acard, such as compute apps that allow a card to run off of a single PCIe lane. This is
why there are x16 mechanical slots with an x1 electrical PCIe lane. Using the entire
length of a PCIe slot is unnecessary, nor does it cause an adverse effect to use a shorter
form-factor bus card in a slot that physically can hold a larger form-factor bus card.

- 25 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Card Slots
The Z490 DARK features three x16 PCIe slots, one x4 PCIe slot, two Socket 3
Key-M M.2 110mm slots (PM1/PM2) (backwards compatible with Key-M 80mm,
60mm, and 42mm), and a vertical Socket 1 Key-E M.2 (Contains the WiFi module).

*Note: The M.2 Key-E 32mm slot is accessible only after removing the cover over
the rear panel connectors.
- 26 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

PCIe Slot Breakdown
PCIe Lane Distribution (All Socket 1200
processors are 16 lanes.)
 PE1 – x16 (Gen3, x16 lanes from CPU, x8 shared with PE2)
 PE2 – x8 (Gen3, x8 lanes from CPU, x4 shared with PE4)
 PE3 – x4 (Gen3, x4 lanes from PCH) PE4 – x4 (Gen3, x4 lanes from CPU, shares 4 of PE2’s 8 lanes)

M.2 / U.2 Slot Breakdown
M.2 Lane Distribution
 M.2 Key-M (110mm, Top, PM1) – x4 from Z490 PCH

M.2 Enable/Disable is set within the BIOS
This M.2 Key-M slot shares lanes with the U.2 port. Installing an M.2
device will disable U.2 port PU1.
 M.2 Key-M (110mm, Bottom, PM2) – x4 from Z490 PCH
o M.2 Enable/Disable is set within the BIOSo This M.2 Key-M slot shares lanes with PE3. Installing an M.2 device will
disable PCIe slot PE3.
 M.2 Key-E (32mm) – x1 from Z490 PCH
o M.2 Enable/Disable is set within the BIOS
oo

U.2 Lane Distribution
 U.2 (PU1) – x4 from Z490 PCHoo

U.2 Enable/Disable is set within the BIOS
This U.2 port shares lanes with the M.2 Key-M slot PM1. Installing a
U.2 device will disable PM1.

- 27 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Preparing the Motherboard
Installing the CPU
Note:

EVGA strongly recommends that you completely disconnect AC power fromyour power supply prior to changing your CPU. This ensures themotherboard will use the correct startup procedure for all onboard devices. If
AC power is not disconnected, the replacement is still supported, but may
require additional reboots to boot successfully.

Be very careful when handling the CPU. Hold the processor only by the edges and do
not touch the bottom of the processor.
Note: Use extreme caution when working with the
CPU to avoid damaging the pins in themotherboard’s CPU socket!
Do not remove the socket cover until you haveinstalled the CPU. This installation guide wascreated without using a socket cover to better
illustrate the CPU Socket area. However,users should remove the cover as the laststep, not the first step.

Use the following procedure to install the CPU
onto the motherboard.
1. Unhook the socket lever by pushingdown and towards the socket.
2. Pull the socket levers back and gently lift
the load plate to open the socket. Make
sure to avoid touching or dropping items
into the socket; otherwise, you may
damage the board socket and/or CPU
pins, which may void your warranty.

- 28 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

3. Align the notches on the CPU to thenotches in the socket, and lower theprocessor straight down into the socket.
Note:

The gold triangle key on the CPU
should match the triangle key on
the load plate.

Note:

Make sure the CPU is fully seated
and level in the socket.

4. Lower the load plate so that it is restingon the CPU.
5. Carefully lock the lever back into place
by lowering it down to the hook, thenpush the lever towards the socket anddown under the hook.
6. Remove the plastic protective socket
cover by pulling it straight up and awayfrom the socket.
Note:

After removing the CPU socket cover, it is recommended to store it in case
you ever need to transport your motherboard. If you ever remove the CPU, it
is highly recommended to reinstall the socket cover.

Installing the CPU Cooling Device
There are many different cooling devices that can be used with thismotherboard. Follow the instructions that come with your cooling assembly.
- 29 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Installing System Memory
Your Z490 DARK has (2) 288-pin slots for
DDR4 memory. These slots support 4GB,
8GB, 16GB, and 32GB DDR4 Unbuffered
non-ECC DIMMs. There must be at least
one memory slot populated for the board toboot and operate.
The Z490 DARK supports Dual-Channel
DDR4 memory, a maximum of 64GB and
up to 4800MHz+ (OC) for Comet Lake-S.
It is recommended to always use a 2 DIMM
Dual Channel kit for the Z490 DARK.
Comet Lake-S RAM Slot Fill Order
Fill the memory slots in the following
Slot 1
Slot 2order: 1, then 2. See chart to the right:
1 DIMMX

N/A

Use the following procedure to install
2 DIMM
X
X
memory DIMMs. Note that there is a
key notch near the center of the DIMM slots. This matches the gap on
a DDR4 DIMM to ensure the memory is installed properly, and to prevent theincorrect installation of memory.
1. Unlock a DIMM slot by pressing the module clips outward.
2. Align the memory module to the DIMM slot, insert the module
vertically into the slot, and press straight down to fully seat the module.
The plastic clips at top side of the DIMM slot should automaticallylock the DIMM into the connector.

Note:

The memory controller on most Comet Lake-S CPUs runs at a default
frequency of 2933MHz on 10- and 8-core processors, but only 2666MHz on
6-core processors. Achieving memory speeds above the CPU’s default speed
may require manual setting of the memory timings, frequency and voltages
and/or overclocking of the CPU.
Refer to the memory manufacturer specifications for the recommended
memory timings. For overclocking support you can visit our forums:
https://forums.evga.com/- 30 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Installing the I/O Shield
The motherboard kit comes with an I/O shield that is used to block internal
components from dust and foreign objects, while also promoting correct
airflow within the chassis.
Before installing the motherboard, install the I/O shield from the inside of thechassis. Press the I/O shield into place and make sure it fits securely.

Installing the Motherboard
Installing the motherboard into a system case depends on several factors:
whether you are replacing an existing motherboard, whether you are building a
new PC, and the type of chassis that will house your PC components. You mustfirst determine if it would be easier to secure the motherboard to the chassis or
if it would be easier to install other components prior to this step. It is normallyeasier to secure the motherboard first.

Note:

Make sure that the CPU fan assembly has enough clearance for yourinstalled DIMMs, expansion cards, and for the case side panels to lock into
place. Also, make sure the CPU fan assembly aligns with the vents on thecase side and back panels; correctly aligned, airflow will properly exhaustfrom the chassis. The CPU fan assembly orientation will depend upon both
the CPU fan manufacturer’s instructions and your chosen chassis.

- 31 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Securing the Motherboard into a System Case
Most system cases require installation of standoffs into the chassis to allow themotherboard to be mounted to the chassis and prevent short circuits. If there are
any studs that do not align with a motherboard mounting hole, we recommend thatyou remove that standoff to prevent the possibility of a short circuit. Furthermore,ensure that all standoffs are fully tightened prior to mounting the motherboard to
the chassis. Please review the installation manual included with your chassis for theproper installation of the motherboard standoffs.
1. Carefully place the motherboard onto the standoffs located inside thechassis.
2. Align the mounting holes with the standoffs.
3. Align the connectors to the I/O shield and/or I/O cover.
4. Ensure that the fan assembly aligns with the chassis vents according to the
fan assembly instruction.
5. Secure the motherboard with ten (10) screws (See next page for mount holelocation). Ensure that each screw is lined up with and fastened to its
corresponding standoff under the board. Double-check alignment to makesure nothing gets cross-threaded.
Tip: If you have difficulty fastening some of the screws, especially near the
I/O hub, first try to loosely fasten all other screws on the motherboard, but
don’t completely tighten the screws. This may help to hold the board inplace, allowing you to thread and fasten the remaining screws. Once all
screws are properly threaded, remember to go back and tighten the rest of
the screws.
6. See the picture below for the locations of standoff holes for the Z490
DARK.

- 32 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

1. All safe locations to secure the board to a standoff are circled in blue.
2. Keep in mind that when the screws are installed, but not fullytightened, the motherboard should have 1-2mm of movement; this canhelp when mounting cards or tight-fits with other components.
3. Once the board is properly aligned, be sure to fully-tighten the board to
the chassis before proceeding.

- 33 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Installing M.2 devices
Installing M.2 Key-M Socket 3 Devices
Securing an M.2 device to the motherboard requires a few extra steps compared to othercurrent drive or slot-based connectors. M.2 devices used on this motherboard - Socket
3 (for SSDs) and Socket 1 (for WiFi/Bluetooth) – are installed differently.
Below are images from an installation of an SSD on the Socket 3 Key-M 110mm PM1
slot of the Z490 DARK.
1. Before you can install an M.2 device, you mustfirst remove the screw that comes pre-attached to
the Socket 3’s retention standoff; this will be used
to keep the device in place. The standoff is placedat the 80mm interval for the Socket 3 slot. There
are also additional standoffs available for different
size drives, such as 110mm Intel 905P Optane
SSDs.
Next add one thermal pad – included with theZ490 DARK accessories – to the outlined area to the right.
2. After adding the thermal pad, the motherboard will look like the image below. This
thermal pad will assist with cooling your M.2 Key-M device.

- 34 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

3. Insert the M.2 device at a slight angle ofapproximately 45 degrees to the board.
This will allow the contacts (colloquiallycalled “Gold Fingers”) to seat completely
into the slot. If the device is fully seated,
you should be able to release it and thedevice will rest at an angle of about 30
degrees on its own, as shown in the picture
to the right.
4. Gently push the M.2 device down on
the raised end. There will be some tension- this is normal - then use the screw you
removed in Step 1 to secure the device.
At right, you can see that the contacts will
be nearly invisible when the device isproperly seated and the copper mounting
semi-circle is partially visible around thescrew.

- 35 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Incorrect installation Example:*NOTE* This is one of the most common examples of an incorrect installationof an M.2 device. Do not intentionally attempt this, or complete your installation
with this example. Doing so could cause damage to the device or the M.2 port.
Using the image below, notice how the gold fingers fail to fully seat in the M.2 slot. This
often occurs if the drive was pushed into the slot from a nearly parallel starting position,rather than an angle, causing the M.2 device to not seat fully. As a result, this may causea drive detection failure by the BIOS, the drive will be detected with the description ingibberish (e.g. characters in the name, such as @, #, $, %, *, etc.) and/or notifications
that the drive has corrupt data stored on it.
Moreover, if the device’s connection looks like this, then screwing down the device may
be impossible (a VERY tight fit, at best), which is another sign that the device is notseated properly.
In conclusion, if the install device looks similar to the image below, please remove andreseat it using the instructions above. DO NOT POWER THE SYSTEM ON IF
THE CONNECTOR RESEMBLES THIS PICTURE.

For further M.2 setup instructions, please see Page 54.

- 36 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Tested CPU and Memory
CPU
Core ™ i9 10900KF
Core ™ i9 10900K
Core ™ i9 10900F
Core ™ i9 10900
Core ™ i7 10700KF
Core ™ i7 10700K
Core ™ i7 10700F
Core ™ i7 10700
Core ™ i5 10600KF
Core ™ i5 10600K
Core ™ i5 10600
Core ™ i5 10500
Core ™ i5 10500T
Core ™ i5 10400F
Core ™ i5 10400
Core ™ i5 10400T
Core ™ i3 10320
Core ™ i3 10300
Core ™ i3 10300TCore ™ i3 10100
Core ™ i3 10100TCore Count Frequency PCI-E Lanes
Comet Lake-S
10 Cores +HT
3.70 GHz
10 Cores + HT
3.70 GHz
10 Cores + HT
2.80 GHz
10 Cores +HT
2.80 GHz
8Cores + HT
3.80 GHz
8Cores + HT
3.80 GHz
8Cores + HT
2.90 GHz
8Cores + HT
2.90 GHz
6 Cores + HT
4.10 GHz
6 Cores + HT
4.10 GHz
6 Cores + HT
3.30 GHz
6 Cores + HT
3.10 GHz
6 Cores + HT
2.30 GHz
6 Cores + HT
2.90 GHz
6 Cores + HT
2.90 GHz
6 Cores + HT
2.00 GHz
4 Cores + HT
3.80 GHz
4 Cores + HT
3.70 GHz
4 Cores + HT
3.00 GHz
4 Cores + HT
3.60 GHz
4 Cores + HT
3.00 GHz

16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16

Tested Memory
For a full list of tested CPUs and Memory, please visit
https://www.evga.com/support/motherboard/ and select the EVGA Z490
DARK from the list.
- 37 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Tested M.2 Key-M
PCIE INTERFACEADATA
ASX8000NP-256GM-C 256G M.2 PCIE
Samsung
MZ-VKV512 950 PRO
Samsung
MZ-V6P512 960 PRO
Samsung
MZ-VPV2560 256G SM951 NVME
Samsung
MZ-HPU128T/004 128G XP941
Samsung
MZ-HPV1280 128G SM951
Samsung
MZ-V6E250 250G 960EVO
Samsung
MZ-MZ-VPW2560 256G SM961
Samsung
MZ-VLW2560 256G PM961
Samsung
MZ-VLB2560 256G PM981
INTEL
600P SERIES SSDPEKKW512G7 M.2 512G PCIEINTEL
600P SERIES SSDPEKKW256G7 M.2 256G PCIEINTEL
760P SERIES SSDPEKKW010T8 M.2 1TB PCIE
Kingston
SKC1000240G
Kingston
SHPM2280P2H/240G
PLEXTOR
PX-128M8PeG M.2 128G PCIETOSHIBATHNSN5256GPU7 M.2 256G PCIEWD
PC SN520 SDAPNUW-512G-1006 512G NVME M2WD
PC SN700 WDS100T2X0C-00L350 1T NVME M2WD
PC SN750 WDS100T3X0C-00SJG0 1T NVME M2
WDBlue SN500 WDS500G1B0C-00S6U0 500G PCIE3.0 NVME M2
WDBlue SN550 WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0 1TB PCIE3.0 NVME M2
CORSAIR
MP500 CSSD-F240GBMP500 240G PCIE3.0 NVME M2- 38 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Tested U.2
U.2 (SSD):
Brand
Intel
Intel

Part Number
750 SSDPE2MW400G4
750 SSDPE2MW400G4

Size
400GB
400GB

Interface
U.2 NVME w\Cable
U.2 NVME w\Cable

Tested M.2 Key-E
M.2 Key-E WIFI
INTEL
INTEL
INTEL
INTEL
AzureWave
KillerKiller8260NGW
9260NGW
9560NGW
AX201NGWAW-NB165NF
1550
1550i

- 39 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Connecting Cables
Note: the following images do not necessarily represent thephysical orientation of their respective headers on the EVGA Z490
DARK. Rather, these graphical representations are designed toprovide a basic physical footprint and the cable pinouts for eachcomponent.
The locations of these components can be found in the Component
Legend on Pages 14-15.
This section takes you through all the necessary connections on themotherboard. This will include: Power Connections

24pin ATX power (PW1)
EPS 8-pin 12V power
6-pin PCIe power Internal Headers

Front Panel connectors (Power/Reset/LEDs)
PWM Fan Headers
ARGB LED Header
RGB LED Header
USB 2.0 Header
USB 3.2 Gen1 Header
USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Header
USB to SPI Header (for flashing BIOS)
Audio Header
SATA
U.2
 Rear I/O Panel- 40 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

24pin ATX Power (ATX_PWR_24P)

ATX_PWR_24p is the main power supply connector located along the lower-right edge of the board. Make sure that the power supply cable and pins areproperly aligned with the connector on the motherboard. Firmly plug thepower supply cable into the connector and make sure it is secure.
The Z490 DARK motherboard uses a right-angle 24pin ATX connector.

6-pin PCIeThe 6-pin PCIe connector present on the motherboard provides additional
power to the PCIe slots, rather than pulling it all from the 24-pin main
power. It is advised to plug in this connector when using SLI, especially withhigher-end graphic cards.

- 41 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

EPS 8-pin 12V Power (PWR 8P)

EPS PWR 8P, the 8-pin ATX 12V power connection(s), is used to provide

power to the CPU. Align the pins to the connector and press firmly until
seated. The secondary EPS, is optional for improved overclocking. Please
remember to make sure that the tab on the EPS socket is aligned with therelease clip on the cable. NOTE: If the tab and release clip are on opposite
sides, yet the power connector fits, then you are using a PCIe 8-pin cable, which
WILL damage the board if powered on. Please review installation instructions
from your power supply manufacturer to verify which connectors may be used
for the CPU power.

- 42 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Front Panel Header

The front panel header on this motherboard is used to connect the following
four cables:
 PWRLED

Attach the front panel power LED cable to these two pins of the connector.
The Power LED indicates the system’s status. When the system is poweredon, the LED will be on.
 PWRSW
Attach the power button cable from the case to these two pins. Pressing
the power button on the front panel turns the system on and off rather
than using the onboard button.
 HD_LED

Attach the hard disk drive indicator LED cable to these two pins. The
HDD indicator LED indicates the activity status of the hard disks.
 RESET
Attach the Reset switch cable from the front panel of the case to thesetwo pins.
Note:

Some system cases may not have all four cables. Be sure to match thename on the connectors to the corresponding pins.

