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Dark grey ATX motherboard with black heatsinks and silver accents

ASUS

ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Dark Hero Intel motherboard

SKU CH-Z6W7-P8EXY

LGA 1700 board with 20+1+2 power stages, five M.2 slots, dual Thunderbolt 4 ports and Wi-Fi 7

  • ProcessorIntel® Socket LGA1700 for Intel® Core™ 13th Gen Processors,
  • ChipsetIntel Z790
  • Form factorATX
  • CPU socketLGA 1700
  • Memory slot count4 x DIMM slots, max. 192 GB, DDR5
  • Supported memoryDDR5 8000+(OC)/7800+(OC)/7600(OC)/7400(OC)/7200(OC)/7000(OC)
  • Supports 13th, 12th Gen and earlier Intel CPUs on LGA 1700 socket
  • 20+1+2 power stages with dual ProCool II connectors for stable multi-core operation
  • Five M.2 slots including one PCIe 5.0 and four PCIe 4.0 with dedicated cooling
  • Dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, USB 20Gbps front header with 60W charging plus six USB 10Gbps ports
  • Intel Wi-Fi 7 and 2.5 Gb Ethernet with ASUS LANGuard for high-speed networking

Platform Foundation

The ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Dark Hero is an ATX motherboard built around the Intel Z790 chipset and the LGA 1700 socket. It accepts Intel Core 12th, 13th and 14th generation processors, plus Pentium Gold and Celeron CPUs, making it a base for high-end desktop builds.

Power Delivery Under Load

A 20+1+2 power stage design with dual ProCool II connectors, alloy chokes and durable capacitors feeds multi-core processors during extended workloads. The substantial VRM cooling keeps temperatures in check so the CPU can sustain high frequencies without throttling.

Interface Limits

Five M.2 slots provide one PCIe 5.0 x4 lane and four PCIe 4.0 x4 lanes, each with dedicated heatsinks. Dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, six USB 10Gbps ports, Intel 2.5Gb Ethernet and Wi-Fi 7 with 320MHz channels deliver modern I/O headroom for storage and networking.

How it compares

Measured against everything we stock in Motherboards for Intel CPUs, at today’s prices. Recalculated every night.

Price $313.99
Pricier than about 90% of the 2,965 comparable items (median $97.99).

New to this? Buying PC parts with Monero — what to check, what it costs to pay, and what is never asked for.

Specifications

Product
Brand nameASUS
Product lineROG
Model nameROG MAXIMUS Z790 DARK HERO
Part number90MB1F90-M0AAY0
Processor
CPU socketLGA 1700
ChipsetIntel Z790
Memory
Memory slot count4 x DIMM slots, max. 192 GB, DDR5
Supported memoryDDR5
8000+(OC)/7800+(OC)/7600(OC)/7400(OC)/7200(OC)/7000(OC)/6800(OC)/6600(OC)/6400(OC)/6200(OC)/6000(OC)/5800(OC)/5600/5400/5200/5000/4800 Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory
Max supported RAM192 GB
Storage
SATA ports4 x SATA 6Gb/s ports
M.2 slotsTotal supports 5 x M.2 slots and 4 x SATA 6Gb/s ports*
Intel® CoreTM Processors (13th & 12th Gen)
M.2_1 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280/22110 (supports PCIe 5.0 x4 mode.)**
M.2_2 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280 (supports PCIe 4.0 x4 mode.)
Intel® Z790 Chipset**
M.2_3 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280 (supports PCIe 4.0 x4 mode)
M.2_4 slot (Key M), type 2280 (supports PCIe 4.0 x4 mode)
M.2_5 slot (Key M), type 2280 (supports PCIe 4.0 x4 mode)
4 x SATA 6Gb/s ports
* Intel® Rapid Storage Technology supports PCIe RAID 0/1/5/10, SATA RAID 0/1/5/10.
** M.2_1 shares bandwidth with PCIEX
SATA and RAID support* Intel® Rapid Storage Technology supports PCIe RAID 0/1/5/10, SATA RAID 0/1/5/10.
Audio & video
Sound channelsROG SupremeFX 7.1 Surround Sound High Definition Audio CODEC ALC4082*
- Impedance sense for front and rear headphone outputs
- Supports: Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel MIC Jack-retasking
- High quality 120 dB SNR stereo playback output and 110 dB SNR recording input
- Supports up to 32-Bit/384 kHz playback on front panel
Audio Features
- SupremeFX Shielding Technology
- ESS® ES9218 QUAD DAC
- Gold-plated audio jacks
- Rear optical S/PDIF out port
- Premium audio capacitors
*The rear panel Lime (Line out) port does not support spatial audio. If you wish to use spatial au
Connectivity
Maximum network speed1 x Intel® 2.5Gb Ethernet
ASUS LANGuard
Bluetooth supportYes
Size & build
Form factorATX
Width and length12.0 in × 9.6 in
Compatibility
Windows 11 supportWindows® 11, Windows® 10 64-bit

Questions about this item

How loud and hot does the 20+1+2 power-stage VRM get under all-day load?

The 20+1+2 power stages with dual ProCool II connectors and alloy chokes are built for sustained multi-core operation; substantial M.2 heatsinks also help keep onboard thermals in check.

What memory and CPU cooler must I already own to use this LGA 1700 board?

You need a DDR5 kit up to 192 GB across four slots and an LGA 1700-compatible cooler; the board has no bundled cooler.

Will my PCIe 4.0 M.2 drives and USB 3.2 devices work at full speed on the Z790 chipset?

Four PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots and numerous USB 10 Gbps ports run at native speeds, while the primary PCIe 5.0 x16 slot and one M.2 slot support newer 5.0 devices.

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