Asus ROG Strix Z790-I Gaming WiFi
Big on features – not on size.
Most Z790 motherboards aren’t all that different from their Z690 predecessors. True innovation is relatively rare, but when it comes to mini-ITX boards, some out of the box thinking is required. Asus’ ROG Strix Z790-I Gaming WiFi is a perfect example. It’s the result of telling the engineers to try to squeeze an ATX feature set into an ITX form factor.
Despite all reasonable efforts, things that take space, like M.2 drives, PCIe slot numbers and heatsinks require compromise, but by every other reasonable measure, the Strix Z790-I solves more than one engineering challenge. First among these is the double stacked M.2 solution, with one PCIe 5.0 and one PCIe 4.0 slot. Next is the ‘FPS-II’ daughter board which contains two SATA ports, USB 2.0 headers and the front panel header among other things.
Then there’s what Asus calls the ROG Strix Hive. It includes the ALC4050 Audio and ESS Sabre DAC audio solution, more USB ports and buttons to control things like auto overclocking and the no-CPU BIOS flashback. There’s a programmable button that defaults to a system reset, but can also be used for safe mode and controlling the Aura RGB lighting. All of these things are not trivial to make and go a long way to justifying the steep $899 price tag of the Z790-I.
Back to more worldly motherboard matters, the VRM is a good one for a diminutive board. A 10+1 phase solution with 105A stages is enough for a 13900K, though note you only get a single 8-pin power connector, so it’s not one you’d use to push too hard with. The heatsinks are also compact by necessity, yet it includes an embedded tiny fan. Temperatures peaked at 72C, not bad given their tiny size.
It’s also worth noting that the socket area is especially cramped, so much so that our test AIO cooler would only fit in one direction.
With a lot of the connectivity included on the external Hive device and FPS-II card, the rear I/O looks a little bare. WiFi 6E and 2.5G are standard and a pair of type-C Thunderbolt 4 ports and a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port are real highlights.
The little Strix didn’t lose anything in terms of performance. It produced a strong 7-zip result, indicating excellent memory performance, which may be a result of its dual DIMM configuration. The new breed of DDR5-7000+ memory should perform well on this board.
Mini-ITX systems have a dedicated following, and when you see what kinds of features that can be packed into SFF systems with boards like the Asus ROG Strix Z790-I Gaming WiFi, it’s no wonder. A compact system with a 13900K, 32GB of RAM and RTX 4090 sounds pretty good, though the words ‘4090’ and ‘small form factor’ probably don’t belong in the same sentence.
At $899 it’s a pricey proposition, but then there are plenty of Z790 boards priced over the $1,000 mark, particularly X670E boards. Suddenly $899 seems almost reasonable. Given the additional engineering challenges presented by an ITX board, and the excellent feature set on offer, this little Asus is worth its premium price.
This little pocket rocket crams a lot of features and innovation into its ITX size, though it comes at a price. ------
Asus ROG Strix Z790-I Gaming WiFi; LGA1700 socket; 1x PCIe 5.0 M.2. 1x PCIe 4.0 M.2; 2x SATA; Up to 2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB 3.2 Gen2x2, 4x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 3x USB 3.1 Gen 1, 6x USB 2.0; 1x HDMI 2.1; Intel Wi-Fi 6E; Intel 2.5G LAN; Realtek ALC 4050 7.1 Channel HD Audio; Mini-ITX Form Factor.