Question about ASUS ROG STRIX Z590-E GAMING

Right, thanks. Just had to activate it; the TPM port is apparently a leftover.

Mainboards from the consumer sector do not have a separate TPM module installed. I don't know of any that do, do you?
And yes, on most of them, if you need a separate TPM module, you can simply plug it in via the corresponding pin header.
But even that is not absolutely necessary. Modern CPUs have corresponding TPM functions integrated and you only have to activate this in the BIOS.

My standard text block on this topic:

Currently, there are very few mainboards or none that have a TPM 2.0 module permanently installed. This refers to mainboards for do-it-yourself PCs. However, some offer the possibility of buying a TPM 2.0 module as a separate module and retrofitting it on the board in a slot provided for this purpose ( https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki...).

In addition to physical TPM modules, there are also fTPM (firmware TPM, called PTT at Intel).
Intel and AMD have been integrating TPM version 2.0 into their CPUs for several years. To be able to use this, the BIOS of the PC/notebook must support it and it must be activated there.

List of Intel CPUs that officially support Windows 11 https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us...
List of AMD CPUs that officially support Windows 11 https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us...

FAQ about TPM 2.0 https://www.heise.de/select...

Before buying a TPM module for the mainboard, which may be unnecessary, you should check whether the possibility of fTPM / PTT via CPU is possible in the BIOS and whether this only needs to be activated.

Help pages on (f)TPM and Windows 11 from various mainboard/PC manufacturers:
ASUS https://www.asus.com/ch-de...
ASUS https://www.asus.com/microsite...
MSI https://www.msi.com/blog...
Gigabyte https://www.gigabyte.com/Press...
Asrock https://www.asrock.com/support...
Zotac https://www.zotac.com/de...

Computerbase: Windows 11: How to activate TPM 2.0 in the BIOS on AMD and Intel PCs
https://www.computerbase.de/2021-10...

As far as I know, a TPM module is installed, so nothing needs to be retrofitted. I speak from experience.