Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Twitch
    Game on Aus
    • News
      PlayStation Plus Deluxe And Extras Drops for March 2023

      PlayStation Plus Deluxe And Extras Drops for March 2023

      March 17, 2023

      PlayStation Australia is happy to reveal the PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue additions for March. The Game Catalogue lineup will be…

      The Game Expo 2023 Wrap-Up

      The Game Expo 2023 Wrap-Up

      March 17, 2023

      THE Game Expo (TGX) inaugural event wrapped up in Melbourne last weekend, signalling the addition of a new gaming event…

      Ahoy, Mate! Australian commander and vessel come to World of Warships

      Ahoy, Mate! Australian commander and vessel come to World of Warships

      March 10, 2023

      THE virtual flotilla available in World of Warships has grown larger with the addition of a (fictionalised) Australian cruiser and…

      Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Wave 4 releases today!

      Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Wave 4 releases today!

      March 9, 2023

      [This press release has been provided by Nintendo PR and is presented by the GOA team for your information] 9th…

      New Xbox Game Pass titles announced overnight

      New Xbox Game Pass titles announced overnight

      March 8, 2023

      WITH Xbox Game Pass growing each month it’s still surprising the quality of titles being added each month, with this…

      View All
    • Reviews
      Resident Evil 4 Remake – Keeping you on the Edge

      Resident Evil 4 Remake – Keeping you on the Edge

      March 15, 2023

      [Note: This article assumes you’re familiar with the main characters in the Resident Evil Franchise] SO in the morning of…

      Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe Review

      Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe Review

      March 14, 2023

      Kirby’s Dream Land is a game that I have such fond memories of experiencing during my early childhood years. I…

      Project Zero: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse – The Forgotten Horror Franchise

      Project Zero: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse – The Forgotten Horror Franchise

      March 13, 2023

      I WILL admit that being a horror gaming fan it was great to see a classic horror franchise not released…

      Logitech G915 TKL Wireless Gaming Keyboard Review

      Logitech G915 TKL Wireless Gaming Keyboard Review

      March 8, 2023

      Since I reviewed the Logitech G915 around this time last year, it has been my go to wireless gaming keyboard.…

      ROG Flow X16 (2022) review – an innovative powerhouse

      ROG Flow X16 (2022) review – an innovative powerhouse

      March 8, 2023

      The Asus ROG Flow X16 (2022) is marketed as an innovative, high-end gaming laptop from Asus that delivers impressive performance…

      View All
    • Podcasts
      Nuts & Bolts Ep 77 Hero Card

      Nuts & Bolts Ep 77: A Wild Mercury Appears!

      March 11, 2023

      Jim is joined by Mercury live in the GOA studio! Jim gets excited over the World Of Tanks ANZPL draft…

      Weekly Show Ep 274 Hero Card

      The Weekly Show Ep 274: Shame Nintendo, Shame!

      March 10, 2023

      Doomcutie joins Stormie and Jim as they talk through mods, leaks and so much more! Plus our Bloody Good Game Of The Week thanks to Aussie Broadband.

      Nuts & Bolts Ep 76 Hero Card

      Nuts & Bolts Ep 76: LCO Drama-Rama

      March 4, 2023

      Peace finally get what’s coming to them as the LCO starts the group stage while a team suffers a tech…

      Weekly Show Ep 273 Hero Card

      The Weekly Show Ep 273: What’s Going On?

      March 3, 2023

      Doomcutie joins Stormie and Jim as they talk through mods, leaks and so much more! Plus our Bloody Good Game Of The Week thanks to Aussie Broadband.

      Nuts & Bolts Ep 75 Hero Card

      Nuts & Bolts Ep 75: How Do You Play With A Broken Wrist?

      February 25, 2023

      Natty & Jim talk about how a Rocket League pro can play with a broken wrist, Capcom Cup announces a…

      View All
    • Categories
      • BY PLATFORM
        • Playstation
        • Xbox
        • Nintendo
        • PC
        • Mobile
        • VR
        • Retro
      • BY GENRE
        • Action
        • Action-Adventure
        • Battle Royale
        • Fighting
        • FPS
        • Horror Games
        • RPG
        • Simulation
        • Sports
        • MMORPG
        • MOBA
        • Platformer
        • Strategy
        • Survival
        • Indie
      • GOA ESSENTIALS
        • Esports
        • Conventions
        • Tabletop
        • Hardware
        • Funny
        • Streaming
        • Win
        • Podcast
        • Video
    • More
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
    Game on Aus
    Home » Asus TUF Z790-Plus Wifi D4 motherboard reviewed
    Asus TUF Z790-Plus Wifi D4 motherboard reviewed
    GAMING REVIEWS

    Asus TUF Z790-Plus Wifi D4 motherboard reviewed

    Royce WilsonBy Royce WilsonMarch 4, 2023
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    What’s the foundation of a good gaming PC? Is it the CPU? The graphics card? RAM, maybe?

