Gigabyte Z790 AORUS Master X Review – X Means Better!

Gigabyte Z790 AORUS Master X Review – X Means Better!

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Gigabyte Z790 AORUS Master X Review – X Means Better!

Back in August, Gigabyte unveiled its refreshed Z790 X series motherboards which offered a range of upgrades over the existing Z790 Non-X motherboards. The primary goal of these motherboards was to offer something new to users who were looking to build new PCs, especially those who were going to purchase the newly released Intel 14th Gen CPUs.

On a technical level, the Gigabyte Z790 AORUS X motherboards have a lot going on with improved heatsinks, VRMs, I/O capabilities, and just the general look and feel has seen an update alongside the implementation of the latest WIFI 7 which is a major feature on these new refreshed products. For this review, we were sent the Gigabyte Z790 AORUS Master X motherboard for review which we used to test the trio of Intel 14th Gen CPUs that you can check out over here.

Intel's Raptor Lake-S desktop CPUs feature support on LGA 1700 socket which is also used by the Alder Lake CPUs. The Raptor Lake-S CPUs launched alongside the 700-series motherboards. You can expect all the top-notch specs from the Z790 motherboards with the best overclocking & fine-tuning capabilities.

Another interesting thing to talk about the Z790 PCH is its process node and dimensions. The Z790 PCH is based on the 14nm node and measures at 98mm2 which is slightly larger than the Z590 PCH featured on LGA 1200 socket motherboards.

The LGA 1700 socket is here now. The new socket adds more pins to the socket and changes the dimensions entirely. The new LGA 1700 socket offers 500 more pin connections to the CPU, allowing for more communication channels with the board itself and accommodating electrical pin configurations that are required to support 14th, 13th & 12th Gen CPUs.

So as for the socket details, Intel has gone with an asymmetrical design since the Alder Lake CPUs are no longer square-shaped. The latest desktop CPUs will come in a 37.5x45.0mm package and are supported by the 'V0' socket which we know as LGA 1700.

The socket also changes the mounting positions to a 78x78mm grid rather than a 75x75mm grid. The Z-height has also changed to 6.529mm compared to 7.31mm on the previous LGA 12**/115* sockets.

To make their existing coolers compatible with Intel's Raptor Lake & Alder Lake CPU lineup, many cooling brands have released LGA 1700 upgrade kits which feature mounting hardware for the new socket. But the Intel Raptor Lake and the Alder Lake CPU platform aren't just featuring a brand new mounting design but the CPU dimensions themselves have changed too.

The LGA 1700 (V0) socket not only has an asymmetrical design but also comes with a lower Z-stack height. This means that proper mounting pressure is needed to make full contact with the Intel Alder Lake IHS. Certain cooler manufacturers have already been using larger cold plates for Ryzen and Threadripper CPUs to make proper contact with the IHS but these are mostly higher-end and new cooling designs. Those who are still running older AIOs with round cold plates could have trouble maintaining the required pressure distribution which could lead to inadequate cooling performance.

  • 1. Intro
  • 2. Gigabyte Z790 AORUS Master X Motherboard - Unboxing & Close Up Inspection
  • 3. Test Setup
  • 4. CPU Performance Tests
  • 5. Gaming Performance Tests
  • 6. CPU Power Consumption Tests
  • 7. CPU & VRM Temperatures
  • 8. Conclusion - Masterful Design Once Again!
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