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Even though it's not in retail stores yet, I wanted to get the thread started for the new ASRock Z590 OC Formula board!! This is the first mainstream 'OC Formula' board since the legendary Z170M OC Formula, so I figured we need a place to talk about it and share information. I also wanted to open up the thread to other ASRock Z590 boards because some of the information will translate to other models.
Please check out the thread here: L I N K

Interesting Features






Overclocking
Air Settings
The board comes with some memory profiles baked in. These might be a little bit loose by modern benching standards, but they are intended for compatibility. The board can handle tighter memory profiles than the ones in the bios, so keep that in mind.
In terms of acceptable voltage levels it all comes down to the cooling solution and also your comfort level. Here are a few tips to get you started for CPU temps:
- Core Voltage = 1.45v is certainly safe on AIO with temperatures in the range of 75c for light loads like Geekbench
- DRAM Voltage = Upper limit is around 2.1v but it really just depends on the memory
- VCCSA = 1.40v to 1.65v (I personally need about 1.40v 4800c14 on air)
- VCCIO_Memory = 1.40v to 1.65v (I personally need about 1.50v 4800c14 on air)
- VTTDDR = Auto for almost all situations, but lower than auto may help with SuperPi

'Extreme Overclocking' Memory Timing Example
working on it 
working on it 
working on it 
Smart Switches
The motherboard has fifteen smart switches: Power Button, Reset Button, Retry Button, Safe Boot Button, Clear CMOS Button, Rapid OC Buttons, NickShih’s OC Profile Buttons, PCIe ON/OFF Switch, Slow Mode Switch, LN2 Mode Switch, BIOS Selection Switch and BIOS Flashback Button.



OLED Firmware Update
1. Run CMD as administrator
2. Change active directory to the OLED software package folder
3. Type 'UpdateFW' and hit enter, wait for all 3 stages to finish before closing the command prompt window



OC Button Functionality
directions here

LN2
There are many ways to go about benching LN2, but here is a method that works for me:
- With CPU temp around -80c, train air 5G CPU with desired memory profile (such as air profile above), then save and go back into bios
- Set cold volts as follows
- VCC PLL = 1.40v to 2.3v (My finding suggests 1.80v is ideal for most CPUs with no scaling past that)
- Standby 1 = 1.50v to 1.8v (I set 1.60v myself and forget it. Testing different voltages for CPU scaling as yield no gain/loss)
- Standby 2 = Auto (If you have idle CB stability issues, you may need a value of around 1.15v)
- Standby 3 = Auto (If you have idle CB stability issues, you may need a value of around 1.15v)
- Boot OS with cold volts applied and CPU still around -80c
- Once in OS the CPU will take fullpot temps and you can start benching

Bios Flashback
The bios flashback feature is one of the most useful for extreme overclocking. If the bios becomes corrupt, or you have difficulties with the motherboard, a good first diagnostic step is to use the bios flashback feature because it completely wipes all portions of the bios.

Windows XP Support
Rejoice as XP works! The only thing you need to do is enable one bios option (see screenshot below). There is no native USB support so you may need a PCIe USB card or at the very least PS/2 mouse and keyboard.

NVMe Comparison
Check out proper reviews for more details on NVMe speeds, but I ran a few comparisons because some to satisfy a curiosity. I used a basic Phison E16 drive for the comparison (Team Group T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 M.2 2280 1TB)


Tools & Software
Updated: (4/19/21)
**If links are not working, copy/paste in browser directly
Bios: http://picx.xfastest.com/nickshih/asrock/Z590OCF_L123.zip
Formula Drive: http://picx.xfastest.com/nickshih/asrock/ASRock Motherboard Utility(v3.0.412).rar
Formula Drive (Portable for XP): http://picx.xfastest.com/nickshih/asrock/Formula Drive_3.0.407.4(portable lite).rar
OLED Firmware: http://picx.xfastest.com/nickshih/asrock/OLED_FW_BBU_210330_1.rar
Timing Configurator http://picx.xfastest.com/nickshih/asrock/AsrTCSetup(v4.0.9).rar
ASMedia USB Drivers for Windows 7: Download Link
ACPI for Windows XP: Download Link
That's all for now, more to come as we do deeper into this board![/SPOILER]