    All those things are very important, but at the base of it all is the motherboard – the literal foundation upon which the rest of a PC is built.

    I’ve recently embarked on an overhaul of my gaming PC, with support from Asus, Intel and Nvidia, which involves replacing the motherboard, CPU and GPU with current-generation gear, and since the motherboard is the base of any gaming rig, it makes sense to start the reviews from there.

    Asus TUF Z790-Plus Wifi D4 motherboard reviewed
    The Asus TUF Z790-Plus WiFi D4 motherboard is well made, well priced, and has plenty of features.

    The Asus TUF Gaming Z790-Plus Wifi D4 motherboard is part of Asus’ TUF brand, which is (in this case) described as being “Engineered with military-grade components, an upgraded power solution and a comprehensive cooling system” – and it’s certainly well-made.

    The TUF Z790-Plus is designed for the LGA1700 CPU socket – in other words, Intel 12th and 13th Gen CPUs – and has four DDR4 RAM slots along with four (yes, four) M.2 slots and two 6Gb SATA connection slots for plugging in SSDs or hard drives.

    There are five PCIe slots on the motherboard, but depending on which GPU you install, you probably won’t have access to all of them.

    The main PCIe slot where your GPU will go is a PCIe 5.0 x16 SafeSlot, while the secondary PCIe slot (where I’ve installed a WD Black AN1500 NVME SSD) is a PCIe 4.0 x16 which maxes out at 4 lanes. The other three slots are a PCIe 4.0 x4 and two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots.

    From an external connection perspective, the Z790-Plus has an HDMI and Display Port connector, along with two USB-C ports and six USB-A ports, as well as an Ethernet port and five 3.5mm audio sockets (includine one for a mic), and an optical audio connection too. This is all complemented by the on-motherboard connector options for front-mounted USB ports, as well as an on-motherboard header for an optional Thunderbolt connection to a Thunderbolt card mounted in the bottom PCIe 4.0 slot.

    Asus TUF Z790-Plus Wifi D4 motherboard reviewed
    There are plenty of USB ports, display connectors, audio sockets, and the like on the motherboard.

    The Wi-Fi element supports both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, while Bluetooth 5.2 rounds out the wireless connection element.

    In English, there’s plenty of places to connect and/or plug your accessories and peripherals in, whether it’s mice and keyboards or webcams or printers or something else entirely.

    The overall feel of the motherboard is sturdy, which is particularly reassuring when installing it into the case – there was no fear I might inadvertently bend or break something, and it fit well into my ATX case, with all the mounting holes and the like lining up properly.

    Mounting the CPU (an Intel i9-13900KS; a review is in the works) was as straightforward as CPU installation gets – it’s a pretty standard process across modern motherboards, but that doesn’t make it any less nerve-wracking when you’re wanting to make sure all the connectors line up and you haven’t inadvertently bent one of the pins or anything.

    SSD and hard drive installation was also uncomplicated; I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the very useful “quicklock” system Asus use on some of the M.2 slots whereby instead of needing a tiny, fiddly screw to ensure your SSD stays in place, there’s a rotating collar of sorts that you just move anti-clockwise and it clicks the M.2 SSD into place and keeps it there.

    Asus TUF Z790-Plus Wifi D4 motherboard reviewed
    The motherboard features a nifty rotating clip to help keep M.2 drives in place – no tiny fiddly screws required.

    The mounting brackets for the All-In-One watercooling system fit as they were supposed to and the power connectors on the board for the pump and fans were well placed and labelled.

    For a GPU, Nvidia kindly provided a GeForce RTX4080 (which is on the review list, so stay tuned!) and they are quite a substantial card. I was concerned that it might not fit in the case, or that there’d be no room left on the motherboard after installing it, but it fit without any issues besides taking up the equivalent of two PCIe slots, thus taking one of the smaller PCIe slots out of play.

    The biggest challenge I had was connecting all the power connectors up – the connectors on the motherboard can be quite small (even if they are the standard sizes) and as the build progressed I found some of the final connections being done with the aid of a pair of tweezers and a forehead-worn lamp.

    Asus TUF Z790-Plus Wifi D4 motherboard reviewed
    The Asus TUF Z790-Plus motherboard can easily fit a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU.

    Despite being a long-time PC gamer I don’t consider myself an expert system builder by any stretch of the imagination, so I really appreciated the clear and well-laid out manual included with the motherboard. Being able to have it open next to me on the bench made a it a lot easier to double check what I was plugging a particular cable into, or whether I was going to be using the right M.2 slot for an SSD.

