ASUS ROG has introduced three new motherboards that are designed for the upcoming Intel 14th Gen CPUs, supporting enhanced designs and new features. They are the MaximusZ790 Dark Hero (featured here), Strix Z790 A Gaming WiFi II and the wallet-friendlierTUF Gaming Z790-Pro WiFi.
The ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Dark Hero is the company's next-genflagship solution that is outfitted with a 20+1 phase power delivery solution, and supports not only Intel's upcoming 14th Gen but also the current 13th and 12th CPUs.
You can expect an abundance of I/O ports: Dual Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C ports, USB 20Gbps Type-C front-panel connector with Quick Charge 4+ up to 60W and USB Wattage Watcher, six additional USB 10Gbps ports, two PCIe 5.0 x16 SafeSlots, and a HDMI 2.1.
The motherboard comes with onboard Intel Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) and Intel 2.5 Gb Ethernet with ASUS LANGuard.
The souped-up Z790 chipset will also have support for PCIe Gen5 SSD drives, Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C ports with up to 40 Gbps transfer speeds, front-panel USB 20 Gbps Type-C ports, PCIe Slot Q-Release, M.2 Q-Latch, Q-LED, and Q-Antennas.
The Z790 Dark Hero comes with massive heatsinks integrated with the I/O cover, joined by an L-shaped heatpipe, and connected to the power stages with high-conductivity thermal pads.
It's also worth reminding that only the top (main) M.2 slot supports PCIe 5.0, while the four M.2 slots below it are PCIe 4.0.
As with all of today's modern flagship motherboards, the Z790 Dark Hero also comes with a neat-looking backplate to improve the board's rigidity and structural integrity. Pricing details will be announced shortly.