Scorching off our check bench and prepared for assessment is the Asus’ ROG Maximus Z790 Hero. At present priced at $629.99, this premium motherboard gives a slew of options together with the basic high-end look discovered on the ROG Maximus motherboards. You get twelve USB ports on the rear IO, Thunderbolt 4 Kind-C ports, 5 complete M.2 sockets, flagship-class audio, and sturdy energy supply to assist the most recent Raptor Lake processors. Total, it’s a handsome and handsomely outfitted possibility, however the excessive worth can be a turnoff for some customers.
On the time we wrote this, Asus had a complete of 13 Z790 motherboards accessible. You’ll discover the entire acquainted SKUs, together with the ROG Maximus Excessive ($999), Maximus Apex ($699), The Z790-E Gaming WIFI ($499), ProArt Z790-Creator ($469), the Strix line that features all kinds of boards (together with an ITX mannequin). There are the extra budget-conscious Prime and TUF Gaming boards as nicely, making this about as sturdy a motherboard stack as you’ll discover on a single chipset.
On the {hardware} entrance, the Hero comes with the whole lot the Z790 platform gives, and loads of additional options. You get PCIe 5.0 slots and a PCIe 5.0 M.2 socket, the ROG Supreme FX ALC4082 codec with ESS SABRE DAC, ultra-fast 40 Gbps Thunderbolt 4 Kind-C ports on the rear IO, 20-phase 90A VRMs and a smooth, fashionable, high-end look. Efficiency throughout our check suite was, on common, the most effective we’ve seen from our early testing on the platform. Granted, until you’re benchmarks or your stopwatch you probably wouldn’t discover a distinction, however this boardstill examined nicely and confirmed it was a reliable gamer, too.
With the Z790 Hero at the moment listed at over $600, whereas different equally outfitted boards are priced significantly decrease, this Hero gained’t make our Greatest Motherboards checklist. However continues to be an awesome possibility in case you like the best way it seems and your funds permits. Earlier than we get into the small print, together with efficiency, we’ll begin by itemizing the specs from Asus’ web site.
Specs: Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero
| Socket | LGA1700 |
| Chipset | Z790 |
| Type Issue | ATX |
| Voltage Regulator | 21 Part (20x 90A SPS MOSFETs for Vcore) |
| Video Ports | (1) HDMI (v2.1) |
| (2) Intel Thunderbolt 4 (Kind-C) | |
| USB Ports | (2) Thunderbolt 4 Kind-C (40 Gbps) |
| (1) USB 3.2 Gen 2, Kind-C (10 Gbps) | |
| (5) USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) | |
| (4) USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) | |
| Community Jacks | (1) 2.5 GbE |
| Audio Jacks | (5) Analog + SPDIF |
| Legacy Ports/Jacks | ✗ |
| Different Ports/Jack | ✗ |
| PCIe x16 | (2) v5.0 (x16, or x8/x8) |
| (1) v4.0 (x4, x4/x4) | |
| PCIe x8 | ✗ |
| PCIe x4 | ✗ |
| PCIe x1 | ✗ |
| CrossFire/SLI | ✗ |
| DIMM Slots | (4) DDR5 7800+(OC)*, 128GB Capability |
| M.2 Sockets | (2) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) / PCIe (as much as 110mm) |
| (1) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) / PCIe+SATA (as much as 110mm) | |
| From Hyper M.2 Card: | |
| (1) PCIe 5.0 x4 (128 Gbps) / PCIe (as much as 110mm) | |
| or | |
| (2) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) / PCIe (as much as 110mm) | |
| (NVMe helps RAID 0/1/5/10) | |
| SATA Ports | (6) SATA3 6 Gbps (Helps RAID 0/1/5/10) |
| USB Headers | (1) USB v3.2 Gen 2×2, Kind-C (20 Gbps, 60W PD/QC4+) |
| (2) USB v3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) | |
| (1) USB v2.0 (480 Mbps) | |
| Fan/Pump Headers | (7) 4-Pin (CPU, CPU OPT, AIO, Chassis) |
| RGB Headers | (3) aRGB (3-pin) |
| (1) AURA RGB (4-pin) | |
| Diagnostics Panel | (1) Q-Code |
| (1) Q-LED | |
| Inside Button/Swap | Begin, Retry, Flex |
| SATA Controllers | ASMedia ASM1061 |
| Ethernet Controller(s) | (1) Intel (2.5 GbE) |
| Wi-Fi / Bluetooth | Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6E (2×2 ax, MU-MIMO, 2.4/5/6 GHz, 160 MHz, BT 5.3) |
| USB Controllers | (2) ASMedia ASM1074 |
| HD Audio Codec | ROG Supreme FX ALC4082 (ESS SABREES9218 Quad DAC) |
| DDL/DTS | ✗ / DTS: Sound Unbound |
| Guarantee | 3 Years |
Contained in the Field of the Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero
The Z790 Hero consists of loads of equipment. Contained in the field, you’ll discover the ROG Hyper M.2 card, SATA and RGB cables, a USB drive for drivers and utilities, and much more gadgets designed to make your life simpler when constructing your system. Beneath is an entire checklist of the included equipment.
