Asus ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi D4

Good value Raptor Lake motherboard.

- GUY COCKER

LAST MONTH, we reviewed the Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero ($630), a top-of-the-line board for the latest generation of Intel CPUs. It had loads of features including support for PCIe 5.0 M.2 SSDs, DDR5 RAM, and a shedload of the latest I/O ports. However, in our cover build, we pitted it against this Asus ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi D4 ($380) and found that, for gamers at least, there was no performance difference between the two boards. With the RTX 4090 ($1,600) set to drain the budget of many a PC gamer, could this Strix model be a potent pairing for the cheaper Intel Core i5-13600K?

This is a striking-looking mobo with lots of white and silver detailing on the various heatsinks. Design aside though, this board has all the important ports and sockets that gamers demand, including two sets of ARGB/RGB headers for AURA lighting, four PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots, and a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot for any future graphics cards that use the newer standard.

The four SATA ports might not be enough for those still using 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch hard drives, though, while the decision to put the AIO pump headers between the top M.2 SSD slot and the CPU socket makes things pretty busy if you’re using a water cooler. There are thoughtful touches, though, including an accessible PCI Express release latch so you can easily get a GPU in and out.

I/O options are also plentiful, and we particularly appreciate the DisplayPort and HDMI outputs. There are eight USB-A ports, two USB-C ports, and a 2.5Gb Ethernet port. The board also supports WiFi 6E, has digital audio out, and a USB port for performing BIOS updates, plus a BIOS flashback button. The board can also provide 30W PD for cases with compatible USB-C ports, and the I/O panel also has Pac-Man chasing a ghost, a nice little touch for its gaming audience.