Main motherboard producers have rushed to supply Z790 refresh boards that replace the Intel chipset platform with native assist for 14th Era “Raptor Lake Refresh” processors just like the Core i9-14900K. The least costly we have seen is the ASRock Phantom Gaming Z790 Lightning Wi-Fi. For $199.99, you get a impartial however busy-looking black board with a mesmerizing grey sample stenciled on a lot of the PCB. It sports activities three M.2 sockets and 6 SATA ports, eight USB ports on the rear I/O together with a 20Gbps Kind-C port, 2.5GbE Killer LAN and Intel Wi-Fi, and energy supply able to dealing with flagship-class CPUs. The M.2 sockets are PCI Specific 4.0 as an alternative of 5.0 and it is Wi-Fi 6E as an alternative of seven, however the Lightning is a well-rounded price range possibility each hardware- and performance-wise.
Board Design, CPU, and Reminiscence
For the reason that PG Lightning collection is designed to be inexpensive, lots of the 8-layer PCB is seen, with solely the crucial components beneath heatsinks and shrouds. A lightweight grey lined sample covers a lot of the motherboard together with the left VRM heatsink, although it isn’t as pronounced there. A small heatsink covers one of many three M.2 sockets, whereas a pushpin-connected heatsink retains the chipset cool. An RGB component on the again of the board provides a bit of glitz. General, it does seem like a price range board, and the sample on the PCB is fairly busy, nevertheless it ought to mix in with most construct themes.
(Credit score: Joe Shields)The PG Z790 Lightning Wi-Fi helps Intel’s twelfth, thirteenth, and 14th Gen processors out of the field. The 960A accessible (through 16 Vcore phases with 60A MOSFETs) handles our flagship Core i9-14900K with out mishap, although the VRMs get sizzling (however nonetheless inside spec) when operating sustained multithreaded masses. Nonetheless, even with this price range providing, you are restricted by CPU cooling, not the motherboard.
Reminiscence assist is listed as much as DDR5-7800+ (OC), one of many larger specs amongst financial system fashions. The Intel candy spot between efficiency and value is someplace across the DDR5-6000 to DDR5-6400 vary, and there is loads of headroom to extend RAM speeds previous that time. As with most Z790 motherboards at present, the 4 DRAM slots assist as much as 192GB.
(Credit score: Joe Shields)Our customary DDR5-6000 equipment was secure by setting the inner profile, as was our Teamgroup DDR5-7200 equipment. If you happen to’re obsessive about getting the final p.c or two of efficiency, you possibly can overclock your RAM; you get many reminiscence timings and sub-timings to tweak within the BIOS.
Structure, Inside Connectors, Audio, and Enlargement
Beginning within the high left nook, we spy two 8-pin EPS connectors (with just one really required for fundamental operation) to energy the CPU. Flanking these connectors are the 2 VRM heatsinks tasked with cooling the ability supply bits beneath. Sliding previous the socket wedged between the DRAM slots and the highest VRM heatsink, we encounter the primary of seven 4-pin fan/pump headers. Every header helps PWM and DC-controlled gadgets with energy output various from 1A/12W to 2A/24W (CPU_FAN2/WP and CHAS_FAN1-4/WP). Management over the connected gadgets is managed by means of the BIOS or the FANtastic Tuning part of ASRock’s PG-Tune software program. You should not have any points with header rely or accessible energy.
(Credit score: Joe Shields)Skipping previous the unreinforced RAM slots, we discover three extra 4-pin fan/pump headers. Transferring down the precise edge, we run into the 24-pin EPS connector to energy the board, a front-panel USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) Kind-A header, and a front-panel USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) Kind-C header.
The underside left nook holds an uncovered audio part utilizing Realtek’s dated ALC897 audio codec. You will discover a couple of yellow capacitors devoted to audio, however the setup is lacking some premium options together with EMI safety for the Realtek chip and built-in amplifiers/DACs. Many customers might be glad with this price range audio answer, however crucial listeners might want one thing higher.
Two full-length growth slots and two open-ended PCIe x1 slots are in the course of the board. The highest full-length slot (PCIE1, the first for graphics) is a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot that connects by means of the CPU. The second full-length slot (labeled PCIE4) connects by means of the chipset operating at PCIe 4.0 x4. The small x1 slots between them (PCIE2 and PCIE3) additionally join by means of the chipset, yielding PCIe 3.0 x1 bandwidth for every.
(Credit score: Joe Shields)In and across the PCIe slots are 4 M.2 sockets with three devoted to storage (Key-M) and the opposite (Key-E) for a CNVi/CNVi2 wi-fi card (a Wi-Fi 6E card is included). The highest M.2 socket beneath the heatsink is your CPU-connected PCIe 4.0 x4 (64Gbps) socket, whereas the remainder supply their bandwidth by means of the chipset and provide the identical PCIe 4.0 x4 speeds. All three storage sockets assist as much as 80mm modules and RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 modes.
