ASUS TUF Gaming Z790-Plus WiFi LGA 1700(Intel 14th,12th &13th Gen) ATX Gaming Motherboard(PCIe 5.0,DDR5,4xM.2 Slots,16+1 DrMOS,WiFi 6,2.5Gb LAN,Front USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C,Thunderbolt 4(USB4),Aura RGB)

This board right here? It’s the backbone of my whole build. I dropped in the i5-14600KF and my RTX 3080 FTW3, and this Z790-Plus didn’t even flinch—it was like it was born to run with beasts. Setup was smooth, BIOS was clean, and ASUS didn’t skimp on the layout. Everything’s spaced out right—no finger acrobatics needed to plug stuff in. Power delivery is clean with that 16+1 DrMOS setup, so when I pushed the CPU clocks a little, it held strong with zero drama.The DDR5 support? That’s where things really pop. I’m running some 6000MHz sticks and this board took it without a hiccup. Booted straight up, no weird voltage tweaks needed. If you’re about that snappy load time life or running heavy apps back-to-back, DDR5 on this board absolutely rips. And those 4x M.2 slots? Come on. I tossed in two drives already and still got space to expand. Fast storage everywhere, no bottlenecks in sight.Connectivity is stacked. You get WiFi 6E built in—connection is crisp, even through walls. That 2.5Gb LAN port? Super clutch when I wanna plug in and stream heavy with zero lag. Front USB-C, tons of rear I/O, Thunderbolt 4… they really thought of everything here. I’m running a dual-monitor setup with external drives and a capture card, and there’s still ports left untouched. The Aura RGB syncs up with the rest of my case lights and looks clean—not overdone, just the right glow.I’ve built on a few motherboards before, but this one feels like it was made for folks who actually use their rigs hard. It doesn’t just look tough—it is tough. Temps stay in check, airflow’s smooth, and the VRMs don’t heat up even when the CPU’s at full send. My system’s been stable, fast, and locked in ever since. Everything just plays nice together, like this board is the glue that holds the chaos together.

When Microsoft announced that Windows 10 was no longer going to be supported, I knew I was going to have to update to a new PC. I was running on an old 3rd gen Intel processor which couldn't support Windows 11 and some games required new processes that my CPU couldn't do. So, I decided it was time to build my second PC.The building process was fine and it was a decent size for the chassis I bought. It looks pretty cool too. The only real issue I had was that there were no drivers installed, so I had no networking. This meant I had to bypass a step in the Windows installation process to get to the desktop. Then, using an external hard drive and a laptop, I got all the drivers and everything was fine.I have heard stories of people needing a Bios update to use a 14th gen processor, but the one I got apparently already had the update, because it booted with CPU just fine. As I said, the only issue was with the lack of drivers, but that wasn't a particularly difficult problem once I realized that was an issue (though it would be for someone who doesn't have a spare laptop or something).Overall, this new build has been night and day compared to my old PC. It does boot very quickly, especially with a good M.2 SSD. Runs every game I've played very well. It sells for $250 on the Asus website, but I got it off Amazon for $200, and it was certainly good for the price.9/10, IGN, would play again.

Excellent motherboard. Good quality and well built. Didn’t have any problems with installation and it has worked flawlessly. I like the fact that it supports DDR5 memory. It doesn’t support the new gen 5 NVME standard, but that’s OK with me. The Gen 5 NVME shares resources with your gpu. So that’s a hard pass for me. I like the fact to , that it supports so many CPUs, that I can upgrade in the future very easily. The bios update was very straightforward and easy.. I also like the fact that the PCIE for the GPU has a locking mechanism and a button release. It has four slots for NVME drives, so there’s plenty of room for additional storage. Overall I’m well pleased with the quality and performance of this motherboard.

ASUS support is essentially a bait-and-switch scam. I received the MB but was unable to get display output. None of the troubleshooting Q-lights were on, and even with RAM removed, no Q-lights illuminate. When I press the power button, the board Aura lights and power LED illuminate and the CPU fan turns on (powered by MB), so I know the power relay portion of the board is working. However, none of the USB ports have power, and there is (again) no display output - with or without a graphics card. I have a Core i7 13700k, which supports video output, so I should get display output either way. I tested the power supply and found all voltages and the PG output to be fine. Clearly, this board is a piece of junk.Now for why I claim bait-and-switch:I contacted ASUS support and was asked to perform a number of troubleshooting tests. I did those and reported back the same day. A couple of days later, I was asked to check some other stuff. I did. A couple of days later, I was asked to do some of the stuff I had already done, I told them those test had been completed but I would do them again. This continued from April 4th to May 1st. I was asked to do the same things over and over. At one point, I got no response for 5 days and had to contact support again to continue the troubleshooting process.After 3 weeks, I had enough. The latest was that I was supposed to once again check all the stuff I had already checked and, also, purchase a graphics card! A freaking graphics card! The motherboard can display video through its built-in HDMI and DP ports, as long as you have the correct CPU (and I do). I just wanted the motherboard to output video like it should. I have a graphics card, which did not help, of course. I am NOT going to purchase another non-returnable component for hundreds of dollars just to show that the obviously defective motherboard doesn't work with a second graphics card. Absolute incompetence on ASUS' side.On May 1st, they finally admitted the MB was defective. I got instructions for a RMA, and was shocked to discover that the customer pays shipping and is required to assemble very specific packaging that most likely do not have on hand. In previous experiences with defective (and expensive) electronics, the manufacturer supplied packaging and a return shipping label. ASUS wants you to purchase $25 ground shipping with 3-7 day delivery time, $55 2nd day, or $60 overnight. Then they take a week or so to repair/replace, then they send it back, which probably takes a week. In the end, to get what you paid for, you have to wait 2 months and pay an extra $20-60! Making someone pay more to get what they were supposed to get for the advertised price is bait-and-switch. Making them wait 2 months, when the item is depreciating in value the whole time, adds insult to injury. And their troubleshooting process makes it impossible to return the item to Amazon inside the rather evil 30-day return window (I don't know when the return window shrunk to 30 days - this is somewhat new). Also, beware the claims on the Amazon product Support page. They do not get replacement parts, as implied. They will help you contact the manufacturer - that's all. Don't get suckered like I did.I would strongly recommend NOT purchasing any ASUS product on the off chance you need to deal with their support team. If you purchase a defective product, you will have to pay to get it fixed or repaired. And you will not get to use your product for so long - due to the ridiculously lengthy troubleshooting process - that your product will depreciate in value before you even get to use it. Bait. And. Switch.ASUS should be ashamed for treating their customers this way. And Amazon should do better to prevent this type of abuse. Extending the return window when an item is defective out of the box seems like an easy way they could do so. But it took five agents arguing with me before I finally gave up and paid the $55 ransom - I mean "restocking" - fee. I don't think it actually costs Amazon any more to restock after 30 days, but what do I know? I thought they would return the item to ASUS for a full refund. They are still selling the same item. It's not like there's a new model out and this one is obsolete...