Our benchmarking build, generously provided by ASUS, recently received an update, with ASUS sending us a TUF Gaming 16GB GDDR6 AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT OC Edition in white GPU to review. At the same time, we received an ASUS TUF Gaming GT302 ARGB Case (Review coming soon) in white, and the ASUS ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WIFI II Motherboard, the subject of this review.

The ATX form factor of the ASUS ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WIFI II Motherboard provides builders with plenty of working space, measuring 30.5cm x 24.4cm, and this additional space gives room for additional components. It also means that installation is a breeze, as everything is nicely spaced out, with the majority of connector pins located on the outer perimeter of the board. I/O connectors related to the CPU are close to the LGA1700 socket, including dedicated headers for a Fan, an AIO Pump, and an optional (OPT) fan.

Additional cooling can be supplied by an additional five 4-pin chassis fan headers, strategically placed around the edges of the board, as well as three 3-pin ARGB headers, letting you connect all your ARGB elements. There’s even a standard 4-pin header for controlling “standard” RGB lighting, the kind that doesn’t support the “addressable” aspects of ARGB. The difference is that ARGB means individual LEDs on a component can be set to a specific colour, whereas a “standard” RGB system can’t. This is why you’ll sometimes see individual LEDs changing colour along a part, versus the whole piece changing colour as one.

The larger board allows up to five M.2 expansion cards to be installed, two supporting 2242/2260/2280/22110 types, one for type 2242/2260/2280, and two for 2280. These all offer PCIe 4.0 x4 modes, with the last mentioned having a SATA mode. These are protected by dedicated heatsinks, hiding them away while drawing away excess heat, and installation is made nice and easy using ASUS’s M.2 Q-Latch system.

As for expansion slots, there is a single PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, particularly useful for any higher-powered GPUs, and this makes use of ASUS’s Q-Release system, making it perfect for our needs as we’ll be swapping cards in and out during its lifetime. There’s also a PCIe 4.0 x16 (with x4 support), allowing you to connect a second full-size card, and a PCIe 3.0 x1 slot, offering support for smaller expansion cards, such as additional USB sockets.

The board we received supports Intel CPUs, and the LGA1700 socket will run 12th, 13th, and 14thGen I-Series processors, as well as Pentium Gold and Celeron Processors, and the four DIMM slots can provide up to 192GB of DDR5 RAM. Furthermore, these will support memory speeds up to 8000+(OC) through Intel’s Extreme Memory Profile, OptiMem II, and ASUS Enhanced Memory Profile II. You’ll need to ensure that your chosen processor will support this as well, so I would certainly encourage you to at least run a 13th-Generation I-series.

Additional ASUS-specific features include the Q-LED system, a group of four LEDs that let you monitor the CPU, DRAM, VGA, and your boot device with a glance into the case, as well as the Q-Antenna connectors, a quick and easy way of securely attaching the supplied antenna to the board-based Wi-Fi 7 network card, the simple plug and play connector meaning you won’t accidentally twist or damage wires as you twist the fasteners.

Externally, there are plenty of ways you can connect your favourite peripherals, with a total of twelve USB ports. Eight of these are USB Type-A, which break down into four USB 2.0, and four USB 5Gbps, another two USB Type-A+1 ports with 10Gbps support, and two USB Type-C, with one supporting 20Gbps, and the other being a 10Gbps port. The previously mentioned Wi-Fi module is supported by a 2.5Gb RJ45 Ethernet port, and you could use the onboard HDMI and DisplayPort to connect a monitor should you so wish. Audio, with the support of Sonic Studio and DTS Sound Unbound, can be delivered through either a 3.5mm headphone socket or an Optical S/PDIF out port. The 3.5mm input is supported by AI-powered Noise Cancellation.

These are protected by a gorgeously detailed panel emblazoned with the words STRIX and REPUBLIC OF GAMERS in polished metal. The ROG eye logo glows with built-in RGB accents, and the overall design blends well with the heatsinks for the VRM, chipset, and M.2 slots, the bold brushed silver panels contrasting well with the primarily black PCB. They also help to catch and reflect other RGB lighting you might install, helping to draw attention to your system internals.

Of course, being an ASUS motherboard, you’ll have access to plenty of additional software that will make your experience much better, and being part of the Republic of Gamers lineup means we have even more to play with. Alongside DTS Sound Unbound, we have access to ROG CPU-Z, an all-in-one solution for monitoring internal components that specifically cater to the needs of gamers. Armoury Crate, one of my favourite utilities, grants us access to Aura Creator and Aura Sync, allowing us to control all those fancy ARGB/RGB elements we all know I love. It also brings in Fan Xpert 4 with AI Cooling II, allowing us to easily program our cooling systems with the help of AI. AI Suite III, on the other hand, offers a variety of overclocking solutions, supporting your journey with AI, making it ideal for those looking to experiment with overclocking but don’t know where to start, but keep in mind that doing so can void your warranty.

If you didn’t know that ROG meant “Republic of Gamers,” and the word “Gaming” wasn’t in the name, it’s still obvious that the ASUS ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WIFI II Motherboard was designed with gaming in mind. The well-thought-out pin layout makes installation and setup incredibly easy, while stylised heatsinks not only protect heat-sensitive components, but they help to draw the eye. With five M.2 expansion slots and supporting up to 192Gb of DDR5 RAM at 8000+(OC), you’re never going to run out of storage or memory, and the PCIe 5.0 x16 expansion will have you ready to update to the latest and most powerful GPUs on the market.

Written by: Mathew Lindner