Introduction

ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Extreme review

We start off with a Z790 review on what probably is among the most expensive motherboard you've ever seen, meet the 1399 EUR costing ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Extreme. For Z790 there will be at least 13 different motherboards available from Asus, with more from the ProArt series arriving shortly. They will use Intel's latest flagship Z790 chipset and Asus's technologies like AI Overclocking to quickly improve performance and AI Cooling II to optimise your PC for optimal thermals and noise levels. There are two motherboards in the Maximus series: the ROG Maximus Z790 Extreme and the ROG Maximus Z790 Hero. Both are designed for aficionados who want superb possible hardware, whether to set a new overclocking record or to play games with no compromises. Even the primary PCIe x16 slot reflects this, as Asus leaves enough for up to a four-slot graphics card.

The motherboard utilises an eATX format with a 24+1-phase architecture, two PCIe x16 slots (one of which is Gen 5), and one PCIe 5.0 M slot. 2 additional SSD slots are spotted, two USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, two Thunderbolt 4 (USB4-compliant), Wi-Fi 6E, and, most crucially for power users, a super fast 10GbE as well as a 2.5GbE connection. This motherboard offers 25 virtual phases (24+1) where the MOSFET's report back at 24x 105A  power stages (!). It has Three PCIe slots (one is Gen 5 x16, and another may be Gen 3 or 4 x8), one PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot, and one PCIe 5.0 x1 slot.Also invluided Wi-Fi 6E.

	Cores		Clock Frequency				Cache		Power usage		Price
Intel	P	E	Base P	Turbo P	Base E	Turbo E	L2	L3	Base	Turbo	USD
Core i9-13900K	8	16	3.0GHz	5.8GHz	2.2GHz	4.3GHz	32MB	36MB	125W	253W	589
Core i9-13900KF	8	16	3.0GHz	5.8GHz	2.2GHz	4.3GHz	32MB	36MB	125W	253W	564
Core i7-13700K	8	8	3.4GHz	5.4GHz	2.5GHz	4.2GHz	24MB	30MB	125W	253W	406
Core i7-13700KF	8	8	3.4GHz	5.4GHz	2.5GHz	4.2GHz	24MB	30MB	125W	253W	384
Core i5-13600K	6	8	3.5GHz	5.1GHz	2.6GHz	3.9GHz	20MB	24MB	125W	181W	319
Core i5-13600KF	6	8	3.5GHz	5.1GHz	2.6GHz	3.9GHz	20MB	24MB	125W	181W	294

Last month at Intel Innovation, Intel introduced the 13th generation of its Core processor family, led by the 13th generation Intel Core i9-13900K, their fastest-ever desktop CPU. There are six unlocked 13th-generation Intel Core desktop processors available, with clock speeds running up to 5.8 GHz over a maximum of 24 cores and 32 threads. The ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Extreme motherboard resembles the previous Z690 Extreme motherboard in several ways. The PCH and SSD heatsink/cover has a somewhat different appearance from the one on the prior motherboard. Additionally, the ASUS PCIe Q-Release button has been relocated away from the side panel and now resides between the DIMM.2 and DDR5 slots. With that said, let's look closely at the platform and then head into testing.