- 43 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Fan Header

This motherboard only has 4-pin fan headers, which are backwards compatible
with 3-pin fan connectors. CPU1 and CPU2 controls fans via PWM. The
remaining headers control fans by either PWM or DC controls. The headers
have an absolute safe power limit of 2 Amp @ 12 Volts (24 Watts). These
headers are for your CPU heatsink/AIO and chassis cooling fans.

- 44 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

ARGB Header

This header and pinout is used for increased control and options overaddressable RGB LED strips or devices connected to this header, compared toa standard 12V RGB Header. This header supports up to a maximum of 2
Amps @ 5 Volts (10 Watts) or up to 125 LEDs. This will add control options
through EVGA ELEET X1 for controlling RGB LEDs.

- 45 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

RGB Header

This header and pinout is also shared with the RGB LED header, which also
supports up to 2 Amps @ 12 Volts (24 Watts). This will add control options
through EVGA ELEET X1 for controlling RGB LED’s.

- 46 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

USB HeadersThis motherboard contains USB 3.2 Gen2 and 3.2 Gen1 ports that are exposedon the rear panel of the chassis.
The Z490 DARK contains 1x 20pin internal header, which can support 1
USB3.2 Gen2 Type-C front-panel connector or device.

- 47 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

The motherboard contains 1x 19-pin internal header connectors onboard thatcan be used to connect an optional external bracket or device containing up totwo (2) USB 3.2 Gen1 ports.

Please note that these headers are often referred to as USB 3.0 internal
headers, but the correct designation is USB 3.2 Gen1.

- 48 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

The motherboard contains 3x 9-pin internal header connectors onboard thatcan be used to connect an optional external bracket or devices containing up to
four (4) USB 2.0 ports.

The Z490 DARK also features an onboard USB 2.0 port header, near the
power/reset buttons. This header has a specific purpose – to allow you to flash
the BIOS without an installed CPU using the included USB flash drive. For
more information on flashing the BIOS without a CPU, please see Page 147.

- 49 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Front Panel Audio Header

Front panel audio supports HD Audio for stereo/gaming headphones or 2.1
speakers, and a Mic.
The EVGA Z490 DARK front panel audio connector supports the use of
EVGA NU Audio when headphones or a headset are connected.

- 50 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Drive Headers (SATA/ U.2)
SATA 3/6G is the current standard for HDD/SSD/Optical interface. These
cables are the data interconnect for the motherboard. Your
HDD/SSD/Optical interface will still require a separate power connection
from your power supply.

SATA ports on this platform natively support full AHCI and RAID functions.
AHCI is enabled by default, but the controller can be put into RAID mode in
the BIOS. RAID mode supports RAID levels 0, 1, 5, and 10 through the Intel®
controller. RAID-ready ports also have full AHCI functionality.
The ASMedia SATA ports 6/7 are from the secondary SATA controller toprovide additional storage ports. These ports are also compatible with some
legacy Operating Systems, including Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8/8.1. For
benching enthusiasts, this allows for an easier method of achieving higherscores in your preferred Operating System, rather than be limited to only
Windows 10.
U.2 is a new PCIe storage standard that has the advantage of the performanceof a M.2 SSD and the ease of installation of a 2.5 inch form factor SSD. U.2
shares resources with M.2 Key-M (1) and can be enabled or disabled in BIOS.

See Page 57 for RAID levels supported and explanations for how
they work.

- 51 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Onboard Buttons
These onboard buttons include RESET, POWER and Clear CMOS. These
functions allow you to easily turn on/off the system, reset the system or clear
the CMOS.

Clear CMOS Button
The motherboard uses CMOS RAM tostore set parameters. Clear the CMOS
by pressing the Clear CMOS button on
the motherboard PCB or on
the external I/O Panel.
External Clear CMOS Button

RESET and POWER Button
These onboard buttons allow you to easily turn on/off the system. Thesebuttons allow for easy debugging and testing of the system during
troubleshooting situations.
The POWER button has an integrated LED, indicating the system’s status.
When the system is powered on, the LED remains a solid red.
The RESET button has an integrated LED, indicating the activity status of thehard disk drives and will flicker accordingly.

Power
ButtonReset
Button- 52 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

First Boot
BIOS Update
When you power on the system for the first time(or after a BIOS update/reset) it may take a little
longer than expected, and follow with a warning
message on the screen reading “BIOS checksum
error”. This is completely normal.
Depending on when the motherboard was purchased, compared to when it was
released, there may be a BIOS update for it. If you have internet access onanother PC and a USB Thumb Drive, it is highly recommended to download
the current BIOS and flash the newer BIOS before attempting anything else.
If there is an updated BIOS, download and extract it onto a
thumb drive formatted for FAT32, go to the EXTRAS section,
select “BIOS Update,” and to navigate to where your ROM
file is stored. Press Enter to update.
**IMPORTANT NOTE. DO NOT CUT POWER ORREBOOT THE SYSTEM DURING A BIOS UPDATE;
YOU WILL LIKELY RENDER THE ACTIVE BIOS
UNBOOTABLE**
Once the BIOS is updated, you will be greeted with the same screen as before
stating that there is a Checksum error. Please press “Delete” to go into the
BIOS/UEFI.
The Z490 chipset is designed for UEFI mode and Windows 10 natively.
However, Legacy mode is included if your older hardware is not compatible
with UEFI. In most cases, there is very little setup needed on these boards.

Memory Setup
To setup the Memory, use the arrow keys or your mouse to select the“Memory” setting. Select the “Memory Profiles” pulldown and select XMPProfile 1. This will automatically set some basic memory information, such as
speed, latency and voltage. You may set the memory speed manually, if you’dprefer, but the XMP will generally get the memory running at the memory
manufacturer’s specification with little to no effort.
- 53 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

HDD/SSD/M.2/U.2 Setup
Next, click “Boot” from the menu list at the top. “Boot Option #1” should
show the device that you intend to install your operating system.
If you are using a standard SSD/HDD connected to a SATA port, but thedevice is not present in the Boot Option #1 menu, scroll down to “UEFI Hard
Disk Drive BBS Priorities” at the bottom. In this menu, the top item will be“1st Boot” and will have a pulldown menu on the right. Click on the pulldown
menu and select the intended drive; this will make the drive appear on theprevious menu. If the drive continues to be missing, please check thetroubleshooting section on Page 148.
If you plan on using an M.2 or U.2 as a boot device, click on or navigate to the“Advanced” menu, select “Onboard Device Configuration” and enable thedesired port.
Once this is done, press F10 to save and exit, plug in your operating systeminstallation medium (likely a thumb drive) and Windows 10 should be able toboot to M.2 or U.2 without issue.
*Note* Some device manufacturers require specific drivers for HDDs or SSDs
(such as M.2) before Windows can detect the drive for installation. Please makesure to consult the manufacturer’s instructions for your HDD or SSD before
attempting to install Windows to determine if additional drivers are needed.

- 54 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

M.2 SSD, PCIe SSD, and NVMe SSD
Installation steps
M.2 is a very fast card bus that can use multiple connecter types to connect many types ofdevices, such as WiFi or SSDs, in a very small and power efficient package. M.2 devices
can be connected via an M.2 card slot or through PCIe by using an M.2 to PCIe adapter.
There are also PCIe native drives of this nature, such as the Intel® 750. NVMe stands for
Non-Volatile Memory Express, and is a high-performance standard for M.2/PCIe SSDs.
Most NVMe drives require device drivers during the Operating System installation to berecognized as a boot drive for M.2 and PCIe varieties.
M.2/PCIe share resources with other components on the motherboard, which may limit
some hardware combinations. PLEASE SEE CHART ON PAGE 27 FOR A
DETAILED BREAKDOWN OF SHARED RESOURCES.

M.2 Physical Installation

1. Please see Page 34 for M.2 physical installation instructions.

PCIe Physical Installation

1. Install the SSD into any available PCIe slot with at least x4 Lanes available (Gen3
Lanes are preferred for better speed, but Gen2 Lanes will still outperform the top
end of SATA SSDs).
a. Please refer to Page 27 under PCIe Lane Breakdown for lane specifics,
as the PCIe slot must be at least x4 electrically.
2. Attach the SSD’s mounting bracket to the back of the case.
3. Native PCIe drives will not normally require a separate power or data cableattached; all power and data transfers are done through the PCIe slot.

BIOS Setup and Windows Installation for M.2 and PCIe NVMe
SSDs
1. Remember, NVMe is a new standard and older operating systems do not havenative support. Many NVMe drives require certain steps to make the drivebootable, even with current operating systems.
PLEASE FULLY READ THE INSTRUCTIONS THAT COME WITH
YOUR M.2 or PCIe NVMe SSD BEFORE INSTALLATION.
2. After reviewing your SSD’s instructions and its respective Physical installation
instructions above, power on the PC and enter the BIOS/UEFI by pressing theF2 key repeatedly.

- 55 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

3. Once in BIOS/UEFI, navigate to the “BOOT” section. Then go down to the“CSM Configuration” heading and press enter, or click on it with your mouse.
a. For Windows 10: Set “Launch Storage OpROM Policy” to “UEFI”.
Then set “Launch CSM” to “Disable”.
4. Press F10 to save and exit the BIOS/UEFI.
5. Press Del on reboot to reenter BIOS/UEFI.
a. If you are using a SSD-attached via PCIe, proceed to Step 6.
b. If you are using the motherboard’s M.2 slot, proceed to Step 8.
6. If you are using an SSD connected via PCIe (e.g. an Intel® 750) or through an
adapter that connects an M.2 SSD to PCIe, go to “Advanced – PCIe
Configuration” and verify that the device shows on the slot you have it installed.
a. Verify the lane count and PCIe Generation. It should state “x4 Gen3”.
7. Next check the Dashboard on the upper right. The populated slot, lanes used,
and PCIe Generation should all match the information found in the previous
step.
a. Proceed to Step 9 when done.
8. If you are using an SSD connected to the motherboard’s M.2 slot, re-enter the
BIOS/UEFI and go to “Advanced – Onboard Device Configuration,” and set“M.2 Socket3” to “Enable.”
9. Go to the “Boot” Section, set “Boot Mode Select” to UEFI, and set first bootdevice to “Hard Disk:Windows Boot Manager”.
10. Press F10 to save and exit. Insert/Connect your Operating System install media
and reboot.
11. Begin the Windows installation. During the drive selection step, you may needto load additional drivers that are provided by the SSD’s manufacturer, which
would be covered in the SSD manual. If these steps are not followed you will
likely be unable to install the Operating System to the SSD and make it bootable.

- 56 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Internal RAID Controller
This section introduces RAID, RAID levels, and the basics of the controller integrated
into the PCH. It covers the basics of what RAID does, how RAID works, and why you
may or may not want to use RAID.
This section is GREATLY simplified; those who have experience with RAID especially from the server side - will find this a VERY rudimentary simplification of aprocess that is quite complex on the back-end. The descriptions of the RAID levels are
not based on the back-end logic from the controllers, but rather just a breakdown as avisual reference to understand the basics.
For the sake of explanation in this section, every drive representation here is assumed tobe 1 Terabyte (for ease of math); also the reference of P-Drive is “Physical” drive, andL-Drive is referencing “Logical” drives; physical drives are the physical drive you
installed, whereas the logical drive is what Windows sees in Disk Management. This is anecessary distinction because RAID is a form of drive virtualization; taking several
physical drives and making one logical drive out of them. You can add a minimum of
two drives up to a maximum of six drives depending on the configuration (for thiscontroller specifically) and the operating system will see only one logical device.

RAID LEVELSALL RAID LEVELS: All RAID levels will lose some capacity through the process ofmaking the array. A small amount of disk space is used, in part, to maintain connections
to data across drives, but the quality and size of drives used can impact the amount.
A general rule of thumb for final array capacity is this: Take the number of drives, thearray type, and individual drive capacity (for this RAID breakdown all drives are 1TB)
and multiply it out as shown below for the specific RAID type you intend to use:
RAID0 = (Number of Drives) * (Drive capacity)
RAID1 = Capacity of one drive, as all data is copied on both drives
RAID5 = (Number of drives – one drive) * (Drive capacity)
RAID10 = (Half the number of drives) * (Drive capacity)
To account for capacity lost both due to maintaining the array as well as what is lost
during the formatting process, multiply the product by .85 and you should see a volume
close to this number once the array is partitioned. This will vary based on type of drive,- 57 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

its quality, and many other factors; but the number should give you a ballpark estimate
on what to expect as a final capacity once formatted.
Please see below for examples of what to expect when you build an array of each type.
Each RAID type will use diagrams to illustrate functional and non-functional forms ofeach RAID; all green items indicate a drive that is functional, and red indicates a drivethat has failed.

BEFORE BUILDING AN ARRAY, BE SURE YOUR SSDs
OR HDDs ARE THE SAME MAKE, MODEL, AND
CAPACITY. MIXING DRIVES CAN CAUSE ANYTHINGFROM ODD PERFORMANCE ISSUES, ARRAYS DESYNCING, LARGE SCALE DATA CORRUPTION,
AND/OR UNRECOVERABLE ARRAY FAILURE.
MAKE SURE THAT YOUR INTENDED HDD SUPPORTS
RAID; IF NOT, THE DRIVE MAY CAUSE CONSTANTDESYNCRONIZATION ISSUES DUE TO DATA TTLTIMERS NOT SENDING AN “ALL IS WELL” SIGNAL
WITHIN THE EXPECTED TIMEFRAME, WHICH WILLSEND THE CONTROLLER THE MESSAGE THAT THE
DRIVE HAS FAILED OR DISCONNECTED.
If you are unsure about any of the bolded section above, please contact the drive
manufacturer’s customer service to make sure the device is supported for RAID. If thedrive is not, the controller cannot work around it and make it function as intended.

RAID0: This type of array is often referred to as “Striping” or a “Striped Array.”
RAID0 takes a data set and spreads it equally across two (2) or more drives. The logic
behind this array is that reading a single file, for example, will be much faster if the file isspread across two (2) or more drives and read from both drives simultaneously; thus
reducing the time each drive spends in the read process by at least 50% rather thanbeing read from one source. The file is then reassembled once the data hits RAM. Thisis similar, in theory, to how multi-channel memory or SLI works: load balancing forstorage.
Because RAID0 is only designed to distribute the data being written across multiple
devices to improve performance there is **NO FAULT TOLERANCE**, meaning if- 58 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

one drive fails, the array fails. It MAY be possible to recover the data but that usuallyrequires a data recovery service, which is not guaranteed and is usually very expensive.
RAID0 is typically only limited by the controller; however, you will get severely
diminishing performance returns after 4 drives. If you go above 4 drives, you will also
see more capacity loss after creating the array.
The Good it can greatly increase the read/write speed of drives
 The most storage capacity-friendly use of drive space compared to other arraytypes.
The Bad RAID0 has no redundancy, which makes it very volatile, if you lose even 1
drive, you lose everything.
 If you use this method, make sure to back up often.
Below is the breakdown of RAID0’s function and the breakdown of a drive failure inthis type of array. Wherever you see the section labelled “DATA” at the bottom turn
red, this indicates an array failure.

RAID 0 (2 Drive)
P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-AB

DATA-AB

DATA-AB

L-DRIVE = ≃ 2TB

As RAID0 has no fault tolerance, even a single drive failure compromises the array andrenders the array Failed and unrecoverable.
The array depictions below show how this issue scales to larger arrays. In fact, due tothe lack of fault tolerance, the potential failure rate actually increases because of theaddition of more drives that can physically fail.

- 59 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

RAID 0 (4 Drive)
P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-C

DATA-D

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-C

DATA-D

DATA-ABCD

DATA-ABCD

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-C

DATA-D

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-C

DATA-D

DATA-ABCD

DATA-ABCD

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-C

DATA-D

DATA-ABCD

L-DRIVE = ≃ 4TB

RAID1: This type of array is referred to as “Mirroring” or a “Mirrored Array.”

RAID1 uses two (2) physical drives and writes ALL data to both drives simultaneously
providing a 1 to 1 mirror, giving you 100% redundancy live. So as data is being written,
if a drive fails you are still up and running. In most cases, when a failure occurs you will
experience a stutter in performance and a small but noticeable slow down. Next, you’ll
likely see a popup warning from IRST alerting you that a drive has failed or is
disconnected, and your array’s status has been changed to “Degraded”.
RAID1 (at least on these PCH driven controllers) are limited to 2 drives. Also beingthat this is a mirror, you will use 50% of your capacity in redundancy.
The Good RAID1 allows you to suffer a catastrophic failure of 1 drive with no ill effects tothe data being stored.
 Because data is stored on 2 drives at once, read speeds typically increase a little,
but not to the speed of RAID5 and, certainly, not to the speed of RAID 0.

