The Z690 AORUS Master X motherboard comes in the standard cardboard package. The front is themed in black and purple which has been part of the AORUS lineup for a while now. You can also note the AORUS Eagle logo on the front which looks great. The front side also lists down support for Intel's 14th generation Core processors while the motherboard is clearly labeled as a gaming product.
The backside of the package lists the specifications and special features of the motherboard such as the 20+1+2 Phase Digital VRM Solution, VRM Thermal Armor Fins Array heatsinks, PCIe 5.0 design, DDR5 & XMP 3.0 support, and WiFi 7 + Ultra-high gain antenna.
The motherboard itself is packaged in an anti-static wrap and held in a foam package which keeps it stable during shipping.
Inside the package is another box that contains the accessories and is located right below the box holder for the board itself. It is very easy to access and Gigabyte has included separate sections to make sure that the accessories remain tidy during shipping.
Following is the full list of accessories in the package:
- Quick Installation Guide, User's Manual
- 4 x SATA Cables
- 2 x Thermistors
- 3 x Screws for M.2 Sockets
- 3 x Standoffs for M.2 Sockets
- 1 x Gigabyte G-Connector
- 1 x Antenna (WiFi)
With all the accessories done, it's time to put that box aside and take the motherboard out of its package.
Gigabyte once again goes all out with its AORUS Master X. Despite being a tier below the Xtreme X, Master X offers its own visual appearance that sets it apart from the rest of the competition. The AORUS motherboards are known for using sleek and shiny textures and a very futuristic look that the Master X fully encapsulates.
The pricing and quality of this product make it feel more premium than the previous generation Master offerings from AORUS. The latest AORUS Master motherboards have also dropped the ATX design of previous generations and gone with an E-ATX layout, allowing the manufacturer to cram even more features into this series.
The board uses the LGA 1700 socket to support Intel Core processors. The socket is compatible with Intel's 14th, 13th & 12th Generation core family. The socket has a protective cover on top of it that points out the exclusivity with Raptor Lake 13th Gen & Alder Lake 12th Gen CPUs, refraining users from running older 11th and 10th generation CPUs as they won't fit in the socket at all and forcing them in the socket is only going to cause permanent damage to your motherboard. For its AORUS X series, you don't need to upgrade your BIOS as a prerequisite to installing a 14th-generation CPU as it already comes with the latest one out of the factory.
Next to the socket are four DDR5 DIMM slots that can support up to 192 GB of dual-channel memory.
These slots are rated to support XMP profiles up to 8266 MT/s (OC Plus). Each slot is labeled, making it easier to install DIMMs in the proper orientation. DDR5 memory comes with a different latch position so forcing a DDR4 module into a DDR5 slot will cause permanent damage. Each slot is also combined with a reinforced design to make sure signal integrity remains good while keeping the slots durable for long-term usage.
The Z790 AORUS Master X features a 20+1+2 (VCore/ VccGT/VccAUX) phase digital power delivery that utilizes the RAA229131 PWM controller and RAA220105 (105A) MOSFETs for the VCore. The Vcc GT and Vcc AUX MOSFETs (DRPS) are spec'd at 105A & 60A respectively.
The VRMs receive ample cooling from the VRM Thermal Armor Fins-Array heatsinks that are both beefy in terms of size and feature actual cooling fins. This motherboard is designed for overclocking so expect a smooth & stable operation of the electrical circuitry when this board is running. The motherboard also comes with a backplate that features thermal pads for extra cooling performance.
The CPU is supplied power through an 8+8 pin power connector configuration. This will feed the CPU with up to 300 Watts of power. The Intel 14th 13th & 12th Gen Unlocked CPUs are very power-hungry with the maximum turbo power rated at 253W for the Core i9-14900K and more if you are planning to overclock these chips.
Getting a closer look at the VRM heatsinks reveals an aluminum fin design on both heatsinks. Each heatsink has thermal pads located underneath for efficient transfer of heat. The thermal pads on the Gigabyte Z790 AORUS Master X motherboard are rated at 12w/mK.
There's also a singular massive 8mm nickel-coated heat pipe that connects the two MOSFETs heatsinks for better heat dissipation. The heatsinks are coated in black color to enhance overall aesthetics and are very densely packed.
Expansion slots include three PCI Express x16 (1 x Gen 5.0 x16/8 / 1x Gen 4.0 x4 / 1x Gen 3.0x1) and five M.2 slots.
