ASROCK Z590 Steel Legend User manual

Version 1.0
Published January 2021
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CALIFORNIA, USA ONLY
e Lithium battery adopted on this motherboard contains Perchlorate, a toxic substance
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“Perchlorate Material-special handling may apply, see www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/
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Z590 Steel Legend
Motherboard Layout

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No. Description
1 12V Power Connector (ATX12V1)
2 12V Power Connector (ATX12V2)
3 2 x 288-pin DDR4 DIMM Slots (DDR4_A1, DDR4_B1)
4 2 x 288-pin DDR4 DIMM Slots (DDR4_A2, DDR4_B2)
5 CPU/Water Pump Fan Connector (CPU_FAN2/WP)
6 Addressable LED Header (ADDR_LED2)
7 RGB LED Header (RGB_LED2)
8 ATX Power Connector (ATXPWR1)
9 Front Panel Type C USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Header (USB31_TC_2)
10 USB 3.2 Gen1 Header (USB3_5_6)
11 CPU Fan Connector (CPU_FAN1)
12 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_2)
13 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_1)
14 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_4)
15 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_5)
16 Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connector (CHA_FAN5/WP)
17 POST Status Checker (PSC)
18 Power LED and Speaker Header (SPK_PLED1)
19 SPI TPM Header (SPI_TPM_J1)
20 Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connector (CHA_FAN3/WP)
21 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_0)
22 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_1)
23 System Panel Header (PANEL1)
24 Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connector (CHA_FAN4/WP)
25 Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connector (CHA_FAN2/WP)
26 USB 2.0 Header (USB_5_6)
27 USB 2.0 Header (USB_3_4)
28 Clear CMOS Jumper (CLRMOS1)
29 USB 3.2 Gen1 Header (USB3_3_4)
30 RGB LED Header (RGB_LED1)
31 Addressable LED Header (ADDR_LED1)
32 Front Panel Audio Header (HD_AUDIO1)
33 underbolt AIC Connector (TB1)
34 Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connector (CHA_FAN1/WP)

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Z590 Steel Legend
No. Description No. Description
1 USB 2.0 Ports (USB_1_2) 8 Microphone (Pink)
2 USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A Port (USB31_TA_1) 9 Optical SPDIF Out Port
3 2.5G LAN RJ-45 Port (Dragon RTL8125BG)* 10 USB 3.2 Gen1 Ports (USB3_12)***
4 Central / Bass (Orange) 11 USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Port (USB31_TC_1)
5 Rear Speaker (Black) 12 DisplayPort 1.4
6 Line In (Light Blue) 13 HDMI Port
7 Front Speaker (Lime)** 14 PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port
I/O Panel
ACT/LINK LED
SPEED LED
LAN Port
* ere are two LEDs on each LAN port. Please refer to the table below for the LAN port LED indications.
Activity / Link LED Speed LED
Status Description Status Description
O No Link O 10Mbps connection
Blinking Data Activity Orange 100Mbps/1Gbps connection
On Link Green 2.5Gbps connection
1
8913
5
4
7
6
14 11
2
12 10
3

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** If you use a 2-channel speaker, please connect the speaker’s plug into “Front Speaker Jack”. See the table below
for connection details in accordance with the type of speaker you use.
Audio Output
Channels
Front Speaker
(No. 7)
Rear Speaker
(No. 5)
Central / Bass
(No. 4)
Line In
(No. 6)
2V -- -- --
4V V -- --
6V V V --
8V V V V
*** Ultra USB Power is supported on USB3_12 ports. ACPI wake-up function is not supported on USB3_12 ports.

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Z590 Steel Legend
Graphics Card Holder
Installing the Graphics Card Holder
Step 1
Secure the Graphics Card Holder to the chassis
with 2 screws.
*ere are two types of screws in the package.
Please use the appropriate type based on the
standos on the motherboard tray of your PC
case.
Step 2
Aer installing your graphics card, place the
bracket in the proper position to make sure that
it holds your graphics card in place.
en secure the bracket to the Graphics Card
Holder with 1 screw.
Before installing the Graphics Card Holder , please make sure that your motherboard
is properly installed into a PC case.
Type A Type B

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Chapter 1 Introduction
ank you for purchasing ASRock Z590 Steel Legend motherboard, a reliable
motherboard produced under ASRock’s consistently stringent quality control.
It delivers excellent performance with robust design conforming to ASRock’s
commitment to quality and endurance.
1.1 Package Contents
• ASRock Z590 Steel Legend Motherboard (ATX Form Factor)
• ASRock Z590 Steel Legend Quick Installation Guide
• ASRock Z590 Steel Legend Support CD
• 2 x Serial ATA (SATA) Data Cables (Optional)
• 4 x Screws for M.2 Sockets (Optional)
• 2 x Standos for M.2 Sockets (Optional)
• 1 x Graphics Card Holder (Optional)
Because the motherboard specications and the BIOS soware might be updated, the
content of this documentation will be subject to change without notice. In case any
modications of this documentation occur, the updated version will be available on
ASRock’s website without further notice. If you require technical support related to
this motherboard, please visit our website for specic information about the model
you are using. You may nd the latest VGA cards and CPU support list on ASRock’s
website as well. ASRock website http://www.asrock.com.