- 60 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

The Bad RAID1 is not a storage capacity-friendly array, because the capacity will belimited to 1 drive.
o Due to the capacity available on modern drive solutions, this issue may
not be as significant as it once was.
 Write speed will be a bit lower than a single drive.
In the charts below, you can see the effect of fault tolerance when using a mirror array:because all data has a direct 1-to-1 duplicate on the mirrored drive, you can suffer acatastrophic failure of a drive and still retain your data.
For a RAID1 array to lose its data, both drives must fail.
RAID 1 (2 Drive)

L-DRIVE = ≃ 1TB

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

DATA-A

DATA-A

DATA-A

DATA-A

L-Drive = DATA-A

L-Drive = DATA-AP-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

DATA-A

DATA-A

DATA-A

DATA-A

L-Drive = DATA-A

L-Drive = DATA-A

RAID5: RAID5 is a stripe with Fault Tolerance, which attempts to bridge the gap

between speed and redundancy. This level will always reserve a capacity equivalent to
one drive for fault tolerance, regardless of the overall capacity. This means that if you
use four 1TB drives to create your RAID5, you will only have the capacity of three 1TB
drives; likewise, if you use five 1TB drives to create your array, you will only have thecapacity of four 1TB drives. RAID5 requires a minimum of three drives, and the
maximum is set by the RAID controller; this level works well when using between fourto six drives, but sees diminishing returns beyond six.

- 61 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Similar to RAID1, or any other current type of array with fault tolerance, a RAID5 arrayis still usable even while it is experiencing a missing or failed drive resulting in the array
functioning in a degraded state. Performance will suffer in a degraded state until themissing drive is replaced and the software rebuild process is completed. During therebuild process, performance will be severely degraded and can take several hours,
depending on the size of the array and percentage of capacity used.
The Good Most space efficient array-type that also has fault tolerance.
 Initial array builds quickly Read/write speed is very good; faster than RAID1 but slower than RAID0
The Bad Rebuilding an array can take a long time on an integrated PCH controller,
especially when using a very large array with multiple drives or capacity.
o For this reason, RAID5 is sometimes more beneficial on a dedicated
RAID controller.
 If more than one drive fails at once (not likely, but still possible) you will suffera total loss of data; the array will behave like a RAID0 losing a drive.
 RAID5 is close to outliving its usefulness because it was created, in part, tocreate large size arrays with fault tolerance. Due to the capacity available on
modern drives, other RAID solutions are now better and with fewer downsides.
RAID5 protects data rotating parity (there are several terms coined by different RAID
manufacturers over the years for RAID5 and they all mean roughly the same thing),
which means taking small portions of data, duplicating them and putting them onto
different drives. When a drive that has failed is replaced, its data is recreated by theremaining drives in the array, which will require a very high volume of small data
segments copied back over to the replacement drive while also maintaining the array’s
index of data. Once the rebuild is complete, current data can be read from the newdrive and new data can be written to it.
The RAID5 diagram below is a bit more complicated than the others, due to the natureof how data is distributed. In the diagram you will see that there is one more Physicaldrive than there is data set. This method of data distribution shows that as long as you
have three (3) copies of each data set (Data-A, Data-B, and DATA-C), the array will befunctional and capable of rebuilding when you add in replacement drive in. And while
this is not mathematically correct for HOW the data distribution works, it is a goodvisualization to understand the basics of how it works.

- 62 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

L-DRIVE = ≃ 3TB

RAID 5 (4 Drive)
P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

DATA-A
DATA-B
DATA-C

DATA-B
DATA-C
DATA-A

DATA-C
DATA-A
DATA-B

DATA-A
DATA-B
DATA-C

DATA-A
DATA-B
DATA-C

DATA-B
DATA-C
DATA-A

DATA-C
DATA-A
DATA-B

DATA-A
DATA-B
DATA-C

DATA-A
DATA-B
DATA-C

DATA-B
DATA-C
DATA-A

DATA-C
DATA-A
DATA-B

DATA-A
DATA-B
DATA-C

L-Drive = DATA-ABC

L-Drive = DATA-ABC

L-Drive = DATA-ABC

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

DATA-A
DATA-B
DATA-C

DATA-B
DATA-C
DATA-A

DATA-C
DATA-A
DATA-B

DATA-A
DATA-B
DATA-C

DATA-A
DATA-B
DATA-C

DATA-B
DATA-C
DATA-A

DATA-C
DATA-A
DATA-B

DATA-A
DATA-B
DATA-C

DATA-A
DATA-B
DATA-C

DATA-B
DATA-C
DATA-A

DATA-C
DATA-A
DATA-B

DATA-A
DATA-B
DATA-C

L-Drive = DATA-ABC

DATA-ABC

L-Drive = DATA-ABC

RAID10: RAID10 is the only level of nested RAID currently supported by the

integrated PCH controller. Nested RAID is the process where a controller makes
multiple RAID arrays, treating each of them as their own device and applies them to
ANOTHER RAID level. This type of virtualization allows you to have an array where
each node has its own level of redundancy.
In the instance of RAID10, it is two (2) or more Mirrored arrays (RAID1s) that are
striped together (RAID0). In effect, this is RAID0 where every physical drive (nowlogical drive due to nested RAID functions) in the array is internally redundant via a
mirror. This means you can lose a drive and the data set is still present; when the drive
is replaced, it is replicated by the data internal to that node.
RAID10 is highly scalable. RAID10 always scales in two (2) drive increments, startingwith a minimum of four (4) drives. This motherboard series supports a four (4) drive
RAID10 array. Lastly, RAID10 is a mirrored array, which means it shares the same 50%
drive capacity, as all data has a 1:1 copy.
The Good Excellent Fault Tolerance Good rebuild timeso Vastly superior rebuild times compared to the previous 0+1
methodology of nested RAID.
 Overall performance is good; comparable or slightly faster than RAID5.
The Bad Low space efficiency.
o With the capacity of modern drives, this will likely be less of aconsideration than in previous years.
- 63 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

The fault tolerance works a bit differently in RAID10 than in others because the arrayhas nodes with internal redundancy. In other words, although a four drive array can lose
two drives and remain operational, it greatly depends on WHICH two drives fail. If
both drives from the same node fail, then half of the data is gone and the array has
failed. However, every node, regardless of the number of total nodes, can suffer one
internal failure with no adverse effects.
L-DRIVE = ≃ 2TB

RAID 10 (4 Drive)
P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-B

L-Drive = DATA-A

L-Drive = DATA-B

L-Drive = DATA-A

L-Drive = DATA-AB

L-Drive = DATA-B

L-Drive = DATA-AB

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-B

L-Drive = DATA-A

L-Drive = DATA-B

L-Drive = DATA-A

L-Drive = DATA-AB

L-Drive = DATA-B

L-Drive = DATA-AB

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-B

L-Drive = DATA-A

L-Drive = DATA-B

L-Drive = DATA-AB

L-Drive = DATA-A

L-Drive = DATA-B

L-Drive = DATA-AB

While the Z490 DARK controller will support a four drive RAID10 array, RAID10 canscale indefinitely provided the controller supports more drives. Every pair of drives
adds an additional mirrored node, which increases the theoretical number of failures thearray can suffer before a loss of data occurs. However, an array can still fail due to bothdrives on a node failing.

- 64 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

In the case of a drive
failure, the array controller
will notify you. When you
replace a failed drive in the
RAID10, rebuilding thearray is mostly seamless.
For example, look at thearray on the second row to
the right. P-Drive1 failed,
but P-Drive2 is still working
and uses the same data.
The array will pull datafrom P-Drive2 during therebuild, so the array can beused normally while PDrive2 copies ALL of its
data back to the drive
replacing P-Drive1.
The rebuild process will
only rebuild 1TB worth ofdata because only one nodefailed. There will be a
performance hit during therebuild process, which canbe further delayed if VERY
data intensive applications
are used, but overall
performance of the array
will still be fast enough to
run effectively during therebuild. RAID10 rebuilds
much more quickly than its
predecessor RAID0+1.

L-DRIVE = ≃ 3TB

RAID 10 (6 Drive)
P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE5

P-DRIVE6

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-C

P-DATA-C

L-Drive = DATA-A

L-Drive = DATA-B

L-Drive = DATA-C

L-Drive = DATA-ABC
P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE5

P-DRIVE6

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-C

P-DATA-C

L-Drive = DATA-A

L-Drive = DATA-B

L-Drive = DATA-C

L-Drive = DATA-ABC
P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE5

P-DRIVE6

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-C

P-DATA-C

L-Drive = DATA-A

L-Drive = DATA-B

L-Drive = DATA-C

L-Drive = DATA-ABC
P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE5

P-DRIVE6

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-C

P-DATA-C

L-Drive = DATA-A

L-Drive = DATA-B

L-Drive = DATA-C

L-Drive = DATA-ABC
P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE5

P-DRIVE6

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-C

P-DATA-C

L-Drive = DATA-A

L-Drive = DATA-B

L-Drive = DATA-C

L-Drive = DATA-ABC
P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE5

P-DRIVE6

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-A

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-B

P-DATA-C

P-DATA-C

L-Drive = DATA-A

L-Drive = DATA-B

L-Drive = DATA-C

L-Drive = DATA-ABC- 65 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

RAID0+1: RAID0+1 is a form of nested RAID that was widely used on previous
generation boards. Although the Z490 series motherboards do not use this type ofarray, it is listed here to show the improvements made by RAID10, and to clear up acommon misperception that RAID0+1 and RAID10 are the same.
A RAID0+1 array is created from two (2) stripe sets that are mirrored together. Similar
to RAID10, RAID 0+1 requires a minimum of four drives, and is highly scalable in two
drive increments. Again, because RAID0+1 is a mirrored array, it shares the same 50%
drive capacity, meaning that four 1TB drives in RAID0+1 will result in a 2TB array.
Where 0+1 differs from 10 is in how the drives are split, and the data distributed. While
RAID10 is created using two or more mirror sets striped together, RAID0+1 is two
striped sets mirrored together. When scaling with additional drives (in multiples of two),
RAID10 adds the drives as another mirrored set to the striped array, whereas RAID0+1
splits the drives between the two stripes to maintain the mirror. To the end-user, thefinal result appears very similar; however, the significant differences lie in fault tolerance
and recovery.
In a RAID0+1, ANY drive failure results in half of the array becoming effectively failed.
If one drive fails, that stripe fails, and the mirrored stripe takes over. When the failed
drive is replaced, the entire capacity of the mirrored array must be rewritten to the failed
array, rather than one drive’s worth of capacity (i.e. RAID10). This makes the
RAID0+1 array more volatile than RAID10, despite being fault tolerant, and can also
increase rebuild times at an exponential margin for large arrays.
Like RAID10, RAID0+1 can afford to lose up to half the number of drives in the arrayand still be protected; however, this is contingent on the failed units being all from thesame stripe set. If one drive fails from both stripe sets at once, the entire array is lost.
The Good Fastest of the standard nested RAID types
 Performance scales with drive count.
The Bad Build times can be substantially longer than RAID10 due to the volume of data
being moved, and is typically close to the rebuild times of RAID5.
 Low space efficiency, only 50% of total drive capacity is usable in the array.
 1 drive failure drops a full stripe set.

- 66 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

L-DRIVE = ≃ 2TB

RAID 0+1 (4 Drive)
P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

L-Drive = DATA-AB

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

L-Drive = DATA-AB

P-DRIVE1

L-Drive = DATA-AB

L-Drive = DATA-AB

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

L-Drive = DATA-AB

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE4

L-Drive = DATA-AB

L-Drive = DATA-AB

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

L-Drive = DATA-AB

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

L-Drive = DATA-AB

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

L-Drive = DATA-AB

L-Drive = DATA-AB

P-DRIVE4

L-Drive = DATA-AB

L-Drive = DATA-AB

P-DRIVE3

L-Drive = DATA-AB

L-Drive = DATA-AB

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

L-Drive = DATA-AB

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

L-Drive = DATA-AB

L-Drive = DATA-AB

Motherboard controllers that support RAID0+1 (such as on older generation EVGA
motherboards) will generally support 4 or 6 drive arrays of this type; other controllers
can allow this array type to scale indefinitely. Each pair of drives adds to the drive countfor the stripes and increases the theoretical volume of failures the array can suffer before
a loss of data occurs. However, this type of array can fail due to any two drives on
different stripes failing at once; this is RAID0+1’s main drawback. Theoretically, at six
drives and above, RAID0+1 should have slightly faster read/write speeds compared to
RAID10 because the stripes are larger without the overhead of an internal mirror. Thisis because RAID10 increases both the number of mirror sets as the array scales upwards
and the backend calculations needed to maintain the arrays, whereas RAID0+1 only
increases stripe size.

- 67 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

As you can see, thedifference between
RAID0+1 and RAID10 issignificant when looking at
how data is stored.
Although the drive volume
scaling and the level of fault
tolerance is the same,internalizing theredundancy can make asignificant difference
overall to the array.
In the examples to theright, you can see that when
one drive fails the entire
stripe set fails; for a
RAID0+1, you would needto rewrite 3TB worth ofdata back onto the failed
node when rebuilding,rather than 1TB for thesame drive count on a
RAID10.
RAID10 is the current
standard on Intel® PCH
based RAID controllers,largely because the fault
tolerance for it is a bit more
forgiving and the rebuild
speed is overall significantly
faster than its RAID0+1
predecessor.

L-DRIVE = ≃ 3TB

RAID 0+1 (6 Drive)
P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE5

P-DRIVE6

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-C

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-C

L Drive = DATA-ABC

L Drive = DATA-ABC
L Drive = DATA-ABC

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE5

P-DRIVE6

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-C

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-C

L Drive = DATA-ABC

L Drive = DATA-ABC
L Drive = DATA-ABC

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE5

P-DRIVE6

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-C

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-C

L Drive = DATA-ABC

L Drive = DATA-ABC
L Drive = DATA-ABC

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE5

P-DRIVE6

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-C

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-C

L Drive = DATA-ABC

L Drive = DATA-ABC
L Drive = DATA-ABC

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE5

P-DRIVE6

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-C

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-C

L Drive = DATA-ABC

L Drive = DATA-ABC
L Drive = DATA-ABC

P-DRIVE1

P-DRIVE2

P-DRIVE3

P-DRIVE4

P-DRIVE5

P-DRIVE6

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-C

DATA-A

DATA-B

DATA-C

L Drive = DATA-ABC

L Drive = DATA-ABC
L Drive = DATA-ABC- 68 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Which types of RAID can I use with my setup?

1 Drive – No RAID arrays are supported
2 Drives – RAID0 for speed (do regular backups) or RAID1 for data protection.
3 Drives – RAID0 for speed (do regular backups) or RAID5 for speed and protection.
4 Drives – RAID0 for speed (do regular backups), RAID5 for speed and protection,
RAID10 for the best balance of Speed and protection.
5 Drives – RAID0 for speed (do regular backups), but it will start to show diminishingreturns on performance; and RAID5 for speed and protection.
6 Drives - RAID0 for speed (do regular backups), but very marginal performancedifference over 4 or 5 drive stripes; and RAID5 for speed and protection.
Also, you can run more than one array on your controller, so long as the total is undersix (6) drives. Because the Z490 DARK splits the SATA ports between 2 controllers, 7
and 8 drive arrays are not possible on this motherboard.

Configuring the Array
Please note that this section was configured with an earlier version of the EVGA GUI
BIOS. The current GUI BIOS may look different, but will follow a similar set of steps
to create and repair a RAID volume.
Attach all SATA devices you intend to use, and make sure power is attached. Power thesystem on. Press the “Delete” key repeatedly to enter BIOS. Once into BIOS you willneed to enable the RAID function of the board.
Once into BIOS, click on (or navigate with your arrow keys) the “Advanced” tab at thetop, and then on “SATA Configuration.”In the “SATA Mode Selection” at the top, the default will be AHCI. Click on the arrow
to the right side of AHCI or navigate to it with your keyboard and press “Enter” toopen the pulldown menu. Select RAID from the list.

- 69 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

RAID mode not only includes the RAID controls, but also shares the same
options/functions/commands as AHCI; you may continue using your AHCI devices
normally when the SATA Configuration is set to RAID mode.
The SATA Information menu shows a list of all drives currently detected by thecontroller; make sure the list in your BIOS matches what you have plugged in. If it does
not, reseat cables on the device(s) in question. If the issue persists, please check thetroubleshooting section on Page 148.

Once RAID is enabled and all devices are detected, press F10 to save and exit. Uponreboot, repeatedly press “Delete” to reenter the BIOS. Once in the BIOS, go back to
the “Advanced” tab where you’ll find a new item at the bottom of the list called “Intel®
Rapid Storage Technology.”
The Intel® Rapid Storage Technology utility in the BIOS replaces the Intel® RAID
manager that was previously launched outside of the BIOS in previous generation
motherboards. Due to the current bootup process, speed of processors, and UEFI theprevious method made accessing the Intel® RAID manager nearly impossible. This is
the same controller that was previously accessed by CTRL-I; now, it is fully accessible
within the BIOS/UEFI.