Gigabyte uses the PCIe UD Slot X and Memory UD Slot D5 design which includes metal shielding on the sides of all expansion and DDR5 DIMM slots, providing extra protection and durability. It adds more load-bearing capacity to protect that can sustain the load of modern-day graphics cards and also protect the PCB of your card from scratches. The DIMM slots provide a 1.3x increase in anti-plate bending and also offer reduced signal degradation through the use of SMD technology. The PCIe slot further comes with an EZ latch click feature which lets you remove the graphics card from the PCIe slot with relative ease.
All five M.2 slots are cooled off by the thermal pad and aluminum baseplate cooling which is part of the M.2 Thermal Guard design. This will ensure stable operation for M.2 storage devices. The thermal adhesive has a plastic cover over them which needs to be removed before using them with the storage devices. The topmost heatsink which has the bulkiest heatsink has a M.2 EZ-Latch Plus design for easy removal. Even the large M.2 heatsink and front cover plate can easily be removed with the M.2 EZ-Latch Click feature.
- CPU:
- - 1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 25110/2280 PCIe 5.0 x4/x2 SSD support) (M2C_CPU)
- - 1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 22110/2280 PCIe 4.0 x4/x2 SSD support) (M2A_CPU)
Chipset: - - 1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 22110/2280 PCIe 4.0 x4/x2 SSD support) (M2Q_SB)
- - 1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4/x2 SSD support)(M2P_SB)
- - 1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2280 SATA and PCIe 4.0 x4/x2 SSD support) (M2M_SB)
- - 4 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
- RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID5, and RAID 10 support for NVMe SSD storage devices
- RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID5, and RAID 10 support for SATA storage devices
The Z790 PCH is housed beneath a large heatsink with the AORUS Eagle logo etched over it and looks great.
The PCH cover and the AORUS logo on the I/O cover has an RGB accent plate that can be adjusted through the Gigabyte RGB Fusion software and there re plenty of ARGB/RGB headers that can also be used to adjust the appearance of the LEDs within your PC.
Storage options include four SATA III ports rated to operate at 6 GB/s. These can support 4 different storage devices at once. There are also 3 USB 3.2 front panel connectors (1 x Gen 2x2 + 2 x Gen 1). 2 USB 2.0 front panel connectors are also included.
Gigabyte is using its ESS Sabre HiFi system for audio which is a combination of various high-end hardware, and software audio solutions. 7.1 CH HD audio with the latest Realtek ALC1220-VB CODEC & ESS ES9118 DAC.
AORUS has a massive amount of fan headers along with RGB Enable/Disable and Dual-BIOS switches scattered at the bottom of the motherboard. There are also the Power On/Off and reset switches. It also comes with voltage reading, and measuring points near the DEBUG LED at the top right corner of the motherboard.
The full list of connectors on the motherboard is listed as follows.
- 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
- 2 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connectors
- 1 x CPU fan header
- 1 x CPU fan/water cooling pump header
- 4 x system fan headers
- 4 x system fan/water cooling pump headers
- 3 x addressable RGB Gen2 LED strip headers
- 1 x RGB LED strip header
- 5 x M.2 Socket 3 connectors
- 4 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
- 1 x front panel header
- 1 x front panel audio header
- 1 x USB Type-C header, with USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 support
- 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 headers
- 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
- 1 x noise detection header
- 2 x Thunderbolt add-in card connectors
- 1 x Trusted Platform Module header (For the GC-TPM2.0 SPI/GC-TPM2.0 SPI 2.0/GC-TPM2.0 SPI V2 module only)
- 1 x power button
- 1 x reset button
- 1 x reset jumper
- 1 x Clear CMOS jumper
- 2 x temperature sensor headers
- Voltage Measurement Points
AORUS is using Intel's WiFi 7 Qualcomm QCNCM865 WiFi Module to power wireless connectivity with up to 5.8 Gbps data transfer rates, up to 320 MHz bandwidth, and Bluetooth 5.3. In terms of Ethernet, there is a single 10GbE LAN port powered by the Marvell AQtion AQC113C controller.
The motherboard comes with the following I/O connectors:
- 1 x Q-Flash Plus button
- 1 x Clear CMOS button
- 2 x SMA antenna connectors (2T2R)
- 1 x DisplayPort
- 1 x USB Type-C port, with USB 3.2 Gen 1 support
- 2 x USB Type-C ports, with USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 support
- 7 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports (red)
- 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports
- 1 x RJ-45 port
- 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector
- 2 x audio jacks
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