Asus’s ProArt Z790-CREATOR WiFi has recently joined the motherboard market for Intel’s 13th generation processors. It, in contrast to the Strix Z790-A Gaming that has already been reviewed by us, emphasizes performance, maximum performance. What it means? Besides supporting DDR5, it also incorporates support for Thunderbolt 4, a dual network connection with a rate of 10 gigabit and WiFi 6E. It also supports acceleration automatically and access to Adobe’s professional software.
Designed for creators
The Asus ProArt series of motherboards is designed for creators. That is, for content editors such as video, photos, 3D and more, what is known in the professional language as a ‘workstation’. As such, it is a board that emphasizes rich and advanced connectivity. This is probably the reason why the design of the board is very solid: there is no special texture as there is in other models of the company, there is no colored lighting, etc. – perhaps because it is likely that the board will be hidden inside a standard and airtight case, suitable for the target audience.
But it is still a large and impressive board. The size is standard ATX, that is 12×9.6 inches, with the plastic of the board itself being black. Some of its contents are covered, mainly because of the rear panel unit, with a rather massive heatsink next to it sitting on the VRM units around the processor. The chipset, Z790, also received a custom cover engraved with the Asus ProArt logo.
Lots of storage
The ProArt Z790-CREATOR WiFi motherboard has a lot of space for connecting a storage device, just a lot. Under the three long heatsinks there are no less than four expansion slots in M.2 type NVMe PCIe 4.0 x4 configuration. Two of them up to a length of 110 mm and another two up to 80 mm. Apart from that, there is also room for connecting hard drives or SSD drives with a SATA interface, and there are 8 SATA 6Gb connections on the board. All this storage capacity can also be backed up using RAID arrays of type 0/1/5/10 for the SATA drives or RAID 0/1/5 for the NVMe drives.
For fast data transfer, the board also offers a pair of USB 4.0 compatible Thunderbolt 4 connections. This pair of ports is located at the back, in the form of USB-C connections that are not only capable of transferring data at a rate of 40 gigabit/s bidirectionally, but also allow connecting screens with a resolution of 4K and 8K with a pass through an external graphics card.
Lots of connections
But it doesn’t end there, because a pair of internal USB connections designed for connection to the front part of the case also allow fast charging with a power of up to 60 watts. These are USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 connections that support PD 3.0 or QuickCharge connection, so you can charge phones or other gadgets at high speed. The other USB connections include another 6 USB 3.2 Gen 2 technology ports, another internal USB 3.2 Gen 1 port and two USB 2.0 connections.
There is also more than enough in terms of connectivity. There are two network ports, one at a rate of 2.5 gigabits/second based on an Intel chip, while the other is at a rate of 10 gigabits/second based on a Marvell chip, which is mainly intended for fast data transfer within the network when connected to compatible equipment. Beyond that, there is also WiFi 6E wireless connectivity with a bandwidth of 160 MHz in the 5 and 6 GHz bands as well as Bluetooth 5.3, which work through a pair of connectors wired to an external antenna included in the kit.
The expansion slots are not many. The central slot is PCIe 5.0 x16, which is of course intended for the graphics card. It’s also two slots away from the next slot, PCIe 5.0 x8, but given the size of the new GeForce RTX cards it probably won’t be usable. Another last slot is PCIe 4.0 x4.
There are some other features familiar from other Asus boards such as Q-Led, a light system that provides a friendly indication of a possible memory, graphics card or processor failure. In addition to this, there is also the PCIe Slot Q-Release that allows for quick release of the video card as well as the Q-Latch that allows for quick removal and connection of the M.2 components. Finally, there is also a BIOS Flashback button that allows a quick restoration of the BIOS via a USB drive in case of a serious malfunction.
The rush at Raptor Lake
As mentioned, the ProArt Z790-CREATOR WiFi board is based on the new Z790 chipset. It supports the 12th and 13th generation of Intel’s Core processors along with DDR5 memory up to a speed of 5,600 MHz, and there are 4 expansion slots up to a total volume of 128 GB.
For those who are fast, Asus supports you with the acceleration software AI Overclocking that allows you to set the many different variables under optimal control according to the current conditions in real time. In the memory sector, according to Asus, it is possible to achieve up to 41% more performance for a clock frequency of up to 6,800 MHz thanks to the company’s customized profile (AEMP II).
Using the AI Cooling software, the board is able to maintain a balanced temperature, with the company claiming to use an algorithm based on artificial intelligence, which allows the various sensors on the board and the processor temperature to be analyzed over time, to dynamically adjust the fans to reduce noise.
Another useful software is the ProArt Creator, which is a personal portal for the general state of the computer, along with customization of settings or optimization of the system. The software includes a dashboard for monitoring temperature, hardware and fans, quick switching of work modes and more. ProArt Hub is a kind of personal portal for monitoring computer status, customizing settings or optimizing workflow. It includes an intuitive overview dashboard, quick switching of fan fact states and more.
The ProArt Z790-CREATOR WiFi motherboard is feature rich and as such also more expensive. Its price is NIS 2,550 with a 3-year warranty.
