Also, it will look great in your build! The board features a rough industrial aesthetic with slight yellow accents that give it a truly TUF look. The MSI MAG Z790 Tomahawk Wi-Fi, on the other hand, ditches the RGB lighting but instead makes a solid case for a mid-range motherboard with DDR5 support. It's an outstanding value for the money, too, so if you're not fussed about fancy lighting, it's a great choice.

Overall, the MSI MPG Z790 WiFi Gaming is a true powerhouse with its high-quality VRM structure and elaborate cooling solutions. Not only that, but the plethora of USB and storage options also make the board stand out from the competition. Because of these factors and many more, we have crowned the MSI MPG Z790 WiFi Gaming as the Best Overall Z790 Motherboard. Performance: 10/10

DIY-FRIENDLY FEATURES

No, you do not need a Z790 motherboard for 13th Gen Intel processors. The previous-generation Z690 motherboards also fully support 13th Gen CPUs with a BIOS update. Design and Build Quality:At first glance, I found the design of the ROG Maximus Z790 HERO to be extremely impressive and in line with the traditional ASUS design ethos. I like the implementation of the RGB lighting on this board. The build quality is also quite admirable, thanks to the crafting materials used in the construction of the PCB.

How about PCIe Gen 5? Does a small motherboard like this mean you’re not fully covered here? Not at all! Being Z790, you’re given a PCIe Gen 5 16x slot—only one due to the space constraints. That’s for your GPU, which will have more than enough headroom for even future releases compared to PCIe Gen 4. Storage support If you're on a budget, a board like the GIGABYTE Z790 AORUS Elite AX will be a great companion for your 13th Gen CPU. While it doesn't cost nearly as much as some other Z790 boards, you still get DDR5 support, Wi-Fi 6E, and a stunning RGB design. Starting in the left corner, we see the required 8-pin EPS connector just above the heatpipe connecting the two VRM heatsinks. The left VRM bank has three slots cut out at the top to help get fresh air over the tiny fan hidden below. The fan makes noise when under heavy loads by default, but you can adjust the BIOS to mitigate that potential concern. Expansion Slots/Connectivity: Some Z790 Motherboards may offer multiple PCI-e 5.0×16 slots. At the same time, some miniature motherboards will only provide a solitary PCI-e 4th Gen (x16) slot. Moreover, you should have an estimated idea of how many and which type of USB ports you’d like to utilize since a few of the Cheapest Z790 Motherboards will cut down on comparatively faster USB connections to drive prices down.

#ROGPushFitDuet Challenge

winner(s) will receive TUF GAMING Z790-PRO WIFI + TUF Gaming LC II 360 ARGB + ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX™ 4060 Ti 8GB GDDR6 OC Edition

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Most ASUS Z790 motherboards have onboard Thunderbolt™ 4 ports or a header to provide up to 40 Gbps of bidirectional bandwidth for the latest superspeed devices and drives. The ROG STRIX Z790-I Gaming Wi-Fi motherboard cuts down on size, not features. You get 2x DIMM slots with support for a maximum of 64GB DDR5 memory up to 7600MHz, a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot for your graphics card, one M.2 slot with PCIe Gen 5 speeds, another M.2 with PCIe Gen 4 speeds, 2x SATA ports, and 2x Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports for dual bidirectional fast data transfer. Oh, and there’s Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 built right into the board, with support for 2.5GbE LAN. If you want a well-rounded motherboard that doesn’t break the bank, the Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX makes a ton of sense for your latest 13th-Gen Intel CPU. It features 4x DIMM DDR5 slots rated for a maximum capacity of 128GB and speeds of 7600MT/s. There’s one PCIe 5.0 x16 slot for the GPU, 2x M.2 slots running at PCIe 4.0 speeds, six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, plenty of USB ports and headers (up to USB 3.2 Gen 2×2), 2.5GbE LAN, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3.Abundant Connectivity: Two Thunderbolt ™ 4 ports, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C ® rear I/O port and front-panel connector, four additional USB 3.2 Gen 2 and Gen 1 ports, PCIe 5.0 x16 SafeSlot, and HDMI ® 2.1 PRO TIP: Gigabyte’s RGB Fusion software can be used to configure the RGB lighting of the Z790 AORUS Master. Robust Power Solution: 10 + 1 power solution rated for 105A per stage with ProCool II power connectors, high-quality alloy chokes, and durable capacitors to support multi-core processors SFF Innovations: ROG Strix Hive moves OC controls and connectivity to the desktop while allowing for a larger audio solution, and the ROG FPS-II Card vertically mounts USB and SATA ports for a better building experience However, Z790 motherboards are the best choice since they support faster DDR5 RAM speeds, have more high-speed USB ports, and are compatible with Raptor Lake CPUs without any extra tinkering. Q: What Motherboard Do You Need for 13th-Generation Intel Processors?