ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Hero Wifi DDR5 Intel Motherboard

The ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Hero WiFi is a full-size ATX motherboard built on the Intel Z790 chipset, designed for Intel LGA1700-socket processors spanning the 12th and 13th Gen Core, Pentium Gold, and Celeron families. Its 20+1 teamed power delivery solution is rated at 90A per stage and draws from dual ProCool II 8-pin connectors, supported by MicroFine Alloy Chokes and 10K Black Metallic Capacitors to sustain demanding workloads and overclocking sessions. The VRM thermal solution pairs massive heatsinks — integrated with the I/O cover and linked by an L-shaped heatpipe — to high-conductivity thermal pads on the power stages. Storage flexibility is a key strength: the board natively provides three Key-M M.2 slots (one PCIe 4.0 x4 and two via chipset at PCIe 4.0 x4 or SATA), six SATA 6Gb/s ports, and an included ROG Hyper M.2 expansion card that adds up to two additional M.2 slots — one of which can operate at PCIe 5.0 x4 speed, bringing total M.2 capacity to five slots. Two PCIe 5.0 x16 SafeSlots (supporting x16 or x8/x8 modes) and one PCIe 4.0 x16 slot (x4 mode) cover discrete GPU and add-in card needs. Connectivity is comprehensive. The rear I/O delivers 12 USB ports — including two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports (supporting DisplayPort 1.4), six USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, and four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports. The front-panel USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 header supports Quick Charge 4+ at up to 60W (requires 6-pin PCIe power). Networking combines an Intel 2.5Gb Ethernet port with ASUS LANGuard and onboard 2×2 Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax, 2.4/5/6 GHz) with Bluetooth 5.3. Audio is handled by the ROG SupremeFX ALC4082 codec paired with an ESS ES9218 Quad DAC, delivering up to 32-bit/384 kHz playback, 120 dB SNR stereo output, and 113 dB SNR recording, behind SupremeFX shielding. Lighting is managed through three Addressable Gen 2 headers, one AURA RGB header, and Polymo Lighting on the I/O cover, all configurable via Aura Sync. DIY-friendly features include PCIe Slot Q-Release Slim, M.2 Q-Latch, Q-Code onboard diagnostic display, Q-LED component status indicators, BIOS FlashBack button, Clear CMOS button, and a pre-mounted I/O shield. The BTF hidden-connector design allows the graphics card high-power slot to deliver up to 600W directly through the board to compatible BTF graphics cards for a cable-free aesthetic. A 1-year AIDA64 Extreme subscription and MemTest86 are bundled in the UEFI BIOS. Verified Specifications: - Socket: Intel LGA1700 (12th & 13th Gen Core, Pentium Gold, Celeron) - Chipset: Intel Z790 - Form Factor: ATX, 12 in × 9.6 in (30.5 cm × 24.4 cm) - Memory: 4× DIMM, DDR5, max 128 GB, up to DDR5-7800+ (XMP), dual-channel, non-ECC unbuffered - PCIe Slots: 2× PCIe 5.0 x16 (CPU), 1× PCIe 4.0 x16 (chipset, x4 mode) - M.2 Slots: 5 total (3 onboard + 2 via ROG Hyper M.2 card); PCIe 5.0 x4 available via Hyper M.2 card - SATA: 6× SATA 6Gb/s - LAN: Intel 2.5Gb Ethernet - Wireless: Wi-Fi 6E 2×2 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3 - Rear USB: 2× TB4 Type-C, 6× USB 3.2 Gen 2, 4× USB 3.2 Gen 1 - Audio: ALC4082 + ESS ES9218 Quad DAC, 7.1 surround, 32-bit/384 kHz - BIOS: 256 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS - Warranty: 3 years