Aorus Z790 Elite X WiFi 7 Motherboard Review

Dual channel memory comes standard on the LGA1700 Processor platform and the Z790 Aorus Elite X supports standard speed DDR5 modules with overclocking support up to 8266Mhz+.  Actual speeds will depend on your module choice and processor quality.  A maximum of 192GB is addressable with the proper module density.  

Speaking of memory support, the 8266Mhz+ speed is quite rare on a four(4) DIMM motherboard and is enabled due to the new way of running memory traces.  To help with your memory overclocking adventure there are several BIOS features available which are default AUTO.

• XMP Booster gives you pre-tuned memory profiles that you can select
• High Bandwidth Selection Option
• Low Latency Selection Option
• DDR5 Auto Booster (Quick overclock from 5600 to 6000)
• DDR5 XMP Booster (curious feature that dynamically ranges memory from default to highest XMP without setting XMP)

To the right of the memory sockets, you’ll find several PWM fan headers and two of the RGB and ARGB connections. 

One of the biggest shifts when it comes to motherboard design is support for storage.  For years storage has been the bottleneck and we have gone to great lengths to ensure that our data access is fast.  Well, it would seem that when storage is no longer a bottleneck every motherboard designer finds it necessary to include as many PCI Express enabled M.2 slots as possible.

In the place of the usual PCI Express expansion slots you will find a total of four M.2 sockets all supporting PCI Express 4.0 and cooled by an integrated cooling solution.  The top slot is using bandwidth from the CPU while the others interface directly with the SB/MCP.  It doesn’t matter which slot you pick unless you are running a mix of M.2 and SATA based drives.

Another amazing feature of the “X” generation motherboards is the quick latch system.  This system gives you 100% toolless access to the M.2 drives through a spring-loaded metal twist latch.  Simply twist to release the heatsink cover and press the cover down to reinstall.    This makes installation a snap and something you can do without fear of breaking the latch.

The twist latch holding the M.2 drives in place IS plastic so you will want to be careful.

On the Z790 Elite X the primary M.2 drive cover features an extra large finned aluminum heatsink to help maintain optimal drive temperature for the best performance.