GIGABYTE Z790M Aorus Elite AX ICE DDR5 Intel Motherboard

The GIGABYTE Z790M Aorus Elite AX ICE is a Micro ATX motherboard built on the Intel Z790 chipset, designed for Intel LGA 1700 socket processors spanning the 12th, 13th, and 14th generation Core lineup, as well as Pentium Gold and Celeron variants. Measuring 9.6 × 9.6 inches, it fits neatly into compact builds without sacrificing connectivity or power delivery. Power delivery centres on a 12+1+1 phase digital VRM solution rated at 60A Dr.MOS stages for the VCORE and VCCGT rails, ensuring stable current under sustained workloads. A full-metal VRM Thermal Armor Advanced heatsink and dedicated M.2 Thermal Guard work together to manage temperatures across the board, helping maintain consistent performance during extended sessions. Memory support extends to four DDR5 DIMM slots in a dual-channel configuration, accepting up to 192 GB and supporting XMP 3.0 profiles. The platform is rated at DDR5-4800 natively, with overclocking potential reaching 7600 MT/s per GIGABYTE's specification. BIOS tools including DDR5 XMP Booster and DDR5 Auto Booster provide one-click tuning options. Storage is well-served by three PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 connectors — all fitted with EZ-Latch Plus screwless retention — alongside six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, with RAID 0/1/5/10 support for both SATA and NVMe devices. The primary PCIe slot runs at PCIe 5.0 x16 (reinforced with PCIe UD Slot PG5 stainless-steel shielding), while a secondary slot provides PCIe 4.0 x4 bandwidth. Connectivity includes onboard Intel 2.5 GbE LAN, Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax, 2T2R), and Bluetooth 5.3. The rear I/O delivers a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C port (20 Gb/s), one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort, optical S/PDIF, and two audio jacks. An onboard front-panel USB Type-C header (Gen 2, 10 Gb/s) adds forward-facing high-speed connectivity. Audio is handled by a Realtek ALC1220 codec supporting 7.1-channel playback with audiophile-grade capacitors. Build-quality features include the Q-Flash Plus button for CPU-less BIOS updates, a Clear CMOS button, PCIe EZ-Latch for tool-free GPU removal, Smart Fan 6 with hybrid fan headers and FAN STOP, two addressable RGB headers, two standard RGB headers, and dual Thunderbolt add-in card connectors. Windows 11 64-bit and Windows 10 64-bit are supported. Verified Specifications: - Form Factor: Micro ATX (9.6″ × 9.6″) - Socket: LGA 1700 | Chipset: Intel Z790 - CPU Support: Intel 12th / 13th / 14th Gen Core, Pentium Gold, Celeron - Memory: 4 × DDR5 DIMM, Dual Channel, up to 192 GB, DDR5-4800 native, XMP 3.0 - PCIe: 1 × PCIe 5.0 x16 (GPU/NVMe), 1 × PCIe 4.0 x4 - M.2: 3 × PCIe 4.0 x4 (EZ-Latch Plus) - SATA: 6 × SATA 6 Gb/s | RAID: 0/1/5/10 (SATA & NVMe) - LAN: 2.5 GbE | Wi-Fi: 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6E) | BT: 5.3 - Audio: Realtek ALC1220, 7.1-channel - Rear USB: 1 × USB-C 20 Gb/s, 1 × USB-A 10 Gb/s, 4 × USB 3.2 Gen 1, 4 × USB 2.0 - Display: HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort - OS: Windows 11 / Windows 10 (64-bit)