Asus' New Z790 Overclocking Motherboard Listed Overseas For Over $850

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A refreshed motherboard for refreshed CPUs

Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore
Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore (Image credit: Benchlife)

Asus has revised the brand's ROG Maximus Z790 Apex for Intel's upcoming 14th Generation Raptor Lake Refresh chips. Dubbed the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore, the new overclocking-eccentric motherboard will no doubt secure many world overclocking records.

According to the leaked renders from Benchlife, Asus has reverted to a black and silver theme on the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore. It's the predominant color combination on Apex motherboards, so it was a shock that Asus had switched things up with the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex and opted for a full-white theme. Some liked the new theme, while others didn't. However, the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore has returned to the Apex's roots. Hopefully, Asus has fixed the PCB flexing issue prevalent on the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex. Due to the large heatsink that cools the power delivery subsystem, many ROG Maximus Z790 Apex owners noticed the PCB warped in that area.

The ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore is an LGA1700 motherboard with the high-end Z790 chipset. Given that the motherboard will likely launch alongside Raptor Lake Refresh, it'll support the new Intel processors right out of the gate, unlike existing 700-series motherboards that require a minor firmware upgrade. The original ROG Maximus Z790 Apex has a 24-stage design, so we expect the Encore to feature an equal or superior power solution. The two 8-pin EPS power connectors remain to ensure the Raptor Lake Refresh processor, such as the Core i9-14900K, draws all the power it needs during overclocking.

(Image credit: Benchlife)

Aimed at overclockers, the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore continues to provide only two DDR5 memory slots. The original model supported data rates up to DDR5-8000 and beyond. We've witnessed professional overclockers push DDR5 memory up to DDR5-11202 on the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex so that the Encore will be equally capable of memory overclocking. However, two DDR5 memory slots limit the maximum capacity to 96GB (2x48GB). The other slot is Asus' proprietary DIMM.2 slot for mounting M.2 SSDs.

While there are six SATA III ports on the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex, the Encore only appears to have four. Assuming the M.2 slots remain the same, the motherboard delivers one M.2 PCIe 5.0 slot and four M.2 PCIe 4.0 slots (including the two from the DIMM.2). Asus made some changes to the expansion slots on the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore as well. The revised model has two PCIe 4.0 x4 slots instead of the PCIe 4.0 x4 and PCIe 4.0 x1 combination on the regular ROG Maximus Z790 Apex. Meanwhile, the two PCIe 5.0 x16 expansion slots are unlikely to suffer any modifications.

Wired connectivity hasn't changed. There's still only one 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port on the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore, which the Intel I225-V Ethernet controller powers. Wireless, on the other hand, has enjoyed a nice upgrade. According to a European retailer, the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore offers Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 functions, an upgrade from the Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 on its predecessor. Lacking a specification sheet and renders of the rear panel, it's hard to guess whether the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore has the same connectivity ports as the regular Apex.

Proshop (via Harukaze5719) has listed the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore for $879 and $881 in its Finnish and Norwegian online stores, respectively. If we subtract the VAT (value-added tax), we're looking at a price tag of around the $700 mark, similar to the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex's $699.99 MSRP. Raptor Lake Refresh reportedly launches on October 17, so the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore is just around the corner.

Zhiye Liu
Zhiye Liu
RAM Reviewer and News Editor

Zhiye Liu is a Freelance News Writer at Tom’s Hardware US. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

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4 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Crazyy8
    $850 dollars for a MOBO? I can get an entire system for that price, and a good one for that.
    Reply
  • Co BIY
    Crazyy8 said:
    $850 dollars for a MOBO? I can get an entire system for that price, and a good one for that.
    But can you you get one with fewer memory slots and fewer storage connections than standard?

    Yah, you probably can.
    Reply
  • Crazyy8
    Co BIY said:
    But can you you get one with fewer memory slots and fewer storage connections than standard?

    Yah, you probably can.
    My 13 year old X58 MOBO has more than this MOBO, more than most MOBOs these days(6 DDR3 slots, I am using all of them). The standard needs to be 4 dimm slots(6 for expensive MOBOs like this is supposed to be), a debug display, CMOS reset, good VRMs, PCIE 4-5 X4 slots and PCIE 4-5 X16 slots, and unlocked overclocking(Like on most Ryzen boards).
    Reply
  • Co BIY
    Tom Sunday said:
    Its amazing that in times of our ongoing economy still being in turmoil and our nationwide inflation further going south, that MB OEMs are still producing products at this price level. Obviously the OEMs are not living in reality nor with boots on the ground. Then the 15th generation is all but looming up ahead with a larger new generation chip and a possible uplift of 30%. I question that in times like these who would buy any Z790 MB refresh.
    The market in the high end may actually be less volatile than for mid and low range.

    These OC boards are more like a Flagship or even Prototype ( Protohype ? ) to demonstrate what the hardware can do. Not really what it needs or will do for most.
    Reply