- ARGB RGB extension cable
- (4) SATA 6Gb/s cables
- ROG Hyper M.2 Card w/Heatsink
- (2) M.2 screw packages for ROG Hyper M.2 Card
- Thermal pad for M.2
- DDR5 Fan holder
- VRM Fan holder
- ASUS Wi-Fi shifting antennas
- (3) M.2 backplate Q-Latch bundle
- (3) M.2 backplate Rubber Packages
- Q-connector
- ROG stickers
- ROG key chain
- ROG VIP card
- USB drive with utilities and drivers
- Consumer Information
Design of the Z790 Hero
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Pulling the Hero out of the field, simply by the burden you’re coping with a high-quality product. The black-on-black design is constructed on an 8-layer PCB, with some silver accents together with branding on the heatsinks and shrouds. The heatsinks are heavy, with deep notches cooling the VRMs and a beefy heatsink to chill the highest M.2 socket. There’s an RGB component above the rear IO space that illuminates some ROG branding – these are the one built-in RGBs on the board. Regardless, the Z790 Hero defintely seems the a part of a high-end motherboard.
Beginning with the higher left-hand nook, we get a more in-depth have a look at the RGB component that has matching diagonal strains operating by the show. It’s significantly better wanting than the dot-matrix fashion we noticed in earlier generations. It isn’t terribly vivid, however the colours are saturated, and it seems good. Management over this and another RGB gadgets connected to the board are dealt with by the Asus AURA RGB software program (discovered inside Armoury Crate).
The VRM heatsinks are fairly heavy, have loads of floor space with the deep miter cuts, and share the load by a heatpipe that connects the 2 components. They did an awesome job cooling the facility bits beneath when operating our flagship Intel Core i9-13900K, as you’ll see later within the assessment. Alongside the highest edge are two 8-pin EPS connectors (one required) to feed the CPU energy. To the left of these is an LED that lights up if the plug isn’t related.
To the precise of the socket, we run into 4 unreinforced DRAM slots with a single locking mechanism up prime. The Hero helps as much as 128GB of DDR5, with speeds listed as much as a blazing quick DDR5-7800+(OC). We didn’t have any points with our two kits as much as DDR5 6000. It’s clear, a minimum of on paper, that there’s extra headroom left. As all the time, your mileage might differ, so persist with the reminiscence QVL checklist at extraordinarily excessive speeds for the most effective likelihood of success.
Above the DRAM slots, on the highest edge, are the primary 4 (of eight) 4-pin fan headers. All the headers assist PWM- and DC-controlled gadgets. The CPU headers mechanically choose the correct mode, whereas the remainder of the ports require guide adjustment. Each the Chassis and CPU fan headers output as much as 1A/12W with the W_PUMP+ header outputs as much as 3A/36W. You may management the followers by the BIOS or Armoury Crate.
Off to the precise is the 2-character Q-code show and the 4-light Q-LED show. These each serve to let you know what’s happening through the board’s POST course of. If one thing goes fallacious, one of many 4 LEDs (CPU, Boot, VGA, RAM) will stay lit, and also you’ll have a extra detailed code on the Q-code exhibiting you the place the issue is.
