ASUS Announces Refreshed Intel Z790 Motherboards

[TheLostSwede]

With Intel about to launch its 14th generation of Core processors, the motherboard makers are refreshing their LGA-1700 motherboards, as Intel won't be releasing a new chipset for the 14th gen CPUs. ASUS has now revealed three new boards that will come ready out of the box for Intel's 14th gen Core CPUs. This kind of meagre lineup is likely what we'll be seeing from all of the major board makers, since it doesn't make sense to overhaul all of their boards for the new CPUs, since only a BIOS/UEFI update is needed for the new CPUs to function in just about any 600- or 700-series motherboard. ASUS' lineup of new boards consist of the ROG Maximus Z790 Dark Hero, the ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi II, and the TUF Gaming Z790-Pro WiFi.

Apart from a design overhaul of all three models with some minor changes to slot placements, which includes new, improved M.2 heatsinks with a much more refined look, ASUS has added WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 support to two of the three new models. On the ROG Hero board, ASUS has dropped the Hyper M.2 Card in favour of an onboard M.2 slot with a taller heatsink, looking much like what we've seen on some AMD X670E boards. ASUS has also added support for USB PD 3.0 and Quick Charge 4+ to the front USB Type-C ports and even made an app that shows how much power is being delivered by the port in question. Furthermore, ASUS has added support for AEMP II which the company claims makes it easier to optimise memory performance on the boards. ASUS did not reveal when the new boards will be available or what they'll cost. Specs of all three boards after the break.







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[W1zzard]

Any idea if these are Gen 5 on the M.2?

 

[TheLostSwede]

Any idea if these are Gen 5 on the M.2?

Added specs, but yes, the Maximus Hero has one. Should still be shared with the x16 slot though.

 

[chrcoluk]

Is it me or have they slightly tweaked the cpu bracket so the outer edges will have pressure on them?

Its me haha, just checked their current hero, it still looks same.

 

[wNotyarD]

Any idea if these are Gen 5 on the M.2?

Wouldn't bet on either the TUF and Strix Z790-A. Their non-refreshed counterparts have no PCIe 5.0 M.2 slots.

 

[Carlyle2020hs]

Since there is no evidence at all in the web:

Does anybody at least still have hope that they fixed the network issues?

 

[destruya]

Since there is no evidence at all in the web:

Does anybody at least still have hope that they fixed the network issues?

View attachment 310165

My solution for the NIC issues was "buy a X540" and run it in my x4 slot.

That said, I don't think I want to know how much the Dark Hero is going to cost. Also, why anyone would pay for a slightly-revised Z790 instead of waiting for the Z890 boards is beyond me, especially if they planned on using 24/48GB DIMMs.

 

[dj-electric]

I hope that the Z790 Dark Hero treats the Z790 Hero's original system-killing NIC issues. Im also a victim of this problem and might swap the board for it

My solution for the NIC issues was "buy a X540" and run it in my x4 slot.

That said, I don't think I want to know how much the Dark Hero is going to cost. Also, why anyone would pay for a slightly-revised Z790 instead of waiting for the Z890 boards is beyond me, especially if they planned on using 24/48GB DIMMs.

Z790 refresh is the last station on LGA1700. whatever comes next comes for Gen 15 on the next socket

 

[chrcoluk]

My solution for the NIC issues was "buy a X540" and run it in my x4 slot.

That said, I don't think I want to know how much the Dark Hero is going to cost. Also, why anyone would pay for a slightly-revised Z790 instead of waiting for the Z890 boards is beyond me, especially if they planned on using 24/48GB DIMMs.

My speculation is another price bump, and to justify it they need a new SKU.

I dont see a need for new boards over the original Z790 lineup. I also couldnt justify the Z790 pricing over Z690, so got a Z690, especially as I felt the Z690 had better PCIE lane allocation.

 

[destruya]

Well, doing some reading, it seems Z890 will be for the 15th Gen chips, not the 14th.

 

[Chaitanya]

My solution for the NIC issues was "buy a X540" and run it in my x4 slot.

That said, I don't think I want to know how much the Dark Hero is going to cost. Also, why anyone would pay for a slightly-revised Z790 instead of waiting for the Z890 boards is beyond me, especially if they planned on using 24/48GB DIMMs.

What fun spend $500+ on RoGarbage boards and then spend another $xx for NICs because shitsus couldnt be bothered to fix their broken products.

 

[InVasMani]

Maximus looks really great, but I shudder to think what that'll cost given past history with those boards and Asus pricing. They nailed the wire frame inspired aesthetics quite well though. Good to see WIFI 7 on 2 out of 3 of these boards though.

 

[chrcoluk]

Something I failed to consider on my last post in this thread, that I think in our current era is extremely important for manufacturers, that is product hype, releasing new motherboards gives media attention, media samples sent out etc. So I think that will be a major reason alongside the price hike.

I wouldnt mind seeing a second mini.m2 slot on boards to replace on board NIC's or at least as an addition. Then make mini M.2 ethernet devices, this will compensate to a degree for the PCIe slot slaughter and allow people to work around boards that ship with NIC's they not happy with..

 

[Hyderz]

Well, doing some reading, it seems Z890 will be for the 15th Gen chips, not the 14th.

intel will have the new names too, you think intel will have a new chipset name as well instead of continuing with z890

 

[Dr_b_]

What's the nic issue happening on the 1st gen heros?

 

[Braegnok]

New Asus Z790 Apex Encore is expected to drop this month. https://benchlife.info/asus-rog-maximus-z790-apex-encore/