Maxsun iCraft Z790 White V2 review: A white PCB for mid-range builders

A mid-range class white motherboard with good performance and plenty of PCIe slots.

Maxsun iCraft Z790 White V2
(Image: © Tom's Hardware)

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Firmware

Maxsun’s BIOS is a bit of a blast from the past. While it’s 100% functional, it doesn’t have an Easy Mode and isn’t quite as refined (read, good looking) as others. The BIOS screen has the major headings across the top (Main, Advanced, Power, Turbo, Startup, Security, and Exit) with detailed information on the left and system information (including CPU temp/speed, fan speed, vcore, memory frequency, and more) on the right. You can overclock the system in the Turbo section. Again, it has all the functionality you’re looking for, including overclocking and tweaking memory, but it just doesn’t look the part compared to most other UEFI BIOS.

Software

Maxsun’s only Windows-based software is Maxsun Sync, which controls the integrated and any attached RGBs. I can’t find any other application on the website for Windows-based overclocking and fan control, which is lacking compared to most other board partners. The Maxsun Sync app does offer several different RGB lighting modes, a couple of which you can tweak even further. It’s a functional application; I just would like to see additional functionality or another program for adjusting CPU parameters and fan control.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Test System / Comparison Products

We’ve updated our test system to Windows 11 64-bit OS with all updates applied as of mid-October 2023. We kept the same Asus TUF RTX 3070 video card from our previous testing platforms but have updated the driver to the latest, keeping our games, F1 22 and Far Cry 6, the same. Unless otherwise noted, we use the latest non-beta motherboard BIOS available to the public using ‘optimized default’ settings except for the memory (XMP). The hardware and drivers we used are as follows:

Test System Components

Swipe to scroll horizontally
CPUIntel Core i9-14900K
MemoryKingston Fury Beast DDR5-6000 CL36 (KF560C36BBEAK2-32)
Row 2 - Cell 0 Teamgroup T-Force Delta RGB DDR5- 7200 CL34 (FF3D516G7200HC34ABK)
Row 3 - Cell 0 Klevv CRAS XR5 RGB (KD5AGUA80-80R380S)
GPUAsus TUF RTX 3070
CoolingCoolermaster MasterLiquid PL360 Flux
PSUEVGA Supernova 850W P6
SoftwareWindows 11 64-bit (22H2)
GraphicsNVIDIA Driver 537.42

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Benchmark Settings

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Synthetic Benchmarks and SettingsRow 0 - Cell 1
ProcyonVersion 2.6.848 64
Row 2 - Cell 0 Office Suite (Office 365), Video Editing (Premiere Pro 23.6), Photo Editing (Photoshop 25.0, Lightroom Classic 12.5)
3DMarkVersion 2.27.8177 64
Row 4 - Cell 0 Firestrike Extreme (v1.1) and Time Spy (v1.2) Default Presets
Cinebench R24Version ‘build unknown’
Row 6 - Cell 0 Open GL Benchmark - Single and Multi-threaded
BlenderVersion 3.6.0
Row 8 - Cell 0 Full benchmark (all 3 tests)
Application Tests and SettingsRow 9 - Cell 1
LAME MP3Version SSE2_2019
Row 11 - Cell 0 Mixed 271MB WAV to mp3: Command: -b 160 --nores (160Kb/s)
HandBrake CLIVersion: 1.2.2
Row 13 - Cell 0 Sintel Open Movie Project: 4.19GB 4K mkv to x264 (light AVX) and x265 (heavy AVX)
Corona 1.4Version 1.4
Row 15 - Cell 0 Custom benchmark
7-ZipVersion 21.03-beta
Row 17 - Cell 0 Integrated benchmark (Command Line)
Game Tests and SettingsRow 18 - Cell 1
Far Cry 6Ultra Preset - 1920 x 1080, HD Textures ON
F1 2022Ultra Preset - 1920 x 1080, Ultra High (default) Bahrain (Clear/Dry), FPS Counter ON

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Joe Shields
Motherboard Reviewer

Joe Shields is a Freelance writer for Tom’s Hardware US. He reviews motherboards.

  • HideOut
    ALC 897 audio. FAIL. This is 2024, NOT 2017.
    Reply
  • truerock
    God... why won't type-A USB ports go away. I hate spending money on ancient, obsolete technology.

    I guess it's been 2 or 3 years since I purchased a device with a USB type-B connector.

    I guess this is an example where Apple understands reality and individuals suck in the hopeless PC/Windows world or hopelessly stuck with obsolete technology.
    Reply
  • Ice2burn
    truerock said:
    God... why won't type-A USB ports go away. I hate spending money on ancient, obsolete technology.
    Because USB type-a just works. Users like backwards compatibility, it doesn't force you to replace your whole park of devices, nor to buy type-a-to-type-c adapters. This is an example where people understand to not overconsume.
    Reply
  • Amdlova
    truerock said:
    God... why won't type-A USB ports go away. I hate spending money on ancient, obsolete technology.

    I guess it's been 2 or 3 years since I purchased a device with a USB type-B connector.

    I guess this is an example where Apple understands reality and individuals suck in the hopeless PC/Windows world or hopelessly stuck with obsolete technology.
    What? Obsolete is your way of thinking :)
    Reply
  • Sluggotg
    truerock said:
    God... why won't type-A USB ports go away. I hate spending money on ancient, obsolete technology.

    I guess it's been 2 or 3 years since I purchased a device with a USB type-B connector.

    I guess this is an example where Apple understands reality and individuals suck in the hopeless PC/Windows world or hopelessly stuck with obsolete technology.
    Since the 1980s, Apple has had a policy to try to force Mac fans to buy new Everything when they upgrade to a newer computer. You buy the new computer, Scanner, Printer software etc. and throw away or giveaway your old setup.

    I like piecemeal upgrades. I like the ability to use my many different mice and keyboards on my latest builds. What do I think of type C USB???? It rocks. I absolutely love it. It does not mean I want to buy all new items that have type C and throw out my classic hardware. ( I still have my C64s and Amigas etc. ).
    Reply