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Z590 Steel Legend
1.2 Specications
Platform • ATX Form Factor
• 2oz Copper PCB
CPU • Supports 10th Gen Intel® CoreTM Processors and 11th Gen
Intel® CoreTM Processors (LGA1200)
• Digi Power design
• 14 Power Phase design
• Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Max 3.0 Technology
• Supports Intel® K-Series unlocked CPUs
Chipset • Intel® Z590
Memory • Dual Channel DDR4 Memory Technology
• 4 x DDR4 DIMM Slots
• 11th Gen Intel® CoreTM Processors support DDR4 non-ECC,
un-buered memory up to 4800+(OC)*
• 10th Gen Intel® CoreTM Processors support DDR4 non-ECC,
un-buered memory up to 4666+(OC)*
* 11th Gen Intel® CoreTM (i9/i7/i5) support DDR4 up to 3200;
CoreTM (i3), Pentium® and Celeron® support DDR4 up to 2666.
* 10th Gen Intel® CoreTM (i9/i7) support DDR4 up to 2933; CoreTM
(i5/i3), Pentium® and Celeron® support DDR4 up to 2666.
* Please refer to Memory Support List on ASRock's website for
more information. (http://www.asrock.com/)
• Supports ECC UDIMM memory modules (operate in non-
ECC mode)
• Max. capacity of system memory: 128GB
• Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Prole (XMP) 2.0
• 15μ Gold Contact in DIMM Slots

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Expansion
Slot
11th Gen Intel® CoreTM Processors
• 2 x PCI Express x16 Slots (PCIE1/PCIE3: single at Gen4x16
(PCIE1); dual at Gen4x16 (PCIE1) / Gen3x4 (PCIE3))*
10th Gen Intel® CoreTM Processors
• 2 x PCI Express x16 Slots (PCIE1/PCIE3: single at Gen3x16
(PCIE1); dual at Gen3x16 (PCIE1) / Gen3x4 (PCIE3))*
* Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
• 3 x PCI Express 3.0 x1 Slots
• Supports AMD Quad CrossFireXTM and CrossFireXTM
• 1 x M.2 Socket (Key E), supports type 2230 WiFi/BT module
and Intel® CNVi (Integrated WiFi/BT)
• 15μ Gold Contact in VGA PCIe Slot (PCIE1)
Graphics • Intel® UHD Graphics Built-in Visuals and the VGA outputs
can be supported only with processors which are GPU
integrated.
• 11th Gen Intel® CoreTM Processors support Intel® XeGraphics
Architecture (Gen 12). 10th Gen Intel® CoreTM Processors
support Gen 9 Graphics
• Graphics, Media & Compute: Microso DirectX 12, OpenGL
4.5, Intel® Built In Visuals, Intel® Quick Sync Video, Hybrid /
Switchable Graphics, OpenCL 2.1
• Display & Content Security: Rec. 2020 (Wide Color Gamut),
Microso PlayReady 3.0, UHD/HDR Blu-ray Disc
• Dual graphics output: support HDMI and DisplayPort 1.4
ports by independent display controllers
• Supports HDMI 2.0 with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K
(4096x2160) @ 60Hz
• Supports DisplayPort 1.4 with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K
(4096x2304) @ 60Hz
• Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC and
HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI 2.0 Port (Compliant
HDMI monitor is required)
• Supports HDCP 2.3 with HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4
Ports
• Supports 4K Ultra HD (UHD) playback with HDMI 2.0 and
DisplayPort 1.4 Ports
* 11th Gen Intel® CoreTM Processors support HDMI 2.0. 10th Gen
Intel® CoreTM Processors support HDMI 1.4.

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Z590 Steel Legend
Audio • 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC897 Audio Codec)
• Supports Surge Protection
• Gold Audio Jacks
• 15μ Gold Audio Connector
• Nahimic Audio
LAN • 2.5 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000/2500 Mb/s
• Dragon RTL8125BG
• Supports Dragon 2.5G LAN Soware
- Smart Auto Adjust Bandwidth Control
- Visual User Friendly UI
- Visual Network Usage Statistics
- Optimized Default Setting for Game, Browser, and
Streaming Modes
- User Customized Priority Control
• Supports Wake-On-LAN
• Supports Lightning/ESD Protection
• Supports Energy Ecient Ethernet 802.3az
• Supports PXE
Rear Panel
I/O
• 2 x Antenna Mounting Points
• 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port
• 1 x HDMI Port
• 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
• 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
• 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s) (ReDriver) (Supports
ESD Protection)
• 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) (ReDriver) (Supports
ESD Protection)
• 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)
* Ultra USB Power is supported on USB3_12 ports.
* ACPI wake-up function is not supported on USB3_12 ports.
• 2 x USB 2.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)
• 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED
LED)
• HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in /
Front Speaker / Microphone (Gold Audio Jacks)