- 70 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Once in the RAID controller, you will see a list of all detected drives and a “Create
RAID Volume” button. To begin, click on “Create RAID Volume” or navigate to thebutton and hit “Enter.”Choose a name for the volume. The controller allows up to 15 characters; you can use
numbers and letters, but not special characters.

- 71 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Next, select your intended array type. This can be done by either clicking on the downarrow and clicking on the RAID level you want, or pressing the enter key and using thedown arrow to select the RAID level and pressing Enter again. Please see the top halfof Page 69 for a quick reference on different RAID levels and RAID types based onyour total number of drives.

Next, select the drives you want to use for the array. Select the down arrow and the “X”
for each drive you want to include in the array.

Strip size (also called “block size” in other controllers) can be selected manually at 16k,
32k, 64k, or 128k. The controller will determine the default strip size after looking at
your drives and array type. Although there are some limited instances where this must
be set manually, it is highly recommended to leave this at default.
- 72 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

The controller defaults the capacity to the maximum available space for the RAID.
Leaving the capacity at default is recommended because reducing the size is notbeneficial, except in limited cases.
To complete the setup process, please select “Create Volume” at the bottom of thepage. Depending on the array type, drive type, and volume this can take a few seconds
to a few minutes.

Once the array is completed you will see the text shown on the next page, or somethingsimilar based on the array type and drives used. At this point, the array is ready to use.

If your array will be your boot drive, the operating system will normally detect the arrayand see it as a single drive (this is expected), it *MAY* detect it as a RAID array; eitherway, the OS installation will show the size of the array, not a single drive, and allow you
to install the OS to the array without any further steps. However, depending on the OSversion, you may need to install RAID drivers for the RAID array to be detected.
If this is meant to be a secondary array, your next step is to partition and format thearray within Windows. Please see Page 87 for setup in Windows 10.
- 73 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Repairing an array within UEFI
This guide will show you how to repair a degraded array from within the UEFI. For
testing purposes, a drive was intentionally removed from a RAID5 array and wiped toguarantee that the array rebuild behaved the same as if a new replacement drive wasadded to a degraded array.
If a drive fails and the array becomes degraded, you will typically see an alert inWindows, during the controller booting (Legacy mode only), or while checking the arraystatus within UEFI. If a drive fails in an array with redundancy (a RAID5 array, in thiscase), the controller will report the array as “Degraded” (see pic below). This means thatthe array has a node down, the data is still intact, but your fault tolerance is reduced.

Highlight the degraded array with your mouse or navigate to it with your keyboard andselect it to bring you into the array screen (see image on next page), which will show you
your array status and any drives that are not currently configured in a RAID array. The
Non-RAID Physical Disks list will display any remaining drives on the controller,
whether it is a random storage drive, a boot drive, or a replacement drive installed toreplace a failed unit. For this example, you will see a degraded array and a “Non-RAID
Physical Disk,” which we’ve attached to repair the degraded array.
The drive attached is an exact match to the other drives in our RAID 5; however, you
can use a different drive if it is the same size and preferably same type/series, as well.
**ALL DATA ON THAT DRIVE WILL BE REMOVED AND WILL NOT BERECOVERABLE WHEN ADDING IT INTO THE ARRAY**- 74 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

The controller will
also give you thisinformation, but it
cannot beoverstated thatusing a drive withdata on it will
result in the total
loss of all previous
data in favor of the data on the array.
Select the degraded RAID volume, then select “Rebuild” on the following menu.

Next, you will see a list of all attached HDD/SSDs that can be used to rebuild the array.
Select the disk, then click on it or press enter.

- 75 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Once the process has started you will see the status change to “Rebuilding.”**Important Notice**: The controller will not begin the rebuilding process until you
have booted back into Windows; this queues the rebuild but does not start the process.
The rebuilding duration will vary. Fast drives in uncomplicated arrays with small
amounts of data can rebuild very quickly. Large platter drive-based arrays, especially in
RAID5, can take several hours to rebuild. The duration of the rebuild process willfurther increase based on the usage of both the array and the CPU during the process.
The rebuild process can be monitored from the “Intel® Rapid Storage Technology”
utility in Windows, which is effectively the software front-end for the Intel® SATA
controller. The rebuild status can be viewed in the “Manage” tab, located on the top of
the IRST Window. Please see the image at the top of Page 86 to see an example ofwhere to find the rebuilding % in the IRST.

- 76 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

IRST (Intel® Rapid Storage Technology)
The IRST is the software front-end for the Intel® SATA controller. It is recommended
to install the IRST drivers after installing the Intel® Chipset Drivers – the main
motherboard drivers. This guide walks you through not only the building, but also therepairing of an array from within Windows, since it may be more convenient to build
new arrays within the OS rather than from within the UEFI. All forms of RAID thatcan be built in the UEFI are available in IRST; the IRST may be more convenient forsome people due to a more detailed UI than the UEFI.

This guide will illustrate how to create a RAID1 array using the IRST. Using the screen
above, we know that three (3) SSDs are currently attached to the controller and theother three (3) INTEL® SATA ports are empty (this can vary board to board based on
how many Intel® SATA ports are present). If you plan to create another type of array,please ensure that you have the correct number of drives attached and shown on thestatus screen in IRST for your intended array before you start.
Referring to the above image, again, locate and click the hyperlink halfway down thewindow that says “Create a Custom Volume.” An array creation window will open:- 77 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

SATA will be selected by default. PCIe primarily refers to PCIe / M.2 based NVMe
drives; the same basic steps do apply to both, however. Select SATA, and “Real-time
protection (RAID1).” Then, click Next at the bottom of the window.
RAID1 can only support two (2) drives. Left-click the open boxes from the list below
to select your two preferred drives. You may also name the array anything you like.
Although you have the option to define volume size, it is recommended to leave thearray at 100%, which is the default.

- 78 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)- 79 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

In the Advanced tab, you can select the option to “Initialize Volume,” which will occur
after the array is created. If the array is not initialized now, it can be initialized later in“Disk Management.” See Page 87 for Disk Management instructions.
When done, click “Next” at the bottom.

- 80 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Review the summary provided on the confirmation screen. If you are unsure about any
selections made, click the “Back” key and make your corrections. When ready, click“Create Volume” at the bottom. This typically takes between a few seconds to a couple
minutes depending on the size and complexity of the volume. Once finished, you will
see the message below. The array is now ready to be partitioned, formatted, and used.

- 81 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Once you click the OK button on the RAID creation window you will be brought backto the main window, “Status” tab. If the option to initialize was selected, theinitialization status will be shown below, circled in red.

If you select the “Manage” tab, you can see a bit more in-depth information on the array
and additional options to manage or change the array.
Before thedrive can beused,however, thedrive must be
partitioned,
formatted,
and assigned
a drive letter.
Please see
Page 87 for
instructions.

- 82 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Repairing an array within IRST
This section of the guide will illustrate how to repair a degraded array from within the
IRST. For purposes of this guide, we are repairing a degraded RAID 1 array using athird drive plugged into the controller, but not currently in use.
Below, you can see a degraded array, and one of its drives reported as missing/failed.
The data on the other drive is still intact, but the fault tolerance is offline due to themissing/failed drive. The IRST also shows several warnings, the "!" for "Status," a"!" forthe portion of the array missing (showing the degradation of the logical drive), and the"!" for the physical drive, which also states 0GB – a further indicator of a faulty drive.
You can repair the array from here or from the Manage tab at the top of IRST.

- 83 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

The “Manage” tab shows the array specifically, and not just the controller as a whole.

Next to “Status: Degraded,” left-click the hyperlink labeled “Rebuild to another disk.”This will bring a pop-up window over the IRST showing a list of attached drives thatcan be used for the repair (see pic on next page):- 84 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Select the drive you wish to use for the repair and click the “Rebuild” button.

- 85 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

The rebuild process will begin. As with any RAID array with Fault Tolerance, therebuilding time depends on several factors, such as array size, array type, CPU, etc. You
will then see the Rebuild % status in the Manage tab. Once repairs are complete, thearray will update to “Status: Normal.”- 86 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Partitioning and Formatting a drive
Once you have created your array, either from UEFI or from IRST, you will not initially
see your array in “This PC.” This is expected, because even though you have created thearray, you have not yet prepared the array to be used.

To begin, you’ll need to go into Disk Management.
Windows 10: Right-click on the Windows Start buttonand select “Disk Management.” Alternatively, press the
Windows Key + X on your keyboard and select “DiskManagement.”- 87 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

After “Disk Management” loads, you’ll see a pop-up to Initialize Disk if you’ve added a
new drive or created a new array.
Generally, it’s recommended to select “GPT,” unless you need backwards compatibility
with an old OS or PC. When you’ve made your choice, click “OK.”
Note: If you previously initialized your array through IRST, you will skip this step andmove on to the New Simple Volume Wizard in the next step.

- 88 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Before you can assign a drive letter to a drive or array, the initialized disk must be
partitioned. If you are following this guide and just initialized your drive or array, the
New Simple Volume Wizard will automatically pop-up.
If your drive or array is initialized, but not partitioned, the disk will appear in DiskManagement as “Unallocated,” as shown in the image below. Right-click on the box
containing “Unallocated” and select “New Simple Volume” (this text may vary slightly
based on operating system). The New Simple Volume Wizard will pop-up.
When the window below opens, click “Next.”- 89 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Leave the size at default to create a partition using the entire volume of disk space, thenclick “Next.” Select the drive letter you want to represent this drive, then click “Next.”
Note: The drive letter does NOT have to be a consecutive letter with previous drive(s).
Also, the wizard will not allow you to accidentally select the letter of a drive in use.

The next step is to format the partition. Select your File System; NTFS is default, andgenerally recommended for most large drives. Check the box for “Perform a quick
Format.” You may rename the volume, or leave it at default. Click “Next” when ready.

- 90 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

After the quick format is completed, you will see the last Window of the wizard, asummary of the process, then click “Finish.” The drive is now usable.

To confirm, go back to File Explorer in Windows. Click on “This PC” and check thedrives section. You should have a new empty drive there, with the letter you designated.

At this point the process of building an array and making it usable is completed.

- 91 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Fan Header DC and PWM setup
The Z490 DARK supports both 4-pin PWM fans and 3-pin DC fans. The motherboard
uses eight 4-pin fan headers, including 2x CPU FAN (PWM), a CHA FAN (PWM/DC),a PWR FAN (PWM/DC), 3x SYS FAN (PWM/DC), and an AUX FAN (PWM/DC).
You can locate each header on Pages 14 and 15, component numbers 3 and 4.
To configure the fans in BIOS/UEFI, first power on / restart the PC. During the
POST sequence, press [Delete] repeatedly to get into the BIOS. Once in the BIOS, use
the arrow keys or your mouse to navigate, whichever is easier, and make your way to the“Advanced” – “H/W Monitor Configuration” menu.

- 92 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Once into the H/W Monitor section, you can see the temperature monitors across the
top. Below the monitors, each fan is already configured in Smart mode, which means
the fan controller is using a Smart curve for fan controls. Each fan can be set to a
separate fan curve. To set a Smart curve, please see the guide starting at the top of thenext page.
The +/- buttons next to Smart allow you to set your fans at a static speed percentage,
instead of a curve. If you set the speed too low, however, the fan may stall; the stall
speed will vary from fan to fan.
Below the fans, you will see the six (6) PWM/DC fans: SYS_FAN1, SYS_FAN2,
SYS_FAN3, CHA_FAN, PWR_FAN, and AUX_FAN. The fan controller willautomatically detect and set the fan to either PWM or DC.
Alternatively, the PWM/DC fan headers can be set to either PWM Mode or DC Mode,
which can be selected by clicking on the pulldown menu. DC Mode will power theheader using the static percentage set and the fan’s maximum speed. PWM Mode will
power the header and communicate via pulse with a supported PWM fan.
PWM mode is necessary if you are running a PWM fan powered by a different
connector, such as a molex, SATA, or 3-pin header not on the motherboard. If you
don’t select PWM mode in this scenario, the fan may run at 100%, or behave erratically,
regardless of the Smart Profile or percentage that you set above.

- 93 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

To set a Smart curve, select the “Smart Fan Settings” and enter the menu.

First, choose the temperature monitor the PWM controller will use to monitor for its
temp information. It’s recommended to link the fan control to the CPU, which is
predominantly the most important temperature in the system. The exception is when
you have 64GB of heavily overclocked RAM, which may cause PWM temps to be aconcern. If this is a concern, set the fan control to the PWM temp.
Once you’ve set the Fan Control reference point, you can set the Default fan speed.
The fan speed will increase once the temperature reference point has heated up enoughto hit the Level 1 Temperature. Once it hits the Level 1 Temperature the fan controls
will override the Default speed setting based on the temperature at the time.

- 94 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

There are four tiers of temp control, with Level 4 fan speeds generally recommended to
be set at Max. The example above uses a fairly aggressive fan curve, but you can set thisas high or low as you wish. Make sure, however, to stay below 5-10C of the Max safe
load temp for your specific processor, which can be found at Ark.Intel®.com. All Smart
Fan Settings have the same controls and can be setup the same way.
When monitoring temperatures vs. fan speed, you may notice a variance in ramp
up/down temps; this is due to a function EVGA hardcodes into the BIOS called
Hysteresis. Hysteresis builds in a buffer to control fan speed behavior. This feature
prevents a constant ramp up/down from happening when your system sits exactly at thetemp you set for SMART fan controls. For example, if your setting is at 30C and you
hit 31C, the fan will ramp up and cool down to 29C, letting the fan slowdown, whichlets the system heat back up to 31C again, repeating indefinitely and causes the system tosound like it’s breathing. Hysteresis adds a 4C +/- buffer for CPU and PWM, and 2C+/- for SYS. This means that once a fan based on the CPU or PWM temp brings you
down to 30C, it will not ramp back up until 34C, so you have a buffer. If you base thefan control on the SYS temp, you will only see 2C variance.

- 95 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Setting Up SLI and PhysXSLI and PhysX are NVIDIA developed technologies supported by EVGA
motherboards. SLI is a means of dividing the graphical load between multiple video
cards, similar in theory to how dual- or quad-channel memory works, or even how
RAID0 works. However, the software (e.g. game) needs to support SLI to gain fromthis technology.
PhysX is an NVIDIA technology that can be assigned to a graphics card or CPU for
programs supporting NVIDIA PhysX. As long as the PhysX driver is installed, which
occurs during a normal NVIDIA GeForce driver installation, the system will allocate
resources to support PhysX based on CPU or GPU load. You may, however, go into
the NVIDIA Control Panel and dedicate the CPU or a GPU to this function manually.
For a complete list of NVIDIA PhysX supported titles, please see this link:
https://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/physx/games.
SLI requires two or more video cards that support SLI; have the same GPU family(GTX 2080 Ti, GTX 980, etc.); have the same memory type (GDDR6, GDDR5X, etc.),
volume (11GB, 8GB, etc.), and datapath width (128bit, 256bit, 384bit, etc.). SLI also
requires a motherboard that supports SLI, and an SLI or NVLink bridge for each cardin SLI. Providing the above conditions are met, compatible graphics cards withdifferent GPU and/or memory clock speeds will not prevent SLI from being enabled.
Note: For questions and concerns regarding NVIDIA Surround™ and full setup instructions,please see https://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/surround/systemrequirements. As the possible combinations of setups between SLI, monitors, andcabling are far too vast to label in this manual, also see https://www.geforce.com/whatsnew/guides/how-to-correctly-configure-geforce-gtx-680-surround for a basic setup
walkthrough.

Installation:
1. Physically install your graphics cards, then install an SLI or NVLink bridge; examples
include a Flexible bridge (included with this motherboard), an EVGA HB Bridge or
NVLink Bridge. Current NVIDIA graphics drivers support 600 Series cards up throughGTX 2080 Ti and Titan RTX cards. Driver support is determined by NVIDIA; pleasecheck GeForce.com to confirm compatibility with drivers and SLI.

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Once the graphics cards are physically installed, connect an SLI or NVLink Bridge; yourcards should look similar to either picture below:

2. After the cards are installed, have power connected, and the SLI/NVLink bridge is
attached, boot into Windows. The graphics driver will normally identify the cards andautomatically configure the driver. If not, then you may need to reinstall the driver.

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Once finished, you will receive a popup in the lower rightcorner stating that you have an SLI capable setup and it
needs to be configured. If you did not see the message,then first verify that both cards are detected andfunctioning without system errors from Windows Device
manager.
Right-click on the Start menu and select Device Manager.
Under “Display Adapters” you should see the type andnumber of video cards you have installed.

3. Once you have verified there are no detection/driver
installation issues with the cards, you can enable SLI.
Right-click on the desktop and select “NVIDIA Control
Panel” (“NCP”).

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Next, select “Configure SLI, Surround, PhysX” under the “3D Settings” menu. The
default is “Disable SLI.”To enable SLI, click “Maximize 3D Performance,” circled in red below, and click“Apply” at the bottom.