    There are colour-coded LEDs on the motherboard to highlight which phase of start-up the system is going through, and if one of them stays lit it means there’s a problem with that element and you should attend to it. It’s surprisingly useful, because as everyone who’s built a PC knows, it’s frustrating when it won’t complete POST (Power On Startup Test) and you’ve got no idea which component is causing the issue.

    Asus’s BIOS comes in two flavours – the basic one (“EZ”) and a more advanced version for people who are far more comfortable messing around with those settings than I am. Configuring the board for use during the first-time boot posed no issues via the EZ BIOS, which also has options for automatic performance tuning as well to make things even simpler.

    The AI fan controls have been working surprisingly well too – in my previous build, all the fans were basically running at full tilt whenever the system was on, but here they only kick into full speed when really needed and it’s been a bit disconcerting getting used to the fact my PC is a lot quieter now.

    Asus TUF Z790-Plus Wifi D4 motherboard reviewed
    The Asus Z790-Plus WiFi D4 motherboard fit perfectly into my PC’s case and was well laid out for adding the components and power/data connection cables throughout the build.

    Overall, I have no significant complaints at all about the Asus TUF Z790-Plus Wifi D4 motherboard. It is affordable (Around AUD$350-$400, depending who you get it from) well made, and more than capable of handling the very latest 13th generation Intel CPUs and 40-series Nvidia RTX GPU cards too.

    If you’re looking for a solid, well-made, well-priced Intel 12th or 13th-gen CPU compatible motherboard that still has plenty of features, this offers plenty of bang for your buck and should be very high on your consideration list as a result.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Previous ArticleNuts & Bolts Ep 76: LCO Drama-Rama
    Next Article Like a Dragon: Ishin! Review – Was the wait worth it?

    Related Posts

    Resident Evil 4 Remake – Keeping you on the Edge
    ACTION March 15, 2023

    Resident Evil 4 Remake – Keeping you on the Edge

    [Note: This article assumes you’re familiar with the main characters in the Resident Evil Franchise] SO in the morning of…

    Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe Review
    GAMING REVIEWS March 14, 2023

    Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe Review

    Kirby’s Dream Land is a game that I have such fond memories of experiencing during my early childhood years. I…

    Subscribe

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    Ads

    Categories
    • ACTION
    • ACTION-ADVENTURE
    • APPLE
    • BATTLE ROYALE
    • CLOUD GAMING
    • CONVENTIONS
    • DLC
    • ESPORTS
    • Events
    • FEATURE
    • FIGHTING
    • FPS
    • FUNNY
    • GAMING HARDWARE
    • GAMING NEWS
    • GAMING REVIEWS
    • GIFT GUIDE
    • GOA
    • GOA PODCAST
    • HORROR GAMES
    • INDIE GAMING
    • Industry
    • MMORPG
    • MOBA
    • MOBILE
    • NINTENDO
    • Open-World
    • OPINION
    • PC
    • PLATFORMER
    • PLAYSTATION
    • Press Release
    • PREVIEW
    • RACING
    • RETRO
    • RPG
    • SIMULATION
    • SPORTS
    • STRATEGY
    • STREAMING
    • SUBSCRIPTION GAMES SERVICE UPDATES
    • SURVIVAL
    • TABLETOP GAMING
    • TECH
    • VIDEO
    • VR
    • XBOX
    Related Article
    PlayStation Plus Deluxe And Extras Drops for March 2023
    GAMING NEWS

    PlayStation Plus Deluxe And Extras Drops for March 2023

    March 17, 2023Gabriel ArmstongBy Gabriel Armstong

    PlayStation Australia is happy to reveal the PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue additions for March. The Game Catalogue lineup will be available on Tuesday March…

    The Game Expo 2023 Wrap-Up
    Events

    The Game Expo 2023 Wrap-Up

    March 17, 2023Royce WilsonBy Royce Wilson

    THE Game Expo (TGX) inaugural event wrapped up in Melbourne last weekend, signalling the addition of a new gaming event to the city’s cultural…

    Resident Evil 4 Remake – Keeping you on the Edge
    ACTION

    Resident Evil 4 Remake – Keeping you on the Edge

    March 15, 2023Gabriel ArmstongBy Gabriel Armstong

    [Note: This article assumes you’re familiar with the main characters in the Resident Evil Franchise] SO in the morning of March 10th this year,…

    Game on Australia Logo

    Game On Aus is an Australian games publication working across written, video and podcast, and supported by an ever-growing community of content creators and fans!

    Copyright GameOnAus 2023. Privacy Policy. Website by Digital Hitmen

    CONTENT
    • News
    • Gaming Reviews
    • Podcast
    • Tech
    • Indie
    ABOUT GOA
    • About Us
    • Contact

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.