Gigabyte's new Z790 X motherboards are all about speed
As we approach the next generation of Intel CPUs (which haven't been officially announced yet), motherboard manufacturers are doing their best to get ready. Gigabyte calls its new line of Z790 X motherboards the «fast track to Gen X,» promising faster overclocking capabilities, better connectivity, and some welcome DIY updates.
The Taiwanese manufacturer invited me to check some of its upcoming Z790 X motherboards and get hands-on time with the Z790 Aorus Master X, Pro X, and Elite X WiFi 7.
Extracting as much speed as possible from DDR5 RAM seems to be Gigabyte's big mission here. The redesigned BIOS of the Z790 X will let overclockers increase DDR5 memory frequencies with the help of an auto-boost that will automatically set DDR5 modules to the highest profile, increase bandwidth, and shorten latency, all with one click. The dual-channel DDR5 board will also support up to DDR5-8266+, which is pretty wild.
Gigabyte says its exclusive back-drilling technology will reduce «signal reflections and timing issues» and enhance «signal integrity, improving system performance and reliability.» It's tough to see in photos, but I could make out the back-drilled spots in person once the backplate of the board is removed. They are not quite holes but more like little bumps. We'll have to take their word on the benefits of the technology for now.
The new I/O design, on the other hand, does feature holes. Well, they are being called «vents.» Gigabyte says it's for cooling efficiency, and this design has a temperature difference of up to 7 degrees Celsius.
The three boards are Wi-Fi 7 compatible and come with a redesigned antenna. Gigabyte is really future-proofing with these boards. For instance, the PCIe UD slot (where the graphics
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