Before you can enable SLI, the NCP may ask you to close certain programs andprocesses; you cannot continue further until this is completed.
At this point the display may go black a few times, or appear to change resolution andback again quickly; this is normal. Also, if you are running a G-Sync monitor, it will turnoff and on during this process, which may take between 5-20 seconds, approximately.

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4. Once finished, your SLI configuration should look similar to the image below. The
key aspects that show an optimal configuration are circled.
5. OPTIONAL. With multiple cards,
you can assign one to PhysX, but we
do not advise choosing that OVER
SLI, because SLI will provide
substantially larger performance gains.
In general, leaving PhysX on “AutoSelect (recommended)” isrecommended. When left on Auto,your PC will adjust the PhysX duties
based on overall system load, which, inmany cases, will be the CPU.
Otherwise, manually setting the PhysX
processor is best when a spare graphics
card is in the system.
While SLI is a direct performance enhancement PhysX is used for visual enhancement,
allowing the physics of various items in the environment to be calculated live. A
dedicated PhysX card keeps the load localized to a device that has no other current
function. Although frame rates may only increase slightly, a dedicated PhysX card keeps
the frame rate from spiking in either direction when there are very intense and abrupt
uses of PhysX. For certain titles that heavily utilize PhysX, a dedicated PhysX card canbe beneficial to help stabilize the frame rate.
If you do not have a spare card to dedicate to PhysX then it is advised to leave the
PhysX Setting to "Auto-Select (recommended)." The general rule of thumb for needing
dedicated PhysX is this: Does your game support NVIDIA PhysX? (Yes or No). If“No,” then a dedicated PhysX card serves no purpose. If “Yes,” then the next step is tosee if your GPU has a high usage rate while playing normally. Use a program like
EVGA Precision X1 to monitor the GPU usage of all current video cards. If the GPU
is consistently over 75% usage, the GPU usage occasionally maxes out and the frame
rate drops in moments of intense action, then dedicating a card may be beneficial.
However, if this does not occur in your setup, then leaving your system to handle the
PhysX load without a dedicated card should be fine, since the default setting will balance
the PhysX processing between the GPU and CPU based on load at any given moment.
If you need further help setting up SLI/PhysX, please contact EVGA Customer Service.

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Realtek HD Audio Manager
The Z490 DARK uses a 7.1 Channel Realtek ALC1220 audio controller. This section
will cover installation of the controller (in Windows 10) and the basic configuration
options that are available in the software.
To begin, use the drivers on the included USB flash drive or download the current
Realtek drivers from https://www.evga.com/support/download. Once downloaded,right-click to extract the file and run the correct driver for your operating system. Oncelaunched, select “Next” on the extraction window, “Next” on the installation window,
then select “Yes, I want to restart my computer now.” Click “Finish.”- 101 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Once you have rebooted andre-entered Windows, there
should be a new shortcut inthe system tray with a redorange speaker icon. Whenyou mouse over it, the icon
reads “Realtek HD Audio
Manager.” When the menu
opens, left-click on it, andleft-click the similar red-orange speaker icon labeled “Sound Manager” to launch theRealtek software front-end.
The below images are all composites, showing the popup texts for multiple
buttons/menus on screen at once to reduce the picture clutter; however, you will not see
the same popups simultaneously in the Realtek HD Audio Manager.
Once the Sound Manager is open, you will be able to configure several aspects of thesound output. First on the main screen is a side-panel showing the devices physicallyattached to the Realtek controller. See Page 16 for output jack legend.

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On the right margin, you can see the different ports labeled in the picture above. The
top portion covers the five (5) analog ports on the I/O Hub. The two (2) labeled“Speaker Out” ports and “Line In” port all use a diffused color to show that a port is
not currently connected; conversely, “Front Speaker Out (Speakers)” and “Mic In(Microphone)” use a solid color to show that the ports are currently connected. For
locations and a picture of the ports please see Page 14 component number 38, and Page
16 for the I/O Hub component number 11.
The center section of the side panel is for Front Panel Audio. Although the Front Panel
Audio ports will display in the Control Panel, and will notify you that Front Panel
devices are presently connected/disconnected, Front Panel Audio only plays through
EVGA NU Audio. The Front panel header can be found in the component legend on
Page 14 component number 25, additional port information on Page 23, and a header
pinout on Page 43. EVGA NU Audio information can be located on Page 119.
The bottom section of the side panel is “DIGITAL.” This represents connections via
optical S/PDIF, typically going to a receiver or TV. For locations and a picture of theport please see Page 14 component number 38, and Page 16 for the I/O Hub- 103 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

component number 10. The optical out contains all audio data the controller can
provide; however, only 2.0/2.1 is pre-encoded from the controller. Audio with a higher
channel count through optical S/PDIF must be connected to a receiver that supports
live encoding, or an equivalent technology.

Also on the side panel is the “Device Advanced Settings” button. This will bring up a
popup menu with options for playback and recording devices. Both options in Playback
Device and Recording Device are mutually exclusive within their respective sections.
The top options are default for both. Once you have made your selection, click “OK”
at the bottom.

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The icon of the file folder in the upper right is “Connector Settings.” This is thewindow for setting up port detection. The default setting in this Window allows theManager to create a popup notification to let you know when you’ve plugged in a new
device to a Realtek port while Windows is running. The popup box will let you confirm
which device you’ve plugged in (e.g. after plugging in a microphone cable, the popup
box may incorrectly select “Line In,” which you should then change to Microphone). If
you’d prefer to disable this notification, then deselect the “Enable auto popup dialog”
option.
The “Disable front panel jack detection” option is mostly used for troubleshooting incases where the Realtek Manager refuses to acknowledge speakers plugged into the rear
ports, causing no sound to come out from your speakers. Should you run into thatproblem, checking the box for this option will often fix situations where audio will notplay. If you plan on using your front panel audio connectors (e.g. the speaker/mic ports
on a chassis), then do not disable the front panel jack detection. The disable box*ONLY* applies to the front panel, whereas the “Enable auto popup dialog…” covers
ALL Realtek interfaces.

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The “i” located at the bottom right of theManager is an information button. Clicking
on this will provide DirectX information, the
CODEC and Language selection options.

The main page defaults
to the first audio device it
detects; device responsetime to the controller canvary, so the order listed
here may not be theorder ALL components
are detected. The
Manager will generally
only show devices
detected by themotherboard. For
purposes of this guide,
speakers, a microphone,
and a TOSLINK digitalaudio cable areconnected. As a result, the Manager detects the Digital Output first. You should also
see a “Digital Output (Optical)” at the top. This shares all the same options as “Digital
Output;” the difference is strictly connection type.
In the “Default Format” section, there are a couple basic selections of “CD Quality”
and “DVD Quality,” which allow you to select optimized presets based on standards of
how the media is recorded and written to a disk for those formats. Use the pulldown
menu if you prefer to set the bit-rate and frequency yourself. All audio devices shown
will have a Default Format section. Adjusting the frequency too low will heavily reduce
audio quality, moving it too high can impact overall performance and cause otheranomalies.
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To the right of the pulldown is the Restore Defaults button, shown by an eraser icon,
which will reset any changes made to the default of the controller.

If you switch over to the Sound Effects tab, you’ll notice the “Main Volume” controls
near the top. The slider directly under Main Volume adjusts the Balance of yourspeakers. It is generally recommended to leave the slider centered, since most audio ismeant to run with the audio output centered; this setting is mostly to compensate for
either off-center speaker configurations or individuals suffering from partial hearing loss.
To the right of Balance is “Volume;” this is the volume control for the Realtek software
but also adjusts Windows main volume; this will also work similarly to a pre-amp if yourspeakers have a separate volume control that controls the volume after leaving the PC
but before reaching the speakers. For this reason, many modern speaker systems use
sequential volume controls working additively off each other.
To the right is the Mute button. This is tied-in with the Windows volume; clicking thisbutton will Mute all audio output in Windows. Click again to restore audio.

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The “Set Default Device” will allow you to set the Default Device or Communication
Device without entering the Windows Playback menu; for non-default devices, this box
will drop down similar to the image above. For default devices, the box will be grayedout if the device selected above (i.e. Speakers, Digital Output, etc.) is the default device.
Below the Main Volume section is the “Sound Effects” and “Default Format” section.
“Default Format” was previously covered on Page 106. Under “Sound Effects,” you’ll
find Environment, Loudness, and Equalizer options.
Environment is defaulted to “None,”which means the sound will output how it
was originally recorded.
This section allows the Realtek controller
to simulate different acoustic environments
before delivering it to the speakers so thesound will emulate an arena, an auditorium,or even a bathroom.
If you want a preset other than what isavailable on the main screen, click thepulldown box next to “Environment,”
which defaults to <None> and contains alist of 24 total options.
You can revert the sound effects back to adefault state anytime by clicking the"Reset" button.

To the right of the Reset button is the “Loudness Equalization” setting. This iseffectively volume normalization, which is a setting designed to prevent drastic volume
changes in music, movies, games, etc. from one audio source to the next, much likemany TV’s utilize to prevent a sudden increase in volume when switching from one
channel to the next. This is a good setting if you prefer to avoid volume going higher
than you want; however, you may lose some audio quality, depending on the audio- 108 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

source. This is unchecked by default. There is no additional configuration; the setting iseither enabled or disabled.
The last section in Sound
Effects is the Equalizer.
Much like the environment
section, there are visualreferences for presets, apulldown with 14 options,and a more traditional equalizer
setup with a 10-band EQ as part ofthe software suite.
You can select any of the presetsthat will provide you with basic
optimizations for your music
preference. To see the entire list, click on the pulldown
menu that reads <None> and a pulldown with allpresets becomes available. Including “<None>,” there
are 14 in total.
If you prefer to set your equalizer values manually, clickon the equalizer icon to bring up the 10-band equalizer.
This will bypass all presets and enable manual control.

From here, you can adjust
the tone of the music byraising or lowering theslider on each frequencyband.
You can make multiple
presets of your own, which will appear in the pulldown after you have saved them. The
presets each have their own benefits, but cannot take into account your audio
equipment, room acoustics, or subjective audio preferences. Creating your own EQ
profile allows you to further customize your audio to account for additional musicaloptions, such as Thrash Metal, Country music, Opera, etc. to match your specific tastes.

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If you would prefer to not manage the EQ in full manual mode, you can click the guitar
icon with the red box around it to bring you back to the equalizer presets menu.
The last section in Sound Effects is voice cancellation,
also called Karaoke mode (this should not be confusedwith noise cancellation options in the Microphonemenu). By left-clicking the icon, a red X will pop up, asshown in the image to the right. When the red X ispresent, the Realtek controller uses an algorithm tosuppress vocal sounds from the audio source, while
keeping instrumental sounds, much like a karaoke machine.
Underneath Karaoke is a menu for changing the key of the music playing. Raising thevalue (up to +4) will raise the pitch of the music and voice, while lowering the value(down to -4) will lower the pitch of the music and voice. This setting is designed to add
a fun effect to your audio; it generally should not be used as a means to “fix” audio.
The next device section
is “Speakers,” which iswhere you can configure
all of the output options
while using the analog
connectors on the back.
This section will focus
on the “Speaker
Configuration” and the“Room Correction” tabs.
The other tabs, “Sound
Effects” and “Default
Format,” are identical ineach section, and werepreviously covered on
Pages 107 and 106,
respectively.
The first option in “Speaker Configuration” is the pulldown menu for Stereo,
Quadraphonic (4.0), 5.1 Speakers, and 7.1 Speakers; there is no support for 4.1 audio.

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The “Audio Test” button will be present for all
speaker configurations, and serves the same function
in all speaker iterations.
Pressing the “Auto Test” button will play the same
sound file out of each speaker that should bepresent, based on the configuration option you
selected. As the sound test plays, an animation will
highlight the speaker the sound should be coming
from, this will help to ensure that the speakers areconnected correctly and oriented correctly, as well.

In the lower left, there is a pair of checkboxes labeled under “Full-Range Speakers.”
Full-range speakers are designed using drivers that can independently output audio
across a wide frequency response of (20Hz-20,000Hz +/- 3dB) at the same volumelevel. When this setting is enabled, Windows will disable its software crossover settingsand send the full frequency range to the speakers, whereupon the speakers will engage
its own hardware crossover filters to appropriately direct audio to the individual drivers.
If your speakers are not full-range, they will not have necessary hardware components toplay low frequencies, nor are they designed for that purpose. When the full-range
option is unchecked, the Audio Manager will instead send the full signal out using
crossover settings, available on 5.1/7.1 by selecting the Bass Management option. This
sort of signal will send out the full audio frequency such that the majority of thefrequency will go to the speakers, but direct the low frequencies to a subwoofer. Thisway, you’ll still get the same sound, but you must select the correct options.
To determine if your speakers are full-range or not, you must look at the minimum
frequency response of your speakers. The concern is not the high-end of the frequency
response, but rather the low-end. As noted above, if your speakers are not rated for aminimum of 20Hz, then they are not full-range speakers. Here are some considerations:- 111 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)•

Assume your speakers are not full-range. Modern speaker design uses a
subwoofer to handle the relatively small percentage of content you hear in an
audio signal. Low frequency content, more commonly known as sub-bass, isgreatly amplified by the subwoofer, which explains why the smallest percentageof your audio content can often be the loudest. The subwoofer allows the
speakers to concentrate on the remaining 99%+ of the audible frequency
bandwidth.

•

Generally, if your speakers came with a subwoofer, they are not full-range
speakers. As noted above, subwoofers are designed, in part, to allow speakers
to stay clear of the low frequencies. When examining the specs of the speakers,
make sure to look at the frequency response specifically of the speakers, and notjust the specs of the speaker system. Sometimes, the most easily available specs
may include the subwoofer, which can go as low as 18Hz +/-2 dB; theminimum frequency of the speakers, however, may be much higher.

•

If you have a 2.0 stereo setup, look for the frequency response specs. If they do
not have at least a 20Hz to 20kHz range, then they are not full-range speakers.
You may try full-range, but you will lose any audio data below the minimum
frequency of your speakers or may hear distortion at lower frequencies.

•

Headphones tend to be full-range speakers, as they are designed to operate
without a subwoofer. However, the quality of your headphones will determine
whether you should configure them as full-range or not.

•If you use a receiver or your speaker system has its own controls for the type of
speakers, do not use the full-range setting in the Realtek panel without
consulting the instructions of your receiver or speaker system, since it’s possiblethat your receiver or speakers prefers full-range, so that the receiver or speakersystem will utilize its own crossover settings once receiving the full audio range.

•

Lastly, audio equipment quality will have the greatest effect on whether you
should set full-range, or not. Very few speakers are properly designed for fullrange audio, and if they are, then they will likely be very expensive.

Two last considerations: First, do not set Headphones to full-range if using the
Headphone Surround option (may be listed as Virtual Surround), as Surround will notwork properly in full-range mode. Second, do not enable full-range mode for 5.1 audio
or the bass redirection will not work properly. The only exceptions to 5.1 and full-range
is that you either 1) have a full or partial set of full-range speakers in your setup, or 2)
you are using a receiver or speaker system that prefers to handle the low frequency
crossover at the receiver or speaker system, rather than using the Audio Manager toconfigure the crossover settings for low frequencies.
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When Full-range is enabled, the speaker icons are enlarged to represent the change.
Finally, Virtual Sound is an option created to send a stereo signal with positioning data
to a Matrix decoder to simulatesurround over a stereo signal.

