If you're looking for the ultimate motherboard for your next Intel CPU, Aorus would like a word. Due out in the fall, at the same time as Intel's Raptor Lake Refresh CPUs, the Aorus Z790 Xtreme X has built-in Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, four PCIe SSD slots (one of which is PCIe 5), a tool-free heatsink, a built-in screen and quite a bit more.
We had a chance to see an early sample of the Xtreme X at Gigabyte's Computex 2023 suite and were impressed not only with the amount of flexibility but also with the ease of removing its heat sink, cable cover and SSD slot cooler.
The board features a 10-layer PCB and 24 power phases and 105A power stages for overclocking. The full-color display allows you to show decorative images or important system stats such as the temperature.
The single PCIe 5.0 slot comes with an impressive cooler that is meant to give 30 percent more air pressure and reduce noise by 3db over other fans. It has a vaper chamber with heat pipes to help you get maximum performance from your SSD. We watched as a Gigabyte rep demonstrated how easy it is to install the and remove the cooler, using a simple finger-screw on the motherboard.
There's also a giant passive heat sink that covers the three other SSD slots, which are PCIe Gen 4, and the two PCIe slots. The PCH cover is completely tool free and also relies on you turning a tiny finger screw with your bare hands.
The top of the Z790 Xtreme X has a wire cover that you can also pull off with your hands. That should help with cable management.
If the Xtreme X is too expensive (and we don't know how much it costs yet), Gigabyte is also coming out with the cheaper but still premium Z790 Master X. The Master X also has Wi-Fi 7, but it has 20 power phases instead of 24 and 120 amps instead of 105.
The Master X does not have a screen, instead housing an RGB Aorus logo above the ports. It also has a less-fancy PCIe 5.0 cooler and its PCH cover doesn't cover all the slots.
Both motherboards support DDR5 XMP 9000 RAM. There's no word yet on pricing, but the boards are expected to arrive sometime in the fall.
