Aorus Z790 Elite X WiFi 7 Motherboard Review

In this review we looked at the Z790 Aorus Elite X WiFi 7 Motherboard from Aorus Gaming (Gigabyte).  This board is built on the Intel Z790 chipset supporting the new LGA 1700 Raptor Lake line of processors.  As many of you may already know., the new processor features a hybrid core design with Efficiency and Performance cores.  This separation plays a major role in power efficiency while also allowing the processor to quickly ramp up and respond to different loading conditions with ease.

This Aorus Z790 Elite X is a little different in that the board features a variety of technologies to make it a gem among hardware enthusiasts and system builders to both increase performance and reduce assembly time. 

From a hardware standpoint we have memory Back Drilling which is a feature designed to increase memory performance and overclocking on a motherboard configuration that could never normally support that.  This is something I tested and found to work extremely well, despite posting lower scores. 

Moving on to expansion we have enhanced protections for the primary PCI Express slot in the form of UD Slot X which is comprised of a solid and fully formed slot protector that is physically bolted to a reinforced backplate for superior strength and motherboard protection. 

Additional hardware features include the EZ-Latch system for quickly and easily installing M.2 heatsinks with a spring loaded metal retention clip.  On top of that you will find heatpipe enabled VRM coolers and enhanced M.2 heatsinks all for better thermal control and lower operating temperatures.

BIOS enhancements offer more control over your system components and while our Core i9 14900K was less than receptive I suspect that it will really unlock the potential of the smaller Core i5 that is less sensitive to thermal protections.

Overall, the Z790 Aorus Elite X WiFi 7 does exactly what it should, and performance matched that of previous Z790 motherboards the extensive list of upgrades ensures that you will get the most from this elite class of gaming motherboards.  The enhancements are not limited to the Elite X WiFi 7 and were applied to the entire range of “Gen X” boards including the popular Pro and high-end Master. 

Be sure to check out this board and others on the Gigabyte website for more information

Next Generation Design
Solid Performance
Supports 4x M.2 Drives
PCI Express 5.0
Excellent Industrial Design
Great Gaming Platform
You'll Need a New Heatsink

Very little onboard RGB lighting
No benchtop controls
No driver disk
No real onboard audio
You'll need a new CPU heatsink