Quadraphonic and above will have similar options for Full Range: the checkboxes for“Front Left and Right” and “Surround Speakers,” which controls the satellites.
Under Quadraphonic, there is an
option labeled “Speaker Fill.” Thisfeature uses an algorithm to manipulate
a stereo audio source to create a virtual
surround effect using additional
speakers.
5.1 and 7.1 add more options.
“Speaker Fill” carries over from
Quadraphonic, but also includes “SwapCenter / Subwoofer Output” and“Enable Base Management.”
Speaker Fill is still a virtual surroundsound emulation feature for stereo
audio sources, but not a true surround.
Swap Center / Subwoofer output is an
option because the Realtek controller
shares the subwoofer port with the front (stereo) speakers on the rear panel audio. As
the tooltip notes, if low frequencies are not playing on the subwoofer, you must enable
this setting. Also, most surround speaker sets use both the front pair and subwoofer on
the same channel and voice speaker on a separate channel; in some instances, this is- 113 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

reversed such that the voice channel is joined with the front pair on one channel and thesubwoofer has a dedicated connector, which can lead to voice channels and subwoofer
receiving the wrong signal. The "Swap Center / Subwoofer Output" can resolve thistype of issue. Please first confirm the subwoofer is installed correctly, however, by using
the Component Legend on Page 16, and by consulting your speaker set’s manual.
Enable Base Management (on the previous page) is a setting that attempts to keep audio
data that may be lost or distorted near the frequency crossover point for the subwoofer
and satellite speakers. On a system that does not use full-range speakers, this is a crucial
setting for ensuring that your speaker system correctly plays low frequencies. The
default frequency is set to 80Hz, but your system may need adjustment.
To properly set the crossover frequency, look at the specs for both your speakers andsubwoofer. Some pre-assembled speaker systems may tell you what to set the crossover
frequency to in your instruction manual. If not, then look for the minimum frequency
response of your speakers (i.e. 75Hz, 80Hz, 175Hz, etc.), and the maximum frequency
response of your subwoofer (i.e. 60Hz, 80Hz, 120Hz). Once you have that information,
you can set the crossover frequency.
Ideally, you’ll want to make sure that the crossover settings provide enough room to set
the crossover frequency a little higher than your speakers’ minimum frequency response,
which will reduce distortion and provide a smoother transition to your subwoofer. A
good rule of thumb is to set the crossover frequency about 20Hz higher than yourminimum speaker frequency response. However, you may run into three different
scenarios:
First, the frequency response of your speakers (e.g. 60Hz) and subwoofer (e.g. 100Hz)
nicely overlap. This is ideal. Using the general rule above, you would set the crossover
frequency to 80Hz and call it a day. You should still test the audio to ensure it is free ofdistortions, but this provides enough room to pass the low frequencies to the subwoofer
and keep the higher frequencies to the speakers, without creating a conflict.
Second, the maximum frequency response of your subwoofers is exactly the same as theminimum frequency response of your speakers. In this case, you must set the crossover
frequency exactly to where the subwoofer and speakers meet.
Third, you may have a situation where your speakers’ minimum frequency response (e.g.
100Hz) is higher than your subwoofer’s maximum frequency response (e.g. 80Hz). Thisshould only happen if you purchased the subwoofer separately from the speakers. This
setup cannot work properly, and you must replace either the speakers or subwoofer.
Although you can adjust the setting to either the subwoofer’s maximum frequency
response or your speakers’ minimum frequency response, you’ll lose the audio data
between those frequencies.
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The Realtek HD Audio Manager, unfortunately, does not contain the ability to adjust
the crossover frequency settings. Instead, you must adjust the crossover frequency via aregistry edit in Windows. Due to the advanced nature of editing the Windows registry,
we do not provide instructions in this manual. However, if you would like to adjust thecrossover frequency settings, please see our FAQ on the EVGA website to walk you
through how to adjust this setting: https://www.evga.com/support/faq/?f=59663.
The 5.1 and 7.1 configurations include the section “Optional Speakers.” This allows you
to disable satellite speakers in pairs to bring any 5.1 or 7.1 system down to stereo. Thisis mainly used as a diagnostic tool for testing sound issues.

In the image above, speakers become transparent in the image when they are unchecked;
this is to give you a visual reference of which speakers are enabled and disabled when
testing for sound.
The last section under“Speakers” is “RoomCorrection.” This section
allows you to virtually
position the speakers using
the software to ensure thatthe surround effects are
positioned correctly based on
physical distance.
This is *ONLY* supported
in 5.1 and 7.1 and you will
receive the message to theright if you open the “Room Correction” tab in Quadraphonic or Stereo mode. If 5.1
or 7.1 is installed and setup in the “Speaker Configuration” page, you will see the full
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Room Correction menu without an error message. All speakers will initially show semitransparently. To edit this menu, check the box for “Enable Room Correction” at thebottom-center.
After you check the box to Enable Room Correction, you will need to select whether
you want distances displayed in Feet or Meters. Once selected, the unit of measurement
will be colored in light orange, and will be reflected in the measurements below for eachspeaker. From here, enter the measurements from the seating area to each speaker.
Once the distances are entered, test the audio and adjust the gain value to your liking.

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The final Device
section covers the
microphone. This tab
includes both arecording and aplayback section.
Both features have
similar balance options
as the other sections,but differ slightly in theVolume slider function.
The Recording Volumeslider pertains to audio
recorded by yourmicrophone. Raising
the volume allows theaudio to be recorded at a higher volume; in other words, if the microphone is used to
speak to another person, and the person has a hard time hearing you, raising the volume
will make it easier to hear you. Conversely, if you are too loud, lowering the volumeslider will produce a quieter audio. Muting this setting will mute all audio recorded byyour microphone.
The Playback Volume pertains to a function that allows the Realtek controller to playback any audio the microphone picks up. This is a useful feature to assist with hearing
your own speaking volume or audio content playing in the background. By default, thissetting is muted. If you encounter an issue where you constantly hear yourself talk, andyou’re sure it’s coming from the computer, check first to see if this setting is enabled.
The Microphone Boost button is next to the upper Mute button. The boost assists byincreasing the gain of what your microphone picks up while recording. If yourmicrophone is not consistently picking up your voice when speaking, try adjusting theboost higher in small increments, as a little boost can go a long way.
To increase the boost, click the “Microphone Boost” button. When the slider window
pops up, adjust the slider bar to the right, then close the popup by clicking the “X” andretest. Whenever you test a different microphone, reset the Boost to 0, test again, andadjust as necessary. You should keep in mind, however, that some mics naturally record
louder than others, and too much gain can ruin a recording. Likewise, if you use yourmicrophone for VOIP applications, too much boost can be painfully loud forwhomever is on the other side.
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Under “Microphone Effects,” there are two options that may be enabled: “Noise
Suppression” and “Acoustic Echo Cancellation.” “Noise Suppression” helps to remove
background noises, such as fans, air conditioning, or anything else that causes a
consistent ambient sound in the room.
When enabled, “Acoustic Echo Cancellation” removes echoes caused by room
acoustics. For example, when you speak into your mic, your mic initially records yourvoice, but it may also pick up an echo caused by your voice bouncing off objects in yourroom. This creates an echo audible to whomever you’re speaking to, much like being ona phone call with someone on speaker phone and you hear your own voice coming backinto your speaker. In these situations, this setting can prevent this from occurring.
As with any speaker or microphone setting, your audio equipment will have a significant
effect on audio quality and effectiveness of multiple settings. For example, somemicrophones already equip some degree of noise or echo cancellation and do not benefit
further from Realtek’s options. Likewise, even for microphones that do not have builtin noise or echo cancellation, Realtek’s cancellation effects may create distortion orother audio problems. You will need to test your own equipment to determine theeffectiveness and usefulness of the various settings outlined above in the Realtek HD
Audio Manager guide.

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EVGA NU Audio
EVGA NU Audio is a second and more powerful audio output available on the EVGA
Z490 DARK motherboard. Utilizing the more powerful headphone/speaker amp on theZ490 DARK, NU Audio can drive up to 600ohm headphones, as well as providing theideal sound for every type of audio experience. The NU Audio application features auser-friendly GUI to easily and quickly adjust settings or use a preset to jump right into
the action.
NU Audio is designed to work with 2.0 or 2.1 channel audio, such as headphones or
speakers with or without a subwoofer. The headphones/speakers must be connected via
an analog audio jack; headphones or speakers that connect via USB will not work withNU Audio. Within the NU audio GUI, you can add virtualization and EQ options byadjusting the settings.
Note: NU Audio is available only as a Stereo output option through the front panel
header. 4.0, 5.1, and 7.1 channel audio and stereo audio out of the rear I/O panel is notavailable through the NU Audio GUI. If you wish to use 4.0, 5.1, 7.1 channel or stereo
output via the rear panel I/O, you must use the output ports located on the I/O Panelof the motherboard (Page 16, Component 11) and configure your settings accordingly
via the Realtek HD Audio Manager.
Note: While the NU Audio exists separately from the Realtek HD Audio, some system
requirements, settings, and features crossover due to shared Windows audio resources.
As a result, some changes made in the Realtek HD Audio Manager will have an effecton the audio output through NU Audio.
To use NU Audio:
1. Install the EVGA Z490 DARK motherboard, including the cable to your Front
Panel Audio Header (Page 14, component 25)
2. Install the Realtek HD Audio driver, included on the USB Flash drive with yourmotherboard
3. Install the “NU Audio” driver and launch the NU Audio application
4. Attach your headphones or speakers to the front panel headphone/speaker jack on
your case or bay device.
5. Confirm that the Windows Playback default device is set to the Realtek HighDefinition Audio.

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Make sure that the Speaker Configuration in Realtek HD Audio Manager is set to
Stereo, or NU Audio will be disabled. When configured properly, the Speaker
Configuration will be set to Stereo and the front panel audio jack will be a solid green:- 120 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

The EVGA NU Audio will detect whether you have speakers/headphones connected toyour front panel headphone/speaker jack. If you have another audio device connectedto the rear panel jacks, the rear panel device will be disabled. If the audio device is notconnected, or connected to the Realtek HD Audio ports, you will see this:- 121 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

The NU Audio Control Panel
The NU Audio control panel features a number of preset audio functions and a custom
preset to allow you to manually adjust each of the NU Audio settings. Although you can
use speakers with NU Audio, this guide is written assuming the user is wearing
headphones.
To begin, the Control Panel has standard features, such as a volume slider, a mutebutton, and a settings menu.

The SETTING menu provides several options:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.

Start With OS
a. Select this box to launch NU Audio when Windows starts
Start Minimized
a. Select this box to launch NU Audio minimized to your system tray
when Windows starts
Apply previous settings on loada. Select this box to launch NU Audio using the same settings set when
the application was last closed
Check updates
a. Change this option to determine how often NU Audio will check for a
new software version- 122 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

When you first connect your audio device, you will see NU Audio Control Panel initially
set to ORIGINAL MODE.
1. ORIGINAL Mode

The Original mode passes through a neutral, unprocessed sound that does not containany EQ or sound adjustments. This preset is best to evaluate NU Audio directly withsource audio material or contrast the sound with any of the other preset options.

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2. SURROUND Mode

The Surround mode preset uses a combination of Reverb and Crossfeed to allow
positional audio to register around your head. The Crossfeed setting will allow left andright positional audio greater freedom to cross over to the opposite side of the head,
while a higher Reverb will increase the audio volume to account for the lower volume
that occurs with a higher level of Crossfeed. This has the effect of creating greater
immersion within whatever type of entertainment content you choose. This setting
works well with a variety of content types, from gaming, movies, and certain types ofmusic.

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3. BASS Mode

The Bass mode is designed to give a bit more volume and reverberation to content
played on this preset. The extra Reverb will increase the volume and effect of sub-bass
frequencies. This setting is generally best for music, although you can increase the effectthrough the Custom Preset, if you wish.

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4. GAMING Mode

The Gaming mode preset consists of a slight bump in Reverb to provide a little moresound amplification and more noticeable positional audio to help locate sounds within agaming environment. This preset is designed to provide an improved stereo gaming
experience. For more impact, you may consider trying the Bass preset.

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5. THEATER Mode

The Theater mode preset creates the ideal environment for watching movies or othervisual content by expanding the virtual soundstage and increasing the volume andpositional effects to compensate. By increasing the Space, the audio output has room forbigger explosions or quiet suspense, while the boost to Reverb makes sure that theeffect is noticeable.

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6. CUSTOM mode

The Custom mode preset allows you to select each of the settings and determine thecorrect level for your audio gear. Please note that there are many factors to consider
when comparing headphones. In other words, two different pairs of headphones may
have significant differences in audio quality or listening experience when using identicalcustom settings. For example, some headphones naturally produce a wider soundstage
or higher level of Bass without any adjustment. We encourage you to test for yourself to
see what sounds best with different types of content.

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In Custom mode, you will notice that the names of the following settings are clickable,
which will enable/disable the audio effect settings. For example, if you want to see how
your audio sounds without the Reverb level you set, click the REVERB button todisable it, and the setting will become grayed out.

You can do this with each of the settings. However, Crossfeed and Cross Gain arelinked and will be enabled/disabled together.

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NU Audio Custom Settings:
a.

REVERB

Reverb acts much like an amplifier for the volume. It increases the level of the audio,
but it also makes a noticeable impact with positional effects by increasing or decreasing
the sound made when objects collide with other objects. Use care when setting Reverb,
as this will likely be the most noticeable change to your audio. Setting Reverb too highwill likely create an unpleasant volume level, while insufficient Reverb will leave theaudio sounding hollow and unnatural.
b. SPACE
Space refers to the soundstage created by the headphones to both spatially identify the
distance of the audio from the ear, as well as the virtual effect created to simulate thelocation of positional objects. This setting is essential to creating a virtual surroundenvironment if adjusted carefully. If the Space is set too high it may be difficult todetermine the location of certain sounds or certain details may be lost. Likewise, if theSpace is set too low, you may find that too much detail is compressed in the same
location, which means it may be difficult to separate distinct audio signatures.
c. CROSSFEED
Crossfeed refers to how much left/right directional audio bleeds into the other ear. For
example, if you hear a door slam to the right of your position, the sound will first travel
to your right ear and then reach your left ear after a slight delay. This tells your brain
where the sound is coming from and how far away the sound originated. Similarly,
speakers recreate this effect naturally, for the most part. With headphones, however,sound is not produced in this way because each audio channel is enclosed. Crossfeed
remedies this by allowing audio directed towards one channel to bleed into the opposite
channel with a slight delay, thus simulating a more natural sound. Carefully adjusting
Crossfeed has been known to reduce listening fatigue for some people.
For NU Audio, balancing the Crossfeed will both pass through a more natural audio
experience, but it can also improve detection of positional effects from left/right audio.

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d. CROSS GAIN
Cross Gain accompanies Crossfeed. Cross Gain is designed to amplify the amount ofaudio inserted into the opposite channel. Similar to Reverb, raising Cross Gain will
increase the volume, but Cross Gain is limited to the delayed audio inserted into the
opposite channel. This setting should be considered an option to fine-tune the volumeof left/right audio to balance the distance between the drivers and your ears for eachchannel.
EVGA NU Audio brings a new audio experience to those who often rely on using theirfront panel audio jack. We encourage you to test out NU Audio and enjoy a more
powerful listening experience.

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Using the ELEET X1 Software SuiteEVGA ELEET X1 is a monitoring and tuning software designed for EVGA
motherboards, which is available on the included USB drive and the EVGA website athttps://www.evga.com/eleetx1.
After installation, run ELEET X1. The left-hand side of the display contains system
information about your motherboard, including the CPU, per-core CPU clock
speed/voltage/temperature, and memory information. This information is displayed inreal-time and is available at all times, regardless of which tab is selected.
The first tab is “Overclocking,” which covers adjustments to each Core multiplier, Ring
ratio and various voltages, which provides a level of voltage control similar to what isavailable in the BIOS.

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As seen above, there are options for multiple voltages, and two options for your CPU
VCore: Adaptive and Override voltages. Adaptive allows for a tighter voltage profile tokeep voltage and heat to a minimum, while Override is more of a brute-force method ofsetting your voltage. One primary advantage of using a stable Adaptive voltage is that itallows your CPU to properly take advantage of C-States and energy saving features,
which can extend the lifespan of your CPU.
Adaptive requires you to set both a Target Voltage and an Offset Voltage. Start by
setting your Target Voltage, which represents the voltage necessary to run stable (orclose to it), even under load. One way to determine this is by stress-testing your CPU
with your desired overclock. Offset voltage can then be used to fine-tune additional
voltage that may be required under load or stress situations.
Override is simply a static voltage. Outside of extreme benching, this setting is typicallynot needed or ideal for the longevity of the CPU, since voltages are meant to fluctuate
based on load. Alternatively, this can be used in the early stages of overclocking to findyour Target voltage, before switching back to Adaptive.

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Other voltages do not utilize the Adaptive or Override voltage settings. Instead, theseuse a pulldown menu to select preset voltages, as shown above. The voltages for thesecomponents are set by detection during POST, and ELEET X1 will open the pulldown
to the currently detected voltage. Please be careful when adjusting voltages, as there arerisks to running electronics out of spec. Although EVGA warranties overclocking,other components are manufactured by different brands (i.e. RAM and CPU), which
may have different policies towards overclocking.
When your changes are complete, click “Apply” to accept and apply the new settings, or
click “Default” to restore stock settings.
To Save a profile, first configure and apply any and all settings. Next, click on any of the
profiles on the right side of the screen. Saved profiles show a ring around the profile,
while empty profiles have no outline. When you click on one of the profiles, it will befilled in. If you have previously saved a profile here, click “Load” to apply your profile.
Once loaded, you may close ELEET X1 and continue to use the new settings.

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The “Memory” tab allows for Real Time Memory overclocking on the Z490 FTW,
although this function is limited and determined by the installed processor. In otherwords, not all processors will be able to adjust memory timings on this page. Memory
timing adjustments may still be made in the BIOS.

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The next tab is “Monitoring,” which contains real-time system information of voltages,
temperatures, and fan speed information. Please note that all readings on this page arepulled from motherboard sensors, and change dynamically. Temperatures and voltages
are measured at fixed intervals, which can often make the readings appear to jump backand forth. Furthermore, voltages on modern motherboards often closely respond tochanges in load, meaning that voltage readings will change based on load and usage,
which is normal.

The Monitoring page only supports a static readout of each voltage, temperature, andfan speed. Settings cannot be adjusted or manipulated on this page.

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The “System” tab provides more detailed information on the motherboard, CPU, andmemory. Here, you can find the motherboard specs and BIOS date and version.