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Storage • 6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors, support RAID (RAID 0,
RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, Intel Rapid Storage Technology
18), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug*
* If M2_2 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA3_1 will
be disabled.
* If M2_3 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA3_5 will
be disabled.
• 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_1), supports M Key type
2260/2280 M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s)
(Only supported with 11th Gen Intel® CoreTM Processors)**
• 1 x Ultra M.2 Socket (M2_2), supports M Key type
2260/2280 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Ex-
press module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s)**
• 1 x Ultra M.2 Socket (M2_3), supports M Key type
2260/2280/22110 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI
Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s)**
** Supports Intel® OptaneTM Technology
** Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
** Supports ASRock U.2 Kit
Connector • 1 x SPI TPM Header
• 1 x Power LED and Speaker Header
• 2 x RGB LED Headers
* Support in total up to 12V/3A, 36W LED Strip
• 2 x Addressable LED Headers
* Support in total up to 5V/3A, 15W LED Strip
• 1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin)
* e CPU Fan Connector supports the CPU fan of maximum
1A (12W) fan power.
• 1 x CPU/Water Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan
Speed Control)
* e CPU/Water Pump Fan supports the water cooler fan of
maximum 2A (24W) fan power.
• 5 x Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan
Speed Control)
* e Chassis/Water Pump Fan supports the water cooler fan of
maximum 2A (24W) fan power.
* CPU_FAN2/WP, CHA_FAN1/WP, CHA_FAN2/WP, CHA_
FAN3/WP, CHA_FAN4/WP and CHA_FAN5/WP can auto
detect if 3-pin or 4-pin fan is in use.

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Z590 Steel Legend
• 1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Con-
nector)
• 2 x 8 pin 12V Power Connectors (Hi-Density Power Connec-
tor)
• 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector (15μ Gold Audio Connec-
tor)
• 1 x underbolt AIC Connector (5-pin) (Supports ASRock
underbolt 4 AIC Card)
• 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports
ESD Protection)
• 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Headers (Support 4 USB 3.2 Gen1 ports)
(ASMedia ASM1074 hub) (Supports ESD Protection)
• 1 x Front Panel Type C USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Header (20 Gb/s)
(Supports ESD Protection)
BIOS
Feature
• AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with multilingual GUI support
• ACPI 6.0 Compliant wake up events
• SMBIOS 2.7 Support
• CPU Core/Cache, CPU GT, VCCSA, DRAM, VCCIO,
VPPM, VCCIN AUX, VCCST Voltage Multi-adjustment
Hardware
Monitor
• Fan Tachometer: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water
Pump Fans
• Quiet Fan (Auto adjust chassis fan speed by CPU tempera-
ture): CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
• Fan Multi-Speed Control: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/
Water Pump Fans
• Voltage monitoring: CPU Vcore, PCH, DRAM, VCCIO,
VPPM, VCCSA, CPU PLL, +12V, +5V, +3.3V
OS • Microso® Windows® 10 64-bit
Certica-
tions
• FCC, CE
• ErP/EuP ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)

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Please realize that there is a certain risk involved with overclocking, including
adjusting the setting in the BIOS, applying Untied Overclocking Technology, or using
third-party overclocking tools. Overclocking may aect your system’s stability, or
even cause damage to the components and devices of your system. It should be done
at your own risk and expense. We are not responsible for possible damage caused by
overclocking.
* For detailed product information, please visit our website: http://www.asrock.com

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Z590 Steel Legend
is is an ATX form factor motherboard. Before you install the motherboard, study
the conguration of your chassis to ensure that the motherboard ts into it.
Pre-installation Precautions
Take note of the following precautions before you install motherboard components
or change any motherboard settings.
• Make sure to unplug the power cord before installing or removing the motherboard
components. Failure to do so may cause physical injuries and damages to motherboard
components.
• In order to avoid damage from static electricity to the motherboard’s components,
NEVER place your motherboard directly on a carpet. Also remember to use a grounded
wrist strap or touch a safety grounded object before you handle the components.
• Hold components by the edges and do not touch the ICs.
• Whenever you uninstall any components, place them on a grounded anti-static pad or
in the bag that comes with the components.
• When placing screws to secure the motherboard to the chassis, please do not over-
tighten the screws! Doing so may damage the motherboard.
Chapter 2 Installation

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2.1 Installing the CPU
1. Before you insert the 1200-Pin CPU into the socket, please check if the PnP cap
is on the socket, if the CPU surface is unclean, or if there are any bent pins in the
socket. Do not force to insert the CPU into the socket if above situation is found.
Otherwise, the CPU will be seriously damaged.
2. Unplug all power cables before installing the CPU.
1
2
A
B

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Z590 Steel Legend
4
5
3

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Please save and replace the cover if the processor is removed. e cover must be
placed if you wish to return the motherboard for aer service.