Working our approach down the precise fringe of the board, we run into the primary (of three) 3-pin ARGB headers, in addition to the Retry, Begin, and Flex key buttons. Subsequent, we hit the 24-pin ATX connection to energy the board, together with a 6-pin PCIe connector. You want the PCIe energy connector plugged into the board in case you plan to make use of the 60W PD/QC4+ charging functionality. In any other case, you’re restricted to 27W of charging output. Final however not least, on the highest half is the entrance panel USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20 Gbps) Kind-C connector.
Transferring on to the facility supply, electrical energy flows from the EPS connector(s) and onto the Digi+ ASP2205 PWM controller. From there, it heads on to twenty 90A Vishay model Sic850A SPS energy phases devoted to Vcore utilizing a Teamed configuration (one sign to 2 MOSFETs). The 1,800A accessible for Vcore is greater than able to driving the i9-13900K in any scenario.
The underside half is usually lined in heatsinks and shrouds hiding the PCB beneath. On the left aspect, just under the Supreme FX branding, hides the Asus-brand Realtek ALC4082 codec. At present, that is the most effective codec on motherboards and it is supplemented by an ESS ES9218 Quad DAC and several other devoted audio capacitors. If the onboard answer isn’t adequate, you’ll have to purchase a devoted add-in card.
Many of the M.2 sockets and the entire PCIe slots are discovered in the course of the board. Beginning with the latter, the Z790 Hero has three full-length slots. The 2 strengthened slots are for video playing cards and supply their bandwidth by the CPU operating at PCIe 5.0 x16/x0 or x8/x8. The underside slot connects through the chipset and runs at PCIe 4.0 x4, however this slot additionally bifurcates to x4/x4 (see BIOS) and helps the Hyper M.2 AIC (add-in-card).
The M.2 sockets is the place issues get enjoyable. The highest M.2 socket (M.2_1) connects by the CPU and runs PCIe 4.0 x4 drives as much as 110mm lengthy. M.2_2 and M.2_3 join by the chipset and assist as much as 80mm modules at PCIe 4.0 x4 speeds. M.2_3 additionally helps SATA-based M.2 modules, with each sockets able to putting in as much as 110mm modules. However wait! There’s extra!
The included Hyper M.2 module helps as much as two modules, however it relies on what PCIe slot it’s put in in as to what number of and what sort of PCIe slot (4.0 or 5.0) it’s. Should you throw the AIC within the second (center) full-length PCIe slot, it can run ONE M.2 drive as much as PCIe 5.0 x4 speeds (the onboard Hyper M.2_2 can also be disabled). Should you set up it within the backside slot connected by the chipset, the PCIe slot bifurcates to 2 units of PCIe 4.0 x4 lanes and runs two PCIe 4.0 x4 modules. You may run as much as 5 M.2 storage gadgets On this configuration. There are definitely loads of choices on the M.2 entrance, however the specs web page and the guide have all the small print.
Transferring previous the chipset space and onto the precise edge, we run into the six SATA ports (the highest 4 are from the chipset whereas the underside is from an ASMedia controller) and two entrance panel USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) ports.
Throughout the underside of the board are a number of uncovered headers. You’ll discover the standard: extra USB ports, RGB headers, and even some headers devoted to customized watercooling (movement and temperatures)energy/reset buttons. Beneath is an entire checklist, from left to proper.
- PCIe mode change
- Entrance panel audio
- 4-pin ARGB header
- (2) 3-pin RGB headers
- (3) Chassis Fan headers
- (2) USB 2.0 headers
- 2-pin Temperature sensor
- Water Pump+ fan header
- Water temp in/out headers
- Water movement headers
- System panel header
The rear IO plate on the Z790 Hero comes preinstalled to the motherboard. It has a black background with white labels on the ports, which makes them straightforward to learn. There are a complete of 12 USB ports: 2x Thunderbolt 4 Kind-C (40 Gbps, passes video as nicely), 6x 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps, one Kind-C) ports, and 4 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) ports. On the left is a button to swap between BIOSes, and a Clear CMOS button. Subsequent to it’s the HDMI port for video. On the precise is the five-plug audio stack, the Wi-Fi 6E antenna connections, and simply above the USB ports, the Intel 2.5 GbE.
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