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Additional CPU details are provided, including the Stepping, Revision, Instructions, andCache layout. Lastly, additional memory information is available for secondary memory
timings, as well as the type and number of channels being used.

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ARGB and RGB headers connected to the motherboard can be controlled through the
LED tab. Users can select different modes/patterns of lighting based on the header
type and the number of LEDs connected through the ARGB header. The LED lighting
can be synched together by enabling the “link” button located to the right of the ARGB
drop-down box. In the lower box, you can adjust the color of the LED light, as well as
the brightness and speed of the LED lighting.

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The Setup menu gives you control over basic program and OS startup behavior, alongwith the ability to check for new updates.

This has been the ELEET X1 utility overview, which should give you a solid start tounderstanding and using the ELEET X1 software suite.
*EVGA ELEET X1 is still undergoing final testing and design modifications at the timeof this manual’s printing. Final GUI design, menus, and functionality may be subject tochange.

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Installing Drivers and Software

Note:

It is important to remember that before installing the drivers included in thekit, you must first load or install your operating system. The motherboard
natively supports 64bit versions of Windows 10.

The kit comes with a USB flash drive that contains utilities, drivers, andadditional software.
The USB flash drive that has been shipped with the EVGA Z490 DARK
Motherboard contains the following software and drivers:
 Chipset Drivers
 Audio Drivers
 EVGA NU Audio Drivers
 RAID Drivers
 LAN Drivers
 ME Drivers
 Intel® HD Graphics Drivers
 EVGA ELEET X1
 User’s Manual

Windows 10 Driver Installation
1. Insert the USB flash drive included in your EVGA Z490 DARK
motherboard kit into a USB port on your case or a USB port on themotherboard’s rear I/O panel.
2. Double-click the “Autorun” application file.

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3. The EVGA Driver Utility Screen will appear.

4. EVGA strongly recommends that you install the motherboard drivers first,
followed by rebooting your system. Next, install the Intel Rapid Storage
drivers and reboot.
5. The Driver Utility Screen also contains helpful links to give you more
information about your new EVGA motherboard and additional resources
to get started. The Z490 DARK manual is available through this utility andwithin the USB flash drive directly.
6. EVGA also encourages you to register your motherboard online by either
clicking on the Online Registration button in the Driver Utility, or byvisiting https://www.evga.com/register.

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Warranty and Overclocking
EVGA’s motherboard and graphics card components are designed for and intended forenthusiasts. To be perfectly clear, overclocking will NOT VOID your warranty.
This means that you are free to do any type or level of overclocking you like, including
traditional means, such as by using the BIOS/UEFI (for motherboards); software
overclocking with EVGA utilities, such as PX1 or ELEET X1; or even third-party
software utilities. If the motherboard or card fails due to overclocking, you’re covered.
Likewise, EVGA understands that enthusiasts are not always satisfied with the provided
stock cooling options. Replacing heatsinks, fans, or thermal grease will NOT VOID
your warranty. Want to install a waterblock on your new motherboard or graphics card?
No problem. Planning on a long benching session with a DICE/LN2 pot? Good luckon the benching, but your warranty will still be intact after you’ve set new world records.
Of course, there are some limitations to our warranties. If an EVGA motherboard orgraphics card sustains physical (i.e. damage to the PCB or component due to slippage
with a hand tool) or liquid damage, the warranty is void. Similarly, permanent changes
to components or the PCB will void your warranty, including the removal of preattached components soldered to the board, or the addition of components that are notremovable without heat or solvents. In other words, you may use Precision XOC toraise the voltage on your graphics card while overclocking, but you may not solder onanother power connector as an alternative.
If the product fails within the warranty period, you must return the product to its
original configuration. This means ALL original heatsinks and fans must be reattachedas they were when it was first shipped. Even if the product no longer works, it must be
returned to its original state before sending it in. If you no longer have the original
heatsinks you may be charged for the missing parts.
The EVGA warranty covers overclocking ONLY to EVGA products; EVGA is NOT
responsible for damage caused to components manufactured by other companies.
Before overclocking your system, check with the manufacturer of your othercomponents to ensure that you will not void the warranty on those parts due tooverclocking. Due to the uniqueness of every system, EVGA Customer Support cannot
assist you with overclocking. For overclocking assistance, please visit our Community
Forums at https://forums.evga.com- 143 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Troubleshooting
Flashing the BIOS
The motherboard BIOS of your Z490 DARK will sometimes need to be updated tocorrect bugs, improve performance, and sometimes add features. The latest
motherboard BIOS can be found at https://www.evga.com/drivers. Select theMotherboard tab, select the Z490 Chipset, 131-CL-E499 for the motherboard, andselect BIOS to see the most recent BIOS versions.
You may update the motherboard BIOS in several ways, as we provide a method toflash via Windows, update via USB from within the BIOS, or update using the force
method described below in the section, “Flashing the BIOS Without a CPU”.
For ease of use, you may use the included USB flash drive provided with yourmotherboard kit. If you use a different USB flash drive, please make sure to properly
format the flash drive to FAT32 before trying to flash the BIOS.
A. To flash via Windows:
a. Download the latest motherboard BIOS from the EVGA Download page,linked above.
b. Unzip the downloaded file to your desktop.
c. Make sure to close all open software and applications.
d. Open the folder and double-click the “Update.bat” file.
e. The flash utility will begin. If prompted, type “Y” to begin the flash.
f. DO NOT TURN OFF THE MOTHERBOARD UNTIL THE FLASH ISCOMPLETE.
g. When complete, the motherboard will automatically shut down. Power on themotherboard to go into the motherboard BIOS.
h. When you see the Z490 DARK splash screen, quickly tap the Delete key toenter the BIOS. Confirm that the BIOS has been updated to the latest version
by checking the BIOS version (located in the bottom-right of the screen) with
the BIOS version you downloaded.
Note:

If the flash box immediately closes after running Update.bat, you may need to
run Update.bat from a command prompt with administrator privileges, or rightclick Update.bat and select “Run as administrator”.

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B. To flash from within the Z490 DARK BIOS:
a. Download the latest motherboard BIOS, and unzip the file to your desktop.
b. Drag the unzipped folder into your USB flash drive.
c. Reboot the motherboard. When the Z490 DARK splash screen appears, tap
the Delete key to enter the BIOS.
d. Once inside the BIOS, navigate to the
EXTRAS tab, and select BIOS Update:e. Navigate to the folder containing the BIOS
files. Select the correct .bin file from thedropdown list.
f. After selecting the file, confirm that you
wish to update the motherboard BIOS.
g. After confirming the download, you’ll see anindication that the BIOS is updating.

DO NOT POWER OFF THE MOTHERBOARD WHILE THE BIOS IS
UPDATING.
h. Once the update is finished, themotherboard will power off. Power on themotherboard and enter the BIOS, using themethod described above. It is normal to see
an error message after updating your BIOS
such as the one below:i.

Confirm that the BIOS has been updated to the latest version by checking theBIOS version (located in the bottom-right of the screen) with the BIOS version
you downloaded.
Note:Your USB flash drive must be formatted as FAT32, or this method of flashing
the BIOS will not work. The USB flash drive included with your motherboard isalready properly formatted to FAT32. If you plan to use your own USB flash
drive, however, please make sure the file system is correct before attempting
this method.

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C. To flash from power on state:
A third method of flashing the BIOS can be done without going into the BIOS
or from within Windows. The steps for flashing directly from power on arelocated below, in the “Flashing the BIOS Without a CPU” section. These steps
will explain how to prepare the USB flash drive included with your Z490
DARK motherboard to update with a newer BIOS using the method below.
a.

Plug in the USB flash drive included with your Z490 DARK
motherboard, and boot into Windows.
b. Navigate to the USB flash drive so you can view the installed folders.
In the root of the flash drive, you should notice a file named“EVGAE499” or “EVGAE499.bin”. We highly recommend that you
make a backup of this file, in case you discover an issue with the new
BIOS or are unable to boot after flashing the new BIOS.

c. Download the latest BIOS for the Z490 DARK fromhttps://www.evga.com/drivers, and unzip the file to your desktop.
d. Inside the folder will also be a .bin file with the name of the new BIOS.
Right-click the .bin file and select “Rename”. Change the name to“EVGAE499.bin”.
e. Replace the existing EVGAE499.bin file in the EVGA USB flash drivewith the new BIOS that you downloaded and renamed.
f. At this point, you are ready to begin the BIOS update. Follow thesteps in the “Flashing the BIOS Without a CPU” in the section below.

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Flashing the BIOS Without a CPU
If your motherboard cannot boot, or you are unable to see picture on your display, there
can be a number of potential causes preventing your motherboard from completing a
successful boot. Some of these are listed and explained below.
If other troubleshooting does not resolve your issue, or you’ve purchased thismotherboard with a BIOS version prior to official support for your compatible Intel®
CPU, you may need to flash the BIOS.
Note:

Before you begin, make sure that your USB flash drive is formatted as
FAT32, or this method of flashing the BIOS will not work, as noted above.
If you plan to use the included USB flash drive with the latest BIOS version
from the EVGA Website, please make sure to first follow the steps listed
above for the “To flash from power on state” section to prepare the flash
drive. Once the latest BIOS is placed in the root folder and renamed
EVGAE499.bin, you are ready to proceed with the BIOS update.

In order to flash the BIOS without picture, you must follow these steps:
1. Turn off your Z490 DARK motherboard, if on, and turn your power supply off
by flipping the switch to the “Off” position.
2. Plug in the included USB flash drive to the USB 2.0 to SPI
header, as noted in the component legend on Page 14,component 34, or refer to this image:
3. Make sure the 24pin power connector from your power supply is plugged in to
the motherboard.
4. When ready, flip your power supply switch to the “On”
position and hold down the reset key.
5. Continue holding down the reset key, as the POST
LED counts down from 4.
6. When the flash begins, release the reset key. The POST LED will cycle in aclockwise manner during the flash process.
DO NOT TURN OFF THE MOTHERBOARD. IF THE MOTHERBOARD
IS TURNED OFF PRIOR TO COMPLETING THE FLASH PROCESS,THE BIOS MAY BECOME IRREVERSIBLY DAMAGED.

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The flash process may take up to 4 minutes. When finished, the motherboard willautomatically reboot. If you have not installed a CPU and at least one 8-pin CPU power
connector, the POST LED will stop at C. If this occurs, turn off the motherboard andpower supply and install any remaining hardware components before attempting to bootagain.

SSD / HDD is not detected
It is important to note that, as with *ALL* storage devices, if there is a connectivity
issue, make sure it is enabled in BIOS. Likewise, if there is a device that shares
bandwidth with your SSD or HDD (Page 27), make sure that the desired device isenabled in BIOS, or all other troubleshooting that comes after this section is moot.
If you’ve physically installed a drive that is not detected in Windows, by Windows setup,or within BIOS, please try the following steps. Component troubleshooting is primarily
accomplished through process of elimination testing to deduce a faulty component or abad connection.
Device is not receiving power:
For devices with external power, such as SATA or U.2, make sure power is connected tothe drive, and that the other side of the cable is attached to the correct port on your
PSU. If you are using a mechanical drive (either a platter HDD or an optical drive) you
should hear the motor spin up when you first power on the system. Similarly, if you put
your hand on the device you should feel the drive spin up, warmth from the motor, anda light on the front from an optical drive. If you see, hear, and feel this, then the device
is receiving power, and you may skip to the next section. If you do not see, hear, or feel
this, first try the cable on a device that you know works; if the cable works, then theissue is the device in question.
However, if you replace the device and the issue persists, then it is either the PSU, oneof its modular cables or the port the cable is plugged into. If you are using a modular
cable, try a different cable in the same PSU port, and also test on a different port toisolate the source of the problem. In many cases, the PSU manufacturer may be able toreplace the cable if it is bad.
Device has power, but does not show up in the BIOS:
If the device is getting power, then we should expect to see the drive in BIOS, unless
you are using a third party controller, such as Marvel or ASMedia; for devices on third- 148 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

party controllers, go to Page 87 to see if the device(s) show up in Windows DiskManagement. If the drive does not show in the SATA Configuration screen in BIOS,
make sure the SATA cable is firmly seated on both the drive side and the motherboard.
As noted above, if you are using a device on a connector that shares its bandwidth, youwill need to check and/or change the BIOS setting related to your device.
If you’ve already done this, test a different device using the same cable and SATA port
to see if the issue persists. If the issue is not resolved, test a different SATA cable, or adifferent SATA port. Always be sure to test each step separately, otherwise, if several
aspects are changed and drives are now detected, then you will not know what change
actually fixed it. If other devices work on the ports and with the same cables, then theissue is the device in question. If testing shows that either one or more of the ports are
bad with a different device, then the motherboard is likely the issue. If one or more of
the cables test bad with a different device, then replacing the cable(s) should resolve theissue.
M.2 devices have a bit less to test due to their connection that provides data and power
through a single socket. M.2 devices are installed at an angle, gently pushed down flushwith the motherboard, and then fastened into place. M.2 drives only fit one way, andcannot fit upside-down; however, you can have a bad connection if the card is notpushed all the way into the slot before bolting it down. Please refer to Page 34 for M.2
hardware installation, and Page 54 for setup.
Device has power, is seen in BIOS, but cannot be found in Windows:
Lastly, if the device was just added, other troubleshooting in this section has been done,
the device has power and shows up in the BIOS, but is not seen in Windows, then it
may be that the drive needs to be initialized, partitioned, and formatted in Windows.
See Page 87 for instructions.

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System does not POST, and POST code
indicator reads “C”
When the system powers on, the POST code indicator should cycle through several
different codes before booting. However, if the boot process does not complete, you
should look at the LED indicator, as it will give you diagnostic information. When a
POST code indicator cycles through codes and stops at a specific code, this is anindication that initialization of a specific component or process on the board failed. If
you power on the board and it goes directly to “C,” and nothingelse, that is an indication of a CPU-related issue. If the board
cannot detect the CPU in the socket, the POST code display will
display a “C”, as well. It is not likely a faulty CPU, although it ispossible; instead, it is most likely a CPU power issue. To theright of the CPU socket, there are are two 8-pin power
connectors (outlined in blue in the image to the right). These
connectors are the main power for the CPU, and without powerfrom the PSU the system cannot fully power on and initialize.
Depending on your motherboard, you may have one or two ofthese connectors; at least one must be plugged in. Both of theseconnectors are equivalent.
Make sure the plug is fully-seated and also make sure that the tabon the socket and the release on the power connector are on the same side (see the box
in blue on the second picture for the tab on the EPS connector). If the connectors do
not line up, then you have plugged in a PCIe 8-pin into the EPS connector, which may
cause irreparable damage to the motherboard or theCPU. For the Z499 DARK, attempting to plug in an
8-pin PCIe plug will likely damage the motherboard’s
PCB due to the right-angle connectors.
If the PSU is modular, make sure the cable is fullyseated on the PSU side as well. Also, only use cables from your PSU manufacturer foryour specific PSU, because using a cable designed for a different PSU may havecatastrophic effects. Finally, ensure that the cable on the PSU side is plugged into theconnector for the CPU, typically labelled “CPU” or “EPS,” but consult your power
supply manual for the correct plug.

- 150 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

System does not POST, and POST code
indicator reads “55”A POST code error reading “55” indicates a memory issue. Verify that memory is
installed, and that is it properly seated. Make sure that the memory is on the official
support list at www.evga.com/support/motherboard and click on “EVGA Z490
DARK.” If the memory is not on the list, it may still work because EVGA is unable totest every memory kit released. However, this motherboard will not support modules
over 32GB or ECC/Registered RAM.
If your memory should work on this motherboard, the next step is to bring it down to
one stick of memory in “DIMM slot 2” and retest. If this is your first boot with themotherboard and the board will not POST, your next step is to press the “Reset
CMOS” button. The system will power on when the Reset CMOS button is pressed,
which is normal. This should allow the system to boot up. When you see the EVGA
Z490 DARK screen, press “Del” to enter BIOS, set the XMP (instructions are coveredin first boot section on Page 53), press F10 to save and exit, which will reboot thesystem. If the system reboots successfully, you can power down and install the rest of
the memory to retest.

System does not POST, and POST code
indicator reads “d7”If the motherboard cannot detect a Keyboard, the system will fail to POST with a “d7”POST code. When this happens, some video card / monitor setups will display amessage on screen about a Keyboard error, while others will just remain blank. If thishappens, power down the system and reseat the USB connector. Make sure theKeyboard is NOT in the USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A connector, as this port may require
drivers to initialize and fully function. However, this error can sometimes happen witholder wireless keyboards, as well. If this is the case, we recommended that you plug in a
regular USB keyboard, reboot, enter BIOS, and go to Advanced – USB Configuration.
Make sure “Legacy USB Support” is set to “enabled,” then press F10 to save an exit.
Your keyboard should now work, and the board should POST past “d7.”- 151 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Have a question not covered above, or wantsome online resources?
If you have any issues or questions, you can find a lot of valuable help and informationon our website, including contact information for our top-notch TechnicalSupport/Customer Service.