Transferring proper previous the pushpin-connected chipset heatsink are the primary 4 of six SATA ports; the opposite two are mounted vertically alongside the underside edge. For these in search of redundancy or extra velocity by means of RAID, the board helps RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10. Contemplating it is a price range board, the three M.2 sockets and 6 SATA ports ought to be sufficient for many customers. If you happen to’re operating quick PCIe 4.0 x4 drives, you could need to get heatsinks with them to stop thermal throttling, as two sockets do not embody heatsinks and the one which does is not probably the most sturdy we have seen.
Alongside the underside fringe of the board are a number of headers together with extra USB 2.0 headers, two SATA ports, fan headers, front-panel audio, ARGB and RGB headers, a clear-CMOS jumper, and eventually the front-panel header.
(Credit score: Joe Shields)A preinstalled rear I/O plate flaunts the identical black and grey theme, accent strains, and Phantom Gaming branding. There are eight USB ports right here, with the only Kind-C port being the quickest (20Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2×2). Of the seven USB-A ports, there are two USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps), 4 USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps), and one USB 2.0; this price range board would not have one in every of ASRock’s Lightning gaming ports.
At left are the Wi-Fi 6E antenna connections, together with the HDMI video output to be used with the processor’s built-in graphics. The Killer-based (E3100G) 2.5Gbps Ethernet sits above the USB ports, whereas a three-plug (1/8-inch) audio stack is on the precise. There’s nothing uncommon again right here, although a couple of customers may really feel restricted by seven USB Kind-A ports.
A Transient Have a look at the BIOS and UEFI Utilities
The BIOS is like others we have seen in ASRock’s Phantom Gaming line, with a alternative of EZ and Superior modes that share the identical PG Gaming theme with pink and white textual content on a darkish background. You will discover details about the processor, RAM, storage, and followers in EZ Mode. You possibly can allow XMP profiles, regulate thermal throttling limits, and extra.
(Credit score: ASRock)The superior portion of the BIOS affords an ordinary configuration with main headings throughout the highest, together with Primary, OC Tweaker, Superior, Device, H/W Monitor, and Boot. The Primary web page is informational. Customers could make their very own BIOS web page itemizing their most continuously used gadgets.
(Credit score: ASRock)The OC Tweaker part holds the keys to dashing up your system. Right here you possibly can regulate voltages, RAM, and the CPU and save profiles for recall later.
(Credit score: ASRock)The Superior heading is the place to entry CPU, chipset, storage, NVMe, ACPI, and USB configuration together with different gadgets corresponding to Intel Thunderbolt and Trusted Computing. You may also regulate the UEFI’s look and beginning web page (EZ Mode, or a selected web page in Superior).
(Credit score: ASRock)The Instruments part (not pictured) offers entry to ASRock’s Polychrome RGB for lighting management in addition to SSD and NVMe sanitation (safe erase instruments) and the Instantaneous Flash utility to flash your BIOS. H/W Monitor shows related system information starting from CPU and motherboard temperatures to fan speeds and voltages. Right here, you possibly can regulate the fan speeds of all of the onboard 4-pin fan headers.
(Credit score: ASRock)ASRock’s BIOS is as simple to learn and navigate and absolutely featured as its opponents. The Z790 BIOS has loads of performance to overclock the processor and reminiscence, as you’d count on with the flagship chipset. There’s performance to regulate RGB lighting, management followers, and even wipe storage clear. General, it gives loads of usefulness, and the newest model (2.05) was secure throughout our restricted testing.
As for software program, ASRock affords Appshop to obtain and replace drivers and the PG-Tuning software program to tweak your system. The previous is useful for downloading ASRock purposes together with Polychrome RGB LED, Nahimic 3 audio, and the App Charger. It additionally checks for drivers and permits you to replace them straight from the utility, an amazing different for these not used to grabbing the newest drivers straight from vendor web sites.
(Credit score: ASRock)For individuals who wish to tinker with their methods, ASRock contains its all-inclusive A-Tune software program, reskinned and renamed PG Gaming on this board. This app allows you to regulate fan speeds, learn detailed system information together with temperatures, voltages, and clock speeds and ratios, and tweak the CPU. You additionally get entry to the Blazing OC software program that’s devoted to overclocking the processor manually or by means of PBO. The latter would not provide as a lot management because the BIOS, nevertheless it will get the job accomplished.
(Credit score: ASRock)Verdict: A Viable, Reasonably priced Entry-Stage Motherboard
ASRock’s PG Z790 Lightning Wi-Fi is a succesful motherboard at an alluring $199.99 worth. The board has native assist for Intel’s 14th Gen CPUs and affords a PCIe 5.0 slot, three M.2 storage sockets, six SATA ports, built-in Wi-Fi 6E, and ample energy supply. Efficiency was strong when utilizing 3x120mm AIO cooling, conserving our Core i9-14900K safely inside spec. We might wish to see a PCIe 5.0 M.2 socket and Wi-Fi 7, however after all it is unlikely to get the entire newest and best {hardware} specs in a single board at this worth.
(Credit score: Joe Shields)Whereas the ASRock is probably not probably the most engaging board subsequent to the $229.99 Gigabyte Z790 Gaming X or the $209.99 MSI Professional Z790 Gaming Professional Wi-Fi, it is the one one with built-in RGB lighting. The Gigabyte affords Wi-Fi 7 and each it and the MSI have 4 M.2 storage sockets, however you will not go unsuitable with any of the three.
