Getting the most out of Intel’s Core i9-11900K primarily relies on two main factors: premium cooling for the chip itself, and a solid motherboard acting as the foundation. And while motherboard manufacturers such as EVGA can’t do anything about the former, they have quite a bit of experience with the latter.
Today we’re taking a look at EVGA’s Z590 Dark motherboard, which is putting EVGA’s experience to the test as one of a small handful of LGA1200 motherboards geared for extreme overclocking. A niche market within a niche market, few people really have the need (or the means) to overclock a processor within an inch of its life. But for those that do, EVGA has developed a well-earned reputation with its Dark series boards for pulling out all of the stops in helping overclockers get the most out of their chips. And even for the rest of us who will never see a Rocket Lake chip pass 6GHz, it’s interesting to see just what it takes with regards to motherboard design and construction to get the job done.