You may find all of the motherboard drivers at
https://www.evga.com/support/download/. Select the “Motherboard” tab,then select “Intel® Z490” from the Family tab, then “131-CL-E499” from thepart number pulldown. Next, select either “All” or the specific component that
requires a driver, then select your operating system and click “Submit”

You may find the list of officially supported CPUs and System RAM for yourmotherboard, including the minimum required BIOS revision forcompatibility, at: https://www.evga.com/support/motherboard/. BIOS
updates are cumulative, so they will always support products from the previous
version, except when specified otherwise.

For our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) database, go to:https://www.evga.com/support/knowledgebase/To visit our Community Forums, go to: https://forums.evga.com/

For our Community Forums section dedicated to Z490 motherboards, go to:https://forums.evga.com/EVGA-Z490-Series-f112.aspx

Just finished building or upgrading your system and want to show it off? Makea ModsRigs Profile here: http://www.modsrigs.com/ and create a page
dedicated entirely to YOUR system!



Still building your rig? Make a build log here:
https://forums.evga.com/EVGA-MODS-RIGS-f33.aspx- 152 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Multifunction LED indicator
EVGA Z490 DARK board is equipped with a versatile display to allow real-timemonitoring of system status during and after the BIOS POST process. The operating
mode can be configured in the BIOS Setup in the Advanced menu, and then H/W
Monitor Configuration. The Debut Port Display setting selects the OS display mode.
There are multiple modes available:
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
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[Temp.] CPU – displays external CPU die temperature sensor readout in realtime. Use this mode to read negative temperatures.
[Temp.] PWM – displays VRM temperature sensor readout in real-time after
BIOS POST completion.
[Temp.] SYS – displays motherboard bay temperature sensors.
[Temp.] ATX 6P – display motherboard ATX 6P temperature sensors.
[Temp.] M.2 KEY-M(1) – displays M.2 KEY-M(1) temperature sensors.
[Temp.] M.2 KEY-M(2) – displays M.2 KEY-M(2) temperature sensors.
[Temp.] VDIMM VRM – display DIMM VRM temperature sensors.
[Temp.] PCH – displays PCH temperature sensors.
[Volt.] VCore – displays CPU VCORE after BIOS POST completion.
[Volt.] Memory – displays DIMM voltage for slots (0/1/2) after BIOS POST
completion.
[Volt.] VSA – displays System Agent CPU voltage after BIOS POST
completion.
[Volt.] VCCIO Voltage – displays I/O voltage after BIOS POST completion.
[Volt.] VCCST – displays PCH PLL voltage after BIOS POST completion.
[Volt.] VCCPLL – displays analog VCC voltage for internal clock PLL after
BIOS POST completion.
[Volt.] VCCPLL_OC – displays analog VCC voltage for internal clock PLL
after BIOS POST completion.
[Volt.] VTT – display DIMM VTT voltage after BIOS POST.
POST Code – displays only BIOS POST completion.
Turn Off - completely deactivates 80Port LED display

The Debug Port Display menu the BIOS Setup allows you to pick specific sensors to be
displayed on the 80Port.
These temperatures and voltages can also be seen in the BIOS setup window in realtime, for a quick overview.
The recommended settings to display during overclocking are “[Temp.] CPU” and“[Volt.] Vcore”.
- 153 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)- 154 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

POST Beep codes
POST beeps are used in conjunction with the POST Code indicator to help determine
the root cause when your system fails to boot. However, modern UEFI/BIOS
motherboards also use the speaker to convey helpful information, such as USB device
detection. As a result, users
Beep Codes
may become confused about# of Beeps Description
the number of beeps emitted,
1
Invalid Password
making the POST code beep 4Some of the Architectural Protocols are not Available
5
No Console Output Device detected
while still helpful - not as useful
5
No Console Input Device detected
as it once was.
6Flash Update Failed

Many motherboards will beep
7
Reset Protocol is not available
1-2 times per USB device
8
Platform PCI resource requirements cannot be met
plugged in at boot; some will
beep more based on functions of the device. These detection beeps may occur at thesame time as the system’s POST beeps, sometimes making it a challenge to separate the
POST beeps from the USB initialization. Since the POST code indicator now fills mostof the role previously held by audible beeps, there are far fewer POST beeps to help
debug problems, compared to previous motherboard generations.
1 Beep: This relates to BIOS boot passwords. The BIOS will beep, indicating that apassword is required to boot. If you incorrectly enter your BIOS password when
prompted by the BIOS, you will receive one beep.
4 Beeps: This is an error relating to some small recovery errors, which can occur whencoming out of sleep/hibernate.
5 Beeps: This error is stating it cannot detect a keyboard. This can also indicate a video
card is not detected.
6 Beeps: This relates to either a failed BIOS update, or a failed Intel® ME Firmware
update.
7 Beeps: This relates to a failed CPU INIT request. EFI/UEFI Reset protocol is used
when a processor INIT call is used and was not successful. This returns either an“EFI_UNSUPPORTED” error if the INIT type is not supported or an“EFI_Device_Error” if the error occurs while generating the INIT; either will result inseven (7) POST beeps.
8 Beeps: Error given when an incompatible PCI Express device is installed and cannot
initialize properly.

- 155 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

POST Port Debug LED
Provides two-digit diagnostic POST codes that shows system boot status and can also
show why the system may be failing to boot. The LED is extremely useful during
troubleshooting situations.
This Debug LED will display a series of hexadecimal (0-F) codes during the POST andwill display current CPU socket temperatures after the system has fully booted into the
Operating System. See the “POST CODE” section below for more detailed
descriptions of specific POST Codes.

Debug LED with CPU
Temperature Monitor- 156 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

POST Codes
Debug LED with CPU
Temperature Monitor
This section provides the AMI POST Codes for
the EVGA Z490 DARK Motherboard duringsystem boot up. The POST Codes are displayedon the Debug LED readout located directly on themotherboard. See Page 14 and 15- 45 -,component 21 of the Component Legend for physical location.

This Debug LED will switch to display the user’s 80Port Configuration settings
after POST (see Page 153). Please note that if you see the Debug LED
constantly switching numbers after entering Windows, the Debug LED is
showing temperature or voltage information, and is NOT reporting errors.

AMI POST Codes
1

Power on. Reset type detection (soft/hard).

2

AP initialization before microcode loading

3

North Bridge initialization before microcode loading

4South Bridge initialization before microcode loading

5

OEM initialization before microcode loading6

Microcode loading

7

AP initialization after microcode loading

8

North Bridge initialization after microcode loading

9

South Bridge initialization after microcode loading

0A

OEM initialization after microcode loading

0B

Cache initialization

0C-0D Reserved for future AMI SEC error codes
0E

Microcode not found- 157 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

0F

Microcode not loaded

10

PEI Core is started

11-14 Pre-memory CPU initialization is started
15-18 Pre-memory North Bridge initialization is started
19-1C Pre-memory South Bridge initialization is started
1D-2A OEM pre-memory initialization codes
2B

Memory initialization. Serial Presence Detect (SPD) data reading

2C

Memory initialization. Memory presence detection

2D

Memory initialization. Programming memory timing information

2E

Memory initialization. Configuring memory

2F

Memory initialization (other).

30

Reserved for ASL (see ASL Status Codes section below)

31

Memory Installed

32

CPU post-memory initialization is started

33

CPU post-memory initialization. Cache initialization

34

CPU post-memory initialization. Application Processor(s) (AP) initialization

35

CPU post-memory initialization. Boot Strap Processor (BSP) selection

36

CPU post-memory initialization. System Management Mode (SMM) initialization

37-3A Post-Memory North Bridge initialization is started
3B-3E Post-Memory South Bridge initialization is started
3F-4E OEM post memory initialization codes
4F

DXE IPL is started

50

Memory initialization error. Invalid memory type or incompatible memory speed

51

Memory initialization error. SPD reading has failed

52

Memory initialization error. Invalid memory size or memory modules do not match.

53

Memory initialization error. No usable memory detected

54

Unspecified memory initialization error.

55

Memory not installed

56

Invalid CPU type or Speed

57

CPU mismatch

58

CPU self-test failed or possible CPU cache error

59

CPU micro-code is not found or micro-code update is failed

5A

Internal CPU error- 158 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

5B

reset PPI is not available

5C-5F Reserved for future AMI error codes
E0

S3 Resume is stared (S3 Resume PPI is called by the DXE IPL)

E1

S3 Boot Script execution

E2

Video repostE3

OS S3 wake vector callE4-E7 Reserved for future AMI progress codes
E8-EB S3 Resume Failed
EC-EF Reserved for future AMI error codes
F0

Recovery condition triggered by firmware (Auto recovery)

F1

Recovery condition triggered by user (Forced recovery)

F2

Recovery process started

F3

Recovery firmware image is found

F4

Recovery firmware image is loaded

F5-F7 Reserved for future AMI progress codes
F8

Recovery PPI is not available

F9

Recovery capsule is not foundFA

Invalid recovery capsule

FB–FF Reserved for future AMI error codes
60

DXE Core is started

61

NVRAM initialization

62

Installation of the South Bridge Runtime Services

63-67 CPU DXE initialization is started
68

PCI host bridge initialization

69

North Bridge DXE initialization is started

6A

North Bridge DXE SMM initialization is started

6B-6F North Bridge DXE initialization (North Bridge module specific)
70

South Bridge DXE initialization is started

71

South Bridge DXE SMM initialization is started

72

South Bridge devices initialization

73-77 South Bridge DXE Initialization (South Bridge module specific)
78

ACPI module initialization- 159 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

79

CSM initialization

7A–7F Reserved for future AMI DXE codes
80–8F OEM DXE initialization codes
90

Boot Device Selection (BDS) phase is started

91

Driver connecting is started

92

PCI Bus initialization is started

93

PCI Bus Hot Plug Controller Initialization

94

PCI Bus Enumeration

95

PCI Bus Request Resources

96

PCI Bus Assign Resources

97

Console Output devices connect

98

Console input devices connect

99

Super IO Initialization

9A

USB initialization is started

9B

USB Reset

9C

USB Detect

9D

USB Enable

9E–9F Reserved for future AMI codes
A0

IDE initialization is started

A1

IDE Reset

A2

IDE Detect

A3

IDE Enable

A4

SCSI initialization is started

A5

SCSI ResetA6

SCSI Detect

A7

SCSI Enable

A8

Setup Verifying Password

A9

Start of Setup

AA

Reserved for ASL (see ASL Status Codes section below)

AB

Setup Input Wait

AC

Reserved for ASL (see ASL Status Codes section below)

AD

Ready To Boot event- 160 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

AE

Legacy Boot event

AF

Exit Boot Services event

B0

CPU Memory controller configuration

B1

Runtime Set Virtual Address MAP End

B2iMC init

B3

Memory training

B4

Memory training

B5

Memory training / timing training

B6

Memory training

B7

Memory training

B8-BF Memory training / DRAM final configuration
C0–CF OEM BDS initialization codes
D0

CPU initialization error

D1

North Bridge initialization error

D2South Bridge initialization error

D3

Some of the Architectural Protocols are not available

D4

PCI resource allocation error. Out of Resources

D5

No Space for Legacy Option ROM

D6

No Console Output Devices are foundD7

No Console Input Devices are found

D8

Invalid password

D9

Error loading Boot Option (Load Image returned error)

DA

Boot Option is failed (Start Image returned error)- 161 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

EVGA Glossary of Terms
AC – Alternating Current
ACPI - Advanced Configuration and Power Interface
AHCI – Advanced Host Controller Interface
APIC - Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller
BCLK – Base Clock (or operating frequency of base system bus)
BIOS - Basic Input Output System
CMOS - Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor
CPU – Central Processing Unit
DC – Direct Current
DDR - Double Data Rate
DIMM - Dual In-line Memory Module
DMI – Direct Memory Interface
DP – Display PortDRAM - Dynamic random access memory
DVI – Digital Video Interface
ELEET X1 – EVGA motherboard monitoring and tuning software
FIVR – Fully Integrated Voltage Regulator
GHz – Gigahertz
GPIO (Thunderbolt) – General Purpose Input/Output
GPU – Graphics Processing Unit
GUI – Graphical User Interface
HDD - Hard Disk Drive
HDMI - High-Definition Multimedia Interface
HDR – High Dynamic Range (Lighting)
HPET - High Precision Event Timer
HT – Hyper-Threading
HSF - Heat Sink Fan- 162 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

I/O - Input/Output
IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IGP - Integrated Graphics Processors
IMC – Integrated memory controller
IOH – Input/Output Hub
IRQ - Interrupt Request
JBOD - Just a Bunch of DisksJEDEC - Joint Electron Device Engineering Council
LAN - Local Area Network
LCD - Liquid Crystal Display
LGA – Land Grid Array
LN2 – Liquid Nitrogen Cooling
MAC - Media Access Control
M.2 – A card bus based standard commonly used for VERY fast SSD’s, and WiFi.
MCP - Media and Communications Processor
Intel® ME – Intel® Management Engine
MHz – Megahertz
MMIO – Memory Mapped I/O
NB - Northbridge
NCQ - Native Command Queuing
NIC - Network Interface Card
NTFS - New Technology File System
NVMe – Non-Volatile Memory Express
OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer
PATA - Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment
PCB - Printed Circuit Board
PCH – Platform Controller Hub
PCI - Peripheral Component Interconnect
PCIe - Peripheral Component Interconnect Express- 163 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

PLL – Phase Locked Loop
POST – Power on Self-Test
PWM – Pulse Width Modulation
QDR - Quad Data Rate
QOS – Quality of Service
QPI – Quick Path Interconnect
RAID - Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks
RAM – Random Access Memory
ROM – Read Only Memory
RGB - Red Green BlueSATA - Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
SAS – Serial Attached SCSISB - Southbridge
SCSI - Small Computer System Interface
SFR – Split Frame Rendering
SLI - Scalable Link Interface
SPD - Serial Presence Detect
S/PDIF - Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format
SPP - System Platform Processors
SSD – Solid State Drive
TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
Thunderbolt – High-speed hot-swappable interface (similar function to USB)
U.2 – High-Speed storage interface also referred to as SFF-8639
UDP – User Datagram Protocol
UEFI – Unified Extensible Firmware Interface
USB - Universal Serial Bus
VDroop - Voltage Droop
VGA - Video Graphics Array
VREG – Voltage Regulator- 164 -EVGA Z490 DARK (131-CL-E499)

Compliance Information

FCC Compliance Information
This device complies with FCC Rules Part 15. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may notcause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause
undesired operation. This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device,pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmfulinterference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not
installed and used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio
communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment
does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off andon, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures: (1) Increase theseparation between the equipment and signal source, or (2) connect the equipment to an outlet on a circuit different fromthat to which the signal source is connected. Consult the dealer or an experienced computer technician for help. The useof shielded cables for connection of peripheral devices to the PC systems is required to ensure compliance with FCC
regulations. Changes or modifications to this unit not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void
the user’s authority to operate the equipment.

CE Compliance Information
Generic Radiation Interference Standard for Information Technology Equipment. (EN 55022: 2006, Class B), (EN 610003-2: 2006), (EN 61000-3-3: 1995 + A1: 2001 + A2: 2005). Warning: This is a Class B product. In a domestic environment
this product may cause radio interference in which case the user may be required to take adequate measure. Generic
Immunity Standard for Information Technology Equipment. (EN 55024: 1998 + A1: 2001 + A2: 2003).

Trademark & Copyright Information
2001-2020 EVGA Corp. EVGA, the EVGA logo and combinations thereof are trademarks of EVGA Corp. All brand names,
company names, service marks, logos, and trademarks of the company, or its affiliates or licensors are trademarks orregistered trademarks of the company or its subsidiaries, affiliates or licensors in the US and other countries. Other
company, products and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. EVGA reserves the right to terminate
this license if there is a violation of its terms or default by the Original Purchaser. Upon termination, for any reason, all copiesof Software and materials must be immediately returned to EVGA and the Original Purchaser shall be liable to EVGA.com
CORP for any and all damages suffered as a result of the violation or default.

Legal Information
All material including but not limited to, text, data, design specifications, diagnostics, graphics, logos, reference boards, files,
images, drawings, and software including this document and the software itself (together and separately) is owned,
controlled by, licensed to, or used with permission by EVGA Corporation and is protected by copyright, trademark, and otherIntellectual property rights. All is being provided “as is”, EVGA Corporation makes no warranties, whether express or
implied, statutory or otherwise with respect to the materials and expressly disclaims all implied warranties of noninfringement, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall the liability of EVGA Corporation for
claims arising from the use of the materials by anyone exceed the original purchase price of the materials (or replacementof the materials at EVGA Corporation’s option). All information furnished is believed to be accurate and reliable. However,
EVGA Corporation assumes no responsibility for the consequences of use of such information or for any infringement ofpatents or other rights of third parties that may result from its use, or use of the Software. No license is granted by implicationor otherwise under any patent or patent rights of EVGA Corporation except as expressly provided herein. All specifications
mentioned in this publication are subject to change without notice.

Ver. 2- 165 -